Thursday, February 19, 2009

Mom's Tortilla Soup with cost breakdown

Currently Erik and I are saving up for our 1st real vacation since our honeymoon, so I'm trying to make some cheap but good meals. One of the best soups you will ever eat is my mother's Tortilla Soup. I don't make it as often as I should because it's a little labor intensive, but it's so worth it. I'm working all weekend (Yuck!) and I usually try to make something with lots of leftovers, because there is no way I'm coming home after working 12 hours to do more than reheat food in the microwave. Enjoy!

Mom's Tortilla Soup
1 or 2 large chicken breasts- $1.00 ( I only used 1 with skin on and bones in)
2 zucchini- $1.01
1 yellow squash- $0.82
3 big carrots- $0.35
2 McCormick taco seasoning packets- 2/$1
32 oz. chicken broth- $1.99 for 1 box of organic HEB brand chicken broth
1 can Rotel- $0.65
1 onion- $0.89

Boil your chicken breasts in a big pot with salted water. Skim off any weird chicken foam that floats up. (Seriously, what is that foam?) Take out chicken breasts and pick chicken clean of any meat. Set aside. Reserve the cooking liquid. You can do your veggies 2 different ways. I finely chop all of mine in my mini food processor. If you don't have one of these just chop them up however you like. Saute your chopped onion in a separate pan in a little butter and olive oil. After a few minutes add the carrots, zucchini, and squash and saute for 5 minutes. Add your two packets of taco seasoning to this mixture. (I guess if you wanted to be really cheap you could add your own spices, but it would alter the taste.) Add back your shredded chicken to your reserved cooking liquid, plus the sauteed veggies. At this point you can judge to see if you need all 32 ozs of the boxed or canned chicken stock. You may not, so just add what you think you need. Simmer this for about 20 minutes and it's done. I serve mine with sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips, but a big slice of avocado would be great too!

Final cost: $7.71
Erik will eat this tonight for dinner because my boss is taking me out to eat at Buzzard Billy's for getting employee of the month. We'll definitely eat this Friday night for dinner and possibly lunch on Saturday. That's 3 meals worth of soup for less than 8 bucks!

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