New Focus

I've been thinking & reading more lately about meal planning, cooking, saving $ on feeding the family. How do you eat for a week for $50? I've always liked reading Hillbilly Housewife, and although her $45 Emergency Menu, I haven't done a lot of the recipes there.

I am about to kick off a big soup season, though. Tonight is going to be Minestrone with Multigrain Rolls (Rhodes), and I've got a package of bean soup mix & a ham bone. I also have some beef bones & some barley. I'm going to cook up some dry beans and freeze them, so that making chili will be easy.

And since I got a Dutch Oven for Christmas, I'm going to give No Knead Bread a try, hopefully today/tomorrow.

I'm also going to post my grocery receipts, with an eye to keeping the budget down to $250. We have a very full pantry right now, so I'm cautiously optimistic.

Minestrone Soup
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans (I'm using garbanzo beans tonight, because that's what's in the cupboard)
1 box frozen spinach, thawed & excess water squeezed out
1/2 cup Italian sausage, cooked & crumbled
6 cups vegetable broth (I'd use chicken broth if it was just me and the girls eating)
2 cups small dried pasta (I'm using small shells)
parmesan cheese

1. Saute onions & garlic in olive oil in a large pot. Add carrots & celery. Cook for about 5 minutes.
   
2. Add tomatoes, beans, broth, spinach & sausage.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for half an hour.
4. Add pasta; cook another 10 - 15 minutes.
   
5. Serve with parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top (if you have a leftover parm cheese rind, throw it in the pot with the broth)