The Frugal Kitchen: Swanson Thai Ginger Broth

If you've always wanted to make Thai soups, but didn't want to search for the complex ingredients; your day has come.  Swanson has a Thai Ginger broth that makes cooking Thai a breeze.

Add some poached chicken, sliced green onion and rice or rice noodles to this broth and you have a restaurant quality Thai soup.  It is delicious, easy and quick.

Or substitute this broth for water when making rice and you have a unique side dish.  Enjoy!

God bless,
Pam

The Frugal Kitchen: Soup Base

Walk into the kitchen at any diner or restaurant and you will find soup base.  It is used to enrich soups, stews and sauces with a more intense flavor than stock.  Often it is added in small amounts to add a depth and strength to stock.

I always keep four kinds of soup base in my pantry:  chicken, beef, ham and vegetable.  I add it when I feel that a recipe tastes good, but I want more flavor.  It is economical and is now available to the home cook at the grocery store.

The ham base tastes great in bean and vegetable dishes.  It tastes as if I have been cooking all day with a hamhock or piece of ham.  One tablespoon in the pot makes a huge difference.

For a few pennies you can take a meal from ho hum to great.  Frugal and it makes the cook's job easier!

God bless,
Pam

Stone Soup

When my daughter attended the local Waldorf school I would substitute as a kindergarten assistant. One of my duties was to prepare a snack for the children each day. In the wintertime the snack was always a hot porridge, soup, or fresh baked bread.

Every Friday I would prepare the children's favorite: stone soup. Each child would bring a vegetable from home; whatever they had in their pantry. This was wonderful as we would have vegetables from many different cultures that were unfamiliar to us. The children would be trying new foods in a fun way.

The recipe:

One well washed, smooth stone
Many different vegetables,
Water
4 Tbs. Butter
Salt to taste
Herbs if desired

I would make this soup in a rice cooker, but you can do it on the stove in a heavy pot. Place stone in pot. Add vegetables that are diced in bite sized pieces, water to make the amount of soup you need, butter, and a small amount of dried herbs. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook for two hours, add a small amount of salt to taste.

Serve soup carefully, scraping the bottom of the pot with your spoon to make sure somebody gets the stone. It's nice if who gets the stone is a surprise even for you.

We would have read the story "Stone Soup" to the children at the beginning of stone soup season. The child that found the stone in their soup would be all smiles.

At home Anna will ask for us to make stone soup. We make it with whatever we have at hand in the pantry or garden. It is different every time. It would be fun to host a stone soup party: Each guest brings a vegetable and helps in the preparation. Read the story before serving the meal.

God bless,
Pam

Frugal Soup Container

How many times have we completed a meal and there is less than one serving leftover; not enough to eat for lunch the next day.  It seems like a waste of food, but what can you do but throw it out or into the compost bin?

Try keeping a freezer container or bag in the freezer labeled "soup scraps".  Place these little bits of leftover food into the container; meat, gravy, vegetables, just about anything.  When your container is full, place the leftovers in a pot with some broth.  Let it simmer for an hour to merge the flavors, taste and adjust the seasonings.  You will be amazed at how good this type of soup can be.

God bless,
Pam