Cheap Eats: Two for One

So since I’m on this recipe kick, I thought I’d keep going on in the same vein ad naseum.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

But everyone can use recipes for cheap (yet real and wholesome!) meals, right?

Part I: Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup

I cheated on this one. I had a Tetra pak of Potato-Leak soup on hand (organic, natch).  I chopped two potatoes, cut up about a cup and a half of broccoli heads, added the potatoes into the soup till they were soft and then added the brocc till it was just tender.

Puree half the soup in a blender and stir in a cup or two of shredded cheese of your choice (just make sure it is at least rBGH-free. Kroger brand cheese is, even if it is from factory farms :S  But raw cheese and cheese from happy pastured cows is expensive…one exception: Tillamook is a decent price and since their cheese is made from cows in OREGON then OF COURSE they are happy.  Seriously, who wouldn’t be? But I digress.)

Final step: serve.  Miles loved this; therefore I will be making this again, but probably from scratch, which takes just a tad longer and involves broth but its not too much more time intensive.

Part II: Chicken Tortilla Soup

So I have this fabulously outrageously delicious recipe for white chili which also happens to be fairly time-intesive…but this is not that recipe. It just TASTES like it.

The original recipe is here.  This is my modification:

1.5 cups chicken from my free-range hen I got at the farm (I haven’t been able to buy bulk meats yet; hence, the parsimonious parcelling out of meat and heavily veggie-based recipes because individual pastured meat is expensive).
Olive oil
1 tsp garlic (or MORE)
1 tsp cumin
29 oz broth (I used veggie)
1 – 1.5 cups white beans (soaked and pre-cooked)
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp chili powder
1 Tbsp lemon juice (oops, I forgot this tonight but it turned out equally fine)
1/2 – 1 cup shredded white cheese

Saute chicken (if not cooked) and onion in oil.  Add garlic and fry a little more. Add spices and mix.  Add broth and beans and let simmer till warmed through.

Add in shredded cheese and heat till cheese is stirred through.

Top with extra cheese, sour cream, guacamole, avocado, broken up corn chips, whatever your little heart desires.

This is super-yum, seriously.