Giving My All....: no soup for you!

i promised my friend i would post this two days ago.... whoops!

grocery shopping with mommy... sitting like a big girl!

i am on a budget. By budget i really mean "i am broke and have no money for groceries but need to eat." I also am working 50+ hours a week at a draining and awesome job. I have a 5 month old who LOVES my attention and who LOVES early mornings. My husband and i are working hard at our relationship and take every spare moment we can together.

All this means i don't have time or energy to do the menu planning, coupon clipping and hours of grocery shopping that i SHOULD be doing for budget saving purposes. I already have to do all that for my job, doing it twice a week for two different houses is too much!

So (as i have mentioned before) i cook as little as possible (even though i LOVE to cook). This week i was FINALLY READY to tackle soup! Soups i think are hard becuase one wrong ingredient adn it's all ruined. $50 in groceries plus the leftovers we already had. i doubled everything and put enough in the freezer for later and enough for a week of lunches.

I did it though. Thanks to Pinterest i found a bunch of reciepes and then i even made one up!

First was Zuppa Toscana (just like at Olive Garden). this was my husband's favorites and i will be making more ASAP! Click the link for the official recipe i used! my recommendation is MAKE A DOUBLE BATCH because you will want to freeze it and eat it every day.

THEN i made a cheesy ham and potato soup with the leftover ham we got (quick story, kel got a Christmas "bonus" form work... a 20lb ham. how do two people eat 20lbs of ham???? i invent soups!). i made a roux (equal parts butter, melted and flour until it bubbles, add 1 cup milk and stir until thick) then i melted cheese (1/2 a Velveeta block cut into cubes) and milk (no set amount just until it's cheesy enough) and diced ham cubes. i added 1 cup chicken stock, garlic and a chopped onion. diced 3 LARGE potatoes, added them and everything else to he pot. then i heated for 15 minutes until the potatoes were cooked and the onions were soft! its was SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I ALSO made veggie soup. beef broth, green beans, 1 can tomato soup, carrots, celery, corn and garlic and seasonings to taste, cook to a boil and let simmer.

Finally i made chicken noodle soup, pretty basic and no real recipe. Chicken stock, onions, carrots, celery, garlic and noodles.

Notice all the soups have similar ingredients... that's the easiest way to save money!

They all turned out AMAZING! i topped it off with homemade cheddar and garlic biscuits.

I am so proud of myself! i did all this while taking care of my baby and set enough aside to put in the freezer for a BUNCH of warm lunches on cold days!