Yesterday I posted about making a nice mixed veggie soup. Very versatile, great for leftovers, too.

Today I got home with not a lot of time to think about what to cook, much less go out to the store to buy ingredients if I did think of something. Had to make do with what we had.

Rice in the cooker, and then frozen tilapia fillets in a sink of warm water to thaw. Leftover veggie soup comes in handy, but it isn't enough for the three of us.

So, I stir-fried 8 oz of baby spinach in a wok with olive oil and soy sauce. Set the spinach aside in a dish to keep warm.

Then I cut up the thawed tilapia into large chunks, and fried it with the last of the bagged cole slaw in the same wok with a bit more oil and a bit more soy sauce.

Voila! Fish and rice = basic staples. Veggie soup, plus cabbage from the cole slaw, plus spinach = a nice variety of healthful vegetables.

It's a great way to get a really nice variety of veggies going. If you add the right ones, you don't really need to add much in the way of flavoring.

Here's my standard fare:

• carrot
• onion
• zucchini
• celery
• tomato

Dice each of the above veggies, add a little water to a pot, and start cooking. Make sure to cook in order of how long it takes-- carrots and celery, then onion, then zucchini, then tomato.

The carrots and onions add a wonderful sweet flavor to the veggie broth, and the tomatoes balance it out with a bit of sourness. All that's needed is a sprinkling of salt and voila! A healthful stew of soup. Goes great by itself or mixed with other dinner fixings.

Made an old standard tonight: pasta with cream of mushroom soup and canned tuna. Kind of like the idea behind Hamburger Helper.

Cooked pasta, drained, then added 1 can cream of mushroom soup (condensed), 1 can of tuna and 1 can of peas.

For veggies, I diced some zucchini and stir-fried it with bagged cole slaw, and served on the side.

Voila! A quick and easy meal, which makes a nice change from yesterday's take-forever risotto! ;-)

Lesson learned: cook the zucchini first! It takes longer to cook than shredded cabbage.

Total cost:
half a bag of farfalle = 50 cents
1 cream of mushroom soup = 69 cents
1 can of tuna in water = 99 cents
1 can of sweet peas = 79 cents
1/3 bag cole slaw = 50 cents
1 zucchini = 50 cents

Grand Total:  $3.97

• 2 Carrots, diced
• 1 Zucchini, diced
• 1 package Mushrooms, sliced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 4 cups Chicken broth
• 1 cup barley
• 3 tablespoons butter

1. Heat 2 spoons butter + olive oil, fry onions until soft. Add salt, pepper and soy sauce.
2. Add 2 cups chicken broth and barley, stir and cook a few minutes.
3. Add remaining broth, bring to simmer, cook barley, covered, for 20 minutes

4. Add vegetables (except tomatoes) and cook additional 10 minutes, uncovered.

5. Add tomatoes and cook another 10 minutes, or until broth evaporates and barley is tender (but chewy). Stir in remaining spoon of butter and add more salt and pepper to taste.



For added protein, I microwaved some turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's, and added them to individual servings of risotto... or soup?

See, I think I wound up adding too much liquid, because between the broth and the vegetables, it ended up being more of a soup than risotto. There wasn't THAT much liquid leftover, so it was only slightly "soupy", but it was delicious that way, too! The barley has an interesting, nutty flavor-- a little remniscent of oats, but with the consistency of brown rice, with some added chewiness. Delicious!

Total cost?
Half a bag of barley = 75 cents
Zucchini = 50 cents
Pack of mushrooms = 99 cents
Onion and carrot = 25 cents
Tomato = $1
Meatballs = $1

Grand total = $4.49 for all 3 of us.

Ingredients:

• Swai fillet
• Broccoli
• Sliced mushrooms
• Onion or garlic
• Basil

Steam broccoli, cook rice, set aside.
Chop a handful of onion, and fry in oil in pan. Add basil (fresh is best, but dried also works well)
Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of swai fillet.
Fry swai fillets in the onion/basil oil, 3 minutes each side.

Take out swai fillets and set aside.
Add sliced mushrooms to pan, season with soy sauce, and sautee until cooked.

Serve swai with rice and broccoli on the side, and coated with mushroom and remaining sauce from pan.

Total cost?
almost 1 pound broccoli = 77 cents
1 package sliced mushrooms = 99 cents
swai fillets @ $1/fillet = $3
rice for all of us = 25 cents

Grand total = $5.01 for 3 meals at dinner plus Todd's lunch the next day.

At noon: cube boneless, skinless chicken breasts, season with salt and soy sauce, and let soak in a bowl in the fridge.

In the evening:
Fry chicken in oil in a large wok at high heat.
Prepare couscous according to package instructions. Add some diced tomatoes towards end of cooking.
Stir-fry spinach with soy sauce and a dash of lemon, and serve on the side.

A lot of the juice from the chicken ended up in the wok after cooking. Add some liquefied starch or flour into the mix, heat to boiling, and the mixture will thicken, creating a perfect sauce!

Heat leftover salmon water (or any water used to cook meat (extra flavor!) else just plain water)
Add soybean paste and diced medium/firm tofu.

Serve over reconstituted wakame seaweed with a slice of whole-grain bread with almond butter.
Season with extra Tamari soy sauce if desired.

Ingredients:

• Salmon
• Cole slaw
• Eggs
• Spinach

Stir-fry spinach with oil and soy sauce. Add a dash of lemon. Set aside.

Stir-fry cole slaw with mushroom sauce to taste.
Boil salmon and shred (save the water for soup-- see next day)
Crack egg into bowl, add soy sauce, beat, and mix in slaw and salmon bits
Fry as a pancake

Serve individual cakes with spinach and rice on the side.

Ingredients:

• 2 tomatoes
• 2 zucchinis
• 3 carrots
• pasta
• salmon

Bring pot of water to boil.
Cook carrots, zucchini and pasta for ~10 minutes.
Add tomatoes and cook a few more minutes.
Also added Trader Joe's chicken broth packet for extra flavor.

Cook salmon separately.


Ladel soup into bowls. Cut cooked salmon portions into pieces and add to soup.