Today I’m joining Frugal Friday.
One way I try to be frugal is to take basic ingredients and keep them stocked in my pantry. Then I try to use them in various forms. For example, I do not know anyone who eats cream of mushroom soup as a soup, rather it goes into casseroles. This year I want to learn to do the same think with condensed tomato soup. Now is a good time to start. It is soup season and you can get decent deals on condensed soups. I usually buy a years worth of soups this time of year. However, I always end up with leftover condensed tomato soup. I use my cream of mushroom and chicken, but have not gotten creative with the tomato. I did some research this year and found a few recipes. I’ve not tried these but wanted to get a game plan before I brought in 100 cans.
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Here are a few ideas with my comments:
I am going to try this in my bread. I’ve made herb bread using v8, but the next round I will use tomato soup instead of water. I’ll add herbs and hope it is great. I quickly searched the internet and did not find any similar that I wanted to try.
Tomato soup cupcakes with cream cheese frosting: It sounds yucky but I read on and it looks like a spice cake. I think this is one worth trying. At least it is very creative.
Marinated Carrot Salad: again I thought yuck, but there were 9 reviews that were very complimentary.
Tomato soup meatloaf: I use 1/2 a jar of spaghetti sauce in my meatloaf now. I could use a can of soup instead and not have the half jar leftover.
Oldfashioned Goulash: If I make this I’ll have to remain it. Dave won’t eat anything called “goulash.”
Tomato Soup Cake: this one had a ton of good review. Where have I been? I’ve never heard of using tomato soup in cake!
BBQ Spareribs: I think we’d like this one. It looks like it would work in the crockpot too.
Chili: last time I made chili I used a couple of cans of manwich. But using tomato soup might be good too.
Zesty Tomato Pork Chops: I would have never tried this, but looks good.
Crab and Tomato Soup: I have several cans of crab I got on sale at Walgreens. So all I need for this recipe is cream and homemade bread. I wonder if I could use vit D evap milk I got for free at Krogers instead of cream? I bet it would work.
Please let me know if you have any tried and true recipes using this ingredient.
November 13, 2009 at 2:57 pm |
Ha ha, we’re the opposite! My husband loves Cream of Mushroom soup when he’s sick and I HATE it in casseroles. Possibly, we’re the only house in America that buys cream of mushroom to eat, LOL, and never, ever buy tomato soup. (I make it with tomato paste, water, and milk).
November 13, 2009 at 3:37 pm |
You are the only family I know who does that:) Using coupons and sales, I think I can get these cans for less than tomato paste. I’ve only gotten tomato paste with coupons once. I really need to stock up on paste though, b/c I like to use it on pizzas.
November 13, 2009 at 3:43 pm |
I use it to thicken misnestrone soup http://theprudenthomemaker.com/minestronesoup.aspx I don’t think it’s neccessary that way, but my family likes it better that way.
I used some recently while making a BBQ meat in the crockpot. I used it instead of tomato sauce.
And, yes, you can use your evaporated milk in place of cream in the recipe above.
I’ll have to look for canned crab at Walgreen’s. I never thought of getting it there. I want to get some canned clams for cheap, too, so if you know of any good places, please let me know!
November 13, 2009 at 4:06 pm |
I got the best deal on clams a few months ago. HEB had a ton of canned clams in their clearance. I haven’t used them b/c I have NEVER cooked with clams before. I can only think of chowder? I could make chowder and use one of my million cans of evaporated milk! I also have a huge tube of morning moo milk I need to start using. I have good problems:)
A few months back, Walgreen’s had a decent deal on canned shrimp and crab with an instore coupon. You can occasionally get good food deals at Walgreen’s but it is hit/miss.
November 13, 2009 at 6:08 pm |
I have a great recipe for spaghetti with garlic and clams. Its delicous and fairly simple and my husband and friends love it if you want it!
November 13, 2009 at 10:54 pm |
We do eat tomato soup, but always with grilled cheese sandwiches! Garnish the soup with croutons and shredded cheese, a couple of halves of grilled cheese on the side – Yummy! This is our favorite yucky weather meal. As soon as it rains or snows, this is what is served for dinner.
Love the other ideas – never used tomato soup for anything else but with the sandwiches.
November 14, 2009 at 12:37 am |
“Red soup” as my 4 year old calls it is a favorite around here. Never thought to use it in other ways. I think the cake sounds very interesting!