My wife, Michelle, posted this essay and recipe on our blog previously.
I love to see how far I can stretch our food budget. I have been perfecting this for all of my adult life.
When we were newlyweds—still in college—my folks gave us the amount they would have spent for me if I were still in the dorm. With that we rented a two-bedroom apartment and bought food, gas and incidentals. Sometimes money was a bit short, but we did okay. I remember one holiday we had $20 (1983) left for the whole week. We bought lots of vegetables and a piece of ham, and made a feast for two—then stretched it into many leftover meals, adding items from our meager pantry such as rice or noodles. Near the end of the week we finished with soup made with the bone. We were very proud of ourselves, not at all upset that we had so little.
I guess with such a start I couldn’t help but develop a frugal lifestyle.
Tomato paste is one of my favorite versatile staples in our kitchen. Not only do they stuff 5 or more tomatoes into that little 6 oz can, it has lycopene, that wonderful anti-oxidant, and no extra ingredients—just tomato pulp!
We buy tomato paste by the case. We often get a sale price plus a 10% case discount, which brings the price down to less than 65¢ per can here in Alaska. Compare that to 99¢ for a can of store brand soup on sale.
A few spices, garlic, and onion can turn it into tomato soup, pasta sauce or pizza sauce depending on how much water I add. Simply diluted with water it’s equal to 2 cans of tomato sauce. It’s cheaper, lighter to carry home, takes less shelf space and has no extra salt. With one can and my favorite cream soup mix, I can make a better tasting and more nutritious cream of tomato soup than any name brand offers.
Recently, we had the following soup for lunch with leftover cornbread I made the previous night.
Frugal Tomato Soup
2 T olive oil
1 – 2 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
1 small onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
1 T fresh oregano, chopped (1 tsp dried)
2 T fresh basil, chopped (2 tsp dried)
1/2 to 1 tsp salt (to your taste)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
4 cups (+/-) water
In a 2 qt saucepan, sauté garlic and onion with olive oil until slightly transparent. Take off heat and add all remaining ingredients except water. Fill tomato paste can with water and stir to get all residual paste, then add it to the pan. Add 4 cups water about 1 cup at a time, stirring well each time. Return to heat and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes (or longer if you have time—flavors will improve). This made three large servings or four small ones.
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Mark Zeiger is a regular contributor to Self Reliance Works. He and his family homestead off the grid in Southeast Alaska, well fed by Michelle’s excellent, frugal meals. See more at www.akzeigers.com.
