Jazzed Up Canned Soup in Your Rice Cooker

The seasonings that make your food taste good just so happen to be one of the more expensive components of stocking your kitchen. And then there's chopping onions and garlic, then sauteeing them: time-consuming and messy especially if you don't have a real kitchen.

I've written before about Roger Ebert's idea: use canned or powdered soup as your base. then jazz it up to lower the sodium and add some freshness. Your rice cooker will do the work.

Today, I put this idea to the test. I had some Progresso Albondigas (meatball, if you forgot your Spanish) soup that Big Lots had for a mere 50 cents a can. I added some drained low salt beans, some extra water, and a handful of preshredded cabbage (aka cole slaw mix). You could try frozen spinach instead.

Throw everything in the rice cooker and cook!

Folks, it was good. Add some of the hot sauce you have on hand. More than acceptable.




Any other ideas for jazzing up canned soups?

For other ideas, see the cookbook I put together with Frugal Son.

College Cook: What's On Sale at Publix later this week

For you and your friends, dear Miss Em. Not for you the mac and cheese and other vile items. You've got your pantry and freezer filled with good things. And you can augment with the following:

canned tomatoes Hunts BOGO
Yoplait yogurt .50
5 lb bag grapefruit 2.50
fuji apples .99/lb

College Cooking and Economic Trends: Coffee

I will admit it: a main reason (if not THE main reason) for having Miss Em purchase a small meal plan is money. At around $8.00/meal, the dining hall is an expensive choice.

Of course, you're not saving money if you purchase prepared food in your grocery deli: that gourmet wrap may equal the cost of your dining hall lunch, without the variety.

Still, college students can't--and shouldn't--run all over town trying to get the best deals on food. Nevertheless, when you spot a deal, buy more than one.

The Wall Street Journal tells us that food prices are going up: coffee, in particular, is on the rise. It just so happens that Miss Em, who is fast becoming an addict, like her parents before her, inquired about coffee. It turns out that the wonderful instant coffee we learned about will not suffice.

No, she wants real coffee too. Well, my local grocery has coffee and chicory on sale this week for $1.99. I was planning to buy 20. Maybe I'll buy 50, and save some for Miss Em and her roommates.

I noticed that Amazon has Louisiana coffee at a very good price.

This is only a teeny bit more than a local sale price! I called Miss Em, but it turns out that no one in her suite has a P.O. box, so I can't have Amazon send it yet. I told her to get a box forthwith.

Warning: Louisiana coffee is very strong.

Any thoughts on stocking up?

Mommy, What's BOGO?: How to Save Money Stocking the College Kitchen

Even though superfrugal shopping is not the MAIN aim of this blog--why not save money when you can? The key to ease in meal preparation is to have what you need: with a can of tomatoes, an onion, pasta, cheese, a vegetable, you have dinner. Add eggs and you have a different dinner. Add tortillas and you have yet another dinner.

The key to saving money in your kitchen is to have what you need, acquired at good prices.

There are various ways to accomplish this end. The one that gets the most press is couponing. I don't do this myself (too messy) and I think for singles like college cooks, it would be a real time suck. Another way (my personal fave) is Big Lots. But for the college student, this isn't the best: not everything is well-priced and you can't count on finding what you need. The warehouse stores are, in theory, excellent, but, except for cheese, I haven't found the prices that great. Plus, they are often out of the way. Plus, items are sold in huge sizes that would prove wasteful for the single or college cook.

So, we are back to the local grocery. Obviously, shop sales. How do you shop at the local place and save money? If you need something, you need something. Still, you should SHOP THE ADS. Most stores have ads on-line, which is how I checked the Publix prices for my beloved daughter.

Publix seems enamored of the BOGO. "Mommy, what's a BOGO?" Glad you asked. It means BUY ONE GET ONE FREE. So, College Cooks, if you see that you can get canned tomatoes that way, and pasta, why not buy 2 of each? That way, when you need to restock, you'll already have what you need, thereby saving a trip.

With things like canned tomatoes and pasta, I'd probably buy 4 of each--or even 8.

Any other tips for saving money on food shopping?

Yet another good deal for students: LLBean Backpack Sale and Free Shipping

We at the Frugal Homestead will not be taking advantage of this DOUBLE offer, but IF you need a backpack, this may be the time. LL Bean, maker of the ubiquitous backpack and profferer (??) of the famous lifetime guarantee is having a 20% off all backpacks sale. That's pretty good, given the guarantee.

Frugal Son and Miss Em have backpacks--many years old now--so they are set.

I got an LL Bean visa card for the express purpose of free shipping and monogramming on said backpacks. Now you can get free shipping any old way and use whatever credit card you want.

FRUGAL RULE: Don't buy something just because it's on sale. ONLY IF YOU NEED IT.

As a little bonus, let me recount a frugal horror story. One of my students had 4 kids and ordered them ALL LL backpacks with monogramming. She was a frugal pal of mine. We often collected old student folders and distributed them--me to my students and my student to her children. Imagine my horror when she told me about the order! She was less pathological than yours truly. She did promise that if she ordered anything else, she would get the credit card or give me cash and let me order.

Two Good Deals for College Students: Amazon Prime and Sam's Club

Sam's Club offers college students a $15.00 gift card with its regular $40.00 membership. Math majors: This makes the membership $25.00, right? You have to get this in-store, I think. Miss Em is going to join, with a parent as a co-member.

We don't buy much there, but it's worth it for cheese. Most of the goods are sized too large for college students.

Meanwhile, Amazon is working towards world domination by offering students free Amazon Prime. Needless to say, this is designed to get you to purchase your textbooks from Amazon. Prime means you don't need to get to $25.00 for free shipping. Plus, you get 2-day shipping.

So, students, in addition to whatever else you need: remember your rice cooker.