Easy Hearty Potato Leek Soup

A win! We found a soup that Shawn likes! Potato Leek Soup with some modification for his liking. It will leave you with leftovers if there is only one (or two) people! 

Ingredients:

5 lbs. potatoes, peeled (we used golden potatoes this time and have used russets before with no problems)
2-3 leeks, greens removed, cut and chopped
Miso soup broth to taste, about 1-1/2 to 2 cups 
Fresh thyme
1/2 fresh bay leaf
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Butter to taste
Milk to taste (I used about 1/2 to 3/4 c.) 

Cook potatoes as though making mashed potatoes (boil until tender). When that is cooking, in a separate pan, add butter or olive oil until warm, add leeks.  Stir to cover leeks with butter/oil.  Cover.  Stir occasionally until leeks are cooked (soft, wilted looking - photo below is before cooking).  *Before leeks are cooked completely, add the bay leaf, fresh thyme leaves to taste, and fresh ground pepper.* 

When potatoes are done cooking, drain.  Add leeks, miso soup, milk, and a few tabs of butter if desired. Blend until desired thickness (add more soup broth & milk for a more broth-y soup, add less for a thicker soup.) We used a handheld blender for this step.  We left it fairly thick with some potato chunks leftover. 

Garnish with fresh thyme, serve hot! Shawn likes this soup with extra ingredients: corn and small bacon pieces (and this time, with french fried onions as a garnish). Enjoy! Do you like Potato Leek soup and have any tricks or tips to share? 

Cheap & Healthy Dinner

Hello! We are enjoying the cool breeze of a thunderstorm, and just finished a pretty awesome dinner that gave us a TON of leftovers! I wasn't sure how it would turn out, I didn't have a recipe or anything, and we were pleasantly surprised. Mind you, there are only two of us, so if you're a larger family, you won't have as much left over as we do. 

Ingredients:

1 sweet onion, chopped

1-2 bags of mixed vegetables (we bought a "stir fry blend," it had snap peas, yellow peppers, broccoli, carrots) 

1.5 lb. ground turkey (I'm positive this would taste good with any kind of Turkey, not just ground.)

1 lb. brown rice

seasonings

Onion: $0.89. 

Stir Fry Veggie Bag: $1 each. 

1.5 lb. Ground Turkey: $2.07. 

1 lb. brown rice: $1. 

Cook rice according to instructions (our 1 lb. bag turned out to have 2 1/2 c. uncooked rice, & it took approx. 35 minutes).  While that is cooking, chop onion & start to brown the turkey. Once turkey is cooked, drain, I added some fresh ground pepper, and add to a big bowl, cover.  In same pan, sweat onion. In one final pan, steam vegetables (ours were frozen, so according to our bag instructions). Drain vegetables. By this time, the rice should be about done.  When rice is finished, add half the rice to the bowl, stir to mix with turkey.  Add the onions, stir.  Add the rest of the rice and steamed vegetables, stir.  Season to taste.  We used salt, pepper, basil, and cajun.  Shawn added garlic to his. I'm sure a garnish of parsley, mint leaves, or even sage would make a great addition. 

We hope this helps, even a little.  We know what it's like to eat on a budget, and this easy and CHEAP recipe will keep us full for a number of days! 

What cheap meals do you like to cook?