If you are frugal, you love cleaning out your fridge by making soup out of those odds and ends. But even if you can’t cook a thing, you can’t go wrong with this kind of soup. Really! Take a look at what I whipped up tonight. Great recipe for any season! One of my dearest friends is grieving for her mom. The best thing I could do was to spend time with her, so I brought over some of my “everything” summer vegetable soup for lunch. She told me it was one of the best-tasting, most healing dishes she’s ever tasted. I don’t remember much of what I put into the soup because no two soups are ever the same in my house. Whatever is in my fridge or freezer, I pop into a mix of seasoned water and tomato sauce and leave the mixture to simmer for a couple of hours. (For the soup I brought my friend, I remember a handful of leftover elbow macaroni and some kidney beans, salsa, and tons of vegetables.)
If you want to know more about “everything” soup (and more amazing budget-friendly recipes), check out Linda Watson’s book and website, Wildly Affordable Organics. She talks about “stoup” — a container in the freezer where she puts scraps for soup. I love how she talks about the varied ingredients and tastes she concocts with each stoup. I believe that Amy Dacyczyn called it “refrigerator soup” in Tightwad Gazette. So, I decided last night that I had to use up a bunch of things and it was time for a batch of “everything” summer vegetable soup.
My husband and I had a bowl of soup with dinner and it was unbelievably delicious (his words), and I was worried, because I used some chicken wing marinade I froze back from the Super Bowl! The soup definitely has a kick to it thanks to this bit of marinade! ~Marilyn, TFF
Here’s how I made last night’s soup:
Two Frugal Fairfielders 
I love bagged salad and am always sad when I forget a bag in the fridge until it is no longer crisp. Recently, I started adding the wilted salad to soups and stews. The flavor and nutrition boost is great! Plus, I’m no longer wasting half (or more) full bags of greens and veggies.
Hi! Yes, salad is a great addition to a soup! I always end up adding in the bits of leftover salad from the night before and it’s amazing how it turns out. The lettuce tastes like wilted spinach in the soup and carrots plus celery are always wonderful additions. Thanks so much for writing in with this tip –I’m not so crazy after all with my soup tactics (even when I throw in the leftover sweet and sour sauce from Chinese take-out! It turns out great!).~Marilyn
Sounds perfect! Soup is so forgiving, and as you described, so easy to pull together, a great way to use stuff up! I also keep a freezer container for the bits of veggies that are lurking (although they often end up in a container for me to take to work). I cringe when the first cold snap hits and I happen to be in a grocery store, seeing fellow customers in a mad frenzy to stock up on canned soups. While I do like to keep a few on hand for “emergency dinners” as recipe ingredients, the cost is simply prohibitive-never mind discussion on ingredients, esp. sodium.
Sat is soup night here for dinner, come Fall. Great budget stretcher! I then have a supply of lunches for the upcoming workweek.
Hi Carol! I agree, I can never go back to canned soup, blech. I have to figure out how to make New England chowder, though, since that’s always been my favorite. But yes, soup is so forgiving! Perfect term for it! ~Marilyn, TFF