Easy Vegetable Beef Soup
Fans of Milwaukee Consumer on Facebook know that we recently polled our readers to see what kind of soups they like to make in the winter. You might be wondering what does soup have to do with saving money?
Turns out that soup is not only a great way to stay warm in the winter and make for a great low-cost meal too!
Over the course of the next month or two we’ll be featuring a number of low-cost soups, including recipes from our readers. If you’d like to send us a recipe to consider, we’d love to have you contact us.
Slow Cooker Easy Vegetable Beef Soup
Jennifer over at Green Bay Consumer posted a recipe for Slow Cooker Easy Vegetable Beef Soup last fall and I’ve been meaning to try it ever since. During my last shopping trip to Aldi I picked up most of the ingredients for this soup. (I had a can of diced tomatoes and some spices on hand.)
Ingredients and cost:
- 1 lb. ground beef (I used ground sirloin. My cost came out to be about $3.60 a pound.)
- 14 oz. beef broth or stock ($1.29 for a 32 oz. can…so I used about $0.56 worth.)
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 10-16 oz. mixed veggies ($0.99)
- 14 oz. can of diced or crushed tomatoes (Let’s assume a cost of $0.80.)
- 1 can condensed tomato soup ($0.49)
- 1 Tbl dried minced onion
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
The total cost of all my ingredients was $6.44.
As the name of the recipe suggests, the soup was extremely easy to make. I browned the beef, drained the fat, and added it to a 4-quart slow cooker. I added the rest of the ingredients and cooked it about 3 to 4 hours on high.
The soup was good. However, I think I could have made it a lot better had I followed Jennifer’s recipe closely. I highly recommend you bookmark or print Jennifer’s Slow Cooker Easy Vegetable Beef Soup recipe and follow her tips on brands and optional ingredients that add more flavor. I ended up using a little hot sauce to give the soup some extra flavor. Next time around I will be following her advice. Although the additional ingredients will increase the cost of the soup a little bit, it will still be a very economical meal.
The best part about making a large quantity of soup is leftovers! We only ate half of the soup, so I froze half of what was left and the other half was for lunch the next day. I know there will be a time in the next few weeks where I won’t have the energy or the time to cook, which will make for a perfect opportunity to reheat this soup for a quick and easy meal!
Pick ‘n Save Double Coupon Deals for February 4 & 8
Here is our weekly summary of the best deals with coupon matchups this week at Pick ‘n Save, as analyzed and prepared by Rose from Rose Knows Coupons. Pick ‘n Save doubles coupons on Wednesday and Saturday. For tips on using double coupons, see our post Extreme Couponing in Milwaukee With Double Coupons .
For details on Pick ‘n Save Double Coupon Daze, and an explanation of the abbreviations used in the post below, see our Guide to Saving Money at Pick ‘n Save.
Here are the best deals I see this week:
General Mills Cereal Buy 6 Boxes at Regular Price and Get $9 Off Instantly at Checkout Plus Coupons for a Gallon of Milk & Dozen Eggs FREE
$1/3 General Mills Cereal, exp. 3/17/12 (GM 02/05/12)
$0.75/1 Cheerios, Dulce de Leche Cereal printable
$1/2 Select General Mills Cereals printable
$1/1 Cheerios, Multi Grain Peanut Butter Cereal printable
$0.50/1 Cheerios Honey Nut Cereal printable
$0.75/1 Frosted Toast Crunch Cereal printable
$0.75/1 Cheerios Dulce de Leche Cereal printable
$0.75/1 Cheerios, Multi Grain Peanut Butter Cereal printable
$1/3 General Mills Cereal, exp. 2/18/12 (GM 01/08/12)
= Varies
Lean Cuisine Meals 4/$10
$1/5 Lean Cuisine Varieties, exp. 3/31/12 (SS 01/01/12 #2)
= $2.30 each or $2.10 each after doubled coupon
Nature Made Vitamins or Supplements Buy One Get One FREE
$1/1 Nature Made Product, exp. 2/29/12 (SS 01/29/12)
$3/2 Nature Made Product, exp. 2/29/12 (SS 01/29/12)
= Varies
Read more
Free DNR Ice Fishing Clinics for Kids on Saturday
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is sponsoring free ice fishing clinics for kids ages 15 and younger on Saturday, February 4. The clinics are being held at six local parks throughout the area. Children will learn the basics of ice fishing including ice safety, fishing techniques, equipment use, and knot tying. Each of the clinics is hosted by local fishing clubs. Clinics begin at 9 a.m. and run hourly until 3 p.m. (the last clinic starts at 2 p.m.)
Locations of the free fishing clinics are:
Milwaukee County
- Humboldt Park
- McCarthy Park
- McGovern Park
- Scout Lake Park
- Wilson Park
Waukesha County
- Menomonee Park/Lannon Quarry
For more information, check out the DNR website.
Family Free Day at the Zoo on Saturday, February 4
Saturday, February 4 is Family Free Day at the Milwaukee County Zoo. All visitors will receive free Zoo admission (parking fees still apply). The zoo is open from 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
North Shore Bank and Fox 6 sponsor several Family Free Days during the off-season. Family Free Days typically fall on the first Saturday of the month from November through April. The next Family Free Day is March 3.
More information on the Milwaukee County Zoo Family Free Days can be found on the Milwaukee County Zoo website.
2012 Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Show Discounts & Ticket Giveaway
The 50th Annual Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Show will be held February 9-12 at the Wisconsin Exposition Center at State Fair Park. With more than 300 exhibitors, the Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Show is the largest home improvement and remodeling show in the state. The Exposition Center will be filled with providers of home improvement products and services and contractors specializing in kitchens, bathrooms, decks, roofing, and much more.
The theme of this year’s show is Celebrating 50 Years of Ideas for your Home. Educational demonstrations by home improvement experts, media celebrities, area chefs, and national cooking celebrities will be held, including presentations by:
- Doug Wilson of America’s Ugliest, Moving Up, and Trading Spaces on TLC
- Melinda Myers, “The Plant Doctor”
- Tom Feiza, Milwaukee’s “Mr. Fix It”
- Lis Friemoth, “The Garden Hoe”
- Gus Gnorski
- Mad Dog & Merril, grilling extraordinaires
- Jyll Everman, Food Network Star contestant
Ticket prices for adults are $8. Seniors ages 60 and up are $6 ($2 discount on Thursday, February 9), and children ages 12 and younger are free. A coupon for $2 off admission is available on the Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Show website. Discount tickets can also be purchased in advance for $6 at several Milwaukee/NARI member locations throughout the Milwaukee area.
Full information on the Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Show, including a schedule of events and hours can be found on their website.
Ticket Giveaway
The organizers of the 2012 Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Show have provided 6 – four-packs of tickets to the show to be given away to Milwaukee Consumer readers. To enter the drawing to win tickets, please fill out the form below.
Contest fine print: The drawing for six winners of four tickets each to the Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Show will be held on Tuesday, February 7 at 5:00 p.m. One entry per person, please. By entering the giveaway, you will also be added to the Milwaukee Consumer email list to be kept in the loop of all of the great deals in our area (don’t worry…we don’t share email addresses with anyone, and you can unsubscribe at any time).