Using the Google News search function (from this Econofest post), I found this soup recipe from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. A healthy vegetarian recipe, most of the ingredients for this soup are pantry staples and inexpensive produce. In the article, it is suggested that a serving of this soup only costs $1.29 if you already have the spices and olive oil on hand. If you have a perfectly stocked pantry, however, it will cost even less! It seems appropriate to debut the new Soupified project with a budget-friendly recipe to close out Econofest.

Please enjoy this spicy and savory soup offering, chocked full of warmth and goodness. Each serving has plenty of protein as well as tons of veggies, making it a wonderful meal in a bowl.

Gypsy Soup
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

2 tbsp olive oil
2 sweet yellow onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 cup diced green bell pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
dash cayenne pepper (about 1/8 tsp)
1 can (14-16 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (15 oz) chick peas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
2 vegetable bouillon cubes, dissolved in 4 cups water

Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, sweet potato and celery, and saute for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in bell pepper and spices. Saute another 3 minutes. Add tomato, chick peas, and vegetable stock. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Above: Sweet potaoes, celery, garlic, and onions, chopped and ready to become soup.

Above: Paprika, turmeric, dried basil, cinnamon, and a dash of cayenne pepper give the soup its spicy warmth and smokey flavor.

Introducing the newest Special Project to hit Jenn’s Cook Book: Soupified

Now that the weather forecasts include frost, snow, and other nasty things, I bring you a bowl of comfort to warm you from the inside-out. While Jenn’s Cook Book does already have a soup category, it is seriously lacking (4 of the 14 posts are recipe revisions, and almost all of the recipes are over a year old, many with no pictures), so I hope this project will help the fledgling category grow.  

Soup is a wide-reaching food category that includes stews, chowders, and countless other classifications. For this project, I will attempt to include a variety of soups from different global cuisines and cultures, as well as take advantage of seasonal ingredients and introduce a few new flavors.

I’m not the only one with soup on the brain. MyRecipes.com recently finished Your Daily Soup, showcasing 31 fabulous soup recipes during the month of October. Also check out 10 Soups Under 300 Calories, Classic Soups – Ready in a Flash, and How to Make Super Soups from Cooking Light magazine. Still want more? Check out MyRecipes.com enormous archive of Soup Recipes.

Soup is one of those extrordinary foods that can soothe the body and the soul. We turn to soup for comfort during times of illness, inclement weather, and economic hardship. In most cases, soup is remarkably inexpensive. Soup revives ho-hum leftovers and turns everyday ingredients into an surprisingly satisfying meal. Chocked full of vegetables, many soup recipes are healthy, or leave room for adjustments to control calorie, fat, and sodium contents.

As I’ve mentioned before, food is a source of comfort, a product of love, and a means of sustenance. A homemade bowl of soup is all of these things and more. Now that wintry weather it at the front door, I invite you to pull up a chair, grab a spoon and join me for a bowl of piping hot soup.  

Let’s get Soupified!

Fallen Souffle is now Bowl of Berries! The new blog will feature recipes as well as the author’s articles on life, such as travel logs, gardening, restaurant reviews and more. Check out this inaugural post for the Best Blueberry Muffins.

The Cool Food Blogroll has been updated. You can look up archives on Fallen Souffle here.

For the Econofest Project, I have shared some of my favorite tips and tricks for saving money in and out of the kitchen. Throughout the project, I have sited several sources that I would now like to combine for easy reference. Here are some of my favorite places to find great information on cooking, food, and saving money:

Eating Well: Website for the magazine, full of free recipes as well as health and diet information.

Everyday Food: Another magazine subscription, Everyday Food has started including recipes using pantry staples and budget items.

Food and Wine: Free recipes from the magazine, with information on wine (of course).

Ideal Bite: An excellent earth-friendly website that “offers bite-sized ideas for light green living.” Sign up for the daily email tips, like this one, to learn quick and easy strategies for saving the planet.

Love Food Hate Waste: A UK-based campaign to raise awareness and reduce food waste. The website is full of ideas, recipes, and information on reducing food waste.

MyRecipes.com: A recipe collection pulled from magazines such as Cooking Light, Real Simple, Southern Living, and more. This has an excellent enhanced search option and features interesting articles.

Real Age: More of a health site than food, Real Age does offer great nutritional advice and healthy recipes.

Real Simple: Not only a great online recipe collection, but other tidbits about cleaning, storage, organizing, and other nifty household tips.

Start Making Choices: Another health and fitness website, but with good advice on healthy cooking and budget-friendly shopping.

Vital Juice Daily: A website devoted to health of the mind, body and spirit. Offering free daily email tips, VJD has a “thirst for a healthy life” and shares this philosophy with readers.

WebMD: WebMD is more than a symptom checker website! Interesting articles on health and fitness, and tips on healthy cooking and eating.

wikiHow: User-edited how-to manual, find articles on a variety of food topics and cooking techniques.

Wise Bread: One of my favorite sites, Wise Bread has an awesome archive packed full of frugal ideas for house and home. It is a treasure chest of goodies for those looking to save money and possibly help save the planet.

Hopefully, the Econofest Project has helped everyone save a little money just in time for the holiday season. Use these resources to find more tips, tricks, and information on saving money. Be on the lookout for more recipes and special projects coming soon!

Are you constantly panicking over what to make for dinner? Do you make countless trips to the grocery store over the course of the week for “just one more thing” to make a meal? There is a solution to prevent those hurried attempts to make tonight’s dinner: a pantry so well stocked that you can whip up a dozen or so different options in no time flat.

What makes a well-stocked pantry? The answer depends on your tastes, lifestyle, and family needs. Your perfect pantry should include items that everyone in the household enjoys eating on a regular basis. For some, that might mean lentils and curry powder and for others it might mean pasta and mariana sauce (for some of us, it could even mean both!).

Here is a basic list of pantry staples, adapted from The Perfect Panty:

Sea salt and pepper
Olive oil, vegetable oil, and/or canola oil
Chicken or vegetable stock
Dried beans
Dried pasta
Canned tomatoes (whole, crushed, diced)
Cinnamon
Cumin
Honey
Lemon
Onion
Garlic
Rice
Balsamic Vinegar
Canned vegetables

If you are a baker,  you will also want to include flour, sugar, oats, baking soda/powder, chocolate chips, and other must-have supplies. You can also think of your freezer as an extension of your pantry, stocking it with frozen fruits and vegetables, meat, and stock. Look for markdowns on meat near the sell-by date and store in a freezer-ready bag or container.

These are merely suggestions, you will need to adjust your list accordingly. Be sure to include ingredients that will allow you to make your sure-fire, never-fail crowd pleasers. For example, I always have a few special ingredients on hand: golden raisins, coconut milk, hoisin sauce, curry powder, spaghetti sauce, jasmine rice, and gingerroot (which stores great in the freezer). I also have a plethora of spices to use, including paprika, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, dried herbs, and more.

Once you have your perfect pantry list, keep those items on hand to make a last-minute meal. This will prevent those pesky last-minute trips to the grocery store that suck up the food budget. Hopefully, having a personally created pantry will also inspire you to cook more at home and eat out less!

For more assistance, check out these articles from wikiHow on How to Stock a Kitchen Pantry and How to Organize a Pantry. Then, if you want to have a little fun, see How to Make Facials from Pantry Ingredients.