Quick, Easy & Cheap GAPS Lunch: Italian Vegetable Soup

I made this soup for lunch yesterday and my kids loved it. It was quick, easy, healthy, GAPS legal, and it only cost about $6.81 for the whole pot and nourished 6 of us (plus a little for the baby). Let me share the recipe & cost break down!

Italian Vegetable Soup

2 TB butter or ghee or bacon grease, which would be free (New Seasons, .19)

1/2 onion (organic, from Azure Standard, about .13)

3 carrots, sliced (organic, from Costco, .46)

2 stalks celery (organic, from New Seasons or Azure Standard, about .68)

5 c chicken broth (homemade = relatively free…see my notes below!)

1 10 oz bag frozen cauliflower (organic, from Azure Standard, $1.60)

1 c  frozen green beans (organic, from Costco, about .60)

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (organic, from Azure Standard, $2.15)

2 tsp basil

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp  garlic powder

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp  black pepper

(about $1 for all of the spices, organic, in bulk from Azure Standard)

OPTIONAL:

1/2 oz white cheddar cheese per person (from Costco, $1.02 for 6 people)

Total Cost, with cheese = $7.83, or $1.31 per person

You can’t get much more frugal than that for a healthy, hearty, GAPS legal, organic, homemade, nourishing meal!

METHOD:

Melt the butter in a large pot. Saute the onions, carrots and celery until the onions are translucent. Add in the rest of the ingredients (except the cheese). Cook on high until boiling. Reduce to medium-high and cook until the veggies are tender (maybe 15-20 min). If you like, you can mash up the cauliflower a bit for a creamier soup (with melted cheese it is delish!!).

This filled us up and nobody asked for seconds. The baby (the 7th person in the house today) had some of the veggies without the broth & a little more cheese than the rest of us.

ABOUT THE BROTH:

We really only had 1 c defrosted today, and the rest was water. Just add more spices if you do this. The broth is relatively free for us, because every time we roast a whole chicken, we put the bones in the crockpot with a bunch of water, salt and pepper (maybe garlic or onions if we’re feeling up to it–or not), and we let it simmer all night and into the next day. The bones are free, the salt & pepper cost very little, and the garlic & onions are not expensive either (and we usually don’t add them–shhh, don’t tell anyone ;)). I HIGHLY recommend making homemade broth every week. It is an essential nourishing ingredient in our home and on the GAPS Diet as well (and in traditional cooking in general). Store bought broths are full of junk and cost way too much money, considering you are buying mostly *water*!

Do you have a favorite frugal soup recipe?