Welcome to days 3.5 of the frugal eating series.
Day 3.5 is so named because it is very similar to day 3, which was mystery soup day.
Day 3.5 ~ a Lunch for any day
The soup I created on this day was actually leftovers of a previous mystery soup day - later named taco soup. It all began with an experiment with eggplant. I always like to try new veggies at the grocery store and on this particular occasion I came home with an eggplant.
For those who have never cooked with eggplant, it is the tasteless sponge of vegetables. I tried roasting it with olive oil but the eggplant just drank it all and stored it like a camel. Needless to say the result of my roasted eggplant was nothing like the zucchini style sticks that I thought it would be. It was just warm sogginess.
Next I decided to cube the eggplant and toss it into my taco soup. Mistake #2.
It became extremely swollen and disgusting. The soup itself was actually quite good, and my husband liked it. But I had serious texture issues that I just couldn't get past, and so the extra soup languished in my freezer.
This leads us to Day 3.5! I am never one to waste food and I couldn't bring myself to call it a loss and just throw out the soup. I also have too healthy a conscience to send it to work with my hubby every day when I won't eat it myself.
Bring on the blender!
I tossed the offensive soup into the blender to make a taco flavoured puree.
Next I poured into the mini slow-cooker with some small bits of stewing beef (seen on Day 3 in my pile of leftovers.)
I also added half of the squash seen on Day 3 and some black beans.
I forgot to take pictures of the finished product but after cooking overnight the beef was tender and the result was one of the better soups that I have made. I called it Taco Chowder and I would make it again on purpose!
For anyone wondering, the original soup was some leftover spaghetti meat sauce, beef stock, extra veggies and some chick peas (as far as I can remember.)
I forgot to mention on Day 3 as well, that I have never used leftover spaghetti squash in my soup before but I am a fan! In the first soup it separated nicely into pieces that resembled noodles, so there was no need to add pasta or rice to beef it up. Spaghetti squash is also fairly cheap and extremely filling. Fantastic for anyone avoiding carbs.
~ Disclaimer: I am not a professional photographer. The pictures taken are a sad representation of what my food looks like. I promise that in real life, these meals look more edible! ~
Bring on day 4!
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