(Veggie) Turkey Tortilla Soup-Cost

This was surprisingly a great and easy recipe. I found it in the same Better Homes and Gardens as the recipe for the fruit cake topping. When I saw the photo and the recipe in the magazine, I knew it would be easy to create a vegetarian variation and had foods that my family would eat. However, when I poured the soup our of the pot on my stove and into bowls, I became nervous that it didn't look so good and might taste horrible. Fortunately, it was a hit, and Paul went back for seconds, which is pretty rare. The recipe made about 3.5 bowls worth. The BHG link also shares nutrition facts. Keep in mind, the recipe was written and the nutrition is calculated using chicken stock and turkey.

Variation included: blue corn chips instead of corn tortillas as nachos (with cheddar cheese) instead of on the side, vegetarian turkey by Worthington Foods, 1 1/2 Tablespoons McKay's (vegetarian) Chicken Seasoning with an half a tablespoon each of onion and garlic powders in water, medium salsa.

Try this soup just once and you'll be sold on the simplicity of using a salsa (even mild) as the base for any vegetable soup in the future. It gives a tomato color with diced green peppers and onions. It's great flavor, and I was very surprised how well it mixed with the McKay's for a fabulous soup base.

Cost to make Soup

• $0.60 Pace Medium Salsa (Costco)
• $0.33 Zucchini (Maitland Farmer's Market)
• $0.46 Blue Corn Chips (Aldi)
• $2.50 Veggie Turkey Roll ( Economy Foods)
• $0.17 McKay's Chicken Style Seasoning ( Economy Foods)
• $0.11 Onion and Garlic Powders (Costco and Sam's, respectively)
• $0.20 Limes (Costco)
• $1.00 Cheese (Costco)
• $5.37 Total Serves me one bowl and Paul two bowls plus two plates of nachos for dipping into the soup.

Would you like to know what we're eating next?