For my birthday, Paul bought me a "deck" of soup and stew cards from the Moosewood Restaurant collection. It was such a clever idea, and luckily, it was cold enough to take advantage of them before we left for Paris when my kitchen was nearly empty of food. The deck of cards is brilliant because you can take just one recipe out of the box and carry it to the grocery store. Also, the cards are slick and more likely to repel water and other kitchen messes. This is another one of those recipes that we almost always have the supplies for. Actually, we rarely have celery; so, I left it out, but otherwise we have all the supplies. If necessary, I can always add a touch of celery seed. Also, I substituted a teaspoon of our hot paprika from Budapest and garlic for the chili paste recommended.

I absolutely loved this soup. With the soy sauce, chili powder, and lime, it tasted like Pad Thai in a bowl. Unfortunately when I put all the ingredients into the blender as is recommended, the soup splattered out the top of the blender a little bit and burned my finger. (Yes, I was below the "fill" line.) When I poured it out, Paul said he thought it might should be blended more. So, I dumped the goods back in. Only this time, the blender splattered more. When in pain I jerked my hand away from the lid, the lid popped off and soup splattered all over the counter, some tomatoes, the floor and my pants. Parents of youngsters can imagine what it looked and felt like as I looked down my front. Anyway, I don't know what I would have done differently, but the soup was delicious enough for me to figure something out. I served the soup with the recommended lime wedges and a side of wild rice, which I thought was a perfect compliment to an Asian-style dinner.

Cost to Make Soup

• $0.12 Olive Oil (Publix, buy one get one free)
• $0.75 Onion (Costco)
• $0.25 Carrots (Maitland Farmer's Market)
• $0.22 Soy Sauce
• $0.14 Paprika (Budapest)
• $0.10 Garlic (Costco)
• $0.05 Lime (Costco)
• $0.21 Peanut Butter (Publix Old Fashioned)
• $1.49 Wild Rice (Aldi)
• $3.33 Total (with a cup of soup left over)