by Virginia Allain

Created on: November 23, 2009

For an inexpensive and filling meal, you can't beat soup. Here are ways to extend and supplement simple cans of soup to feed a hungry family.

For soup with a broth base, stretch it out by adding more broth. Keep both beef and chicken bullion cubes on hand for this. Dissolve the cube in hot water using the flavor that best matches the content of the soup. Add more vegetables and some pasta if you have some. Team this up with a loaf of French bread or some homemade cornbread.

I had leftover vegetables from a pot roast one day. To use those up, I opened a can of beef vegetable soup. Then I cut the leftover potatoes, carrots, onions and mushrooms into smaller sizes and heated them with the soup. It tasted lots better than the original soup would have. With the addition of bread, it was a tasty winter meal.

Open a can of clam chowder. This is a more expensive soup, but you can stretch it. I wanted my serving to be lower calorie, so I added frozen corn and skim milk. That transformed it into corn chowder. My husband preferred his clam chowder thicker and without the corn, so I heated them up separately. Oyster crackers go nicely with this or just bread and butter.

Condensed tomato soup with a can of water is easy to make. I prefer it with a can of milk replacing the water. To further dress up the cream of tomato soup, sprinkle on some basil. Grow some basil in a pot on the patio or balcony so fresh basil is always available. Grilled cheese sandwiches team up nicely with this.

Stretch any soup by adding more of the ingredients already in the canned version. For cream of broccoli soup, add frozen broccoli and a little extra milk.

With cans of soup in the pantry, a quick and inexpensive meal can be on the table in mere minutes. It's fast food without the fast food costs.

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