Frugal Mania

A few years ago I found myself in a predicament. I had thawed too much ground beef and it was going to spoil if I didn’t use it. While racking my brain to figure out something that I could make with what I had on hand, I realized that I had everything I needed for a hearty pasta fagioli soup. ever since, it has been a staple food in my home. My Italian partner walks around with a grin every time I make it, so my hunch is that it should be pretty popular around your house too.

Michael’s Simple, Cheap Pasta Fagioli

THE INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 sm onion, chopped
• 6 C stock
• 1 can spinach (small can)
• 2 carrots, diced
• 3 C navy beans, cooked
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 roma tomatoes, chopped
• 8 oz shell pasta
• 1 bay leaf
• seasoning to taste

THE PROCESS

1. Pour the stock, spinach (drained), garlic and tomatoes into a large crock pot and cover.
2. Brown the ground beef with onion, drain and add to crock pot.
3. Set crock pot on high, cover and leave it alone for 2-3 hours.
4. Boil pasta & carrots together, drain.
5. Drain navy beans and rinse (if canned).
6. Add pasta and beans to crock pot and set to low heat for 30 minutes.

HEALTH NOTES
Want to try it out but you’re concerned about your health? Try these substitutions:

• If you want to use ground beef, don’t bother buying the expensive lean stuff, just rinse the ground beef and onions thoroughly in a colander after browning them and you will remove just as much fat.
• If you’d rather use something a bit healthier, replace the ground beef with ground turkey or chicken. Both are priced fairly inexpensively.
• Use what you’ve got! Leftover chicken, turkey, beef cut into small pieces will work just as well and get rid of some leftovers in the process.
• To cut down on salt, add a bit of lemon juice to the pot. The citric acid will flavor it and you won’t feel the need to use so much salt.

I just threw this recipe together based on what I had in the cupboard, so it will probably vary the next time I make it, but I wanted to save the recipe nonetheless, since it turned out so well and cost very little.