Miso Soup Recipe

Well I just finished my morning cup of Miso and decided to blog the recipe. So here it is. Be daring and try it. It is a family favorite in my house-well except for Neal of course! LOL

The first thing that you will have to do is prepare some dashi soup stock.

Recipe for Dashi stock

*1 tsp of bonito fish pellets--I call them pellets because they look like little pellets. You could buy fish flakes but then you would have to strain the soggy flakes out of the stock. If you buy pellets then it's like using chicken bullion, if you buy the flakes then it's like boiling a whole chicken. It just seems easier to me to get the pellets.

*3 cups of water

Put the water into a pot and heat it up on medium heat. Right before the water boils, add the bonito fish flakes or pellets. Bring to a boil and skim any foam off the top. Stop the heat. You will have to strain the stock if you used the fish flakes .

Now for the Miso Soup.

*3 cups of dashi stock

*1 block of tofu -cubed (I use firm)

*3-4 TBS of Miso Paste (I use 4 TBS and red paste)

*chopped green onion (as much as you like!)

Put dashi stock in a pot and bring to a boil. Add cubed tofu and let it simmer for a few minutes on low heat. Scoop out about 3/4 cup of stock and add miso paste to dissolve. Slowly add the mixture back into the pot of dashi and tofu. Gently stir the soup. Turn off heat and add chopped green onion.Sometimes I add noodles to the soup.

All of these ingredients are in Asian markets. You could buy some of it at a local grocery store but I have found that you pay a lot more at the grocery store than the market.

You can find miso paste in the refrigerated section and the fish pellets or flakes in the "ingredients" section, maybe where you would find the kelp and fish sauce.

The Money I SAVED with Coupons at Harris Teeter

I have decided that paying $300 to $400 a month on groceries cannot happen on a regular basis in our family anymore. Therefore, I am taking a stand.

I have started a trading group through Wilmington Yard Sales, so I have been clipping all coupons that I see. That way I can trade with other people and get more of the coupons that I need. Also, I shop at Harris Teeter because they have DOUBLE COUPONS up to .99 cents everyday, TRIPLE COUPONS about every 6 weeks, and SUPER COUPONS (double coupons up to $1.98) every now and then. I clip all coupons because I can score free items like Playtex gloves (I rarely buy cleaning gloves or disposable gloves) or Danon yogurt 6 packs for .50 cents, Danimals yogurt for a quarter, hefty Ziploc freezer bags for a quarter, 2 large jars of Smuckers Jelly for .66 cents (normally these cost $2.50 cents a piece) and Success rice boil in a bag for .45 cents. This helps me to stock up in our food storage and not pay a lot for it. Or donate it to a local charity.

I have a couple of rules, though,

Rule #1-

If I have a coupon for something that I normally would not buy, the item has to be less than $1 or preferably .50 cents.

These things are our TREATS. Like the Raisinets that I got for $1. I would never buy packages of Raisinets, but my grocery bill is only $40 so far, so why not get a treat for the family.

Rule #2-

If I have a coupon for a name brand cereal and the off brand is cheaper than the name brand WITH the coupon, then I buy the off brand. The same rule applies to other food items.

I normally save the name brand cereal coupons when cereal is buy one get one free or buy 2 cereals for $5.

Since I can't buy meat with coupons I only buy meats that are on sale. It has to be dirt cheap for me to get it.

I hope this inspires you to lower your grocery bill and use the money you saved for other things like, paying off a car, paying down your mortgage, or going on a vacation.

COUPONS

I like to visit redplum.com to get lots of coupons. I was visiting today and came across Red Plum Sweetfinds. My favorite was 365 Free Songs: Free MP3 Per Day From Rhapsody. I do not like to pay for music. I always try to find it for free and now I have. Yay for a sweet find.