KITCHEN SINK SOUP...A Delicious Tightwad Meal!

Two nights ago Dear Hubby and I went to Applebee's for dinner.  When our meal was over there was about 3/4 cup of noodles from Dear Hubby's 3 Cheese Chicken Pasta left.  On my plate were the remains of my chicken fajitas... two tortillas, four strips of chicken, Mexican rice, fried onions, fried green and red peppers, cheddar cheese and pico de gallo.  I asked the waitress for boxes to take our leftovers home.

I had originally considered eating the leftovers "as is", but decided I could get more bang for my buck by making one of my favorite Fall and Winter meals...Kitchen Sink Soup!

This morning I dumped the noodles, rice and pico de gallo into my crockpot...and then chopped up all of the remaining leftovers (even the tortillas) and added them too.  I poured on 3 cans of chicken stock and 3 cups of water to which I had added 3 chicken bullion cubes.  I turned my crockpot on high and let my soup happily bubble away for a few hours.  About an hour before serving I added some dried onions, the last half cup of Frenches Fried Onions languishing in my pantry and a light sprinkle of taco seasoning.

When the smell became totally impossible to resist I ladled out a crock of soup, sprinkled on some garlic sea salt and some fresh ground pepper, crushed 4 slightly stale club crackers on top and added a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese.  OH. MY. GOODNESS.  This soup is absolutely INCREDIBLE!

Unfortunately, due to the very nature of "kitchen sink soup", I will never again be able to exactly reproduce this soup.  Close, but not exact.  But, that is part of the charm of KSS soup...it is always a new and different taste sensation and the cost is minimal.  Now that Fall is here I will make my own chicken stock to replace the canned stock and water/bullion mixture.  Better for my health and for my pocketbook!

Mmmmmmm.......thrifty meals can be yummy...