Savory Shrimp Soup Recipe

Tuesdays are hereby designated as Common Cents Cooking Days!  As I select entries for my upcoming cookbook, I thought you might enjoy sampling some of the recipes.   

I began married life with little cooking experience.  I knew how to make French Toast, pancakes, creamed eggs on toast, "Screwy Noodles" and I knew how to cook hot dogs.  That was it.  Oh, I forgot grilled cheese sandwiches! 

Poor Marlin!  He was used to good home-cooked meals three times a day!!  I wanted to please him, so I studied my cookbooks and did my best - it just wasn't very good (Marlin stayed pretty lean the first couple of years).  In the beginning, I had a terrible time coordinating dishes so that everything could be ready at the same time.  It wasn't uncommon for us to wait thirty minutes after the vegetables were ready - and eaten - before the main course was done. And done doesn't necessarily mean edible.  And the bread, I really wanted to make homemade dinner rolls, well the rolls were almost always doughy!  If I hadn't come into marriage with a stubbon streak, I probably would have given up after the "Chicken Fricasse Disaster," but that is a story for another time...

Common Cents Cooking is being created with the busy woman in mind.  Each recipe can be made quickly and inexpensively.  In the cookbook, I will be focusing on the money saved by preparing meals at home and hopefully demonstrating that the actual amount of time needed to prepare a home-cooked meal is often over-estimated.  For the inexperienced cook, I will be providing sample meals with a schedule provided in hopes that others can avoid the problems with timeliness that I had!

This recipe is a holiday favorite.  If you love shrimp, you'll love this quick and easy recipe! 


SAVORY SHRIMP SOUP

1/2 cup chopped onion, optional
2 TBSP butter or margarine
1/2 tsp garlic powder
12 oz chicken broth
1 can (10-3/4 oz) cream of shrimp, or cream of mushroom soup
1 lb frozen shrimp, or 2 cans (4 oz, each) shrimp, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup half-and-half
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

In a medium saucepan, saute onion and garlic powder in butter until tender.  Add chicken broth and soup, whisk until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes. 

Yield: 4 servings
Cost: $2.00 per serving (if using frozen shrimp and shrimp soup)
         $1.60 per serving (if using canned shrimp and mushroom soup)

Cooking time: 20 minutes
Time on your feet: 6-7 minutes

**Cost per serving is based on current (01/2011) grocery prices.