Everybody Eats: Soup is a budget stretcher

When it comes to money, food is the category I have trouble budgeting.

Yes, I make a weekly grocery list and clip coupons. I also get sidetracked by "Buy two, get the third free" advertisements. This is how I end up with 12 cans of chicken broth.

I am doing better planning weekly menus and sticking to my shopping list, but I tend to lose momentum around lunchtime when the sandwich I made at 7:30 a.m. is no longer appealing.

Because I commute to work, driving home for lunch isn't an option. Financially, eating out every day isn't, either. What I need are brown-bag lunch options that are good after a morning in the refrigerator and a few minutes in a microwave. They also need to be filling, but don't leave me in need of a nap.

Consulting my crystal ball, otherwise known as the hundreds of cookbooks in my living room, I found the answer.

Soup.

Soup is easy to make in large batches, leaving leftovers for lunch and busy nights. It reheats well, too. The liquid fills you up and keeps you warm on days your company's heater feels on the fritz. Also, there are a million soup recipes out there, so your taste buds will never be bored.

The following recipe for mini meatball orzo soup is one of my favorite go-to soups. I recently made it with last week's homemade chicken broth and it did have a deeper flavor. The only catch is that the pasta continues to absorb the broth after cooking, so your leftovers are more of a stew than soup. I add more chicken broth when reheating for this reason.

Is it lunchtime yet?

MINI MEATBALL ORZO SOUP

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, grated or finely chopped
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 1/2 pound ground chicken or turkey breast
• 3 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup orzo pasta

Mix the meat with cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix, and if the mixture is too moist, add a few more breadcrumbs.

When the soup comes to a boil, roll and drop 1-inch meatballs into the broth. Stir in the orzo and cook for five to eight minutes.

Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray's Yum-O: The Family Cookbook (Clarkson Potter; April 29, 2008)