Acini de Pepi ($1.25 pp)

When my husband (then in college) had his wisdom teeth removed his Italian granny made him Acini de Pepi, which is basically chicken noodle soup. There wasn't much chicken in her soup or chunks of vegetables but of course it had that unforgettable little round noodle that pops in your mouth like caviar. Here is my "beefed up" version.

1. In a large pot, saute onion, celery, carrots and garlic in olive oil. Add lots of water and a cleaned chicken ($3). Boil a chicken in water on med heat until the meat falls off the bone. Strain stock, add back vegetables and a good portion of the chicken. I usually cut off the breast and use that for another meal but use all the small meat pieces for the broth. If you want to skip this step, you can use a large can of chicken and 2 large boxes of chicken stock (added to sauteed vegetables).

2. Place stock, vegetables and chicken back onto stove top. Add half a bag of acini de pepi noodles ($1.50) or about 1 cup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add bay leaf for flavor. Can add thyme or poultry seasoning to taste.

3. If you like you soup a little thicker, you can add a 1/2 cup milk with 1 Tbsp cornstarch. It makes it more like a cream or gravy soup. My grandma would do this with her chicken and egg noodle soup, which is basically the same recipe but she used her own homemade egg noodle. I'll used store bought or when I can get them Amish noodles.

Both soups are delicious and remind us of our grandmas.

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Homemade Bagels ($1 for a dozen)

I would normally serve Acini de Pepi with a grilled cheese sandwich which I assume most know how to make or I would serve it with bread or toast or a homemade bagel. Our bagel store went out of business, so I had to learn how to make them myself. We love bagel sandwiches in the toaster oven. I can make about 14 bagels for $1-$2. It is basically flour, sugar and yeast and very cheap to make but a little intimidating. I start the dough in my bread machine. Here is a link to the bread machine bagel recipe. Here is another link to how to roll the bagels. I prefer this method over the twirling them around your finger method.

Tip - don't put wet bagel (from boiling water) on a dry towel because they just stick to the towl. Make sure that the bagel is strained well from the boiling water than place it directly onto the corn meal on the baking sheet. A baking sheet with corn meal worked better than my pizza stone.