$5 Friday is Here

Mission accomplished, I created dinner consisting of ingredients from the Dollar Tree for $6. From what was available, I purchased the ingredients for a Creamy Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Bisque with Garlic Cheese Croutons. That's $6 for 4 people, not $6 per person. I actually could have done it for $5 but I decided at the last minute to use chicken stock rather than water. Below is a pic of my basket at Dollar Tree.

Here are the ingredients for tonight's dinner on my counter so that you can get an idea of what I used. As you can see I used chicken stock, roasted red peppers, evaporated milk, pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese and Texas toast. For the first time I've posed pictures of the cooking process so that you can follow along with me. Remember, spices and oil are freebies b/c most of us have those on hand.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Bisque with Garlic Cheese Croutons

Ingredients:

1 can roasted red peppers in liquid ($1)

0.5 box of chicken stock ($1)

1 can traditional tomato pasta sauce ($1)

1 can evaporated milk ($1)

2 teaspoons salt, crushed red pepper flakes, basil and granulated garlic (freebies)

2 tablespoons olive oil (freebies)

2 cloves garlic minced (OPTIONAL - this adds another $1 to the dish unless you have them on hand which I did so $0 - $1)

Garlic Cheese Croutons:

1 box frozen Texas Toast ($1)

1 small bag shredded cheese (I used Mozzarella) ($1)

Start by removing the red peppers from the liquid they came in and placing the peppers in a food processor. Process the peppers until they look like a sauce (like crushed tomatoes) See below.

As you can see below, Paddy likes to watch me in the kitchen, the pic was too cute not to include.

In a large dutch oven over med. low heat add the olive oil. If you are using fresh garlic add the fresh garlic and the crushed red pepper flakes. Add the processed red peppers. Stir very well then add the pasta sauce. At this point start whisking the ingredients. Now add the liquid from the roasted red peppers and 1/2 a box of chicken stock. Add the salt, pepper, granulated garlic and basil. Stir well, see below for pic.

Continue to whisk the sauce well to make sure all ingredients combine.

Cover the soup and simmer for 20-30 minutes over med. low to low heat. While the soup simmers, preheat the oven for the Texas toast. Place 4 pieces (or the whole box) on a cookie sheet. Bake until the toast is almost done. Remove from oven and top with the cheese (see below). Place back in the oven and allow the cheese to melt.

Just prior to serving, add the can of evaporated milk. Whisk well to make sure the soup is evenly mixed and creamy.

Remove the toast from the oven. It should look like this.

Now place the soup in bowls and serve with one piece of the soup as shown below. OR you can skip melting the cheese on the toast and you can put the soup in the bowls and top with the cooked toast then top with cheese. Place the bowls in the oven and allow the cheese to melt (like French Onion Soup).

Enjoy! This would be great to entertain with, call it grown up tomato soup and a grilled cheese! To keep with the $5 theme, have friends bring various bottles of 2 buck chuck from Trader Joes.