Budget French Chicken Soup

Brown chicken thighs (or whatever piece(s) you prefer), then saute diced onion and sliced mushrooms, add a splash of wine if you have any (I had 2T left in the bottle, so that's how much I user), then put the chicken back, add whatever veggies you have (I had baby carrots, but potatoes, green beans, or whatever else all work well), cover with water (or stock; I used about 3c so it is more of a soup tonight, but use less for a stew consistency, ir thicken with cornstarch) and simmer until everything is tender. Add frozen peas or other frozen vegetables, about 1c cream and simmer until the peas are warmed. Season with salt, pepper and dried herbs if you have any (thyme is my favorite, but I didn't use any), and serve with bread, pasta, rice, couscous, potatoes, etc. You could even make dumplings with just flour, water and salt, and boil them in the soup for 10-15 minutes (depending on size).

A bag of baby carrots was about $2.50 (I used half of a 2# bag, so $1-1.25 worth), a container of mushrooms was about $2.50 (I don't like the cheaper white mushrooms, but you could save $.50-.75 by buying those), a couple small onions from a 3# bag amounted to probably $.50, 1/2 of a pint of cream was probably $2, and the chicken was about $7, and I even used Smart Chicken. I did buy a nice loaf of bread for $6 from a local bakery, but you could use a package of dinner rolls or a cheaper loaf of bread. Total, without the bread, was around $13.50 and it makes 6 servings, assuming everyone has one piece of chicken (my package had 6 pieces). You could further spread it by adding quartered potatoes and pulling the chicken out and shredding it before serving, in which case I imagine you could feed as many as 8. Use a $1 bag of rice and you could make a large meal for ~$15.