Broke Girl's Dinner

Recently I've been making some pretty delish meals for myself, using as much as I can directly from my pantry, fridge, etc without having to go out and get take-out. So far I've made a delicious meal of mini mozzarella balls, basil and roma tomatoes with potato gnocchi, avgolemono soup (greek soup using chicken broth, orzo, a dash of lemon juice and an egg, SO simple and delicious), and tonight I'm posting as a pot of "Poor Girl's Soup" is boiling away on the stove... let me give you this easy recipe (im making it up as i find some hidden vegetable thats been sitting around). During these hard times, you have to use what you have in all aspects...so here goes!

Poor Girl's Soup (aka what to cook when theres nothing left to cook and you ain't getting paid til next week!)

-beef broth/chicken broth/beer, WHATEVER you can find that could make a tasty broth. I used the last dregs of beef broth, a swig of dark beer (my boyfriend left his here, woops!), and some chicken broth. Trust me, it'll all taste yummy.
-beef, that last piece of frozen chicken, your pick. (I used frozen cubed beef I had from a previous week's stew making)
-1 chopped onion
-1 cubed potato
-roasted garlic
-assorted veggies of your choosing (root vegetables work marvelously)
-leftover dried pasta (I just poured in some elbow macaroni for substance)
-flour, milk, baking powder to make dumplings (used 1 1/4 c flour, 1/2 c milk, 1 tsp. baking powder)

Directions:
-sweat the onions in a big pot with oil, til clear. Add seasoned/floured beef, brown. Add broth, beer, liquid of some sort, and add potatoes. Bring to a boil. Add remaining veggies, dried pasta, let cook. Mix together your dumpling ingredients and add 10 minutes prior to eating. Enjoy knowing you just cleared out your pantry and didn't spend any money on take-out, plus you'll have leftovers for tomorrow!

There we have it. The first day of the New Year was spent cleaning my apartment, putting up artwork (I put up some great maps I found at a map sale at school and some lovely prints), and watching Sex and the City. Now I'm gonna enjoy my frugal soup and not be guilty. Have a lovely start to the new year!