Instead of a regular journal entry for my 31 Days 2013 post (day 17), I’m going to venture off again and share with you a frugal gift idea. This would be perfect for a kitchen bridal shower or a housewarming gift, or even a gift for new parents who might need a meal they can throw together very easily!
So tonight over at RoseBakes.com, I shared a recipe for Easy Taco Soup. It’s a very versatile recipe that can be made totally from scratch or totally from convenience foods (ie., canned) and both are equally delicious!
For the sake of tonight’s post – we’re going all convenience! Last weekend our church threw a housewarming party for my brother and his wife who recently moved into their brand new house.
Since their house is all decorated and moved into (my sister-in-law Amy has a gift for making things pretty!)… they requested a “pounding” instead of traditional gifts.
I only recently learned what a “pounding” was… so if you don’t know, it’s basically where you give the gift of food instead of more traditional housewarming gifts… you know, a “pound” of sugar, or a “pound” of beans…. a “pounding”. Makes sense, right?
They got their kitchen stocked up with groceries and household goods (Amy is pregnant with baby number 3 so this will save her some shopping) and it was really fun for everybody to get to see their new house and hang out!
Back to the recipe… one recipe that I know my brother and SIL absolutely love is my Taco Soup, so I decided to “pound” them with all the ingredients for this recipe (except the beef… which you can actually leave out if you want to do it vegetarian!).
You can see the list here… I got all canned beans and corn, packets of taco seasoning mix and ranch dressing mix, a fresh onion and the printed recipe! OH – and a big bag of Restaurant Style Tortilla chips… my brother’s favorite and a perfect “side” to this soup!
I wrapped it up in some clear paper with a big white bow and it was done! The whole thing cost less than $10 but it’s something I knew they would love and enjoy and it was pretty and fun to deliver! You could also pack it all into a basket or even a soup pot if you wanted to take it up a notch!
This is the recipe card I created if you’d like to download and print it: Taco Soup Recipe Card.
I’d love to hear about any frugal gift ideas that you have! Leave me a comment 🙂
Aren’t you all fancy? I was trying to figure out a way to print the recipe and you have that little button to make it so easy. Now if you could just figure out a button to cook food for my family……
So funny that you mention that… I was just sitting here re-reading the post and thinking… ” what the heck am I DOING? I’m not crafty AT ALL and this post is probably going to be the laughing stock of all DIY bloggers..” Thank you Terry!! 🙂
Thanks for the easy recipe! Amazing to print and easy to make. Keep up the good works!
I think it is a fantastic idea and I’m going to do it for a friend with new baby. Boys are hard to bye for anyway and who wouldn’t enjoy this at their finger tips.
🙂 My thoughts exactly!
i love the idea i do giftbaskets on the side an always looking for different ideas these are great would you mind if i use some of your ideas?
Please do!!
You could add a can of white meat chicken and have chicken taco soup. This solves the meat issue.
What a wonderful idea!! Thanks 🙂
One year when we were poor as dirt, I wrapped up 3 index cards with name of a meal on each on for my family members. Instructions were to call a couple of day ahead of time and I would cook and deliver the meal to them. I selected meals that were frugal…homemade mac and cheese, vegetable beef soup, chop suey, spaghetti pie, turkey rolls up (made up recipe….take slices of deli turkey, make pkg of stuffing, place stuffing on turkey, roll up, make turkey gravy pkgs, bake 30 min 350. I made sure meals were as inexpensive as I could. They loved it!
Another year my husband, daughter and I made homemade pasta. Then we made a sign, dressed in holiday clothes and took picturess. WE froze the pasta. The gift was a pic of us making the pasta with our sign. When everyone left, they had a cou0ple of pounds of frozen homemade pasta to take home.
Just love your ideas! Keep sharing
Thank you!
I like how easy this is! Sometimes people gift pasta, which is a lot more hands-on than “dump in pot and simmer.” This is also good for people who get a lot of food right away after having a baby, etc, but not so much later on.
Yes, exactly!!
I love this idea! The people we need to get gifts for range from seniors who don’t need any more knick knacks, to newly blended families on a tight budget. Something like this (with possibly a soup pot for the family) can give them the thing they want most – a little bit more time with family.
Awww, thank you Sandy!! xx
I love gifts that are practical and I really liked the idea of a pounding.
No one is going to laugh at you, I for one think you’re awesome.
Thank you!
Wonderful idea thank-you for sharing.
Thank YOU for reading! Happy New Year!
I always give my faculty a back to school gift after Christmas instead of before. It gives them something to look forward to. This year I will be giving this!! The first week back is exhausting and I know they will appreciate an easy meal for their families!! Thank you!
Awww, that’s great! Happy New Year!
Two of my nephews and my daughter are getting this recipe/gift as they head back to their colleges. They all have crock pots. They can dump all the ingredients in and have a meal ready when they come back from classes. I like the canned chicken idea, too!
Great idea!!
I just came across this pin and love it. Last Sunday our church had a ‘pounding’ for our new pastor and while I gave her “Penne from Patti” your idea is fabulous. Perfect for new parents or housewarming gift. Thanks so much for sharing!
Awesome – I’m so glad you found it helpful!
great idea! I am going to make some of these up for my local food pantry! Thanks so much for the post!!!!
Awesome idea! I like to make gifts at Christmas for family and friends who have everything. This will be perfect for this Christmas. Thanks so much!
Great idea!
Great idea! I added a modest gift card to a local grocery store…to give the option of purchasing the ground meat to complete the package. Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Great idea!
I’ve pinned several recipes for him canned ground beef. That would be a great addition to the gift! That would also make it a dump recipe!Dump everything into the slow cooker and walk away! ❤️
So that it’ll last until the receivers are ready to eat it, I added a can of chicken breast and a small container of dried onion flakes instead of the fresh onion. Worked grear!
Great idea!