Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Good Old Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup On The Cheap
Who doesn't like chicken noodle soup? It is the ultimate feel better, yummy, comfort food that your grandmother used to make for you when you were sick. Right?
This is a quicky recipe using a crock pot and rotisserie chicken from the deli. You can cook and serve in about two hours and it is so good, healthy and inexpensive.
Chicken Noodle Soup
Pour 2 boxes of chicken stock in crock pot.
Add 1 can of cream of chicken soup
Stir well with a whisk to blend soups.
In pan: saute' 1 medium chopped onion, 2 chopped stalks of celery and a bag of sliced fresh carrots. Saute' for a few minutes until vegies become softened. Add to stock in crock pot. (You can also cook the vegies in the microwave until almost done.)
Remove the meat from a deli cooked rotisserie chicken and add meat to crock pot.
Add a Tablespoon of garlic granules (or mince a couple of cloves of garlic.) Add 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Stir all ingredients, set the crock pot on high, cook for 1 plus 1/2 hour and then add a bag of egg noodles. Continue cooking for another half hour. Turn off heat. Garnish with a little parsley. Serve with french bread or crackers.
Tip: You can add a little white wine if you wish.
This is a quicky recipe using a crock pot and rotisserie chicken from the deli. You can cook and serve in about two hours and it is so good, healthy and inexpensive.
Chicken Noodle Soup
Pour 2 boxes of chicken stock in crock pot.
Add 1 can of cream of chicken soup
Stir well with a whisk to blend soups.
In pan: saute' 1 medium chopped onion, 2 chopped stalks of celery and a bag of sliced fresh carrots. Saute' for a few minutes until vegies become softened. Add to stock in crock pot. (You can also cook the vegies in the microwave until almost done.)
Remove the meat from a deli cooked rotisserie chicken and add meat to crock pot.
Add a Tablespoon of garlic granules (or mince a couple of cloves of garlic.) Add 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Stir all ingredients, set the crock pot on high, cook for 1 plus 1/2 hour and then add a bag of egg noodles. Continue cooking for another half hour. Turn off heat. Garnish with a little parsley. Serve with french bread or crackers.
Tip: You can add a little white wine if you wish.
Update on the Credit Card Experiment
The first of February, in my quest to be frugal, I told you, Dear Readers, of my newest experiment: to put no more than $50.00 on my credit card the entire month of February. One more day of the month to go, this being leap year and guess what? I did it. I broke down mid-month and purchased a set of flame less candles from QVC. I HAD to use a credit card. That was $32.00 with shipping. That is all I put on my credit card and I am very proud of myself. If I didn't have the cash for it I didn't buy it even though I could always write a check, I found myself thinking "Do you really, really need this?" And, you know what? I really didn't. I am trying to be frugal.
Some day soon I might splurge on silly things or a nice lunch or a new pair of shoes. Maybe not the shoes because I am embarrassed to admit this but I counted the other day and I own 52 pair of shoes. My weakness. I love them. I am learning to be frugal. Being on a retired/fixed income forces me to conserve, rethink buying something and re-purposing what I do have.
In future posts there will be some DIYs. I think that will be fun. So tune in, folks, because we all might learn something new.
Some day soon I might splurge on silly things or a nice lunch or a new pair of shoes. Maybe not the shoes because I am embarrassed to admit this but I counted the other day and I own 52 pair of shoes. My weakness. I love them. I am learning to be frugal. Being on a retired/fixed income forces me to conserve, rethink buying something and re-purposing what I do have.
In future posts there will be some DIYs. I think that will be fun. So tune in, folks, because we all might learn something new.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Valentine Day Story: One Perfect Rose
Years ago, when I worked as a floral designer, I remember how a young man would walk in the shop and look around without a clue as to what to buy for his sweetheart. Ellen, the owner of the florist shop would ask if she could help with his purchase. If she thought the young man could not afford the $65.00 for a dozen arranged roses, she would suggest just one perfect rose.
We would carefully wrap the rose in pretty paper with greens and lots of babies breath, then tie it with a stream of colorful ribbons. Ellen would present the bouquet to the young man with a flourish and with a big wink she would say:
"You know, you can get just as much loving with one perfect rose as you can with a dozen."
Disclaimer:
Dear Readers, I cannot even imagine what she meant by this statement so you will have to use your own imaginations. I am not responsible for what you come up with! ;-)
Ellen always loved Valentine's Day!
.
We would carefully wrap the rose in pretty paper with greens and lots of babies breath, then tie it with a stream of colorful ribbons. Ellen would present the bouquet to the young man with a flourish and with a big wink she would say:
"You know, you can get just as much loving with one perfect rose as you can with a dozen."
Disclaimer:
Dear Readers, I cannot even imagine what she meant by this statement so you will have to use your own imaginations. I am not responsible for what you come up with! ;-)
Ellen always loved Valentine's Day!
.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Pass The Tofu
I glanced at the company logo on the truck that passed my car the other day. It was of a cartoon pig sporting a little hat and bow tie. I smiled and then realized that the product inside was pork BBQ. So, why was the pig smiling?
There used to be a TV commercial for bacon where a chorus line of pigs danced and kicked their chubby legs to a catchy tune. I think they wore tutus and, of course, big smiles on their little piggy faces.
I see it all the time-cartoon chickens wearing funny hats, cows holding signs reading "Eat More Chicken!" All adorable. Cute. Fun. Selling meat. Selling themselves.
Andy and I raise Black Angus cattle and I don't like to think about what happens when they leave our farm. I expressed this to him once and he said "They have a happy life with us with plenty to eat and fresh water. They roam the pastures, mate and have calves, run, and eat some more. We take good care of them."
That is all true, we treat them like our pets. Maybe that is why I hate to think about their fate when they leave our care.
A few years ago when my mother was living, a calf was born on her birthday and I called to tell her. Mother thought that was so wonderful and I asked if the little female could be named Colleen after her. She was delighted to have a little bovine namesake and would ask about little Colleen every time we spoke on the phone. A year later when Colleen the Cow wasn't so tiny anymore, Andy took her to market over my protests and when my mother asked about her I said: "She was such a beautiful heifer that we sold her to a farmer who wanted to upgrade his herd. She will live many happy years on his farm." Mother was so happy and never knew I had just told her a big fib.
My lie made my mother happy. Some whoppers may be justified. It also may be true. A nice farmer could have purchased her to go live happily there after on his idyllic farm with butterflies fluttering and bunnies hopping..... well, you get the picture. There go those cartoon animals again.
If I dwell on all of this I begin to remember my "vegetarian years" of long ago when I swore off meat because of some Peta pamphlets I happened to see. When I would visit my mother (the same before mentioned "Colleen") in Kansas, she would worry about what to feed me.
"What can I cook for you?" She would ask.
"I will eat everything but the meat." I would answer.
She worried about my protein intake, which was never at risk.
So now, I wonder if eating meat is right for me. I do love BBQ ribs, roasted chicken and beef brisket. My husband would NEVER give up meat.
And yet, when I look into our cow's big brown eyes and watch them care for their babies I wonder if they can imagine their future. And.........
I write TOFU on my grocery list.
There used to be a TV commercial for bacon where a chorus line of pigs danced and kicked their chubby legs to a catchy tune. I think they wore tutus and, of course, big smiles on their little piggy faces.
I see it all the time-cartoon chickens wearing funny hats, cows holding signs reading "Eat More Chicken!" All adorable. Cute. Fun. Selling meat. Selling themselves.
Andy and I raise Black Angus cattle and I don't like to think about what happens when they leave our farm. I expressed this to him once and he said "They have a happy life with us with plenty to eat and fresh water. They roam the pastures, mate and have calves, run, and eat some more. We take good care of them."
That is all true, we treat them like our pets. Maybe that is why I hate to think about their fate when they leave our care.
A few years ago when my mother was living, a calf was born on her birthday and I called to tell her. Mother thought that was so wonderful and I asked if the little female could be named Colleen after her. She was delighted to have a little bovine namesake and would ask about little Colleen every time we spoke on the phone. A year later when Colleen the Cow wasn't so tiny anymore, Andy took her to market over my protests and when my mother asked about her I said: "She was such a beautiful heifer that we sold her to a farmer who wanted to upgrade his herd. She will live many happy years on his farm." Mother was so happy and never knew I had just told her a big fib.
My lie made my mother happy. Some whoppers may be justified. It also may be true. A nice farmer could have purchased her to go live happily there after on his idyllic farm with butterflies fluttering and bunnies hopping..... well, you get the picture. There go those cartoon animals again.
If I dwell on all of this I begin to remember my "vegetarian years" of long ago when I swore off meat because of some Peta pamphlets I happened to see. When I would visit my mother (the same before mentioned "Colleen") in Kansas, she would worry about what to feed me.
"What can I cook for you?" She would ask.
"I will eat everything but the meat." I would answer.
She worried about my protein intake, which was never at risk.
So now, I wonder if eating meat is right for me. I do love BBQ ribs, roasted chicken and beef brisket. My husband would NEVER give up meat.
And yet, when I look into our cow's big brown eyes and watch them care for their babies I wonder if they can imagine their future. And.........
I write TOFU on my grocery list.
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