It baffles the mind that you can buy an entire case of ramen noodles at Aldi for less than $3. No wonder they're the official meal of college students across the country. When the only cooking supplies I had consisted of a hot pot and tap water ramen noodles made a daily appearance on my menu and I was perfectly fine with it. Now that my kitchen (and budget) has expanded I still have found a use for them! I always keep several packages of ramen noodles in my pantry. If you break them up and toast them under a broiler they make the best topping for any salad, especially an Asian chopped salad or coleslaw...yum! However they tend to get the most regular use at my house around lunch time. I love to doctor them up a bit and make this chicken soup. You can add any veggies you have in your refrigerator or freezer. I prefer carrots, peas, corn, and/or edamame. Some other great options might be cabbage, broccoli, red pepper, celery, or spinach. Feel free to experiment! The same is true with the chicken, you could easily use shrimp, pork or beef instead of the chicken. Just don't skip the cilantro or the red pepper flakes- they're my favorite part! This soup does not keep well so be sure to eat it as soon as its ready and don't plan on keeping leftovers unless you don't mind eating it as pasta instead of soup! Its a perfect spring lunch, especially on rainy days like we're having here today. So run out to Aldi or Walmart or wherever and take advantage of the $3 special- it will make you lunch for the next two weeks. How do you beat that??
Chicken Ramen Soup
Recipe Type: Soup
Author: Wendy
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3
Ingredients
1 pckg chicken ramen noodle soup
2 c. water
1 c. peas
1/2 c. chopped carrots
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1 c. chicken breast, chopped
1 Tbsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
In a large soup pot heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until slightly browned and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the pot, place on a plate and keep warm.
Back in the soup pot add 2 cups of water, bring to a boil. Add the seasoning packet from the ramen noodles. Discard the vegetable packet from the soup package.
Add the ramen noodles, peas and carrots and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add in the chicken and red pepper flakes, simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
Remove from heat. Separate into 2 or 3 serving bowls and add in the cilantro and salt & pepper to taste.
I've got another fab one-pot meal to share! Not to mention hot and cheesy. This is a perfect match for the dreary, cabin-fever-crazed days we have been having here in Chicago.
The first time I made lasagna soup my kids asked for seconds. And hold the phone.....even asked for leftovers the next day! This is unheard of, folks.
While this meal is easy, be sure to factor in some simmering time. 30 minutes is good, but more is great. I also subbed in cottage cheese for the ricotta called for in my inspiration recipe. Just my personal preference, but the two would be interchangeable here.
You might notice my picture above sports no tomato chunks. To avoid forcing diced tomatoes on my diced-tomato-hating 7 year old, I put the entire 28 oz. can though the blender before adding to the pot. I pick my battles. Either way will be delicious, so I encourage you to consider your own tomato eating preferences. Enjoy!
~Erin
Lasagna Soup
Author: Erin (adapted from Closet Cooking)
Prep time:
Cook time:
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp, red pepper flakes
4 cups chicken broth (32 oz. carton)
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 T. tomato paste
1 tsp. oregano
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. bow tie pasta
4 ounces cottage cheese
1/2 c. parmesan, grated
2 c. mozzarella, shredded
1 tsp. dried basil
Instructions
Brown sausage in a pan over medium-high heat with olive oil. When no longer pink, remove from pan, and reserving fat in the pan.
Add onion to pan and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute.
Add sausage, chicken broth, diced (or blended) tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, bay leaf, salt, and pepper to pan. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Add pasta to pan and cook until al-dente, about 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a separate bowl, combine cottage cheese, parmesan, mozzarella, and dried basil.
I love "play outside" days. Everyone in my house is happier on "play outside" days, including me! My daughter has decided she doesn't need naps anymore, which is honestly unbearable for me. Anyone with a 2 1/2 year old at home knows why. One of the many beautiful things about "play outside" days is that she will typically take at least a one hour nap. Something to do with the sunshine, the running, the fresh air... I don't know and don't really care. It works, thats all that matters! I'm so excited that we have a lot more of those days in our near future, we could all use the fresh air. Its been rainy and not great so far this spring, but I know there have to be sunnier and warmer days coming our way. Eventually.
Similar to Leah, to get myself in the spring spirit I start pulling out my favorite spring/summer recipes. There are a few I'll be posting sometime soon that are awesome, but this soup is a great way to start. Its very light and creamy, but doesn't really have all that much cream in it. You use pureed peas instead. There is less than 100 calories in one cup of this soup! Its great for lunch or make it with BLTs or Chicken Salad for dinner.
Spring Asparagus Soup
Recipe Type: Soup
Author: Wendy
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
2 bunches thin asparagus, tough ends trimmed off
2 leeks, white & light green parts only, halved and sliced thin and rinsed
1 tbsp unsalted butter
3 ½ c. low sodium chicken broth
½ c. frozen peas
2 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
¼ c. half and half
½ tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper
Instructions
Cut the tips off the asparagus spears and chop the remaining spears into 1/2 inch pieces.
Bring 1/2 cup water to boil in an 8-inch skillet over medium high heat. Add the asparagus, cover and cook until the tips are tender about 2 minutes.
Remove the asparagus tips, pat dry and set aside.
Combine the remaining asparagus pieces, leeks, butter, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper into large saucepan.
Cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until softened 8-10 minutes.
Add the broth to the pot, bring to a simmer, and cook until completely tender about 5 minutes.
Stir in the peas and parmesan.
Working in 2 batches, process the soup in a blender until completely smooth, 2-3 minutes.
Return the soup to the pot. Stir in the reserved asparagus tips, half and half and lemon juice and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
I mentioned a few weeks ago how I will occasionally get sounds of delight from my two guys when they like a meal (and I don't mean girly squeals, these are manly, gutteral, animalistic sounds -- even from my 7-year-old). Soup is pretty much always a guaranteed grunt fest for them. Yes, soup. So I have quite a few go-to, easy peasy soup recipes that I use A LOT in the winter. One of their favorites is tomato bisque (that I would always just make from the can) so when I saw this recipe in my good ol' Betty Crocker cookbook, I knew I had to try it. I'm a huge fan of "doctored up" recipes and they are my go-to for soups and cakes (hey, when you're spending upwards of 10 hours on baking and decorating a cake, every little bit helps!) and this one did not disappoint. Add a grilled cheese and it's perfect for this dreary day here in Chicagoland! ~Leah
Hearty Tomato Soup 1
Recipe Type: Soup
Author: Leah (adapted from Betty Crocker)
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
3 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 1/2 t. chopped fresh or 1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 c. milk
2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) condensed tomato soup
2 cans (14 1/2 oz each) diced tomatoes
Instructions
Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic in butter until onion is tender. Remove from heat.
Stir in paprika, basil and cream cheese. Gradually stir in milk and soup. Beat with hand beater or whisk until cheese is melted and soup is smooth. (I had to put mine back over low heat to get my cheese to melt. See notes below).
Stir in tomatoes and heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until hot.
Notes
Make sure your cream cheese is room temp...you could even microwave it a bit to get it really soft. The original recipe called for 6 oz. of cream cheese but I just threw the entire bar in. I could NOT get all of the cheese bits to disappear completely, but it didn't give it any weird type of consistency when eating it. Also, I pureed it for my kiddos since they don't like chunks and they loved it.
If I ever have another baby I've decided that I will not give them macaroni and cheese, hot dogs or peanut butter & jelly until they're at least 5! Okay that's probably an exaggeration, but I swear those are the only three foods my kids will eat now. I could add ice cream and chocolate to that list but for the purpose of this post I'm staying focused on "main course" foods. Every day at lunch and dinner I try (hopelessly) to come up with something else to feed them. I've looked at every Pinterest post out there on "Creative Foods for Toddlers" to no avail. Although, seriously what kid will eat tofu-stuffed pita bread or salad??? One day I saw a recipe for Mac n Cheese soup on a Velveeta cheese box and it piqued my interest. I also decided that the Velveeta cheese box really shouldn't be my go-to recipe source, so I started searching the internet for a good soup recipe. I landed on the Skinnytaste blog. (One of my favorite by the way!) She has a great recipe posted for Mac n Cheese soup. I found it to be a little too skinny, with a bit too much onion so I made some adjustments and came up with this great dinner soup. My husband likes it, I like it and my kids each ate their whole bowl. Wahoo! We have a WINNER that doesn't come from a blue box! So if your family is like mine and Mac n Cheese is the holy-grail of mealtime, try this version out. ~Wendy
Mac N Cheese Soup
Recipe Type: Soup
Author: Wendy
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
2 carrots, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/4 c. diced onion
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 c. milk
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 c. chopped broccoli
1 c. chopped cauliflower
2 c. dry elbow macaroni
Instructions
Boil the pasta according to the box directions until cooked al dente. Drain and set aside.
In a large pot or dutch oven, melt the butter. Add the diced carrot, celery and onion and cook until softened, about 3-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the flour and stir until combined. Add the chicken broth, milk, and nutmeg- whisk until combined. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the broccoli and cauliflower and cook until softened- about 5 more minutes. Add the cheddar cheese and stir until completely melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Finally add the cooked pasta and serve.
Notes
You can use any variation of cheese that you would like. I like a combination of cheddar and colby, or even cheddar and pepper jack. I recommend using at least 2% milk. I've used skim and it does work fine, just comes out more watery. Finally, only add the macaroni when you're ready to serve. If you plan to save some of the soup for later, I would add the macaroni to each individual bowl instead of to the larger pot. Once the noodles are added they start to suck up the broth. If you add the noodles and refrigerate, by the time you eat the soup there will be very little liquid left.
