Working Mom Special - Fancied Up Chicken Noodle Soup and Grilled Cheese

I'm always looking for quick ways to jazz up a meal that is made from pre-made ingredients.  This meal was inspired by my 3 year old son's request for chicken noodle soup for dinner.  Of course he didn't end up touching the soup, but it was delicious nonetheless.

Soup:
1 can chicken noodle condensed soup
1 can cream of chicken condensed soup
1 medium carrot
small bunch of chives

1. Combine soups and add water as described on can's instructions.
2. Heat over med-hi burner.
3. Grate carrot and add to soup.
4. Once soup is steamy, add the chives by snipping them with scissors.  Stir to combine and remove from heat.  

Grilled Cheese:

Nothing fancy here.  Make a grilled cheese sandwich however you like it.  I like to make mine with a nice whole wheat bread and 2 slices of american cheese.  

1. Toast the bread lightly.
2. Heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil over med heat.
3. Make a sandwich with the cheese and grill in the pan.  
4. Done.

Enjoy!

Mexicano Rice Bowls

A few summers ago (likely more than a few, but we won't go there!) Taco Bell had this new menu item and I can't remember the exact name, but it was something like the Chicken Nirvana Bowl. Of course I loved it, and of course it eventually was taken off the menu. To quell my cravings for that lost treasure I had to recreate it in my own kitchen. I'm pretty sure my version is a bit on the healthier side!

Makes 6 Servings

Ingredients:
1 lb ground chicken
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped red onion
1 colored pepper, chopped
4 cloves chopped garlic
1-1/2 cups brown rice
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup salsa (any variety)
1-1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper

In a 2-quart saucepan add chicken stock and rice. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Cook this about 30 minutes until rice is tender.

While the rice is cooking, heat olive oil over medium heat in a pot/pan that has a lot of room inside of it. Add chicken to start browning. Add chili powder, cumin, & cayenne pepper to chicken. Break up the ground chicken as it is browning and combine the spices really well. Once the chicken is nice and browned, add the onion, garlic, and colored pepper. Saute mixture for another 10 minutes, until onions are soft. Add salsa and mix. Remove from heat.

Stir rice into the meat mixture. Serve with sour cream, avocado, or any other mexicano condiment you'd like.

Enjoy!

Tuna Delight in Five Ingredients

This little wonder was born out of a really hungry liepchen coming home from the gym and needing to feed herself and her hardworking hubby. I hadn't been to the grocery for a week so ingredients were scant for anything fancy. Bringing together these 5 items that I always have in the pantry turned out to be a very tasty meal, and a hearty one at that!

Ingredients:
-Pasta - any kind but my favorite is thin spaghetti because it cooks up fast!
-Store bought alfredo sauce - any variety will do, I use Four Brothers varieties
-2-4 cloves garlic chopped finely (if you don't like garlic, leave this out or substitute a little bit of chopped onion or scallion)
-1 can drained tuna, or a pouch
-2 tbsp olive oil

Put water on to boil for pasta. Once water is boiling add pasta and cook according to directions on the box for al dente.

While the water is heating up, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan and add garlic when oil ripples a bit. Sautee garlic until it's soft and sweet. Add tuna, stir together with garlic and sautee for about 4 minutes. Add as much alfredo sauce to cover the amount of pasta you are serving and cook over low heat, uncovered.

The sauce will be ready after you drain your pasta! I always toss the pasta in the sauce before serving so each noodle is covered in this awesome savory concoction.

Enjoy!

{ps....If you are feeling froggy, chopped sun-dried tomatoes would be an excellent complimentary flavor to the creamy alfredo sauce.}

Update: also added frozen peas to the pasta right before draining and it was delicious!

Really Excellent and Quick Fake-Baked Beans

I seriously just tried this as a total experiment and cannot  believe how well this turned out.  This version of baked beans is vegetarian friendly, but bacon could easily be added for even smokier flavor.  This was so quick to whip up!  I'll never buy canned baked beans again.  Sorry Bush's!

Ingredients:

1 14oz can white beans (cannellini, white northern) drained, not rinsed

1 14oz can black beans, drained & rinsed

2 tbsp olive oil

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tbsp mustard (I used spicy brown, but dijon or plain yellow are probably fine)

2 tbsp REAL maple syrup

1/4 cup brown sugar

salt & pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium in a 2-quart saucepan.  Add garlic & onions and cook until soft.  Season with salt & pepper.  Once the garlic & onions are nice and soft add beans, ketchup, mustard, syrup, & sugar.  Stir until combined and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.  

That's it!  The entire thing is really that easy.  Next time I'll try this with bacon added and report back.  I'm trying to find a way to experiment with turkey bacon, this might be a good candidate!

Enjoy!