Easy Week Night Noodle Soup

It's so important for our family to eat dinner together as often as we can, but there are some nights that are more difficult than others to make that happen. Especially when we are on a tight schedule.I love this quick and easy week night noodle soup from my guest contributor Kate. This is sure to be a hit with our family and one I am going to start adding to our weekly rotation.

Easy Week Night Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

protein of choice {I used tofu}

carrots {cut in strips}

peppers {cut in strips}

chopped garlic

1 tbsp. sesame oil

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

noodle of choice with seasoning packet

4 cups water or chicken broth

cilantro

lime wedges

hot sauce if desire

Saute tofu {or protein of choice} until crisp.  

Saute veggies in 1 tbsp of sesame oil and 1 tbsp of vegetable oil until slightly tender. 

Add water {or chicken broth} and seasoning packet from noodle box. If using water I would recommend adding a chicken bouillon cube for some extra flavor. I like these Happy Pho noodles but honestly I think top ramen would work great too!  Cook until veggies are tender but still slightly crispy. 

Add noodles at the last minute to cook through but do not overcook.  

Serve in bowls and top with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime. 

Top with a dash of hot sauce and extra sesame oil if desired. A delicious and easy noodle dish any night of the week.

I couldn't help myself. After I got this post scheduled, this meal is exactly what I made for my family that night. I used three thin chicken breasts that I had cut into pieces and two of our favorite Spring Onion soup mixes from Trader Joes. I had a red pepper, onion, celery and half a bag of shredded carrots I added.  Let's just say there was nothing left over after dinner!  It was a hit!Thanks Kate for another great recipe!

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Green Beans with Bacon, the perfect Thanksgiving dinner side dish

Kate is back with another fantastic recipe! In case you are looking for a last minute side dish or another way to add vegetables into your family dinner, these green beans with bacon are sure to be a hit!  Take it away Kate!

A Thanksgiving side dish ready in under 30 minutes, count me in! 

Add this to your Thanksgiving dinner to make your day less stressful, more enjoyable and you'll get to the table faster. Or be like me and add it to your weekly rotation! It's casual, yet impressive and quick!!

Green Beans with Bacon

green beans (enough to feed your group) (fresh or frozen)

1/2 onion diced

3 garlic cloves chopped

juice of one lemon

4-5 pieces of bacon chopped (reserve 1 tbsp of grease)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

zest of half lemon

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Boil green beans until just under cooked. Drain and set aside. While beans boil cook bacon until done but not crispy. I did mine my cast iron skillet. Reserve 1 tbsp of grease in a large pan. Add olive oil and salute onions over medium heat until translucent. 

Add beans, garlic and bacon to pan and cook until beans are coated and garlic is tender. Add balsamic vinegar and stir for one minute and then remove from heat. 

Add lemon juice, zest and season with salt and pepper.

You can serve it warm but it's also delicious at room temp or cold!

Enjoy!

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I am thankful for...a free printable paper chain

I'm a sucker for a beautifully set table.  Though I have a confession. This is the first time I've taken out my great aunt's silver since I've had it and I only have one of these place settings, though I do love this pattern on the plate don't you? I also don't have enough matching glasses for our whole family. Hostess extraordinaire I am not!

Though if I could, I would set the dining room table like this and leave it. But right now it looks silly with only one place set. I digress...

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to set a fancy table complete with napkin rings. I love taking the time to reflect on the things that we are thankful for. I created a free printable for you that can double as a napkin ring for your fancy table and that can later on be made into a paper chain to display all of the things that you and your family are thankful for.

A small piece of tape holds this napkin ring together.  Once you take the napkin ring off, you can write what you are thankful for, untape it, and piece it back together again with another ring, making a chain of thankfulness.

I used this large hand drawn flourish from Lace and Yarn and designed the rest in the Silhouette software. I'm offering it to you to download for free, so that you can use it for your Thanksgiving table.

You can download the file here. I printed it out on card stock, though you could use any kind of paper that you think would work best. Each page prints out four strips of paper for the chain.

Let's count our many blessings this Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for?

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20 homemade soup recipes to try today!

Soup is my favorite!  I make a pot of soup at least once a week and always love trying new recipes. Here are 20 homemade soup recipes to try this winter.Broccoli cheese soup chicken bacon and wild rice soupslow cooker baked potato souppasta e fagioli soupcreamy pumpkin soupnine vegetable hot and sour soupfresh spinach garlic and tomato tortellini soupvegetable soupseven vegetable minestronemexican chicken lime soupcrockpot bacon cheeseburger soupbeef barley souptailgate chilicabbage soupcheesy vegetable chowderham and white beans soupcrockpot chicken taco chilichicken fajita souplasagna souplemon chicken orzo soupI'm always sharing and finding new recipes to try.  For more recipes, you can find me on Pinterest.  

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