Soup Nights - It Worked for Us

All winter long, we have been enjoying a weekly soup night!  It has been a welcomed changed in our household.  The benefits we saw of having a weekly soup night were:

• Able to use up most leftovers in a soup
• Fast and easy meal on busy nights
• Tried many, new soup recipes that are now family favorites
• Soups are cheap to make and can do some without meat

Even my typical "meat and potato" husband enjoyed the soup nights.  He has become our resident expert in making soup for dinner!  It is definitely not difficult to make soup and it is hard to mess it up.  The ingredients are flexible and so are the amounts you add to make your soup delicious!

Want to sample some of the "new" soups we enjoyed this past winter?  Here are some of our favorite recipes!

Tomato Pasta Soup
Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup
Sausage Potato Soup
Hearty Beef Barley Soup
Creamy Turkey Rice Soup
Chicken Cheese Rice Soup

Menu Plan Monday - Week of Feb 21st

Well officially it is the last full week of February!  We had an amazing three days of warmth this past week that were a welcomed change.  The boys got to ride their new scooters, the dogs got to take a few walks, and the snow has all melted.  Unfortunately it is back in the 30's now, but the 50-60 degree days are much appreciated this time of year.  I hope that spring is just around the corner, but I will not get my hopes up just yet!  I hope you have a productive week!

Monday - Meat Manicotti (recipe to follow)
Tuesday - Chicken Noodle Soup
Wednesday - Beef Stroganoff
Thursday - Chopped Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken and Texas Cheese Toast
Friday - Take Out Night
Saturday - Date Night
Sunday - Roast with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

This post is linked at MPM at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Free Purex & Gain Dryer Sheets

This week you can score some free laundry detergent and free dryer sheets!

Through Feb 23rd, Giant Eagle has Purex on sale for B1G1.  Buy one Purex with Zout @ $2.99 and use the $3 off coupon from the 2/20 RP = FREE!

Marc's has Gain dryer sheets for less than $3.  Use the $3/1 coupon from the 2/13 RP = FREE!

Tomato Pasta Soup

This soup was super easy, super fast, and super delicious!  We are on a roll with our weekly soup night.  It has been wildly successful in our house and we have got to try so many new recipes!

Ingredients:
15 oz can of diced tomatoes
15 oz can of recipe ready diced tomatoes with oregano, basil, and garlic
28 oz of chicken broth
1 cup rotini pasta (or similar pasta)
15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

Directions:
Add tomatoes with juice and chicken broth in large pot and bring to a boil.  Add pasta and cook about 8 minutes until tender.  Stir in beans, lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper and stir in parsley.  Serve alongside cheesy garlic bread!

Menu Plan Monday - Week of Feb 14th - With Love!

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you have a wonderful day with your sweeties (hubby and kids) and maybe receive a surprise gift??  Okay wishful thinking on my part.  We celebrated last night and took the kids out to dinner and an evening of bowling.  We all had a blast, which is what is important!  Here is how our menu is lining up this week!

Monday - Tomato Pasta Soup with Garlic Rolls
Tuesday - Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Wednesday - Taco Night
Thursday - Shake n Bake Pork Chops
Friday - Basil Pesto Pizza
Saturday - Eat Out
Sunday - Crock Pot Roast and Mashed Potatoes

This post is linked at MPM over at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients:
1 box of rigatoni
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp paprika
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup American cheese
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp butter

Directions:
Boil noodles as directed on packaged.  In a sauce pan melt 3 tbsp butter and then add flour.  Once combined add milk and whisk until hot.  Add cheese until melted and then add spices.

In a separate bowl, melt additional 1 tbsp of butter and add to panko bread crumbs.  Drain macaroni noodles and then add to cheese sauce and milk until combined.  Pour into a 9 x 13 pan sprayed with cooking spray (I use an aluminum pan for easy clean-up).  Top with extra shredded cheese and panko crumbs.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

Preparing for Kindergarten

I have a found some great resources online for my 5 year old to practice skills needs for pre-school and kindergarten. These also make great rainy day activities! Here are some of the sites:


Practice with Scissors – Allows you to design worksheets to practice cutting!

Writing Letters – The Crayola site has all kinds of worksheets

Tracing Letters – You can type in what you want the worksheet to say to practice tracing letters! I typed my son’s full name.