Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

There is nothing fancy about this recipe.  The recipe calls for canned chicken and canned carrots.  I made the recipe as it is written because I was in a hurry.  We really enjoyed it, Eli especially.  But I think next time I make it if I've got time I'll use fresh carrots and cook up some chicken breasts.  
 Recipe from: Wellfee Family Blog
Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup (in less than 30 minutes!)

Ingredients:
1/2 of medium onion, chopped
1 bag of egg noodles (you can use either medium or wide)
2 cans of cooked chunk chicken breast (you don't have to use canned chicken here)
1 can of sliced carrots, strained
Water
Chicken Bouillon cubes
Parsley Flakes

Easy steps to homestyle, tasty goodness:
1) In a large soup pot, saute onion in olive oil until translucent.
2) Fill pot 2/3 full with hot water and add bouillon cubes (I usually use 3 or 4)- you could also use canned chicken broth.
3) Bring to a rolling boil and add bag of egg noodles.
4) Boil until noodles are tender (approx. 12-15 minutes), and stir occasionally.
5) Add carrots and chicken and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 more minutes. (I usually do a quick taste test here and add more seasoning if it needs it.)
6) Sprinkle parsley flakes on top and serve!!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is probably one of my favorite soups.  I love it.  The Lokodi's came to visit and Lindsey tried some and she loved it too.  It really is so delicious.  My changes are noted with **.  Most of my changes are made merely out of laziness.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 Recipe Taco Chicken (**I generally just put some southwest type seasoning on my chicken)
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
4 cans chicken broth
1 15oz. can chopped or diced tomatoes
2 jalapeno peppers(if you are scared, try serrano peppers; they're milder--**Will has issues with spicy foods so I generally just omit the peppers)
1/4 c. fresh lime juice (3-4).  Don't even think of buying the stuff in a bottle.
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Toppings:

Store-bought tortilla chips, or 2-3 corn tortillas, plus oil for frying (**I like to buy the tortilla strips instead of chips.  I find them at WalMart in the condiment isle, near the croutons)
Sliced avocado or guacamole
Grated or crumbled cotija cheese (**I just use mozzarella or pepper jack)
1/4 c. cilantro

Early in the day, begin marinating the chicken (**I skip this.  I just get out my George and sprinkle some southwest  seasoning on my chicken).  Right before you start preparing the soup, start grilling it.

In a large crockpot, heat some olive oil (I can tell you right now that you'll never hear the words EVOO from my mouth.  Or my fingers) over  medium heat.  Add chopped onion and saute 3-4 minutes.
Add garlic and minced jalapeno and cook a few minutes more until pepper is softened and garlic is fragrant.  Add chicken broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer 15-20 minutes.

While soup is simmering, juice the limes and set aside.  Start preparing the toppings:  grate the cheese, chop the cilantro, cut up the avocado or prepare the guacamole, and fry the tortillas.  Right before serving, add lime juice and chicken to the soup.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Ladle soup into the bowls and add desired toppings.

Crockpot Cheese Tortellini

We tried this recipe tonight and both Mike and I liked it.  The boys did not but that didn't surprise me--we are still trying to get them to try new things.  I made a few changes to this recipe which I put in parenthesis.  We will definitely eat this again.  It was super easy to prepare and delicious.  The original recipe came from here

Crockpot Cheese Tortellini

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen tortellini (I did not use frozen tortellini)
1 small bag of fresh spinach (I didn't have fress spinach but had frozen spinach so I used frozen)
2 cans of italian style diced tomatoes
1 box or 4 cups or chicken broth
1 block of cream cheese
1 lb. of roll sausage

Brown the sausage and put all ingredients in crockpot,
chunking up the cream cheese.(Because my tortellini was not frozen I waited to put the tortellini in until the last hour and a half.)
Cook on low for 5-6 hrs.