WFMW

Today, Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer is having a themed WFMW edition. What do you do when you are worn out, busy, haven’t been to the grocery store and the kids are all hungry? Pull a quick meal together. That happens more often that I like to admit in our home. Most of my best meals are the ones that I fly by the seat of my pants after a long, hard day. That is why I keep a kitchen diary nearby to write down what I use so that I can re-create it again if it is a winner with the family. I am a pinch of this and pinch of that kind of cook. You may have to play around with the amounts since I did not measure out the potato flakes but poured them from the box. I have tried to be very accurate on the other measurements. I am a huge proponent of having a well stocked pantry so that great, easy meals can be created in a flash. When you have a husband who works a law enforcement schedule, two high school athletes, a college student, and an active middle school student you learn really quick how to get a meal on the table in a flash. KEEP A STOCKED PANTRY!

Quick and Easy Potato Soup
Three cans of Chicken Broth (I had the store brand on hand)
6 cups Water (I used a large stock pot and filled it halfway with hot water. I measured it out tonight and it equaled about six – seven cups of water)
¾ stick of unsalted butter
A heavy sprinkling of Garlic powder. I guess it would be around a ½ to 1 tsp.
Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning (season to your families taste) This is the best seasoning!
1 tsp. Rosemary
1 jar of Hormel Real Bacon Bits
1 ½ - 2 cups of cheese ( I had fine shredded Mexican blend on hand)
2 – 3 cups of Instant Potatoes. I stirred in the flakes until it started getting a little thick and then stopped. (I had Wal-Mart brand on hand in the pantry)

Bring water, chicken broth, and butter to a boil. Add seasonings and bacon bits. Turn stove down so that soup will not boil over.
Add instant potato flakes, which I am guessing was around 2 cups or so, until the mixture begins to get opaque and thickens. Add the cheese. Turn down the heat and serve.

I served this with garlic/cheddar croutons on top which I had in my pantry.
It made the house smell so good! My 16 year old son said it was better than my baked potato soup that takes several hours to simmer.

We are a family of six with three teenage boys that eat a lot. We not only had this for the meal Sunday but had enough for my husband and I to take to work for lunch.

One more quick meal:
2 boxes of Whole Wheat Rotini
2 Steam and Fresh broccoli in a bag
Canned chicken (2 cans shredded) or Rotisserie Chicken (I happened to have two cans of great white chicken meat that I used – they had been 99 cents each)
2 Ragu Alfredo Sauce in a jar or Wal-Mart brand works too
Kraft Parmesan cheese to taste
Italian Seasoning and Rosemary: around a tsp each

Cook the Rotini as directed on box. Cook the broccoli in the microwave as directed. Open up the chicken, drain, and shred with fork. Add seasonings. Mix with broccoli. Drain pasta, add back to hot pot and add chicken mixture as well as the Alfredo sauce. Stir and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Add a big salad along with some fruit for dessert and you have a great, satisfying meal.

For more quick and easy meals head over to Shannon’s Rocks in My Dryer and Works for Me Wednesday.