Lunch: (380) 1 cup of pasta with 1/2 cup of last night's homemade meat sauce
Dinner: (400) Chicken Noodle Soup
Dessert: (300) Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafers
I'm not a daily breakfast eater. On school mornings, it's usually just coffee. I'm not really hungry until lunch. I did wait a little too long to eat today. I normally eat lunch before I pick up from school, but I forgot and was starving by the time we got home. Definitely going to eat dinner early.
I have been CRAVING banana pudding, so I had to figure a way to get it in tonight. At the store I discovered Jello Simply Good Banana instant pudding. Half a cup of that with half a banana and 4 Nilla Wafers is a treat that I'm more than willing to indulge in. I'll let you know what I think.
Tonight's dinner recipe actually has another major step before it- making homemade chicken broth! It is SO EASY, just slightly time consuming. Rather than a whole chicken, I use chicken split breasts (the ones still on the bone with skin). The husband doesn't care much for dark meat, so this is the best way to make sure it all gets eaten. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to calculate the amount of calories in homemade broth. LoseIt said 40 cals/cup, but I'm not sure how true that is. The rest of the internet isn't quite sure either.
After I cool the broth and shred the chicken, I freeze the broth in 2 cup portions and the chicken in 1 cup portions. This allows me to make single servings when one of us starts coming down with the sniffles. (A single serving gets 1/4 cup diced onion, 1 sliced carrot, 1 diced celery stalk and 1 clove garlic, sautéed in 1tsp olive oil with 1/3 cup uncooked egg noodles for 400 calories) The recipe provided made enough for this dinner and two more servings worth in the freezer.
20-Minute Chicken Noodle Soup (2.5 servings- fed 2 adults 1 kid):
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 cloves garlic
5 cups chicken broth (store bought is fine, just consider making homemade one day!)
10 oz shredded cooked chicken (about 2 cups)
1 cup wide egg noodles
some herbs or spices if you have them- Thyme and Parsley are pretty standard, but a bay leaf, some rosemary or oregano wouldn't be unwelcome. I've used dry Italian seasoning before and been pretty happy. But I've also used nothing but salt and pepper and been happy too. Do what makes you happy.
Sautee the onion, carrot, and celery in a pot with a decent pinch of salt and a few grounds of pepper for about 5 minutes on medium heat. When the vegetables are starting to get soft, add the garlic and cook for two minutes. Dump in the chicken, broth, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. I find another generous pinch of salt and 10 grinds of pepper is good for us. You might prefer more or less. Bring to a boil. Add the egg noodles, cover, and cook for the amount of time indicated on the package of noodles. Serve and enjoy!
