I’m calling this pantry soup – because when I came home from work tonight I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner. Most weeks – I have a plan Sunday-Thursday because we have party pizza Friday every Friday night and I usually get something quick for dinner Saturday with a full shop on Sundays. But as anyone knows when shopping for a family of 5 that includes 2 teenage boys, some weeks by Thursday I’m running out of a lot of stuff!
So, I opened my freezer, looked in my veggie drawer, looked in the pantry. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out what I could make. My kids kept coming in asking what was for dinner and I kept saying “I don’t know yet!” I pretended like I was on Food TV’s CHOPPED and the things I found in my pantry/fridge and freezer was my mystery basket!
Then it hit me – I have stuff to make soup! And boy was this delicious – fed a hungry family with enough leftover for me to take to work for lunch – and I probably saved $50.00 instead of running to the store and getting something for dinner and throwing extra stuff in my cart #winning!
Print Pantry soup!Ingredients
- 1 poblano pepper, diced
- 1/4 red onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 baby mini peppers, diced (red and yellow)
- One 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 chicken breast, cut up into bite size pieces
- 5 oz.. uncooked macaroni
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- pinch of salt
- 1 can corn, drained
Instructions
- In a big soup pot, I added all the veggies and spices and cooked on low/med heat for about 5 minutes.
- Next I added the uncooked chicken breast and cooked on low until almost cooked through.
- Add the chicken broth and crushed tomatoes and bring to a low boil.
- Add the uncooked macaroni and stir occasionally until the pasta is cooked through - about 12 minutes.
- The macaroni absorbed a little more broth than I thought it would, but it was actually really good like that - like Rachel Ray would call it a STOUP (cross between soup and stew).
- With a little hot sauce tossed in right before serving - I would definitely make this again!
I love when I can come up with things to make when it seems like we have nothing in the house!
*****
Now on to another story. For those of you who don’t know – I work at an architecture firm that designs restaurants all over the world (pretty cool place to work!). Last year, one of my bosses was leaving on vacation and before he left – he handed me a stack of paperwork and asked if I could take over a certain project he was working on. Ummm… OK – but what is it?
It turned out to be quite an interesting experience. He had purchased a chandelier on a trip to South Africa for a job we were working on. It was at O’Hare airport in Chicago but I needed to finish getting all the paperwork together to get it out of customs. I actually drove to O’Hare – to the Department of Homeland Security Office, had paperwork approved there, then drove around the airport to the international customs area, to get more paperwork stamped, then was asked to walk down a skinny deck around the outside of that building to a big door leading to a GIANT warehouse. I waited for someone to come get my paperwork before it could be released to me.
So where is this story going? That chandelier that traveled so far, is now in it’s place – Nando’s in Baltimore, Maryland. – And YES that is made from Ostrich eggs – it’s a miracle it didn’t break!!
I LOVE the design of this restaurant – it’s funky and fun and inviting and amazing – my friends at work did a great job on this one. I haven’t eaten there since they are on the East coast, but you can buy their famous Peri-Peri hot sauces at Whole Foods.
I have tasted these hot sauces and they are super flavorful – and BIZ – some are REALLY spicy!
I would love to hear if anyone has been to that restaurant and what they thought of it!
It’s almost the weekend – any fun plans for you??