SOCIAL MEDIA

Monday, February 1, 2016

Weekend Update and Lasagna Soup Recipe

Wow what a weekend. I am barely getting to this weekend update as we have inches of ice around the city and it made for quite the journey into work.

This weekend went nothing like I had planned.

I thought my husband was getting home around 4 pm and we would take the girls out to dinner since I lived on this almost the entire week.

But the storm rolled in early and the winds were crazy. They cancelled his flight and they had to re-book one from Denver to Portland to Oakland. And there were other flights that could take him to Las Vegas to Reno, but the ticket agent said they weren't flying into Reno. Well they weren't for an hour. So he could have caught one of those flights and been home at 6, 8 or 9 pm. 

Once he got to Oakland at 8 pm, they had to rent a 4wd vehicle and drive home. He made it home at 3 am. But he made it safely.

Avery didn't take as long of a nap as Sutton, so we hung out, made funny videos and took lots of pictures.
 
And we cuddled

In the meantime, my in laws came by and hung out with me and the girls and brought us over dinner. Life savers!!!

Saturday morning we headed out to breakfast and ran a few quick errands. We had a surprise birthday party for one of my co-workers that evening, so we dropped the girls off at my parents house. We had a lot of fun that evening. And the girls had a ball at their grandparents house.

Sunday morning we went snowboarding. The storm that started Friday brought in a total of 40 inches to Mt Rose. So we knew we had to go and luckily we had arranged it a week ago and my in laws came to watch the girls. I am exhausted (still am today) from all the powder we boarded through. AMAZING. After snowboarding, we grabbed lunch and then hung out with the girls the rest of the day. I did manage to shower and make it to the store and cook dinner.
No make up, cuddle time with these feisty ladies

I made Lasagna Soup that I saw on Carlsbad Cravings. It's no secret that I love soup and this was the perfect evening for it. It seems like it has a lot of ingredients, but most of them are spices. It was super easy to prepare and it did not disappoint. This will be a regular in our rotation.

One Pot Lasagna Soup
Author:
Serves: 6-8 servings
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used 1/2 tsp)
  • 1 (24 oz.) jar Prego Traditional Italian Sauce
  • 8-10 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided (I used 7 cups)
  • 1 (14 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 whole bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 10 uncooked lasagna noodles, broken into approx. 1-2 inch pieces (I would break them closer to an inch otherwise I had to cut my noodles in my bowl)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional, but heavily recommended)
    Cheese Garnish
  • shredded mozzarella cheese
  • freshly finely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Heat large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add beef and onion and cook, stirring occasionally until beef is browned. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for 30 seconds. Drain off any excess fat.
  2. Add Prego Sauce, 6 cups chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, sugar, spices and lasagna noodles. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until lasagna noodles are tender, stirring occasionally (approximately 20-30 minutes).
  3. Discard bay leaf and stir in heavy cream (optional) and 2-4 (I used only one) cups chicken broth to reach desired consistency. Garnish individual servings with desired amount of cheeses.

So good. I would recommend making this ASAP. We cuddled by the fire and called it an early night (9 pm).

How was your weekend?

12 comments :

  1. So sorry about Rory's flight. Isn't that so frustrating? Sounds like overall it was a pretty good weekend. The soup looks yummy!!

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    1. It is frustrating, but it worked out in the end. The soup is to die for. I had it for lunch today and it is even better the second day!!!

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  2. That mac and cheese looks sooo good. Ha! So does that lasagna soup! Yum! Wow, I can't believe he didn't get in until 3 a.m.! Crazy! Sounds like you had a great weekend though anyway!

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    Replies
    1. The mac n cheese is from the box. No shame. And the soup is so good. Crazy good.

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  3. Oh no, Momma! I hate to hear that your hubby's flight was cancelled... I know that you were ready for him to be home! On the bright side, that soup sounds delish! I will definitely be trying it!

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    1. We were ready for him to be home and he did get home. Just later than we wanted, but we made the most of it. Hope you had a good weekend!!!

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  4. Wow, so glad he made it home safe! And 40 inches?! Wow!

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    1. Me too. And yes that was in the mountains. In the valley, we got about 9 inches of snow. It was a crazy weather weekend!

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  5. That soup looks So delicious! And so glad he made it home to you safely!

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  6. Wow! I may have to try that! I could veganize it and leave out the meat and cheese and I bet it would still be great!

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    Replies
    1. Oh I bet it would be. The cheese is just a topping, so that is easy. And I love meatless lasagnas too. And I love vegetarian ones too!!! If you do it, you should post that version for others to make as well.

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