Tomato Chicken Soup

So I was looking on Pinterest (honestly...someone needs to stage an intervention...) and I came across this recipe for chicken tomato soup...and my creativity kicked in and I though I could easily make this using the leftover Italian chicken I made a few days ago!
So I grabbed a jar of tomato basil soup from the freezer and warmed it up in the microwave until I could easily pour it into my big soup pot.

I added in a BIG spoon full of the leftover Italian chicken...

and a can of chicken broth! 

I also added in some cream cheese from the fridge left over from bagels =) It was about 1/4 package, so roughly 2 oz.

I bought it up to a simmer, whisking here and there and while it was cooking I popped some garlic bread in the oven and chopped up some romaine lettuce. We're out of ranch =( so it's honey mustard tonight! Unfortunately, I had 2 bottles, one in the fridge and one in the pantry. Both were dates 02-2015 so I threw away the one opened in the fridge and used the one unopened in the pantry. I think it'll be OK, it smelled and tasted OK and I HATE to trash food -.-

After the soup was done, I added in the rest of the leftover pasta, ladled into bowls and topped with some mozzarella cheese.

This made plenty to feed my little family, and I still have a container of Italian chicken leftover! It's like it never ends LOL! I put it in the freezer, because after about the 3rd day of leftovers I get burned out. I'll pull it out in another week or two and make sandwiches out of it, there's just enough left for that.

Leftover Italian Chicken Tonight

Tonight was easy peasy, just leftovers from last night, this time around as sandwiches.

Crock Pot Italian Chicken

MMM! My entire house smells like garlic! So I was looking on Pinterest and came across a recipe for pulled Italian Chicken sammies, and it sounded really good! But I'm not in the mood for sandwiches tonight, so I thought I'd make something similar and serve it over some pasta with mozzarella cheese =)
I tossed a whole bag of frozen chicken breasts into my slow cooker and topped it off with a jar of spaghetti sauce.

I added in some basil, oregano and chopped garlic.

I left it to cook on low all day until the chicken was cooked through. When I was ready for supper, I fished out the chicken with a pair of tongs and let it stir in my Kitchenaid with the paddle until it was nicely shredded. I added the chicken back to my crock pot and stirred in some parmesan cheese =) I topped off with some shredded mozzarella cheese. I put the lid back on and left it to melt =)

So sorry the picture is shadowed, we ate a little late, so I didn't have as much natural light.
I found a bag of veggie spirals, so I boiled and drained those, then I tossed with a little butter, then topped the pasta with the chicken.

I toasted some garlic bread in the oven, chopped a little romaine for a salad. Add a little ranch and some parmesan cheese, and it was a perfect supper!

Salisbury Steaks!

So I dug through my freezer, looking for something to make for supper without going to the store and I came across some hamburger patties, 3 boxes of them! I really didn't feel like a burger, but I thought maybe I could make a decent Salisbury steak from them. So I scrounged around some more and found a bag of mushrooms and a packet of brown gravy! BOOM quick and easy Salisbury steaks!

I browned the patties in my BIG cast iron skillet, then topped with the frozen mushrooms and simmered until the burgers were cooked through.

I used a slotted spoon to fish out the patties and mushrooms on a plate, then added about half a cup of water and the gravy packet. I whisked until smooth and let simmer until thickened. Then I poured the gravy over into a glass measuring cup and let settle so I could pour off as much of the fat as possible. I transferred the patties and mushrooms back to the hot pan and poured the skimmed gravy on top!

Now Salisbury steaks wouldn't be the same without some tatters, so I dug around in the pantry closet and came up with a few spuds!

I washed them, peeled them, boiled them and mashed them with a little butter =) I nuked some brussel spouts, toasted some garlic bread and made some mac n cheese for my picky oldest daughter, who doesn't think a meal is complete without some mac n cheese!

It was delicious and I used what I had in the house without running out to the store!