Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Use It Up... and Quick & Easy Chicken Soup Recipe

Our family will be eating a lot more chicken than normal over the next few weeks months thanks to Tops Friendly Markets and their $0.50 Per Pound sale on chicken from last week!

I couldn't resist.

When I first spied that sale I instantly had visions of rotisserie chicken dancing in my head... I was looking forward to putting one of those bad boys in that rotisserie... visualize with me... I could smell it... I could... see it turning a nice golden color as it spun around and around and basted itself in it's yummy chicken-y juices... except, my dreamy visions of juicy and golden brown chicken soon turned into a... well, vision of disappointment... it wouldn't fit.  The chicken was to large for the rotisserie... I ignored that little voice in my mind when I was buying the chicken... you know, the voice that said THERE'S NO WAY THOSE CHICKENS ARE GOING TO FIT IN THE ROTISSERIE... The smallest chickens I could find at our Tops store were 6 pounds or more and when I stuffed one into the rotisserie... it squatted and groaned...  just like the voice in my mind told me it would.  So, in the oven she went... rotisserie chicken rub all...

That night along side the oven roasted chicken I served mashed potatoes, gravy, corn & stove top stuffing to my family and I did it FOR LESS than $5...  YES, you read correctly...  LESS THAN $5! 

The following day, with leftovers from my rotisserie oven roasted chicken I made six sandwiches for Ron to take to work...  He ate 2 at home and took 3 with him... Apparently they were good and Ron wasn't feeling as spiteful as I was about that darn chicken not fitting into the rotisserie.

Today, I put the remainder of that chicken to good use for Aunt Robin who needs a good dish of homemade chicken noodle soup so she can hopefully start feeling better....  



My $3.00 Chicken fed our family of 3 dinner... my husband lunch and finally, it will hopefully work it's magic on what's ailing Aunt Robin...


Quick & Easy Chicken Soup

4 Cups Chicken Broth

1 Shallot, Diced
1 Carrot, Sliced
2 Stalks Celery, Sliced into half moons
1 1/2 Cups Leftover Chicken
1/4 Box Fettuccine, broke into thirds (used up what was left in a box)
1 Teaspoon Parsley
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a  2.5 Quart Sauce Pan.  Add the Shallot, Carrot, Celery & Fettuccine.  Return to a boil and cook 12 minutes longer; add Chicken and Parsley; Salt & Pepper to taste.





Free Green Mountain Cofffee Sample



Click HERE to sign up for a free sample of Green Mountain Coffee Grounds or K-Cups!  Simply watch the video & choose which sample you prefer and wait for your sample to be delivered...  Limit One Per Person.

Cheesy Manicotti Recipe & Tops Sale on Most Ingredients


Cheesy Manicotti

Makes: 12 Servings
Adapted From: Cooking with Paula Deen Magazine, Volume 8 Issue 5 September/October 2012, Page 32

2 (8-ounce) Packages Manicotti
1 (2-pound) Container Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
1 (10-ounce) Package Frozen Chopped Spinach, Thawed and Squeezed Dry
4 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 (16-ounce) Package Sliced, Fresh Mozzarella
2 Cups Fresh Shredded Romano Cheese
2 Large Eggs, Beaten
2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
2 Teaspoons Dried Italian Seasoning
2 (1-Pound) Jars Pasta Sauce
½ Cup Brown Sugar
Salt & Pepper to Taste

1.      Preheat oven to 350˚.  Spray 2-13x9 inch baking dishes with nonstick cooking spray.

2.    Cook Manicotti according to package directions; drain, rinse and set aside.  (I rinse the Manicotti with cold water to help prevent them from sticking together & tearing apart…)  Use a paper towel to wipe off water leftover from rinsing the Manicotti.

3.    In a large bowl, stir together Ricotta, Spinach, Shredded Mozzarella, Romano, Eggs, Parsley, Italian Seasoning and Salt & Pepper.  Fill a 1 Gallon Ziploc Bag with Cheese Mixture.  Snip off one corner of the bag & Pipe Cheese Mixture into Manicotti.  I pipe the mixture in from both ends to achieve a fuller Manicotti.

4.    Mix Brown Sugar & Pasta Sauce.  *Tip: Don’t dirty another bowl!  Add the Brown Sugar right into the jar of the Pasta Sauce and use the handle of a wooden spoon to mix… You won’t be able to fit ALL the Brown Sugar into the jars so you’ll need to pour a little sauce into the bottoms of the 13x9 inch baking dishes first…  After Brown Sugar & Pasta sauce is combined pour about 1 ½ Cups of Pasta Sauce into the bottoms of each of the 13x9 inch baking dishes.

5.    Place Stuffed Manicotti over sauce.  Pour remaining sauce over Manicotti and top with Fresh Mozzarella slices.

6.    Bake 30 to 45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Serve with Cheesy Garlic Bread and Tossed Salad.

Find some of the ingredients for this recipe on sale at Tops this week!
Galbani Fresh Mozzarella Balls 8 oz pkg B1G1
$1/1 Precious Galbani Cheese, exp. 11/30/12 (SS 08/12/12) If Included in Sale
$1/1 Precious Galbani Cheese, Printable If Included in Sale
Use with Tops $1 Doubler
Final Cost Unknown

Prego Pasta Sauce 3/$5 
$1/3 Prego Sauce, exp. 10/6/12 (SS 09/09/12 #2)
Use with Tops $1 Doubler
Final Cost as low as 3/$3 or $1 each

BelGioioso Grated Cheese $9.99 Pound 

Egglands Best Large Eggs 18 Pk 1/$3.29
$0.50/1 Eggland's Best Eggs, exp. 12/31/12 (SS 09/30/12) Doubles to $1
Final Cost 1/$2.29