Thank you, all, for your kind words this past week, both here and privately to my husband or me in email. My father-in-law passed away last Thursday afternoon. It was teary -- hard to be unselfish when loved ones pass into the afterlife and leave the rest of us behind. Anyway, thank you all so much for your kindness.
I wanted to share something that I bought a couple of weeks ago, as I thought it was a terrific grocery bargain and a way to make homemade soup fun for children of all ages. So, you know that I scour the Hispanic aisles at the grocery store. I find fantastic bargains there (remember the tea cookies for 37 cents a package?). This time, I bought alphabet pasta for a whopping 38 cents a 7 oz. package at WinCo. That's just under 87 cents per pound, which while not the lowest price that I've ever paid for pasta, it was a pretty good deal considering that it kicks homemade soups up a notch when it comes to kids. When my son was small, I bought a US brand of alphabet pasta, but I recall that it was much more expensive than the Hispanic brand.
One night, during this very hectic period, I needed a quick dinner that used scratch ingredients. I made a chicken and vegetable alphabet soup, using a chicken breast, carrots, celery, some of the alphabet pasta, chicken soup base, and dried rosemary. It was delicious. Combined with tangerines and grilled cheese sandwiches, we had a complete meal 20-25 minutes after walking in the door. Due to the small size of the pasta, it cooks up very quickly -- about 6 or 7 minutes of boiling along with the chicken, vegetables, water, and seasonings. Check the Hispanic aisle in your grocery store or an ethnic market in your area. The brand is El Guapo.
