Morning Visitors by frances robson

Good evening, to all of you and come on in for a visit. We are having one of those days where we have a little bit of all kinds of weather. It's cloudy then sunny then cloudy and it can't seem to decide what it wants to do so just hang with me and you can have whatever you want. It is also not too cold and I love it.

I went to get myself beautified this morning down in Valdosta and would you believe I went to Valdosta and did not go to Walmart or Sam's Club. To make it even better, I carried 2 boxes of stuff to Goodwill and didn't go in! I also went to Target and the Dollar Tree and was through in less than 2 hours and I hope you are impressed with my self discipline for I am. My new goal is to not to shop on impulse but on need and ask 3 times if I need it or just want it and it's working. Maybe I can save some money after all.

Thought I would share a few ideas for doctoring up canned soups to make them a little better for you know I can't open a can or a box and not add something to it. Most of the time it tastes pretty good so I'll share with you.

Clam Chowder (feeds 4)

2 cans clam chowder - We like the Progresso
Now the rest I don't really measure so use what you have. I had a slice of cured ham leftover so I cut it in small pieces and added it to the chowder. I also added a little onion powder and a little garlic powder.

Then I had 1/2 of a leftover baked potato and I cut that into small pieces and tossed that is also.
Progresso soups have very little salt and pepper so I added a little of both, brought it to a slow simmer for about 5 minutes. I served it in thick bowls and sprinkled it with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese and it was delicious.
If you don't have leftover cured ham, crumbled, cooked bacon would be great. I bake bacon instead of frying and do a whole pound, cool it, and store it in the refrigerator for soups, salads and sandwiches.

Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup

1 large can or 2 small cans Chicken Noodle soup
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup or more baked chicken chopped in large pieces
1 pkg. Ramen Noodles - chicken flavored
2 cups unsalted chicken broth

Pour the soup, tomatoes, chicken broth and chicken in large pan. Heat on medium heat until simmering and add the Ramen Noodles and seasoning packet. Simmer until noodles are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste but probably won't need salt.
Optional: Leftover green beans -about 1 cup or green peas and or nibblet corn. You can use any leftover vegetables you have which would taste good with chicken noodle soup.

To go with the soup, I made bread sticks with hotdog buns. I split each half of the hotdog buns lengthwise, placed on baking sheet, sprinkled liberally with olive oil, sprinkled with Italian seasoning and toasted until slightly brown.

In cleaning out my pantry, I found several bread machine mixes and having given away my machine I found that you can also use these in a regular oven. Knowing that the yeast was out of date, I just mixed it according to the directions on the box and used 1 package of fresh yeast.

As I clean out the pantry, I will share some of other concoctions if they are good. You will never know about the failures.

Ya'll have a good afternoon and come back to see me. Be careful going home.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach