We should take stock in tissues!
Those of you who know me and have known me for a while, know that my family seems to always be sick. We get hit with colds, sinus infections, ear infections, ear drum infections, the dreaded stomach bug (at least four times a year), and so on and so forth. This year, like years before, we started at end of November, went through all of December and into January, starting with Alex being sick before Thanksgiving all the way through Caroline being sick with a bad cold still today. I’m usually right there with them. It lasts through about, I don’t know…April?
Last week was Elizabeth’s turn again. She started with her cold while we were away for Christmas vacation, even though she was still on antibiotics from her sinus infection, and by the end of last week she had hit the wall, as they say, and I let her take a sick day on Thursday.
Almost any time they’re home sick with a cough and a sneeze, no matter who it is, they always ask me for chicken soup for lunch to soothe their noses and throats. They want me to make it “from scratch” which for me is not quite accurate since I keep chicken broth in my pantry at all times for requests such as this one. And, they’re always very honest with me regarding my soup, reminding me how good Daddy’s soup is (which usually IS from scratch) and that mine is almost as good, but not. In fact, last year when Elizabeth was sick and she told me about Daddy’s soup being the best, she actually thanked me for even trying to compete.
This time though, when Elizabeth asked for soup, I was actually excited! The reason is that I..okay WE… got a new Cuisinart food processor from my mom and dad for Christmas this year!
A Christmas gift from my parents that I was dying to use!
Now I could say, “How could they have known how badly I wanted a food processor?” but really, I told them when they asked for a wish list for Christmas this year. I really, really wanted one. We’d had one for a long time and then it broke and we never replaced it. I used to be “that mom” who made all my own baby foods for my kids and we used that thing to death. But I have especially missed it when I have made my chicken soups for my sick kids.
Therefore, last week when Liz put in her request, I jumped at the chance to open up my new gift. I must say, it was stunning.
Look how beautiful it looks with the fresh veggies inside!
I was a little bit nervous to have such a nice food processor in my possession, “the mother of all food processors,” as my cousin Val said on Christmas Day. I didn’t want to break anything so I read the directions VERY carefully and so far, it’s all still in tact! (We’ve been known to break a few things on the very first day we’ve owned them.)
I must say, the food processor chopped my veggies so nicely and SO quickly! In my soups I usually put in celery, carrots and an onion. Last week, it turns out we were out of onions so it was just carrots and celery and then of course…chicken. For the chicken I pulled about six chicken tenders out of my freezer, thawed them cooked them, cut them up really small and put them into the soup.
Now here’s a funny story for you: take a look at this photo of my ingredients from Aldi’s:
If you look closely maybe you'll see what I missed!
When I made the soup last week I went down to my pantry and grabbed a box of elbow pasta and three boxes of broth and started cooking. Do you see on the box where it says that it’s a TWO POUND box of pasta?? Nope. Neither did I. Turns out, two pounds is A LOT of pasta!! And, it makes A LOT of soup. But, that’s good, because it keeps well leftover for a few days and all of my kids like it. It also makes for a good lunch in their thermoses, which they like to take to school for a hot lunch when they can. Makes life easier for Don in the morning, that’s for sure.
It was when I poured the pasta in that I thought to myself, "Hmmm that's a lot of pasta!"
All in all, my first experience with the Cuisinart Food Processor was great and I can’t wait to use it again!
I loved that in addition to the detailed instructions provided, there was (gasp!) a recipe booklet!! Lots of recipes for food processing! I cannot wait! In the meantime, I’ll be using it to keep on making soup for my babies to help them through another season of sicknesses and stomach bugs, knowing that my soup is not *quite* as good as Daddy’s!
I can't wait to use my new food processor again!
The Whole bag of Chips 