What's for Dinner?

This weekend was cold...early morning temps in the teens and highs in the 30s. So we just hung out at home, played with our toys, and tried to get everyone well. And I had a craving for soup. Now everyone knows that there is nothing better on a cold winter's day than a nice warm bowl of soup. Soup is just basic comfort food during the winter months. And the bonus is you can throw everything into one pot, it cooks itself, and there is only one pot to clean up! Now how can you go wrong with that?

So I found a new soup recipe that we tried Saturday night...Lasagna Soup! Got two thumbs up from Brent and the boys. It makes a nice alternative to chili. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Lasagna Soup

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 (32-ounce) box chicken broth
• 2 (14.5-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups egg noodles (I didn't measure and just used the entire 8 oz bag)
  
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
In a large Dutch oven, combine ground beef, onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until beef is browned and crumbles. Drain well.

Stir in thyme, brown sugar, broth, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and salt into cooked meat mixture. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add noodles, and simmer until noodles are tender.

Preheat broiler. Ladle soup into 8 to 10 ovenproof bowls. Evenly sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Broil soups, 6-inches from heat, 3 to 4 minutes, until cheese is browned and bubbly.

*I put Brent's and my bowl under the broiler, but because I didn't want the boys to accidently burn themselves on a hot bowl, I just sprinkled their soup with the cheese. It melted nicely while their soup was set aside to cool a little.

Sunday night, I fixed a chicken alfredo that had bow-tie pasta and a little bit of spinach along with lemon garlic roasted broccoli. Now doesn't that sound good? Well, Jack walks into the kitchen and says, "Eeeeeww! What's that? I don't like that! I'm not eating it!" So Jack and I had a little discussion about good and bad manners. We sit down for dinner and Jack, having a complete change of heart (or more likely, didn't want to be sent to bed without dinner), says, "Burnt Broccoli! I love burnt broccoli! This burnt broccoli is my favorite!" Yes, I counted...he said burnt no less than 3 times!

Thanks, son. Nothing like a backhanded compliment. I tried to remind him that the broccoli was roasted not burnt. Brent was laughing hysterically. I give up! But I do want it on the record for his future wife that I tried, I really, really tried!