Tricks of the Trade Tuesday

People often ask me "how do you do it with 4 kids?!"  And most of the time I reply with something quippy like "caffeine, wine and antidepressants."  But if I really think about it, I do have some tricks up my sleeve, and I'd like to share them with you!  

This will be a weekly post, and if you have "tricks of the trade" that you'd like to share please email me and I'd love to have you guest post!

Today I'm going to share with you how to make lunch and dinner quickly, easily, and with minimal dishes.  I use this trick all the time, and no one knows the secret but me :-)

 First, you make soup.  I found his soup recipe HERE but you can really use any soup recipe that has beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and greens.  There is also a great one on ChefMd that uses sweet potatoes.  With both of these soups the prep time is minimal and the cooking time is minimal.  You can make it even easier by just throwing all of the ingredients on the crock pot on high until it boils and then medium for 2 hours.  


Ok, so now you've made your soup.   Serve it for lunch with grilled cheese sandwiches.  I know it may sound silly to make soup and grilled cheese in the middle of Summer, but when my kids come in from the pool they are COLD and need something to warm them up.   Anyway, that's lunch.  After lunch clean up stick the leftover soup in the fridge.

 Now for dinner.  Boil 6 cups of water (for noodles). 

 While waiting for the water to boil put the remainder of the soup in the blender with a can of tomato paste and 1 tsp italian seasoning.  Blend until smooth (about 1 minute).  Now warm on the stove while your noodles are cooking.

Top your noodles with your pureed soup (now sauce!).  Add some freshly grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil, and serve it to your family!  I bet they'll have no idea they're eating the soup from earlier!  Mine didn't.  In fact, I quizzed them on what they tasted in the sauce, and they thought there was a lot of cream and cheese in it because of the texture and color.  Mwahahahaha!  

ALL of my kids finished every last bite of their pasta.  And that NEVER happens.  In fact, Ellie finished hers and Jason tried to give her a banana because she was still hungry.  She screamed and demanded more pasta!  


That's my trick of the trade for today, if you have tricks of the trade you'd like to share feel free to leave a comment or email me about guest posting!