5 on Friday: Labor Day

1.  Bugs

Good golly…the tummy bug entered our house the wee hours of Monday morning and hit every single one of us…mommy last!  I really thought I was in the clear, but I must have been too optimistic.  Needless to say this hasn’t been a very productive week for us.  We did, however, get triple the amount of laundry done.  Here’s hoping, wishing, praying, that this was our “hit” of the season…and it just came a little bit early. ;)

2.  Cups of Love

With being down and out this week, I have been drinking hot lemon water like a mad woman.  I was scrolling through Instagram and saw that a sweet little boutique that I follow, Sugar Bit, had their travel mugs restocked.  I missed them the first go around (as well as the planner that I want) so when I saw the post, I logged on right away to make a purchase.  I can’t wait for it to arrive.  This mug will be perfect for my morning drink on the go; be it my lemon water or current fave of coffee with pumpkin creamer.  Yum!

3.  Home Décor

My momma made a day trip down to visit last Sunday so we could tackle some shopping errands together.  I finally made some advances in decorating our living room; a year and a half later.  It really is amazing how some little decorations can make an impact in the feel of the room.  I definitely have a long way to go to make our house a home, but these baby steps watching it all evolve is fun none the less.

4.  Pumpkin Spice

As if I even need to post about this, but the PSL are out at Starbucks.  They don't officially release until after Labor Day but most places will make them for you, sometimes you have to use the password "pumpkin."  I think I’ve mentioned before that Starbucks isn’t my first choice to visit for coffee, and probably not my second either.  However, I can’t help but love their pumpkin spice lattes and some of their holiday flavors as well.  Now, the recipe apparently changed this year.  Has anyone had it yet?  Does it taste better, worse, or the same?

5.  Labor Day

The last official weekend of summer is here and I have no idea how in the world it happened.  Really folks, how are we already saying goodbye to summer?  I made a bucket list of all the activities I wanted to accomplish over the summer months (see that post here.) and realized I have a few activities left to attempt to cram into the next few days. 

What do you have planned for your holiday?

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Monday morning came a bit early for me.  I shot up in bed at 4am as I heard rustling outside.  Moments later I tip-toed to the stairs, convinced someone was breaking into the house.  Sure enough, someone was trying to get in.  My heart was pounding and I raced to get my phone to call 911.  Suddenly a text came through my phone.  It was David saying he was sick and home early.  I could have killed him myself for not sending a message earlier, you know, on his way home instead of when he arrived.

 

Regardless, the man was sick.  Sick, sick, sick.  He went to the basement to sleep in the spare room.  I didn’t see him again until almost 4pm.  It was David’s day off so he would be watching the kids while I was at work.  Since Plan A wasn’t happening, I went to Plan B and called the daycare to see if they could take the kids.  There was an opening in Tessa’s room, but not in Brady’s.  I told them to call me if there was a cancellation, but never heard from them.  Needless to say, Plan C included me using PTO to spend the day at home with the kids.  We made the best of it.  We ran to get some groceries, I got the yard mowed as they played outside, we went for a stroller walk/bike ride, and I made some homemade chicken soup.  I figured it would be an easy meal for David to eat if he could, it’s easy and makes the house smell wonderful, and well, I wanted to celebrate September Eve.

Here’s my recipe for chicken noodle soup.  The best part is I make it in the crock pot!

1 to 2lbs of chicken breast

1 small bag of carrots

1 bunch of celery

1 small white onion

4-6 cups of chicken stock

1 cup of water

Rosemary, Thyme, Celery Seed, salt & pepper….all to taste

2 chicken bouillon cubes

½ bag of wide egg noodles

 

I like to work in the order of the ingredients.  First, cube your chicken breasts and toss them in the crockpot.  Next, chop up your carrots, celery, and onion and add them to your chicken.  Pour in the chicken stock and water and give it all a good mix.  (I put 4-6 cups of chicken stock as you can choose how much broth you like with your soup).  Finally, add your seasonings and bouillon cubes.  I didn’t put an exact amount for the spices because everyone likes to season differently.  Add the seasonings above, add different ones, anything works and won’t affect the outcome of the soup.  The same goes with the bouillon cubes, if I have them I add them, if I don’t I don’t! (I’m sure my style of cooking would drive some of you crazy.  I’m OCD with so many things but following a recipe isn’t one of them).

Turn your crockpot on high and let it cook for 4 to 4.5 hours.   At this point, check your chicken and carrots and make sure they are cooked to your desired tenderness (all crockpots are different).  If both are done or nearly done, add your egg noodles.  Cook an additional 10-15 minutes until the noodles are nice and soft. 

That’s it folks.  Add some saltine crackers and/or parmesan cheese and you’re all set.  Enjoy!