Recipe: Pasta Fagioli Soup

Shana says: Pasta Fagioli Soup is super super fast, very healthy and a family favorite.

Pasta Fagioli Soup

This Italian soup derives its name—fagioli—and its high fiber content from kidney beans. Serve with crusty Italian bread and a Caesar salad for a quick weeknight supper.

12 ounces Aidelle's chicken or turkey sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced
5 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup uncooked small seashell pasta
4 cups coarsely chopped zucchini (about 4 small zucchini)
1 (14.5-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) shredded Asiago cheese (optional)

Heat a large saucepan over high heat. Add sausage; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add broth and pasta; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes. Add zucchini and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 minutes. Stir in basil, oregano, and beans; cover and simmer for 3 minutes or until pasta and zucchini are tender. Sprinkle with cheese.

Shana A.

Tip #1: Shana's Laundry Tip

My tip is for not letting laundry pile up which is a vicious cycle
because once it's out of control who has the mental energy
or time to tackle it, right?

So I bought at Kmart (although sometimes you can find them
at the dollar store too) some of those net laundry bags that
fold down super small when not in use. The style I found are
short and lay flat which worked best for me instead of the
tall thin ones. Now what I do is as soon as a hamper is full
for us or the kids I start a load of laundry washing even if I don't
have time to see the whole process through. Later on when it's
convenient I throw it in the dryer. Then once it's dry I put it
in one of the net bags.

If I don't have time to fold it the net bag gets put back on top
of the dryer. Some other time when I have five minutes I'll
fold that load and put it back in the same net bag. Then it
might migrate to outside the door to the room it belongs
in especially if there's a sleeping baby inside. Then later
inside the room etc. Eventually it will make its way to a shelf
or something equally organized ;-)

By breaking up my laundry into a bunch of manageable simple
steps that never take much time I assure that I won't end up
with weeks of laundry that I might be motivated to miss service
to catch up with.

Shana A.

Struggling Housewives Club

So we all need a few tips to get through the day, so let's band together and get those tips rolling in!

Cheap date night!

Going on a cheap date tonight! It pays to go on the weeknight...
(Babysitting, Free, with Nanna & Grandpa. Printed out a Golden Ticket for the kids to use, so they have some printed tickets too!)
Going to dinner at Thea Mediterranean, using our $25 restaurant.com gift certificate (bought for $6). Also made reservations through OpenTable.com, and this is a 1000 point reservation (2,000 points gets you a $20 gift certificate to the restaurant you choose). Both of these are eligible Sunday - Thursday!
Also, movie at 7:00 (Avatar 3D), using the Fandango gift card I got by writing reviews on Viewpoints! Afterward, dessert at Ben & Jerrys. Using the Free scoop we got by signing up for Ben & Jerry's Chunk Mail.
Stretch your entertainment dollars!

Beautiful Hawaii

Aloha!
We've arrived safely in Oahu and are trying to relax, amid 4 sick children...
But check out the view from our family's living room window! Makes it hard to complain!

Today's Mummy Tip

When drying clothes in a tumble dryer, don't overdry. Too much heat can ruin the fibers of your clothing. If possible, use the "auto" setting on the dryer, which senses moisture and stops drying at the appropriate time. Use the cycle signal and fold clothes immediately to reduce ironing. Air or line dry all your delicate clothing (like your favorite quite contrary pieces;) to save those embellishments, velvet ribbons, buttons, etc. Hint: A drop of lavendar essential oil on a cotton ball in your dryer makes for fantastic smelling laundry.

Missing friends

The best kind of friends are the ones that you can really relate to, and with whom you have lots in common. I especially love friends I can sit and chat with, while their kids and my kids can play together. When our dear friends (my cousin and her family) moved to Hawaii we knew we'd miss them. But it's even more evident how much they were missed when our kids started asking to see them too. So, it was really our parental responsibility to plan a trip to Hawaii, which we'll be taking this weekend. Wasn't it nice of them to move to a beautiful island? So it's a mad week to prepare for a nearly month-long trip (yes, you read right!). More from Hawaii....