Taste Test Tuesday: What's for Lunch?

My least favorite meal of the day is breakfast. Don't know why, but it has always been! I guess it's because I'm still tired when I'm supposed to be making wonderful goodness for my boys to eat. Yeah, it doesn't usually turn out wonderful. Thankfully Wes has taken over on Saturday mornings so we get to wake up to yummy waffles or pancakes!

My other least favorite meal is lunch. Chalk it up to my mother making such yummy things for dinner that everything else paled in comparison. Lunch just seems like a dumbed down version of dinner. I am not a huge fan of sandwiches and easy things like that. I like hot food. I know....it's a sickness. So, after a few years of being a stay at home mom, I decided it was time to give lunch a makeover!! Goodbye sandwiches, hello more yummy foods.

One of my favorite lunches is soup and a hot panini. I picked up a panini grill at Goodwill about 6 months ago and I love it! It takes a sandwich and turns it into yummyness. (In case you're wondering, I'm trying to go for the record of how many times I can say yummy in a blog post).

I love soup because I can make it ahead and freeze it into lunch sized portions. For my sandwich I like to buy Vienna bread from Meijer because it's very.......you guessed it....yummy.

Here's a recipe for Chicken Noodle soup:

3 cups Cooked Chicken Shredded
8 cups Chicken Stock
2 stalks Celery, Chopped
2 whole Carrots, Chopped
1 whole Onion, Chopped
1 teaspoon Dried Parsely
1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
1 whole Bay Leaf
Salt And Pepper
Garlic Powder
2 cups Dry Egg Noodles, Or More If You Like Lots Of Noodles

Preparation Instructions
Add all ingredients except egg noodles to a medium size stock pot. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
After veggies are to your preferred texture, add egg noodles and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Remove and discard bay leaf.
Serve with bread and a side salad.

Note: you can boil a whole chicken (or chicken pieces) and debone. Skim fat from the stock by placing it in the freezer. Fat will rise to the top and you can skim it off. If you’re in a hurry, put an ice cube in the stock and swirl it around. The fat will adhere to the ice cube. Repeat this process until most of the fat is out of the stock. Homemade stock and fresh chicken are much better than canned stock and chicken.

And for my panini I just put ham and provolone cheese on my Vienna bread and paninitize it until it's nice n' hot! So, if you don't usually treat yourself to something nice for lunch.....go ahead...indulge. You deserve it!