Vegetable Medley Stoup

My daughter and I bought a quantity of soups (those that are not condensed) because they were low in calories and fitted into our Weight Watcher(R) life style. We discovered that many of them were bland and not very filling. In order to use them up and use up some leftover ingredients, I developed this non-recipe:

Open can of Vegetable Medley Soup and pour into saucepan.

Add 1 cup of left-over cooked rice (I add Italian Seasoning to my rice when I cook it.)

Add 4 1/2 ounces of cooked, cubed chicken.

Simmer until hot and the flavors have blended.

Divide into two bowls and enjoy. Using the soup I had on hand, each serving was approximately 6 points.

Our breakfast was just as simple and weighed in at 4 points:

French toast

Heat non-stick skillet or grill to 350 deg. and spray with a vegetable spray designed to prevent food from sticking.

Break one egg into small, flat-bottomed bowl.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add 2 Tbsp 2% milk and beat well.

Dip 2 slices of bread (1 point per two slices)into egg mixture covering both sides of each bread slice and place into prepared pan (if there is any egg mixture left pour over the slices in the pan. When bottom sides are brown, flip each slice and continue browning to your satisfaction. Remove from pan to plate and spread with 1 tsp. of soft margarine and add sugar-free syrup as desired.

Adding 1 cup of chilled vegetable juice brought this breakfast to 5 points.

Breakfast and lunch prepared and not a cookbook in sight.

Decided I will make this a full days' menu so I will tell you about our dinner meal.

Spaghetti Sauce with left-over linguine

I browned 1 pound of 80/20 ground beef in my electric skillet set to 350 deg., drained the fat and added a can (3 cups) of reduced-fat pasta sauce and let simmer until the flavors combined. This made 7 cups of spaghetti sauce.

As we had left-over cooked linguine from the disastrous meal of the night before, I put one-third of the 12 oz. package into my colander and poured boiling, salted water over the linguine which heated it but did not make it mushy. If I didn't have this, I could have used any of the pastas, such as angel hair which cooks quickly.

I placed a serving of linguine on each of two plates and spooned one cup of the spaghetti cause over the linguine and topped with about 1/8 tsp of Parmesan cheese (no points for this small amount)

With a glass of 2 percent milk this made an excellent supper and used up 11 points of my allotted total for the day.

I love to read cookbooks as a hobby, but I do so love to just get into the kitchen and throw things together with an eye on convenience and "points".

Grandma Lil