Due to an unfortunate visit from the flu, I have had no desire to cook (nor eat) for the past few days. I'm at that point where nothing sounds good, but I'm hungry and so is my family. Thank you Chicken Noodle Soup for soothing a yucky tummy.

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 stalk of celery, thinly sliced
1 tea garlic powder
1 Tbs dried basil (if you have real, use it!)
7 cups Chicken Stock (I use bouillon because it's cheap and easy)
1 1/2 cups egg noodles (or any noodles you have on hand)
1 large cooked chicken breast, shredded

Directions:
Pour stock into a pot and place on heat.

Throw your mirepoix- onion, carrot, and celery into the pot (and yes, I used a fancy term to feel smart and chef-like. I'm an Emeril fan. Learn more about the Mirepoix).

After a few minutes, add noodles and let cook.

When noodles are tender, add chicken, garlic and basil.

Once all is warm, gobble it up! I like to top mine with cheddar.


This was one of the few benefits to the flu. I seem to forget about this tasty option when all is well and guess what, it's cheap!

I know there are a gazillion crêpes recipes out there but this is my favorite to date. Living in the land of chocolate spread, how could we not enjoy these delights every so often.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tea salt
1/2 tea almond or vanilla extract

Directions:
I'm sure I could make this much more technical but I just dump everything into a bowl and whisk.

Turn stove to med-high and add a bit of butter or oil to skillet


Once warm pour enough batter that you make a thin pancake that is the width of the skillet. I usually lift my pan off the burner and spread batter by tilting the pan.

When the bottom starts to brown or curl, flip the crêpe and lightly cook on the other side. I like mine soft. Repeat with the rest of the batter.


Crêpes filling ideas:
Chocolate spread
Chocolate spread with fruit (on this occasion we used rasberries)
Sugar and lemon
Jam
Honey
the possibilities are endless...

Thanks to my little Wednesday market down the road, I've been going avocado crazy. Sometimes they have five small avocado for £1 or three large ones for the same steal of a deal. I was hoping to make this dish last week but after baking my £1 avocados in the window (over the radiator- whoops!) I had to wait. This is a delectable dish, but it does need a carb along side.

Ingredients:
Serves 2

1 large avocado
4 Tbs favorite hummus
3 medium sized tomatoes
2 small onions
handful pitted black olives, I cut mine in half

Dressing:
2 Tbs oil
3 tea vinegar (I'd prefer balsamic or apple cider- but it doesn't really matter)
2 tea lemon juice
1 tea dried basil (if you have fresh basil... use it!)
1/2 tea garlic powder

Directions:
Chop onion and tomatoes and put under oven broiler until tips of veggies are singed

Mix dressing

Cut large avocado in half, get rid of the pit, and scoop each half out and onto a plate

Spoon hummus onto each avocado and top with olives and roasted veggies. Pour as much dressing as desired over the dish. Salt and pepper as needed. Dig in!

This is just a fun way to snap things up a bit. Cheap is a huge fan of hummus so we usually have some on hand. It looks impressive and tastes divine smeared onto the end of a baguette. Enjoy!