My life has been crazier than usual lately!
And that’s saying something!
I haven’t blogged in a while – mostly due to exhaustion. I’ve been working on a big Veterans Day program for our school. The kids have been learning their songs since the beginning of September and they were so excited to sing in front of a big audience.
Our students were given the opportunity to create posters of veterans in their families and 85 of those posters lined the walls of our gym.
I was crazy nervous – to the point of nausea – on the morning of the program and didn’t sleep much the night before. I wasn’t worried about my students. I knew that they were prepared and ready and would do a great job. I wasn’t worried about the video that Michael helped me create in which students of all ages were asked “What is a veteran?” It was cute and sweet and would be a big hit.
I was nervous because my principal had asked me to sing The National Anthem.
I’ve sung The National Anthem more times than I can count. I love the song. I’ve sung it at programs, at awards ceremonies, at sporting events.
But I had never sung it in front of a more important group. If you’re ever going to sing this song like it should be sung, this was the audience for it. We had invited veterans from our community to attend and we knew that LOTS of veterans with ties to our students were coming.
Imagine my increased nervousness when I saw our mayor walk in.
I did manage to sing and get all the words right. My kids were incredible. Lots of veterans were honored. And I’ve already started planning for next year!
We were out of school on Wednesday and it was nice to have a day to relax and enjoy my family. I decided during the day that I wanted to make lasagna. As the day wore on though, I decided that I really wasn’t in a lasagna-layering kind of mood.
That’s where this recipe comes in.
This recipe is basically everything I put in my lasagna – but in soup form!
Lasagna Soup
- 1 package (5 links) of mild Italian sausage
- 2 pounds of ground beef
- 66 ounces of spaghetti sauce
- 3-4 cups of chicken stock
- 1 box of lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces
- 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons of garlic salt
- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
- Ricotta cheese
- Shredded mozzarella
Remove casings from Italian sausage and crumble links into a large skillet. Add the ground beef. Brown over high heat until meat is completely done. Drain.
Pour drained meat to a large stock. Add spaghetti sauce and stock and stir to combine. Add seasonings and broken noodles. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and boil 20 minutes or until noodles are tender. Taste the soup and add more salt to taste.
To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Top with a dollop of ricotta and a sprinkle of mozzarella.
Well Duh #1: Break noodles into smaller pieces than you think you should. Remember: they will get bigger when they cook.
Well Duh #2: I used part-skim ricotta and part-skim mozzarella.
Well duh #3: I took a serving of this to school for lunch. I brought the ricotta and mozzarella in a separate container to add after I had warmed the soup in the microwave.
Well Duh #4: I don’t have to follow my recipe. Use your own favorite lasagna recipe. Just add the stock to give the noodles enough liquid to cook in.
Well Duh #5: 66 ounces of spaghetti seems like an odd amount, but that was the size of the biggest bottle of spaghetti sauce that I found at Walmart. Just use about the same amount.
Warm, luscious, and hearty – this is one delicious soup!
My family devoured this! They really loved it! It was a cool evening with a threat of rain and it was perfect weather for soup! I will definitely be making this again! It make a lot, too, so there is plenty left for leftovers and lunches.
We also had something else to occupy our time on our day off for Veterans Day. Meet Patriot:
He’s a chocolate lab puppy and he is actually Christopher’s Christmas present. We completely surprised him by bringing home this sweet little nugget on Tuesday evening. He is bouncy, sassy, very vocal, and loves to chew on EVERYTHING! Brees is trying to figure out what the heck this small, brown creature is, but he’s adjusting.
We all are!
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