Frugal, fast, delicious, and low in Weight Watcher points. Those are my favorite kinds of dinners right now. As a working mother of three kids there are nights when I just need something I can pop in the oven, on the stove, or in the microwave and call it good. Sometimes that means putting food in a slow cooker and sometimes it means trying out prepackaged foods that have half of the work done already. You may have already noticed that I have been trying to share simple recipes lately. While I do enjoy trying out new recipes, and I don’t mind spending a half hour to an hour on dinner every once in a while, sometimes I just want to pull out five or less ingredients and spend minimal time cooking and cleaning up.
This week I decided to try out some different Bear Creek soups. There were a couple that we loved that I want to share with you. If you are not sure if your store carries Bear Creek soup you can go to the Bear Creek website here and enter in your zip code and it will give you ideas of where you can get their soups. If you can’t find them in a store near you you can always order them online. We are able to get it at our local grocery store here, but I noticed that they also carry them at Walmart and Walgreens too so you may be able to find them there if it’s not at your local grocery store.
Lots of yummy food
for not much money
and very little time…
now that’s what I am talking about!
I love that with Bear Creek soups you can have 8 (1 cup) servings in just 10-15 minutes for just $4-5. That’s like 50 cents per serving! If you figure that one package can feed our family of five dinner and then me and my husband are able to eat the leftovers for lunch the next day, that is a REALLY good deal! Talk about frugal!
Today I want to share the chicken noodle soup with you. I love the thick, hearty noodles of this soup. A one cup serving of this soup is just 4 Weight Watcher smart points.
Bear Creek Chicken Noodle Soup
To keep things simple I just made the soup the way that the package suggested (add 8 cups boiling water and cook for 10 minutes) and I added some chopped boneless, skinless chicken for extra protein.
***If you wanted to bulk up this soup and add a little extra nutritional value you could add some extra chopped up vegetables, like carrots, celery, or onion and it would not change the number of Weight Watcher smart points per serving.***
Here is what we did. . .
Cook the chicken in 8 cups water at medium heat. (our chicken was already cooked, but I did this step anyway)
When the water begins to boil add the soup mix.
Allow to cook for 10 minutes.
***If you are going to add onion, carrots, or celery I would suggest starting the recipe by cooking the vegetables in a little olive oil to soften the vegetables before adding the rest of the ingredients.
- 1 package of Bear Creek Chicken Noodle Soup mix
- 8 cups of water
- 1 cup cubed boneless, skinless chicken
- Cook the chicken in 8 cups water at medium heat.
- When the water begins to boil add the soup mix.
- Allow to cook for 10 minutes.
- ***If you are going to add onion, carrots, or celery I would suggest starting the recipe by cooking the vegetables in a little olive oil to soften the vegetables before adding the rest of the ingredients.
When I make the bear creek chicken noodle soup I use chicken broth instead of water. I cut up carrots, celery and onion and cook the in the chicken broth until tender, then add some rotisserie chicken and you are good to go. Have you tried the clam chowder or Wild Rice Soup by bear creek?
Mmm… That is a great idea. I love that you found a way to bulk up the soup with zero point foods. No, I have not tried the clam chowder or Wild Rice soup but I am sure they are good. 🙂
I sauté frozen mirepoix blend of celery onion and carrots in butter. Add rotisserie chicken breast. Once boiling add soup mix. When complete I add some frozen peas and carrots. Turns out super and super simple because I use frozen and leftovers to complete.
Sounds great!
This soup is quick as is, but I usually use it at a soup starter. I first start off with boiling a bunch of cut up fresh carrots, celery and onion in a small amount of water until not quite tender. Then I add the soup mix, water, and good amount of frozen mini wedding soup meatballs I buy from a local Italian market. Next I throw in leftover cut up chicken and some pepper. After taste testing, I find that I always add a few tablespoons of powdered chicken soup base for more flavor. It’s just a taste preference and if you’re sodium conscious you’d probably skip this. If I have some frozen or fresh spinich, I add a generous handful last and sometimes a can of Italian diced tomatoes. My family likes this served with shredded Romano cheese and croutons on top.
Why r the noodles not getting cooked? I cooked them on med for 10 min like u say & noodles r like cardboard. Then I added 10 more min & still cardboard. What am I doing wrong here?
If running short on time, have taken two or three 10oz. chunk chicken cans. Drain well, I take my pastry cutter (for biscuits) cut it up and add this and that. So mannnnnny possibilities with these soups, have played with all of them. Wonderful bargain and full of whatever you put in. I always use lowsodium chicken or vegetable broth box.