Dress Up Plain Old Chicken Noodle...

I came across an article in Real Simple magazine about dressing up the ordinary pre-packaged things we buy and making them a little fancier. I tried this one on Chris last night, and he couldn't believe it when I told him I was feeding him Campbell's Chunky Chicken Noodle!

Thai Coconut Soup
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes!!

2 cans of chicken noodle soup
1/2 cup of coconut milk
2 teaspoons lime juice
fresh lime wedges
cilantro sprigs

Bring the soup and coconut milk to a simmer in a saucepan.
Then add the lime juice, stir it all together.
Garnish with fresh lime wedges and cilantro sprigs (These really make it, so resist the temptation to skip the garnishes!)
ENJOY!! To make a complete meal, you may choose to serve dinner rolls and a salad. Chris was full on one small bowl and two rolls!

There is also a Chicken Tortilla Soup which is much the same except that you add a teaspoon of your favorite hot sauce, a cup of frozen corn kernels and cook til heated through. Then serve with avocado slices and tortilla chips on top!

The idea of dressed up store-bought stuff really appealed to me. I'm all for making things from scratch, but sometimes a little cheating is in order.
To read the rest, which include upgrades for marinara sauce, rice pilaf and pound cake, among others, go to the Real Simple website.