Broccoli Cheese Chicken Noodle Soup

Though it's only been about a week, it seems like forever since I've posted anything or even cooked a meal! We're back from vacation and though it was fun and relaxing, I'm worn out. Hiking in the Yosemite snow followed by a few days of wine tasting in Sonoma with some of your favorite people in the world will do that to you!


While I made valiant efforts to keep up with work on my Blackberry, I'm still crawling out of a virtually endless email black hole. How do really important people ever take vacations when lowly little me has so much trouble catching up?! :)


Luckily, I found this recipe in my archives that is super easy to throw together. When I whipped this up for the first time, hubby proclaimed it was one of his favorite meals ever. He often says that not only to flatter me, but to keep me cooking in the kitchen. Sneaky guy. Well, this time I believed him because I agreed!

So, the recipe does contain America's finest processed cheese food (aka Velveeta), but I swear that some days nothing can make things as creamy and nicely orange as a good hunk of Velveeta.


Because I'm tired and lazy, I'm just posting the link to this recipe found in March's Cooking Light. I made the following substitutions:

- 2 tablespoons of butter instead of 3 tablespoons
- spaghetti instead of vermicelli
- fat free half and half
- pinch of garlic salt

This is a great recipe for those of you in the country who are suffering from the it's spring-but-feels-like-winter doldrums. Just thinking about that snowy hike in Yosemite makes me want another hot bowl of soup!