Jackpot!!! A Frugal Dinner with Progresso Chicken Broth

I have two picky eaters in my home, and I have not been able to get my youngest son to eat much, since he got sick two weeks ago. He was checked out at the doctor today and the ear infection is almost gone. We have been giving him pediasure to make up for the lack of eating, but I have been trying to get him back on track.

After his doctor's appointment, I took him to Subways as a reward for being so brave when he got all his shots. He had 1/4 of a chicken sandwich, and this was certainly a step forward.

When we were going to pick up Roshane at school this afternoon, it started raining and although I ran as fast as I could to get home, Sky still got a little wet (I got soaked). I therefore decided to make my first attempt of making chicken soup tonight, and I was both ambitious and nervous.

I recently became a member of Pssst...the consumer panel for General Mills, and the first product they have sent me was Progresso's All Natural Chicken Broth. When I first received it, I looked at it and put it away in the cupboard. I have never cooked with chicken broth before, and I have only made vegetable soups as I am a vegetarian. I have seen my Jamaican mother-in-law make chicken soup out of chicken feet though, but for some reason I never have any chicken feet in stock.

I looked in the freezer, and I did have some chicken wings that I bought as a part of a mixed packaged at Publix for 1.29/lb. The recipe on the chicken broth said to use chicken breast, but I decided to go ahead and use the five chicken wings that I had.

Since this was my first time making chicken soup I tried to follow the directions on the box, but it didn't take long for me to change it to fit my intercultural family and to fit the ingredients I had on hand.


This is what I used:

1 All-Natural Progresso Chicken Broth
5 Chicken Wings
4 Carrots
1 Onion
2 garlic cloves
1 small chili pepper (no seeds)
1 Potato
1 can of diced tomatoes
6 cups of water
3 packs of noodles (from the thrifty maid noodle packs (Ramen Noodles)
1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp of Goya Adobe all purpose seasoning
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp of ground cumin


I started out with boiling the chicken wings in half the chicken broth.
I boiled it for about 25 minutes, and then I took the chicken out and put it aside. Then I cut the carrot, potato, and onion in small pieces. I have found that it is easier to get the boys to eat their veggies, if they are cut in tiny pieces. I minced the garlic and the chili pepper (no seeds) and added it all to the chicken broth. I boiled the veggies for about 10-15 minutes, before I added the spices and then the noodles. At this point I added the extra water and the rest of the chicken broth.

I cut the meat of the chicken wings and added this in the soup, and let everything simmer until the noodles looked perfect.








I was very very nervous when I served the soup for my boys, as I know just how picky eaters they are. I knew the noodles would be a bonus, but I was also afraid that the soup was to spicy as I felt the spices as soon as I put my hands over the soup.

Now, I did not taste the soup, since I am a vegetarian, but I think these photos speaks for themself.











Sky ate about half of his bowl and two pieces of whole wheat bread.







Roshane finished his plate. He's first comment was "Delicious!", and then he just kept eating. He said it was spicy, but perfectly spicy and he drank lots of orange juice to turnd down the heat.



It seems I hit the jackpot with the boys, and now I just have to see what my husband says when he gets home from work.

Progresso All-Natural Broths comes in three varieties in a 32 oz carton:

• Progresso Chicken Broth
• Progresso Beef Broth
• Progresso Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth

These contain no MSG, no preservatives, no artificial colors, no gluten and they are 99 percent fat free.

I found them at Publix for $2.55.





You can read more about Progresso's All-Natural Broths here, and you can sign up for the Betty Crocker Dinner Made Easy newsletter and get a free coupon book here.

I did not find any online coupons for Progresso's chicken broth, but you can find other coupons from Betty Crocker here.


Have you tried the Progresso broths? If you have, what do you think?

What did you have for dinner tonight, and do you have any tips for a mom with picky eaters?



You can sign up for General Mills' Pssst panel here.