Our Second Date of Christmas... With a Recipe!

Yesterday was our second date of Christmas. (If you missed the explanation of these dates click here.) We ate good food and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. I love my husband! We had so much fun together on our sweet and simple date.

This was our devotional setup. Very cozy :)

 Devotional Goodies: Kettle Corn, Hot Chocolate, and a Christmas scarf from my sister Kelley!

Dinner: Thia Curry Soup with mozzarella and basil toasted whole wheat dipping bread.

To make bread:
Cut any bread you have on hand into slices. Arrange on a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and basil. Turn oven to broil and watch closely until cheese melts or turns slightly golden if you like it extra crunchy. (The middle is not supper crunchy but it is perfect to dip in soup!

To make soup:
I got this recipe many years ago from an online source that I do not remember. I was looking for a recipe similar to the Thia Curry Soup at Noodles and Company. This is perfect. Here you go!

Thia Curry Soup
prep time: 15 min.
cook time: 35-40 min.

Ingredients:
- 2 oz rice noodles
- 1 T. olive oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1 1/2 T. minced lemon grass (I just used a little lemon juice)
- 1 t. ground ginger
- 2 t. red curry paste
- 1 (32 oz) carton chicken broth
- 2 T. soy sauce
- 1 T. white sugar
- 1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
- 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms (if you like them!)
- 1 (10 oz) bag baby spinach leaves
- 2 T. fresh lime juice (I used lemon juice because that is what I had)
- 1/4 c. chopped cilantro
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add rice noodles and cook until al dente, about 3 min.
2. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic, lemon grass, and ginger, about 30-60 seconds. add curry paste and cook 30 seconds more. Pour in about 1/2 c. chicken broth, and stir until curry paste dissolves, then pour in remaining broth along with souy sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce head and cover. Simmer 20 min.
3. Stir in coconut milk, mushrooms, spinach, lime juice, and cilantro. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer 5 min.
4. To serve, place some noodles into each serving bowl, and ladle soup on top of them. Garnish each bowl with a sprinkle of sliced green onion.

Tips:
- if the package says, "Rice Sticks" they are either the same thing or they work just the same.
- if you don't have lemon grass or line juice, lemon juice tastes fine. The real ingredients will taste better but the soup I made without them was very yummy.
- I don't like a lot of spinach in my soup, the whole 10  oz is kind of a lot for me. Maybe add a little then go from there instead of adding the whole bag all at once.
- getting your ingredients ready to go before you start cooking will make things go so much better.
- I am not a huge fan of mushrooms so instead, I like to put in thinly sliced red onions.

Enjoy!