Our Crazy Cook for January is Lisa Y. from Bethany, Missouri.

This past December my family's home was featured in a Christmas tour of homes. I spent DAYS cleaning, decorating, and redecorating. After teaching all day and cleaning all night, being able to pull 30 Day Gourmet suppers from my freezer was one of the few things that saved my sanity....most of it, at least. In the midst of a cleaning frenzy I pulled a bag of chicken noodle soup from the freezer and plopped the contents into a kettle to heat. As I was doing most of my cleaning on another floor, I rushed into the kitchen a few times to give the soup a good stir, and then hurried back to my cleaning. When the soup was finally heated through I hurriedly spooned it into bowls, called the family to the table, and quickly sat down to eat my share. I was well into my portion when I realized no one else was eating, just sitting looking at me and then at their soup. Finally, one brave family member got up the nerve to ask, "Just what are we eating?" When I answered, "Chicken noodle soup," they still looked puzzled. What I had failed to notice in my mad dash for supper were the bags of frozen noodles and chunked chicken still on the counter. I had inadvertently served a grand meal of chicken broth and had even eaten a good portion without noticing something (everything) was missing. It took a lot of crackers, but my family graciously downed the "soup" and I got back to my cleaning.