Easy Homemade Wonton Soup

No need for takeout - make this incredibly easy wonton soup at home.

Just a few ingredients are needed for this rich and flavorful broth. The wontons also only have a few ingredients, and once you get the hang of wrapping them, you will put this together in no time.

One quick tip - make a big pot of broth and then only drop in the wontons you plan on eating that night and freeze the rest. The next day you can pull out your pot of broth, heat it up and drop the frozen wontons in. This worked much better for us than cooking all the wontons at once as they would be soggy the next day.

Enjoy!

Easy Wonton Soup
Adapted from: Spend With Pennies

The Broth 

Broth Ingredients

• 3 32 oz cartons chicken broth (not low sodium)
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 4 slices of fresh ginger
• 3 Tbsb low sodium soy sauce

Broth Directions

• Add all broth ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil.
• Reduce to a simmer for one hour.
• Once ready to cook your wontons, remove the garlic and ginger and increase to a steady simmer. 
• Drop wontons in and let cook about 6 minutes. Serve immediately. 

The Wontons

Wonton Ingredients
Note: I made 50 wontons with these ingredients. The broth will be able to cook 30 total; the rest of the wontons can be frozen for future use. 

• 1 package wonton wrappers (50)
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
• 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 3 tsp cornstarch 
• Other things needed: water, flour (about 2 Tbsp), parchment paper

Wonton Directions

• Mix the pork, green onions, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil and cornstarch in a large bowl until combined. 
• Prep your area - put a small bowl of water and a small plate of flour near your wrapping station. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place a clean cutting board or other flat surface in front of you.
• There are several ways to wrap wontons and they all work! I used this process, but you could take a look at some videos online before choosing how to wrap yours: Place a wonton wrapper on the cutting board. Spoon 1 tsp of the filling onto the center of the wrapper. Wet the edges with water, and then fold the wonton wrapper in half to form a triangle, pressing the edges together tightly. Wet the 2 pointed ends and pull them together, pinching tightly. Dip the bottom in flour and place on your parchment paper lined baking sheet. 
• Continue until you have wrapped all of your wontons. 
• At this point, either place them in the freezer and once frozen place in freezer baggies, or drop into the broth to cook. Or do like I did - cook half and freeze half! 

Grandmom's Macaroni Salad

This is one of those dishes that takes me back to childhood, and now I make it often for my family. It is such a simple recipe with simple ingredients, but is one of my favorite sides for burgers, dogs, grilled chicken, or really any summer party or BBQ food.
You know those mac salads that you sometimes get at a diner in a little cup and they are all wet with way too much mayo? And they are a bit too sweet? That's not this salad.

I have a few tips to make this the best mac salad you will every try. First, you have to cook the pasta to al dente. You want it to still have a bite, so definitely rinse it with cold water as soon as you drain it. Overcooked, soft mac mixed with mayo is not what you are going for! 

I use only carrots, red onion and green pepper. It's important to dice them into the smallest dice you can get. You don't want them to stand out in the salad, but simply give flavor and some texture. 

I add my mayo in 2 steps and end up with a perfectly creamy mac salad. The first time I add it I mix it up and let it sit in the fridge for about an hour. When you take it out it will look almost dry. That's when I add the rest of the mayo and veggies. Oh - and it must be Hellman's Mayo!!!!

Finally, don't be scared to season it! Salt and pepper only, but be generous and keep tasting every time you mix. 
Timewise, this is a really quick salad to pull together. The water takes a few minutes to boil and then the pasta only takes 5 minutes to cook. During that time I chop my veggies, and then the mixing only takes a few minutes. I'll even pull this one together for a weeknight meal as long as I have an hour to let it chill in the fridge. 

Add caption

So forget those sweet, wet mac salads that have given macaroni salad a bad name and give this one a try! I guarantee it will be the one everyone asks for! 
Grandmom's Macaroni Salad
Original family recipe
Ingredients

• 1 lb macaroni/elbow noodles
• 6 Tbsp mayonnaise, separated (amount is approximate)
• 1 carrot cut into a small dice
• 1/4 red onion cut into a small dice
• 1/2 green pepper cut into a small dice
• Salt and pepper, approximately 1 Tbsp each

Directions

• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt it generously and then add your noodles. Cook to al dente, approximately 5 minutes. Drain and immediately rinse with cold water and drain well. Transfer noodles to a large mixing bowl.
• Add half of the mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Stir to combine, cover, and place in the fridge for one hour. 
• Add the veggies, and slowly add more mayonnaise until you get the creaminess you want - remember, you don't want it to be too wet. Continue to season with salt and pepper, tasting as you go.
• Chill until you are ready to serve, stirring before serving. 

Homemade Egg Noodles for Soup

No noodles for your soup? No problem! 

These homemade egg noodles come together quickly with just two ingredients and some muscle! 

A few weeks ago I was making a pot of my Homemade Chicken Soup when I walked to my pantry to grab a bag of egg noodles only to find I didn't have any!!! I really, really wanted noodles with my soup but did not feel like going back to the store in the cold rain.

So what's a girl to do? Make her own, of course!

I don't know why I decided so quickly that I'd make my own. I have never made my own pasta before, I don't have a pasta attachment, and I had no idea if it would be quick and easy or a big project.

Luckily, after just a bit of research, I realized I could do this quickly using a rolling pin, pizza cutter and some muscle. There are many different recipes out there, some using a dough hook, some using beaten eggs, some adding butter and or milk. Since it was my first time I went with a basic recipe using just eggs and four.

These aren't the prettiest noodles - they are more rustic - but you can't beat homemade noodles.

I learned a few things making these noodles. First, I really need to work on my upper body strength!! Rolling takes a lot of muscle, but then again I'm not that strong and I NEVER use a rolling pin so I'm not used to the motion.

 Second, you really want to get the dough thin and even. A few of my noodles were thicker on the ends or in the middle, so they didn't cook evenly.

Finally, along the same lines as rolling the dough out evenly, cut them evenly. All of your noodles should be the same width.

You can cook these noodles long or cut them into smaller shapes - it's up to you, what you prefer, and how you will be using them.

So the next time you are in need of noodles, give these a try!

Homemade Egg Noodles for Soup
Source: The Pioneer Woman
Note: this is for 2 people. The Pioneer Woman's rule of thumb for the recipe is # eggs = # ppl, and 1 c flour per every 2 eggs.

• 2 whole eggs
• 1 c all purpose flour

Make a well in the center of your pile of flour and crack in your eggs. Slowly mix together with your hands.

Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead (roll, punch, push, etc.) by hand until dough becomes smooth and pliable, adding flour to the surface as needed. 

Let the dough rest for a little while (10-15 min) before starting the next step - rolling 

When you're ready, roll out the dough using a rolling pin on a floured surface as thinly as it will go. 

Cut the dough into noodles (strips) using a knife or pizza cutter.

Please the cut noodles on a floured surface and allow them to dry before cooking.

To cook the noodles, just boil them in salted (salted!!!!) water for 2-3 minutes. Fresh noodles cook quickly so be careful not to overcook.