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Minute to Win It... [and Chicken Spinach Gnocchi Soup]

Have you ever watched the TV show Minute to Win It? It's a game show where the contestants have to complete random tasks with household objects in less than 60 seconds. It can be pretty entertaining. It's even more entertaining to play the games yourself.

So, last night we had some friends over for a little Couples' Minute to Win It competition. We played eight of the games from the show, and kept score as we went. What a fun (affordable) date night activity! 



We took it pretty seriously - with team names and all. Complete with coordinating costumes. My Business Man & I called ourselves the "Run-Ballas" and decked out in some of my running gear. I told him since he wore running tights all night that he was obligated to run with me the next morning. Yea... that didn't happen.





Here are a few pics from the games we played...


"Stack Attack" - stack 36 cups into a pyramid, and then re-stack them all into one stack. (Harder than it looks!)
"Breakfast Scramble" - put together a cereal box that has been cut into 16 pieces.


"Noodling Around" - with a spaghetti noodle in your mouth, pick up six penne pasta noodles.
"Paper Dragon" - unwind an entire roll of streamers using just one arm.


"A Bit Dicey" - stack 6 dice on a popsicle stick in your mouth.


My favorite was definitely "Face the Cookie". You had to place a cookie on your forehead and get it into your mouth using only the muscles in your face. And repeat three times in less than a minute! Quite funny to watch.






In between rounds we had a yummy soup supper, and my contribution was a knock-off of Olive Garden's Chicken Spinach Gnocchi Soup. All that we needed were the never-ending breadsticks!



Chicken Spinach Gnocchi Soup is a creamy soup, full of roasted chicken, spinach, garlic, and potato dumplings. Mmm... gnocchi are so good. And the spinach in the recipe definitely makes it healthy, right? (Just forget that there's half & half on the ingredients list...)





It was definitely a hit... no leftovers whatsoever! Which I was a little sad about, to be honest. I love having homemade soup in the fridge. Might just have to make it again! 


Have a great week everyone!


[Click to PRINT]

Chicken Spinach Gnocchi Soup


  • ¼ cup butter
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • ½ cup diced celery
  • 2 tbsp. minced garlic
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 2 cups half-and-half
  • 2-3 cups milk
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • thyme, to taste
  • parsley, to taste
  • 2 cups diced cooked chicken (I use rotisserie chicken)
  • 10-oz. box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 1 lb. frozen potato gnocchi

Method

Melt butter with olive oil. Saute onions, celery, and garlic over medium heat until onions are translucent. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Add flour; cook about 1-minute to form roux. Stir in half-and-half and milk. Bring to a boil. Stir in chicken broth. Season with thyme and parsley. (I used about 3/4 tsp. of each.) Add chicken and spinach.

Meanwhile, cook gnocchi according to package directions; then stir into soup. Let simmer 15-20 minutes, and add additional seasonings if necessary. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Notes

**When reheating leftovers, you might need to add a splash of milk.

Comments

Angie said…
This sounds like my kind of party!!! So clever and fun! The soup looks great too!
Ali Mc said…
you guys are awesome!!!! I want to come over and play and this soup sounds like it'd be lovely on a cold day
Anonymous said…
Looks like you guys had a great time!! That soup looks great too...so great on a cold day! :)

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