
I recently had the opportunity to try out new Bertolli Meal Soups. These are frozen soups and come in several different varieties. We tried the Chicken Minestrone, but there are several other varieties, including Tuscan Style Beef & Vegetable which I also purchased to try later. Because I'd had some of the frozen Bertolli meals in the past, I was looking forward to trying the soups. I must say the soup was so easy to cook. Just pour the bag in a pan with a cup of water, bring it to a boil stirring occasionally and you'll have some yummy--tastes like home-made soup--on the table within minutes. Top it with some freshley grated parmesan cheese and pair it with some hearty bread and you have a meal fit for anyone.
Doesn't it look yummy?

With my husband's work schedule and all of our other family obligations, we've learned through the years to celebrate special days when the opportunity arrives. This year, it won't be possible to celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14, so I decided it would be fun to celebrate a little early. My son was at a friend's house and my daughter was back at college.
My challenge was to make a special week-night meal and I only had an hour to prepare. Since the soup is ready in no time, I put the soup on and started getting my table ready.
Because this is a frugal blog and because maybe I have a little bit of cheapskate in me, I headed to my local dollar store earlier in the day to pick up some things to make a Valentine's Day table for our dinner. I picked up a pink tablecloth, some pink glitter hearts, some red heart garland, and a few other things for the table. As you can see, I only spent about $7 and found some really cute things to add to my table.

That's Tip #1 for all you bargain table setters: Visit your local dollar store for great ideas for your table. Since we're not exactly fancy around here, that works great for me!