Good deal alert: Amazon has a few good offers on magazine subscriptions. Right now it's only $5 for a 2 year subscription to Redbook and 1 year of Food Network Magazine for $10 with an instant $5 credit at checkout. There are a few other titles that also offer the $5 credit.

I like Food Newtwork Magazine but still prefer Taste of Home and Rachel Ray. Taste of Home is a Best Deal Magazines - Deal of the Day Offer for $4.69 for one year.

When my Gramma was here we made chicken noodle soup and ranch mac and cheese from Taste of Home and both turned out really well. I've never thought to add ranch to mac and cheese. Tyler loved it.

Taste of Home 30 Minute Chicken Soup

* 4 cups water

* 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken broth

* 1-1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast

* 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

* 3/4 cup sliced celery

* 3/4 cup sliced fresh carrots

* 1 small onion, chopped

* 1-1/2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

* 1 teaspoon reduced-sodium chicken bouillon granules

* 1/4 teaspoon pepper

* 3 cups uncooked egg noodles

Directions

In a Dutch oven, combine the first 10 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in noodles; cook 5-7 minutes longer or until noodles and vegetables are tender.

Taste of Home Ranch Mac and Cheese

* 1 package (16 ounces) elbow macaroni

* 1 cup 2% milk

* 1/4 cup butter, cubed

* 1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix

* 1 teaspoon garlic salt

* 1 teaspoon garlic pepper blend

* 1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning

* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Colby cheese

* 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

* 1/2 cup crushed saltines (I left this out*)

* 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, combine the milk, butter, dressing mix and seasonings; heat through. Stir in Monterey Jack and Colby cheeses until melted. Stir in sour cream.

Drain macaroni; stir into cheese sauce with the saltines. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

*We tried breadcrumbs so the mac and cheese would have a browned crust. I mixed crumbs, butter and Parmesan and sprinkled it over the top. I baked it for awhile but it didn't brown. I'm not sure what I did wrong but it still tasted really good.

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Storing Christmas Decorations: Works for Me Wednesday

I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday. But I dread decorating because of how much stuff I have and how long it takes me to set up and take down. I used to spend hours putting everything away. It took me a few years, but I finally figured out a storage system that works for me.

I have several tubs for storing my Christmas stuff but they were a jumbled and chaotic mess. Every year I'd start decorating and it looked like Santa's Workshop exploded in my living room. Last year I reached my limit. My anal side couldn't take it anymore. I spread everything out, grouped like items and started labeling.

It took me hours but it was totally worth it. This year, I was able to find exactly what I wanted and didn't need to open some of the bins at all. I grouped all the like items together into their own tote. All the tree decorations are together; my cards, bows and gift wrap are together, etc.

Each tub has pieces of masking tape with an item written on each piece. If I rearrange or get rid of something it's easy to pull off the tape.

Things are labeled within the totes, too. Before the reorganization, I had a ton of tiny gift bags scattered between the bins. Now they are all in a 2-gallon zipper bag in the gift wrap tote. I also had a lot of little things, like tape or treat bags, that would get lost in the totes. I now have two gift wrap cutters and enough pop up tape to last me another four Christmases because I thought I didn't have any and bought more only to find them when I started wrapping. Now, I have another giant zipper bag with a label taped to the inside with all the contents listed.

My sanity has been restored! I don't have to dread the decorating process anymore. Now that I'm organized I can spread it out over a few days.

Do you have a storage system for decorations? Please spill in case I can be even more organized!