Chicken 'n Dumplings Experiment

Chicken 'n Dumplings sounded like a good thing for dinner. I searched for some recipes, but kept running into cream of chicken soup, or Bisquick. I don't buy Bisquick and I try not to use canned condensed soups. I've made alternatives for both in the past, but didn't have them made up now and didn't want to make them. So I figured I could wing it - Robin does it all the time, surely I can too.

So I took two boneless chicken breasts out of the freezer along with chicken stock Robin made over the weekend and put them in the skillet on low. As that thawed and cooked, I chopped up a medium onion, a couple carrots, a couple celery stalks, and a couple cloves of garlic. These all went in the dutch oven in which I had melted a stick of butter. Ta-Da - Mirepoix! I then turned the mirepoix into a roux by adding about 1/2 cup of flour. I poured in the broth from cooking the chicken along with another bag from the freezer. This broth was looking a little weak (sorry Robin) so I added some chicken bullion, and then some water. Yes, I'm slightly aware of the contradictions there. I shredded the chicken and added it to the pot. Then it was time to throw open the herbs and spices cabinet. *think evil genius cook rubbing hands together* But I was tame, I only added pepper, parsley, and thyme (refraining the salt until the bullion had done it's thing). Simmer and bubble waiting on the husband.

It wasn't getting as thick as I wanted it so I added more flour, in a paste of course. Simmer and bubble waiting on the husband. Still not the consistency I was looking for so I checked to see if I just happened to still have a cream soup hanging out in the pantry. I did, so in that went and finally got what I was wanting. Simmer and bubble waiting on the husband.

For the dumplings I found this recipe on allrecipes.com that did look good:
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon margarine
* 1/2 cup milk

Stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in medium size bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in milk to make a soft dough.
Drop by spoonfuls into boiling stew. Cover and simmer 15 minutes without lifting lid.
To make parsley dumplings, add 1 tablespoon parsley flakes to the dry ingredients.

I did add the parsley. They were yummy. The soup part was yummy. I made good chicken 'n dumplings.

I didn't get a picture, nor ask for rating because for some reason I wasn't thinking this was a soup. Robin said it was a little too chicken-y. Isaac gave it 5 stars.

Lots of Pretty Colors

Confetti Chowder
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Confetti-Chowder/Detail.aspx

3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced zucchini
1 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar
3 cups milk
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup whole kernel corn
1 cup diced fully cooked ham
1/2 cup peas
1 (2 ounce) jar sliced pimentos, drained
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Melt butter in a Dutch oven. Add carrots, zucchini, broccoli, onion and celery; cook and stir for about 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Sprinkle flour, salt, pepper and sugar over vegetables; mix well. Stir in milk and chicken broth; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add corn, ham, peas and pimiento; cook and stir until heated through. Remove from the heat; add cheese and stir until melted. Serve hot.

This weekend I made my menu, wrote the grocery list, went the the grocery and the next day messed it all up. I forgot the soak the beans yet again and I didn't know what to do with the chuck steak so I had to find something new and fast to make. This soup sounded good for a rainy spring day. I started making it thinking I had everything except the zucchini. Turns out I also didn't have the whole kernel corn, peas, pimentos and cheddar cheese. Oh well, I'd make it work with what I had. I did use half a can of creamed corn, and swiss cheese as just a garnish. I also added a couple cloves of garlic - because garlic goes is everything, right?



Kid Ratings:

Christopher Robin
Collin
Isaac
Annette	x one hundred and one

Lentil, Barley and Ham Soup

We've had this soup a few times before so not a new one. I'm so happy my kids like it because it is so healthy and cheap. To help make it cheap I buy big hams when they are on sale and cut them up to keep in the freezer.

Lentil, Barley and Ham Soup
Better Homes and Gardens Big Book of Healthy Family Dinners

1/2 cup dry lentils
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cups chopped celery
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons butter
5 cups water
1 1/2 tsp snipped fresh oregano, or 1/2 tsp dried oregano crushed
1 1/2 tsp snipped from basil, or 1/2 tsp dried basil, crushed
3/4 tsp snipped fresh rosemary or 1/4 tsp dried rosemary crushed
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups diced reduced-fat and reduced-sodium cooked ham
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 cup quick-cooking barley
1 14 1/2 oz can tomatoes, undrained and cut up

Rinse and drain lentils; set aside. In large saucepan cook the onion, celery, and garlic in hot butter until tender. Stir in the lentils, water, oregano, basil, rosemary, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir in the ham, carrots, and uncooked barley. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes more of just until carrots are tender. Stir in the tomatoes. Heat through. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition facts per serving:
211 calories
6 g total fat
1 g saturated fat
16mg cholesterol
602 mg sodium
28 g carbohydrate
3 g fiber
13 g protein

Tonight's soup ended up being a bit off because even though I thought I had barley in the pantry I couldn't find it. I also just left out the tomatoes because I felt like it. The ultra-white super fluffy bread came from the Fiesta Bakery. The kids kept talking about how squishy it was.



Kid Ratings:

Christopher Robin
Collin
Isaac
Annette

Another Chicken Noodle

This soup selection was based solely on the fact that I had frozen chicken to use and I wanted to make my grandma's egg noodles. Making the noodles made me nostalgic. I don't remember ever making noodles with my grandma, but I do remember my dad always talking about how good they were. I am very blessed to have a handwritten recipe book from my grandma full of recipes that mean something to her and her family.

Noodles My Way
Thelma Galyen

2 eggs beaten
2 1/2 egg shell of milk
Dash of salt
drop of yellow food coloring
Stir in enough flour to make a firm dough. Flour your board or cloth well. Knead dough a few times. If too sticky add a little more flour. Roll out pretty thin. Let dry a while. Cut in strips stack pieces up. Cut the noodles. Let dry good. Then you can freeze them up.

I got all giddy about measuring with the egg shell. The flour amount turned out to be about 1 1/2 cups, then another 1/4 cup kneaded in. I had scattered thoughts about how different our kitchen habits must be now than they were when my grandma was a young mother. How eggs sizes would vary, and how the amount of flour would differ by the kind of flour. I don't know near enough about it. I need to write my grandma a letter.

As for the soup.

Made Up Chicken Noodle Soup

Put two frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts in a pot and cover with chicken broth. Simmer until done. Remove chicken and strain off any 'bits'. Add to the broth; chopped onion, minced garlic, chopped carrots and chopped celery. Toss in any herbs you feel like - thyme, parsley, rosemary, pepper, etc. Add a couple cups of water and the rest of the box of chicken broth. Let simmer until soft. Shred the chicken and put it back in the pot. Check seasonings and adjust as necessary. Add the egg noodles and simmer just until they are soft.

Again I don't have a picture. This ended up being an evening where many things went wrong. Except for the soup, the soup was good. Perfect for my rapidly increasing cold symptoms.


Kid Ratings:

Christopher Robin
Collin
Isaac
Annette

Green Stuff

I really did mean to still post any new soup we try, but haven't kept up with it. Could have something to do with our lives being tossed into total upheaval with the move. But things are settling back down.

Slit Pea Soupp
from all.recipes.com
* 1 pound dried split peas
* 10 cups water
* 1 pound smoked sausage of your choice, sliced
* 5 cubes chicken bouillon
* 1 1/2 cups chopped carrot
* 1 cup chopped celery
* 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 onion, chopped

In a 5 quart slow cooker, combine the peas, water, sausage, bouillon, carrot, celery, potatoes, garlic powder, oregano, bay leaves, and onion. Cover, and cook on High for 4 to 5 hours. Remove bay leaves before ladling into bowls.

We agreed that we'd prefer ham over the smoked sausage. I told the kids that I cut all the peas in half. I don't know if they believed me or just played along with my silliness.

I forgot to take a picture, but I did take one of my pretty loaf of bread.


Kid Ratings:

Christopher Robin
Collin
Isaac
Annette

We did it!

We made soup every night for a month. About the third week we did start getting really tired of soup, but we stuck it out. The real work horse of the month was our cast iron dutch oven. It lived on the stove and only had one night off - the first night when I used the crock pot.

We've talked about what we will do next and we will probably just continue to write about some meals/dishes of interest. I don't think we'll pull another crazy stunt of a whole month of something again - although the kids are saying we could do a month of pizza. We will see where the creativity leads us.

Stone Soup

Stone Soup
Several smallish stones, preferably something like quartz that won't break apart and doesn't have a lot of nooks and crannies for dirt to hide.

4 medium potatoes, diced

2 carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced

1 small can whole tomatoes, chopped

1/2 head cabbage, chopped

Other vegetables can be included

5 tsp bouillon granules
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried onion flakes
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt, more or less to taste
pepper, to taste

First, prepare the stones by washing them, then putting them into a pot of water and bringing to a boil. Repeat 3-4 times, or until no more grit or 'dirt' taste makes its way into the water. Let stones cool.

Combine all seasonings in a bowl.

Each guest gets one or more vegetables, and one guest gets the bowl of spices.

Explain to the guests that you are going to make a pot of delicious stone soup.

Put stones in pot with 6 cups of fresh water, and bring to a boil. Taste the soup, and pretend it's delicious...but...it really could use a little seasoning - ask the guest with the bowl of seasonings if he or she will share.

Repeat this process with each guest, starting with whatever will take the longest to cook (the potatoes in this case), and finishing with whatever will get done quickest (the cabbage).

Taste, add more salt if desired, and serve.

Serve with a stone in each bowl, but of course remove the stones before attempting to eat the soup.

Since apparently our next president is going to be a socialist, we decided to begin indoctrinating the children in as soon as possible, and this lesson in sharing...I mean 'redistributing the wealth' seemed perfect.

Ok, not really, this was the plan all along. The soup turned out surprisingly good, and the kids had a lot of fun, even if the 'lesson' didn't quite sink in: "Daddy took all my potatoes!"



Kid Ratings:

Christopher Robin
Collin
Isaac	X "A hundred"
Annette	X "Ten"