Chicken Noodle Soup

So, Eric got really sick and asked for Chicken Noodle Soup, but he wanted homeade.  So I created this recipe on the fly and I am gonna share it with you.

Ingredents:

3lbs chicken
1 small red onion
Deli pack of carrots and celery
1 Lipton Chicken & Broccoli Noodle
1 1/2 cup milk

In a very large pot I put my 3 lbs chicken thighs and filled with water enough to cover chicken.  I boiled on high heat and then reduced to slow boil for 2hrs.  Most of the water reduced by this point, I removed the chicken and strained the broth for any small bones or pockets of fat.  I put the broth back into the pot and added the onion, carrot, and celery diced up into the broth.  I let that boil while I shredded the chicken.  Then I added the chicken back to the pot and added the milk and about 1 to 1 1/2 cup water and the whole Lipton packet.  I let it all heat through and cook the noodles and then served.

Everyone LOVED it.  I took a bit to work the next day and found it needed a bit of salt.  After spending the night in the frig it was more like a block instead of soup but once heated up the broth became watery again and I added a bit more water to thin it out.  The picture below is of my lunch serving before I added the extra water. 

Good luck making your own chicken soup recipe! 

Thanksgiving Feast

November 22, Thanksgiving - I started the day with thanking people in facebook posts and I did that all day.  Whenever I stopped for a minute or thought about it, I thanked another person in my life for something.  We had a full day ahead of us and Lila and I started cooking.  We had a list of what we needed to do that day.

• Deviled eggs
• Cucumber salad
• Apple Snicker Salad
• Veggie Dip
• White Bean Dip
• Pie
• Cream Cheese puffs
• Turkey
• Stuffing
• Gravy
• Mashed Potatoes

 But first I made a drink! Three Olives Cherry Vodka 1.5oz, 1.5oz Amaretto, four ice cubes, two cherries, and the rest of my 5oz whiskey glass with coke. 

Then we made veggie dip which is just a Knorr Veggie mix and 16oz sour cream

White bean dip:

• 1 can white beans, mashed.  
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 1/4 milk
• 1/2 lemon, squeezed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper

 After it was made we added a bit more milk and yogurt to take out the lemony flavor a bit.  Raven loved it but not Lila or I.

Cucumber salad was up next

• 2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced
• 8 oz sour cream
• 1 green onion
• 1 tsp dill weed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

 

Then our Apple Snicker Salad

• 3 apples, green is what we picked
• 3 regular sized snickers, frozen
• 8 oz cool whip

We put it all together and then ended up adding another half a container of cool whip since it looked like coated apples.

Then the deviled eggs, this recipe is for six eggs and I cooked 23 so I just timed by four.

• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1 tsp mustard

Then I made the cream cheese puffs

• Cresent rolls
• Chive cream cheese

I rolled out the crescent rolls cut it in smaller pieces and dolloped on the cream cheese, closed up the sides and baked  by crescent rolls directions.  The balls are Lila, LOL

Once that was done Lila and I relaxed, Raven woke up and cleaned the kitchen and Eric started on the turkey.  He also cooked the potatoes, stuffing and gravy done the turkey was done.

Hope you enjoyed reading my Thanksgiving feast!

Fish Tacos

So finally I made a new dinner.  Lettuce wrapped fish tacos.

Lettuce leaves
Fish sticks (whatever you prefer, I used frozen)
1/2 cup chopped peppers
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp lime juice
salt & pepper to taste


Top lettuce leaf with fish sticks, mix together peppers, onions, corn, mayo, sour cream, lime juice, salt, and pepper and top on fish.

I paired that with sliced peppers and fresh green beans and french onion dip

So good and everyone loved them.

Tuna Fish Pitas and Dip Pasta Salad

Tuna Fish Pitas

2 Cans Tuna Fish, drained
1 cup homemade salsa*
1 cup mayo
4 pitas

Preheat oven 325, slice pitas in half and open. Place on baking sheet and put in oven. While pitas are toasting, mix together tuna, salsa, and mayo and insert into pita pockets.

Dip Pasta Salad

8oz cream cheese
16 oz sour cream
1 box (2pkg) vegetable dip seasoning
2 cups homemade salsa*
1 lb rotini pasta

Cook pasta according to directions. I used rotini, but you can use whatever you like. White cooking mix other ingredients together. When pasta done, drain and rinse with cold water until cool, then add to sauce, mix throughly and cool in refrigerator. Pasta will stiffen but, oh so good.

Homemade Salsa

1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 onion
4 roma tomatoes

Dice all veggies and mix together

Chicken tortellini parmasean

Tonight I made Chicken Tortellini Parmesean.
Ingredients:

1 lb chicken strips
1 cup green bell pepper
1 cup red bell pepper
1 cup onion
1 cup tomato
1 cup spinach leaves
2 tbl garlic
1 lb tortellini
1 jar garlic Parmesean sauce

I put a bit of oil in the pan, fried up the onions, peppers, and garlic untill translucent. Added the chicken and cooked through. Added the tomatoes, spinach and sauce. I cooked the tortellini as directed then added to the sauce. It was really good and we all loved it.

Corn Dogs and Pasta Salad with Brownies and Cream Cheese Frosting

     So, tonight we made our own corn dogs.  Eric found a corn dog recipe, we weren't crazy about it but it worked.  It just made it a bit thinner than expected.

1 cup flour
2/3 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 ts baking soda

     We did not have buttermilk so he used milk which is probably why it was a bit thin.  We cut the hot dogs in half and dipped them in the mix and fried in vegetable oil.  For the pasta salad, it was a recipe I made my own.

1 envelope Knorr vegetable mix
Mayonnaise
Spinach leaves
Carrots
1 pound elbow noodles

     I eyeballed the mayonnaise and mixed it with the Knorr mix, chopped up some spinach leaves I had left and a few baby carrots.  Cooked, drains, and cooled a pound of elbow noodles.  Added the noodles to the mix and chilled in the refrigerator.    

     After dinner Lila helped me make some brownies from a box and we added some cream cheese frosting on top.

     All in all, it didn't turn out too bad.  Many of my homeade recipes are often made from experiments.  Don't be afraid to add what you feel, not all my concoctions have been successful but I keep trying and alot of them don't turn out too bad.  

Well, that is all for tonight!  

Spaghetti Like You Never Had it Before!

My family LOVES spaghetti, and I hate it.  Too much tomato sauce for me.  So I tried to create a new spaghetti that I could love.

Ingredients:
 1 Jar spaghetti sauce
1 package frozen tortellini, I used cheese
1 lb smoked sausage
1 can diced tomatos

Directions:

I sliced and pan fried the sausages to get a sear, then added half the jar of sauce.  I cooked the pasta according to directions and added the other half of the jar.  I put the diced tomatos in with the meat and let it all simmer for a few mins.  Then combine it all together in a big pot and mix well. 

It was an interesting combination and the family loved it.