Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I've been meaning to share this easy, healthy, and delicious recipe with you.  My daughter loves this soup.  I think I might double the recipe next time so I have lots of leftovers for the freezer.  

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 chicken breasts cooked and cut-up

8 cups low sodium chicken broth

4 large carrots, sliced

3 celery stalks, sliced

1/2 medium size onion, diced

1 tsp parsley

1 cup uncooked egg noodles

salt and pepper to taste

You will want to use a large pot for this recipe.  I use a 5 quart dutch oven.

Directions:

Sauté the onion in olive oil on medium heat for about ten minutes.  Add the carrots and celery and sauté for a few additional minutes.  Add the chicken broth, and cook on medium heat for about thirty minutes, or untill vegetables are very tender.  Turn heat to boiling, and add noodles.  Cook noodles for twelve minutes.  Add chicken, parsley, salt and pepper, and serve.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Chicken Pie

A friend of mine recently shared her yummy chicken pie recipe with me and I just had to share it with you!  It's delicious and rather easy to make!

We cut into it right after it came out of the oven.  Probably best to let it sit for a few minutes, but it was so delicious!

Recipe:

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup whole milk

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 cups cooked, chopped chicken

2 unbaked deep-dish pie shells

Saute onion, celery and carrots in butter for about five minutes.  Add mushrooms and saute for five minutes.  Add flour, stir and cook for one minute.  Add chicken broth and milk and stir well.  Stir and cook over medium heat until hot and bubbly.  Add salt, pepper and chicken.  Stir and simmer on low for three minutes.  Pour chicken pie filling into one pie shell.  Top with second pie shell.  Seal edges and prick with fork.  Bake at 400 for 35 minutes or until pie is golden brown.  (Can be frozen; thaw before baking).  Enjoy!!!

The Weekend...Random Post

We had a nice relaxing weekend!  My husband and I went out for a date night on Friday night at our favorite local Thai restaurant followed by coffee at Starbucks!  I love date nights!!

A new Fall candle and garland for the mantle.  I especially love candles around the holidays!

A nice glass of organic red wine on a cold Saturday evening.

And the most delicious pumpkin chocolate chip bread I have ever made.  We have friends coming over for dinner on Saturday night and I will definitely be serving this for dessert, recipe found here.

Oh, and we decided on a new car.  We went with the Subaru Outback Wagon in Graphite Gray and I love it!

Tuesday Night Dinner

I made a hearty beef stew in the crockpot for dinner tonight.  There is something very comforting about starting dinner in the morning and not having to think about it again until time to eat.  I love cooking with my crockpot.  And the house smells wonderful all day long.

Recipe:
1lb stew beef
2 large carrots, sliced
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 onion, sliced
1 package of McCormick Brown Gravy Mix
1 cup water (you may need a little extra)

Mix all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low for six hours or high for four hours, stirring twice.

Easy and delicious!

Soup with a Side of Fries

This has to be the best black bean soup I have ever tasted.  And Charlotte loves it, too!  If you are a fan of black beans, definitely give it a try.  It's packed full of protein and lots of yummy veggies.

Black Bean Soup

And Spicy sweet potato fries.  Yes, they are awesome with this soup.

Recipes found here.

Yummy Eggplant Quiche

I made this delicious quiche for dinner tonight.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I must say that my husband and I loved it.  This is probably my favorite quiche recipe so far. 

Ingredients:

1 lg. eggplant

1 onion, chopped

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. chopped parsley

4 eggs

1/3 cup half and half

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup swiss cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Cut eggplant and onion into small pieces.  Sprinkle eggplant with salt and let stand 15 minutes.  Squeeze moisture from eggplant. In a skillet over medium heat sauté the eggplant and onion in olive oil for about 15 minutes. Add parsley, salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat.

Whisk the eggs, half and half, and both cheeses together.  Put eggplant mixture in an unbaked pie shell and pour egg mixture over.  Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Enjoy!!

Chicken in Herb Butter

A few nights ago, I made this awesome chicken dish for dinner.  It is very simple to make and only includes a handful of ingredients.  This is a wonderful twist on ordinary chicken.  The herbs add such freshness and flavor to this dish.

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts pounded to about 1/4" to 1/2" in thickness and cut into fours

All purpose flour

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 cup white wine

1 cup mushrooms ( I used baby bella mushrooms)

fresh mint and parsley, about 1 tbsp. each

2 tbsp. butter

splash of lemon juice

Sautee mushrooms in 1 tbsp. butter.  Set aside.

Coat each piece of chicken in flour and top with salt and pepper.  Heat oil over medium heat. Cook chicken about five minutes on each side until brown.  Remove chicken from pan and deglaze with wine.  Add 1 tbsp. butter, mushrooms, herbs and chicken.  Simmer for a few minutes.  Add a plash of lemon juice and serve over angle hair pasta or thin spaghetti.

Serves: 4

Minestrone Soup...

This is a wonderful and very healthy autumn soup.  My family loves this recipe.  It also freezes well.  With there just being three of us, I freeze half for a quick and easy dinner another night of the week.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
32-oz box of low sodium chicken broth
1 cup of water
1 15-oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained ( I used navy beans this time as I was out of cannellini)
1 medium zucchini sliced
2 carrots sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup dried elbow macaroni
1 tsp. dried oregano
8 cups packaged fresh baby spinach leaves
1 14-oz can no-salt-added diced tomatoes

In a large pot or dutch oven cook onion in hot oil over medium heat until tender, about ten minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add broth, water, beans, zucchini, carrots, and garlic.  Bring to a boil, then lower to medium heat for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally.  Return to boiling.  Add pasta and oregano, cook for seven minutes; reduce to medium heat.  Add tomatoes and spinach, cook for ten minutes. Season with salt and pepper (optional) and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and grated parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

Serves: 6

Baked Potato Soup

On this chilly Saturday evening, I made one of our favorites for dinner, baked potato soup.  It's very easy to make and includes only a handful of ingredients.  It's great served with homemade bread.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time to make bread this evening.  Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.

Enjoy!

Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:

3 large russet baking potatoes

1/2 cup milk

1/2 stick butter

3 cups of Chicken Broth

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cheddar cheese

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

black pepper  (to taste)

Bake potatoes and cool to room temperature.  Remove the skins and coarsely chop.  Let the milk come to room temperature.  Place 3/4 cups of chopped potatoes in a separate bowl and mash with a little water to make them thin, yet creamy.  In a large, heavy pot, melt butter over medium-low heat.  While butter is melting heat the chicken broth to boiling.  Gradually mix the flour into the melted butter.  Continue stirring mixture for about 3 minutes.  While stirring the mixture, add the broth.  Next, add potato puree.  Mix well.  Lower the heat to simmer and add cheese, milk, thyme, salt, pepper, and remaining chopped potatoes.  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often.  If soup is too thick, thin with more milk or broth. Serve garnished with cheddar cheese, a sprinkle of thyme and crumbled, cooked bacon ( if desired).

Serves: 4