Chicken Soup

My poor husband is sick. It started with the baby's runny nose and while she seems to be feeling ok (minus the nose), my husband picked it up and he's just sick.

So today I made chicken soup. From scratch. And I am kinda proud of it because it was so damn good.

My soup!

I used this recipe as the starting point and kind of made it up as I went along, but it was so good that I wanted to write it down so I had it for next time I needed some soup. It actually cooked up pretty quick, though it would probably also be good to simmer all day on the stove. It makes the house smell delicious :-)

Chicken Soup Ingredients:

• a whole (raw) chicken... I think I got a roaster chicken


• a bunch of carrots


• a bag of celery stalks


• whole onion


• spices - I used salt, pepper, rosemary, oregano, thyme, and chicken boullion cubes


• egg noodles

Recipe:

• Put the chicken in a big soup pot and cover with water. I added 3 carrots and 2 stalks of celery, chopped in really big pieces. You'll end up tossing these, so the bigger, the better. I also added half of the onion, cut into 2 quarters. Bring the water to a boil and keep it boiling until the chicken starts falling off the bone.



• Skim the foam off the top of the water every so often. I have no idea how long I let the chicken boil; maybe an hour? But the chicken will totally start falling off the bone - you'll know.
  


• Meanwhile, clean and chop the rest of the carrots, onion, and celery. Set aside.



• Once the chicken is done, put another big soup pot in the sink and put a strainer over the second pot. Drain the chicken/veggies/broth into the strainer. You can then put the second pot on the stove. That's the broth. You can toss the cooked veggies (they will probably be really smooshy) and cut the chicken however you like it. I did a combo of shredded and cubed.



• Toss the raw veggies and chicken into the broth on the stove and let it simmer. Add your spices - I used 3 chicken boullion cubes, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, and oregano.



• Bring water to a boil in the first pot and cook the egg noodles per package directions.



• When the noodles are done, add to the chicken soup. Stir it up and it's done!
  
  

I think it took 2.5 hours to make, but I wasn't really paying attention to the chicken and I didn't have the forethought to cook the noodles and have them cooked and waiting to be tossed in. You shoudn't cook the noodles in the soup because they'll get really soggy; I bet if I cooked them along side the chicken I could have shaved 30 minutes off the total cook time.

This makes a huge pot, so we have lots of leftovers. Yum :-)

Homemade Frapp

More dollars than I care to admit have been spent on Mocha Coconut Frappaccinos at Starbucks this summer. I am thinking about having half my paycheck direct deposited to Starbucks on my way to work (and the other half at the Starbucks in my Target).....

However, the other day on Pinterest (why are you not on Pinterest???) I saw a recipe for homemade frapps that were supposedly a perfect match for the Starbucks ones. I dragged out the ol' blender this past weekend to find out.

It came out perfect on the first try, and now I can keep my direct deposit dollars right where they are. Good thing, because getting direct deposit changed is such a hassle...

Here's the link and below is my take on the recipe - the original makes 36 oz, which is enough to fill 1.5 of these. My version makes enough to fill that Copco cup with just a smidge left over. I also like mine Mocha Coconut flavored :-)

1/2 cup double strength coffee (basically 4 oz boiling water & 1.5 tablespoons of Foldgers instant)

1/2 cup cold milk

A few shakes of Splenda (I get the kind with a gram of fiber per serving)

2 or so tablespoons of Hershey's Light Chocolate Syrup

A splash of coconut extra (imitation, because that's what my grocery store had. It's by the vanilla extracts)

1.5 cups of ice

Throw it all in the blender, pour into cup, be amazed at how it didn't cost $4.85. I make mine right before I leave the house so I can enjoy it on the way to work. It starts to separate (it's still delicious) as it warms, so it's really best to enjoy right away. So for me, that means: get myself ready, make the coffee & throw all ingredients (except ice) into the blender, get the baby ready, get our bags together, throw the ice in the blender, blend (and watch baby's eyes get HUGE as the blender does it's thing), pour in cup, collect baby & bags, and get to the car. I've made one every morning this week :-)

Stocked Freezer - For Real

I think at some point like 2 weeks ago I wrote a similar post about what I had in my freezer, but I'm doing it again anyway... mainly so I can keep inventory of what I have.

As of today, I'm looking at 10 actual "ready to go" dinners, plus the makings of 10 more. Yey for me.

Ready to go dinners:

• enchiladas
• baked ziti
• stuffed peppers
• perogies (just need 1 pepper and 1 onion)
• ravioli with vodka sauce (jar of sauce is on hold in the cabinet)
• meatballs & sauce (just need 2 sub rolls and some provolone to make meatball parm)
• meatballs & sauce (have a box of spaghetti on hold in the cabinet)\
• burrito mix , modified to add corn & Rotel (just need tortillas, have salsa & sour cream in the fridge)
• chicken nuggets & fries - will be enough for 2 meals... I had coupons that made this a really cheap dinner idea :-)

Also have:

• 3 packets of cooked shredded chicken (1 cup portions)
• 2 packets of raw ground turkey (1/2 lb each)
• 3 packets of raw chicken breasts (2 breasts per bag)
• 2 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls (because I am in love with this site)
• Tortellini & Alfredo Sauce, and a bag of frozen broccoli. This is a really quick dinner - boil the tortellini, heat the sauce, make the broccoli in the microwave. Then chop up the broccoli and add it to the sauce... toss over tortellini. Yum.

This month's shopping bills have been a killer, since normally I look at what we have before we go and try to craft meals based on what we already have plus what I have coupons for or what's on sale. These past 2 weeks worth of groceries have been almost double what we normally spend, but I've kind of been making doubles of everything and stocking up on stuff that I normally wouldn't - like Listerine, body wash, pancake mix... plus all of the meat. I bought more meat than I normally would have this week.

I'm hoping that by stocking up on stuff now, I'll only have to do really quick "10 items or less" trips when Baby Girl is really little, seeing as it's flu season and I have no desire to do grocery shopping with an infant. I just wish my freezer was bigger....

Off to make a few batches of pumpkin and chocolate toffee cookies. I learned a hot trick on Good Eats (I am secretly in love with Alton Brown) - make the dough and lay out the cookies on the baking pan... and then instead of putting them in the oven, put the tray in the freezer. Once the cookie dough is frozen, bag it up in a freezer safe bag and store (in the freezer) until you want to bake them. Then bake as normal! Which means you can bake 4 cookies (for yourself at 3 in the afternoon) or 2 dozen (to take to a party.... of for yourself at 3 in the afternoon). How genius is that?

Cookies

Last night we were in the mood for dessert but didn't have anything because we might have eaten a half gallon of ice cream in two days. To be fair, it was Turkey Hill's Chocolate Pretzel Ice Cream and it was delicious. It's vanilla ice cream with a fudge swirl and bits of sourdough pretzels. Holy crap it is good.

Anyway, we had nothing sweet in the house, but I've been stocking up on baking stuff so I figured I probably had enough random stuff to make some cookies of some sort. I happened to have a bag of toffee bits (purchased by mistake when I was making these) and ended up finding this recipe, which I modified to use what I had on hand. They were kind of messy right out of the oven, but once they totally cooled down.... chocolate toffee awesomeness. Here's the recipe with my modifications:

Ingredients
1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp + 1 tsp vanilla extract
0.5 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
0.25 tsp salt
2 cups toffee bits

To Do

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Beat butter and sugar together.
• Add egg and vanilla and blend!
• In a different bowl, blend together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
• Stir dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
• Mix in toffee.
• On an ungreased baking sheet (no really, it has to be ungreased otherwise the cookies stick... trust me, and do not use parchment paper to line the baking sheet), drop dough balls about 2 inches apart. These cookies spread.
• Bake 10-12 minutes. The cookies will puff a bit and then crack along the tops.
• Let cool for about a minute and then transfer to a baking sheet. Let them cool completely... they should be a bit chewy inside and crispy outside. Awesome with milk.

Dinner this Week

I'm trying to make meals that I can split into dinner now and dinner later (yey for frozen meals)... I don't have a huge stockpile going but so far I have baked ziti, 2 servings of meatballs and sauce, and 3 servings of shredded chicken (for super lazy nights - it can go over rice, veggies, pasta, etc).

This week's menu is pretty simple but I'll get 2 more freezer meals with zero effort:

Tonight: Burgers with sauteed onions & mushrooms
Sunday: Enchiladas (will freeze half for post-delivery)
Monday: Chicken & Bean Stuffed Peppers (will freeze half for post-delivery)
Tuesday: Soup & grilled cheese
Wednesday: crock pot baked potatoes - these are a staple at our house
Thursday: Pasta w/ garlic & broccoli
Friday: Rice & Beans, modified recipe to add corn, tomatoes, and chilies

Onward to the grocery store!

Baking Projects

I'm on a mission to make pumpkin everything this week. Tonight I made these cookies for Ryan to take to a work thing... let's just say he's lucky there were enough to actually take to work. They are delicious. The kind of delicious that only pumpkin, sugar, and cinnamon can create. Oh, and butterscotch chips. OMG.

And then on Thursday we're having breakfast for dinner and I'm making these pancakes with pumpkin butter. And know what would be delicious for breakfast this weekend? Bagels and pumpkin cream cheese.

I'm sure I don't even need to mention my addiction to these items. Decaf, obviously. For now...

I heart Chowder

Specifically corn chowder. I made some on Tuesday that was pretty great, so I figured I'd be nice and share the recipe :-)

I used this as the base and modified it a bit.

Corn Chowder Ingredients
12 slices of bacon (I used turkey), chopped
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cups of diced potato (about 3 medium size white potatoes)
2 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of Half-and-Half (I used fat free)
2 cans creamed corn
1 can sweet corn
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder to taste

To Do

1. Chop up the bacon and brown it in the bottom of the stock pot you're going to make the soup in (no need to dirty extra pots, plus the drippings add a nice flavor). Once it's pretty crispy, add the chopped onion and brown that as well.
2. Add the diced potato and chicken broth. Simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
3. Add all of the corn and Half-and-Half. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder.
4. Simmer for 45 minutes or until it's as thick as you want it. I like mine thick, so I let it simmer for the full 45. You can just heat it through if you like yours a bit thinner.
5. Top with some shredded sharp chedder, or even some extra crispy bacon bits (if you saved any, I did not).

It should serve 8, but realistically, probably 4-6 hearty portions. I'm going to freeze my leftovers and see how that turns out. Oh man, I love fall weather and chowder and sweatshirts and blankets. Yey for cooler weather!!!!

Freezer

I'm going to try to make/freeze as many meals as possible, strictly so I don't have to think too much about dinner and a baby little enough to have her age counted in weeks. Clearly I'd rather just think about the baby.

This week I made a huge pot of sauce and 3 batches of meatballs. We had meatballs and pasta on Tuesday night and I was able to freeze 2 dinners worth for post-delivery. Other than that, I haven't really done much freezer cooking.

I'm thinking about making these enchiladas and a batch or two of baked ziti. I came across this recipe collection and might try out a chili or noodle recipe or two. Oh, and these chicken pot pies... they look like a lot of work but I love a good chicken pot pie.

Anyone have a favorite go-to recipe that freezes nicely? Please share!

EDIT: Today I made a big batch of shredded chicken breasts and portioned it out to 3 bags of just over 1 cup of shredded chicken each. I can use shredded chicken in pretty much anything, so there's another 3 dinners! The shredded chicken is really easy to make - toss chicken breasts into a large pot, add a quartered onion and some garlic cloves, cover with water (I do about 2 inches), and simmer over medium heat for 30-40 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked through, let it cool just enough to be able to hand shred it. I had a pack of 4 thick breasts that made three 10 oz portions to freeze. I can use the chicken over chili, rice, or even season it and just throw it over pasta. Yum.

Salad and a Photo

Something about the crisp fall air got me in the mood for a good, hearty salad.

Here's my new favorite concoction:

A bag of mixed baby greens
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
1/2 a bag of Craisins
1/2 red onion, chopped
a block of Gruyere cheese to shred over top

Toss everything with balsamic vinegarette and eat 3x in one week. It's amazing. The Gruyere cheese adds a nice sharp contrast to the Craisins and apples, so if you can't find a block of that, I'd suggest something like Swiss.

And just for kicks, here's my 31 week gut from this past Friday:

Yes, that is what I wore to work last week. Ryan and I were both at work late numerous days and no one did laundry... and since I only have 2 pairs of pants that fit and both went in the dirty laundry, I had to resort to a pair of yoga pants that couldn't even be dressed up with a nicer shirt - there was no denying they were just workout clothes. So I went with the workout theme and wore a maternity tank and a fleece zip up... thank God I don't work for Corporate America. I would be in huge trouble if I needed to dress up every day.

And here's a naked belly, cause I cannot believe how much belly skin actually stretches:

Also, is it Friday yet?

Quick & Easy Dinner

For some unknown reason, WW sends me their magazine every month even though I do not send them any dollars. It's pretty cool.

This month they had a special section on meatballs, which is right up my alley. I hate making chicken because I hate looking at whole animal parts... so I make Ryan cook it. But usually I just buy ground meat because it's less gross. At any rate, I made this for dinner and it was fabulous.

Herbed Meatballs with Rice

adapted from Sept/Oct 2010 WW Magazine

Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey

1/4 cup parsley

1/2 onion, minced - they say red onion, but I used a Valdalia

salt & pepper

1/2 cup water

20 cherry tomatoes, halved

cooked rice.... I used a bag of Success 10 min. rice

To do:

1. Combine turkey, 1/4 cup parsley, 1/4 onion, salt and pepper in a bowl. Form into 16 little meatballs.

2. Spray skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium heat. Add meatballs. Be sure to turn them so they brown evenly. This takes about 6-8 minutes. Then turn the heat down, cover, and allow to cook through. This takes about 3-5 minutes.... be sure to shake the pan every few seconds to keep from burning. Set aside the meatballs.

3. Add water to the skillet, and scrape up the brown bits from the meatballs. Allow most of the water to evaporate. Add 1/4 onion, some minced garlic, and the cherry tomatoes. Cook until browned/softened.

4. Stir in meatballs and extra parsley. Serve over rice.

Makes 4 servings (2 if you're pregnant). 5 points for 4 meatballs, 1/3 cup sauce, and 1/2 cup rice.

Quinoa for Dummies

My bff loves quinoa and when we trade our weekly menus, I always feel like I should be making quinoa. According to her (and other people in the know), it's super healthy and has a ton of protein.... why wouldn't I make it?

Because I was scared.

There's rinsing involved, it's $6.99 a bag.... I don't know how to cook it. But it's healthy. And meatless (meat is expensive). So I tried this recipe on Wednesday night. I subbed out one can of beans for a can of Rotel.

The quinoa has a sweet, but nutty, flavor and has the texture of firm cous-cous. I handed my husband his dinner and three bites in, he says "Huh... this is really good". Victory, again.

I'm going to add this in to my weekly rotation.... now I just need some new recipes - what else can you put with quinoa?

Gourmet Pasta on a Budget

This isn't really gourmet (it's just stuff in a pot) but it was cheap, easy, and delicious.

1 package Buitoni Tortellini
1 package steam in a bag broccoli crowns
1 small jar of Alfredo sauce (I got Classico)

Boil the pasta and toss the broccoli in the microwave. When the broccoli is done, chop it up (or not; I like my bits smaller) and toss it in a skillet with some garlic. Sautee it just a little (enough to brown the garlic just a bit), then dump in the Alfredo sauce. Heat through. Add in pasta. Toss to coat. Serve to your husband, who will tell you it's the best pasta he ever had (that actually happened).

Total cost for dinner for 2, plus some left over broccoli: $6.67.

Target Shopping List
Buitoni Tortellini: $3.84 with a $1 off coupon, final cost was $2.84
Green Giant Steam in a Bag broccoli crowns: $2.99, on sale for $1.99
Classico Alfredo Sauce: $2.84, on sale for $1.84

New Go-To Dinner

Baked potatoes and Lloyd's BBQ. Cheap, easy, and delicious.

Wrap your potatoes in foil and pierce with a fork a few times. Throw them in the crock pot on low for 8 hours. Get home, put the tub of Lloyd's BBQ in the microwave (whatever the package says... 6 min maybe?), get out the potatoes (turn off crock pot), split them open, remove BBQ from microwave and slap it on the potatoes.

Top with shredded cheese. Enjoy both the dinner and the minimal clean up.

This is my new "everyone is working late and I don't want dinner at 9pm" dinner. It's also my "we need something quick because right after dinner we need to go do XYZ before it closes" dinner.

Yuuuummmmmmmmmm.

Things You Need to Know About

You can thank me later.

Lemonade Pie: Make this immediately. If you are cool (like me) then you will only buy one pie crust (because it was cheaper) and then not realize it until you get home. Problem solved - fill one pie crust and leave the rest in a bowl in the fridge. Buy graham crackers. Break grahams in half, spoon filling onto one half, top with other half. Wrap your little lemonade sandwich in plastic wrap and throw in the freezer. Prepare to have your mind blown when you remember you have them in your freezer the next day and you unwrap it and bite into it and die because it's 9 Thousand Degrees outside and super cool and lemonade-y in your mouth.

Fiesta Salad: Like a Mexican party in a salad bowl. This recipe is awesome because A) it has lots of veggies and B) it's vegetarian, which makes it cheap. I sort of combined a few recipes to come up with it and it got RAVE reviews from my husband who, when told what was for dinner, replied that "it better be good" because he "hates ranch dressing". I fed it to him. He mumbled "this is really good" between mouthfuls. And then he asked for more. Best wife ever.

Here's the (so easy it's almost embarrassing) recipe: bag of lettuce, can of black beans, can of corn, salsa, ranch dressing, Kraft 3 cheese crumbles. Drain and rinse the beans and corn. Mix the beans and corn in with the lettuce. Eyeball the salsa and ranch dressing - add however much looks good to you. Toss in the cheese. Mix it up. If you're feeling extra fancy (and the grocery store still has some because you didn't do your grocery shopping at 7pm on a Monday night), get a rotisserie chicken and shred some chicken bits over the top. I was cheap and didn't do this, but I imagine it would be awesome.

Only 4 more days till a 3 day weekend.... AND we're registering on Saturday, which makes it super exciting. Oh, and guess what we did yesterday? PUT TOGETHER THE CRIB!!! When I woke up today, I caught a peek into the nursery on my way to the bathroom and I was like WOAH - a baby is going to live here.

Mindblowing. Like the lemonade pie, but drastically different. The lemonade pie makes me feel all cool and refreshed. The crib makes me feel semi-drunk and tingly and thrilled.to.death.

Homemade Frosting

The other night I really wanted ice cream, but we didn't have any. That's ok, though, because what I really wanted was soft-serve ice cream in a cup that then went into the freezer overnight.... you know how it kind of freezes but not really? That is what I wanted. And it was not available.

So we made cake. I stocked up on cake mix when it was like .50 cents a box so we made some. But I didn't have any frosting. A quick Google search fixed that. It was delicious and so easy to make. It's a bit runny, but a quick stint in the fridge (10 min) fixed that.

The only thing better than a nice frosted cupcake is a sweet little cupcake onesie. Behold:

Can't wait to find out if Baby H needs one of these in pink or blue. Well, if it's needed in blue we'll probably go with something more masculine. Cupcakes are fairly girly, no matter what color they are.

Random Crap in the Cupboard

Sometimes when I plan out a week's worth of meals and go grocery shopping according to that list, somthing will come up and my carefully planned manu will go to hell. This past week Ryan was at work late every night and truthfully I'd rather just have cereal instead of cook for one person. So I did.

And then Ryan came home early on Friday looking for food. Whoops. So I dug around in the cabinet and made a chili of sorts. I figured it'd be pretty good based on what I threw in, but when I heard Ryan say "This is actually really good", I knew I had a winner. I'm the Queen of Throwing Crap in a Skillet when we get down to bare bones in the caniets and he'll usually eat it - I think I only grossed him out once or twice in the 6 years we've been together - but he usually doesn't comment.

We were both pretty thrilled with Friday night's dinner, though, so I wanted to jot it down for the future (or in case you had random crap you needed to use/were too lazy to go grocery shopping)

Stuff You Need:
1 pound ground turkey
2 zucchinis, diced
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 can Rotel tomatos and chili

Stuff You Do:
Brown the turkey. Leave the turkey in the skillet but drain juice/fat. Dump in diced zucchini, kidney beans, corn, and Rotel. Heat over medium flame. Stir so it doesn't stick or burn. Serve over rice. Season with Adobo seasoning and serve over white rice.

The key is to just heat it through - the meat is already cooked, so youjust want the veggies heated. Don't let the zucchini get mushy - that's when it gets a little gross. We had it for dinner on Friday and then again for lunch on Saturday.... it was really that good.

Thai Chicken Stir Fry

Last night's dinner was awesome, so I thought you might want the recipe :-)

Stuff You Need:
2 chicken breasts, chopped
2 table spoons soy sauce
1 table spoon sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup water
1 bag stir fry veggies (usually found in the fresh produce section)
1 bag of any kind of noodles you like - Lo Mein, Ramen, rice noodles, whatever

Stuff You Do:

1. In a large pan, heat some veggie oil. Dump in the chopped chicken and let it cook.
2. In a seperate pot, cook noodles according to the package directions. When they are done, drain and rinse, but keep these in the pot.
2. In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter, water, soy sauce, and sugar. Set aside.
3. Once the chicken is cooked, add the veggies. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
4. Add the noodles to the stir fry pan. In the pot the noodles used to be in, add the peanut butter mixture and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until blended.
5. Add the peanut butter mixture to the stir fry and toss to coat.
6. Consume and relish in the fact that dinner tonight isn't "the usual"

Note: I used this as the basis for the recipe and modified it slightly.