Homemade Chicken Soup

We've had some sniffles at our house lately and when we're feeling run-down, I like to break out the Chicken Soup recipe. I start feeling better as soon as I pull out the stock pot.

Homemade Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

Whole fryer chicken (or any amount you desire)
1 med onion, cut very fine
3-4 carrots, cut very fine
pkg of egg noodles
2 chicken bouillons(to enhance flavor)
salt and pepper

Clean out chicken, cut up and boil in water in a stock pot. Skim fat off the top. (Cook until looks done – about 30-40 min) Remove chicken, debone, remove skin, and cut into bite-size pieces. Return chicken to stock pot, add onions, carrots, bouillons, salt and pepper. Simmer until carrot are tender, about 10 min. Then add egg noodles and boil until done, about 8-9 min.

Serving: 16 C liquid, 10 people
Recipe By: Angie Martens

Good Health to You!

Cajun Chicken Strips

This is a quick main dish that we serve with macaroni and cheese and corn bread muffins. Although we eat dinner most nights at the table, this meal lends itself to sitting around the tv at our house...it's just has that comfy laid-back feeling to us.

Cajun Chicken Strips

Ingredients:

1 T flour
1t poultry seasoning
¾ t garlic salt
½ t paprika
¼ t pepper
1/8 – ¼ t cayenne pepper
1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts,
cut into ½” strips
2 T butter or margarine
Italian parsley and chili peppers, optional

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the first six ingredients. Add chicken, half at a time, and shake to coat. In a large skillet, cook chicken in butter for 8-10 min or until the juices run clear. Garnish with parsley and peppers if desired.

Serving: 4-6
Recipe Given By: Quick Cooking Premiere p. 23, * see recipe at Taste of Home

(mine look more like nuggets comparatively, but bite-sized works for us.)

Mini-Focaccia Rounds

Fast, easy and delicious dinner bread! Give it a try!

Mini-Foccacia Rounds

Ingredients:

1 pkg (11 oz) refrigerated soft breadsticks dough
2 T olive oil
1 T Parmesan cheese, grated (use real!)
1 t. dried rosemary leaves, crushed
1 t. dried basil leaves
1 t. instant minced onion

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray 15” baking stone with vegetable oil spray. Remove dough from pkg. Separate into 8 coils; DO NOT UNROLL BREADSTICKS. Place coils on stone. Press each coil into a 4” circle. Drizzle with oil. In small bowl, combine Parmesan cheese, rosemary, basil and onion; sprinkle over dough. Bake 10-15 min or until golden brown.

Serving: 8
Recipe Given By: Pillsbury/Pampered Chef p. 3

(I've served it with Meatloaf Miniatures, mashed potatoes and steamed baby carrots.)

Do-It-Yourself Teppanyaki

On May 9th I shared a Fried Rice Recipe with you that included an amazing sauce. Many years ago, our dear friends, the Valenzuela's, had us for dinner and served us a Japanese meal that centered around food cooked on a griddle in the middle of the table. It was accompanied by The Sauce. Here's the recipe and pictures of us sharing the meal with my in-laws.

The Sauce

Ingredients:

½ C soy sauce
½” of ginger, sliced
¼ C water
1 t. sesame seeds
½ C brown sugar
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 drops Tabasco

Boil these ingredients for 1 min., then strain and serve as a dipping sauce. (Can be doubled.) Serve with white rice.

Heat a griddle and spread with margarine. Cook cook raw beef, skinless chicken breast, scallops, shrimp, Napa cabbage, bean sprouts, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, Chinese eggplant and peppers.

Recipe Given By: Sofia Valenzuela/Jon Sugimoto

We try to keep the shrimp and scallops to the outside so they don't get overdone and the chicken right down the middle where the griddle is hottest. Napa cabbage lays across the cooked meat or vegetables and wilts as it steams.

Here's what our table layout looks like. We keep the raw meat separate from the vegetables. You can see Katie in the background taking photos for the blog.

This photo shows our place settings. We each have a small bowl of rice and a small bowl of the dipping sauce. The margarine is on hand in case the food begins to stick. Most of the vegetables taste better with a little margarine coating the cooking surface anyway. We try to have forks to turn the food and chopsticks to eat with, but when it's family we don't follow that rule strictly.

This is a do-it-yourself teppanyaki meal.

Japanese: teppan (griddle) + yaki (broiling).

douzo omeshiagari kudasai (Japanese: Enjoy your meal!)

Green Chili Enchiladas

This is one of my quick-and-easy recipes for a night when I've got to get food on the table quickly. Mark and I were introduced to this recipe by a family in California who invited us over for dinner when we were newly married. We're now coming up on our 21st anniversary so it's been with us for a good, long while.

Green Chili Enchiladas

Ingredients:

2 cans (@ 10 oz. each) of green enchilada sauce
2 C shredded cheddar cheese
2 C shredded Monterey Jack cheese
@ 10 flour tortillas (soft taco size - @ 7" across)

Put a little sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pyrex or glass dish. Use just enough sauce to cover the bottom so the tortillas don't stick. Put about 4-5 T of the cheeses in a tortilla, drizzle 1 T of the sauce over the cheese. Roll up the tortilla and put in the dish. Continue with the rest of the tortillas. When the dish is full of tortillas, spoon the remainder of the enchilada sauce over the top. Sprinkle the remaining cheeses on top, as well. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

Serving: 10
Recipe Given By: Angie Martens
Hint: some extended family members add chicken; our family doesn't care for the addition. We cook up a big batch of white rice and add a quick vegetable for a full Mexican meal.

Chicken in a Pot leftovers

What to do with those leftovers?

If we don't cut up the chicken to use in fried rice...

Then we add them with cheese and make a toasty quesadilla!

Chicken in a Pot

Chicken in a Pot

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs. whole frying chicken
1 t. poultry seasoning
½ t. salt
¼ t. basil
¼ t. pepper

Wash chicken and pat dry. Sprinkle cavity with salt pepper, and poultry seasoning. Put in Dutch oven and sprinkle with basil. Cover and bake for 4-6 hours or until tender.

Our family’s version:
Use a family size pkg. of drumsticks, put one layer in crock pot, sprinkle with half the seasonings, put another layer of drumsticks on top of the first, sprinkle with remaining seasonings. Lay 4 pieces of bacon across the top and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Serving: 16
Recipe Given By:Boy Scout Cookbook
Hint:Do not add liquid! The chicken will fall off the bones. It takes like a roasted chicken. Yum!