Mom's Anything Goes Soup

I made this the other day and the kids requested I put it on the 'Really Yummy List' (usually, it's simply, the 'yummy list') so I thought I'd toss it up here while I'm writing it up anyway.  It's really very simple and versitile.

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Mom's Anything Goes Soup

--Canned chicken (or fresh - I had expiring canned that needed to be used)
--Noodles (any kind, shape... I always use whole wheat; could also replace this with rice)
--Chicken stock (however much you want really...)
--Any veggies you have on hand (I had celery, potatoes, zucchini, and some frozen spinich.  I would have put in carrots if I had some.)
--I probably added whatever seasonings striked my fancy... definitely pepper.

That's it... cook until everything's tender.  The kids ate. it. up...  Loved it.  Tons of vegetables - can't beat that!  

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I'm sure you've all done this before, but since I kind of made it up and the kids liked it soo much and there were soo many veggies in it, I snapped a picture so I could remember and make it again sometime.  Happy (healthy!) eating!

Green Chilies Casserole

This is one of our Grover (Mom's side) family favorites, given to us by my Aunt Jen.  Its super easy (as I like it), meatless (which I like doing every once in awhile) and of course, delicious!  This one's a keeper.

I made it last year for St. Patrick's Day, along with GREEN beans, a GREEN salad and GREEN jello, which is what the picture is from.

Green Chili's Casserole
Jen Grover

Ingredients

• 12 Corn Tortillas
• 1 can cream soup (cream of anything)
• 1 small can green chilies
• 1 soup can of milk
• 1 pound grated cheese
• Sometimes I DO want to beef it up a little so I'll add shredded chicken and corn.  If I do that, I'll add an extra can of green chilies to beef the flavor up with the extra stuff added.  You may need to play with the milk amount to reach your desired consistency if you do this.

Process

1. Grease either a casserole dish, or a 9x11 pan.  
2. Mix soup, chilies and milk.  
3. Soften tortillas in hot water.  
4. Put a little soup mix in the bottom of the pan to keep the food from sticking.  
5. Layer tortillas, cheese, [chicken and corn] and soup mix until dish is full.  
6. Bake at 375 degrees for one hour. 

Serves approx. 6 adults.

Another nice thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are things you usually have in your kitchen anyway.  Great perk!

Happy Eating!

CrockPot Apricot Chicken

We had this for dinner tonight and it was oh-so-good!  I wish there was more, but sadly, there were no leftovers tonight.

Since I only had regular mustard and no minced onion flakes, I used part of an onion soup mix I had.  Turned out great.  I also didn't have red chili flakes so I used a bit of red pepper flakes instead.  (Are those the same thing?  Hum...)  I served it with brown rice and broccoli (obviously from my picture.)  It was an awesome combo.  The sauce (there's lots of extra after the chicken is cooked) is way yummy on the broccoli.  The "I" below isn't me.  I think it might be my friend Olivia, but I'm not sure.  (Olivia, let me know if it is!)

Ingredients:
•    11 oz jar of apricot preserves
•    1 t dried minced onion flakes
•    1 T Dijon mustard
•    1 T soy sauce
•    1/4 t ginger
•    1/4 to 1/2 t red chili flakes (optional)
•    6 chicken thighs or equivalent body parts

Process:
     I used frozen thighs.  Drop the chicken into your crockpot.  In a small bowl, mix all the other other ingredients and pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, high for 4-6.  Note: If your chicken isn't frozen, your dinner will cook faster.  Serve with white or brown rice and veggies. In our case, we had leftover cabbage and potatoes.


Let me know how it turns out!  Happy Eating!

Edit: This recipe is from the food blog, A Year of Slow Cooking.  Thanks Olivia!

Honey-Lime Enchiladas

This is one of my favorites, and I'm making it for my BIG family (Aunts, uncles, grandma, cousins...) on Sunday so I thought I'd put it up here.  I'll have to take my own picture when I make it on Sunday.  For now, here's the picture from the blog where I got it, shared with me by my friend Angie.

And I'll add a tip for cooking chicken that I learned recently and LOVE.  For a SUPER EASY way to cook and shred chicken, put it in the crock pot the night before you'll need it, with just a tiny bit of water.  Let it cook on low all night and in the morning, it is so tender, practically all you have to do is stir the chicken (after you've removed it and those nasty little fatty pieces) and it totally shreds apart.  Amazing, and sooo easy!  (I LOVE easy... don't you?)

One more note: The last time I made it I didn't have time to buy the chicken before I had to make the meal, so I just boiled it.  I used my Pampered Chef food chopper to chop up the chicken instead of shredding it, and a friend who also ate the meal said she really liked it that way.  I do too.  It gets it chopped up pretty small which gets the honey-lime sauce all over the chicken.

Click the picture for the recipe.  And prepare for your tummy to be very happy with you.

Happy Eating!

Chicken Piccata Pasta

I swiped this recipe card from my sister (thanks Janeal!  You can have it back now.) because this pregnancy has made me seriously crave lemon and it looked delicious.  Its a Pampered Chef recipe, but (sorry PC) I'm going to take out all of the pampered chef specific words they bold like cutting the chicken on the 'cutting board.'  Seriously?  Because I was going to cut it up on my counter.  Lol.

It was simply delish, even though the chicken turned to 'blackened chicken' (when I got distracted on the phone - it didn't have a burned taste though... it was still good) and I didn't have artichoke hearts or fresh parsley and I don't like capers.  Oh, and I just (now) realized, I HAD Parmesan cheese, but I forgot to put it on.  Nice.  Oh well, I'm definitely going to be making it again, so I'll try again next time.  Enjoy!

"Creamy and lemony, this dish is a fresh take on piccata and is made in a fraction of the time!"  (I don't actually know what piccata is, but I don't care because this dish was awesome.)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 T olive oil, divided (I use coconut oil and its yummy and smells like a pina colada!)

1 1/2 T Lemon Pepper Rub (I use a Wild Tree one that was awesome)

3 cans 33% reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/2 medium onion

12 oz uncooked angel hair pasta (my favorite kind of pasta)

1 lemon

2 oz cream cheese, softened

1 can (14 oz) quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained

1/4 C capers, drained and rinsed

Chopped fresh parsley and grated fresh Parmesan cheese (optional)

Process:

1) Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces.  Combine chicken, half the oil and all of the rub in a bowl and toss to coat.  Heat remaining oil a large skillet over med-high heat 1-3 min. or until simmering.  Add chicken to skillet; cook and stir 10 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and centers are no longer pink (duh.)  Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.

2) Meanwhile, pour broth into pan (they say to put it in the microwave but I just did it on the stove) and bring to boil.  Chop onion (unless you use frozen chopped onion like me... no more tears!) and add to skillet; cook 10-20 seconds or until onion is fragrant.  Carefully add broth and pasta to skillet; cook, uncovered, 7-8 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.

3) Zest lemon to measure 1 T.  Juice lemon to measure 2 T.  Add zest, juice and cream cheese to skillet; stir until cream cheese is fully incorporated.  Add chicken and artichokes to skillet.  Cook, covered, 1-2 min. or until heated through.  Remove skillet from heat; stir in capers.  Garnish with parsley and Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Lemony and delicious!  (I think I used that word like five times in this post.)  Happy eating!