Chicken Soup

I've never made soup before. But this week I got a hankering for homemade chicken soup…so I made some today. I kind of made it up as I went along and both Alex and I were quite pleased with the result. It's a hearty soup and very delicious. Plus, what I did made a LOT.

4 chicken breasts, bone-in
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
1 900mL container of Campbell's low-sodium chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Put the chicken breasts in a large pot and cover with a fair bit of water. Boil for approximately 1.5 hours, or until the chicken falls easily off the bone. Remove chicken from the pot and debone it. Set aside.

2. Strain the water from the pot and put it back in. This is going to be part of the liquid in the soup.

3. Peel and dice the potatoes and carrots, and dice the onion. Add to the liquid in the pot along with the chicken. Then pour in the container of chicken broth.

4. Add salt and pepper (I did 25 shakes of each) and stir thoroughly.

5. Bring to a boil then lower the temperature and cook until the potatoes and carrots are done, about 15 minutes.

6. Serve. We had buttered homemade rolls with ours.

This made a very large pot of soup. To the point where I had a large bowl and Alex had two large bowls and there is still about half the pot of soup left over.

Braised Potatoes with Garlic

Today is Alex's birthday. He wanted to have t-bone steaks for supper. I agreed. I thought baked potatoes would be good, but he wanted to try this recipe he had found online. So I said sure, and did it. This is the recipe. He got it on this website: http://www.seriouseats.com and I believe they got it from a cookbook or something. Anyway, we LOVED it and would definitely try it again. We omitted the rosemary (because neither of us is a fan), but otherwise followed the recipe exactly.

1 1/2 lbs small red potatoes, rinsed
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the potatoes in half and then place them into a pot where they will fit in a snug, single layer. Pour in the olive oil and the chicken stock. Add the garlic cloves and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper.

2. Cover the pot and bring the stock to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20 minutes.

3. Remove the lid, turn the heat to high and cook until the liquid reduces, becomes thick and starts to coat the potatoes. Stir occasionally. Plate the potatoes, and sprinkle with the chopped rosemary. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Alex's Marinara Sauce

A couple of weeks ago, Alex made homemade marinara sauce and it was absolutely delicious. He made it again the other day and I asked him to give me the recipe so I could post it here. Below is the recipe as he wrote it, including his comments. I'm copying it word for word because it's kind of funny and cute.

Ingredients:

Blend:

6 Tomatoes
1 Onion
3-4 Cloves Garlic

(for those with smaller blenders, you can split things up.)

It is now a weird smelling light red tomato juice. Pour into saucepan.

Add

1/4-1/2 cup favorite red wine (colour)
1/4 tsp oregano (cliche)
1/8 tsp sage (secret ingredient, leave it out if it ain't your thang)
1/8 tsp dried bay leaves
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt (add to taste)
1-2 tbsp sugar

Now simmer to reduce it. This can take a while depending on how much attention you can give it. If you are watching it like a hawk, you can crank the heat and stir it constantly. However, like most people, I have other things to do.


Simmer at low heat for about an hour, stirring it up regularly. Until you have your desired consistency. If it's not zippy enough, you can add some cayenne or black pepper to it.

Serve with your favorite pasta, a meatball, or whatever.

Slow Cooker Lasagna

This recipe showed up on my FB news feed (a friend had shared it) and I immediately shared it on my own timeline so I could go back to it.

It came from here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/candaceshealthyfriends (not sure if it's elsewhere online or not, I'm trying to give credit where credit is due). And it's SO EASY AND SO DELICIOUS.

1 lb ground beef

1 can/jar spaghetti sauce

6 uncooked lasagna noodles

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese*

Brown ground beef and drain.

Spoon about 1 cup of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the crock pot. Mix the rest of the spaghetti sauce in with the ground beef.

Place 2 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce in the crock pot.

Spread 1/3 of the meat mixture over the noodles. Then spread 1/2 cup cottage cheese over the meat. Top with 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella. 

Add another layer of noodles, meat, cottage cheese and mozzarella, then do it again once more. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on the very top.

Cook on low for 4 hours. Do not cook longer than that, as it will get overdone.

*I actually used about 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. :)

Beef Pot Pie

Had to do something with starting to go freezer-burnt stew meat. Alex said "beef pot pie!" so I looked up a recipe on allrecipes.com and made it. I followed the recipe almost exactly (except I used 4 potatoes instead of 3), but next time I think I would mix the gravy in with the meat/veggies instead of putting it on top. However, it still turned out fantastic and I will most definitely be doing it again.

1 pound of beef, cubed

1 can (14 oz) beef broth

3 large carrots, diced

3 potatoes, cubed

1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

3 tablespoons corn starch

1/3 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

2 9-inch refrigerator pie crusts

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, brown the pieces of meat on all sides. Pour in some water to almost cover*. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer until meat is tender and falls apart easily (about 2-3 hours). Transfer meat to a large mixing bowl. Shred the meat and add salt and pepper to taste.

2. In another saucepan over medium heat,  pour in beef broth** and add carrots and potatoes. Cook until almost done, about 15-20 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350F.

4. When the carrots and potatoes are done, transfer to the large mixing bowl with the beef, leaving the liquid in the pan. Combine the peas in with the carrots, potatoes and beef.

5. Dissolve the cornstarch with the 1/3 cup of water. Pour into the saucepan of beef broth, stirring constantly. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat. Cook for about 5 minutes.

6. Line a 9-inch pie plate with one of the pie crusts, following the package instructions. Place the beef mixture into the pie crust. Pour the gravy over top of the mixture, then cover with the other pie crust. Bake in the preheated oven until the crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes***. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

*I had to keep replenishing the water over the course of the 2 hours I cooked the beef because it kept evaporating (as water will do).

**Recipe calls for a 14 oz can of beef broth. I only had a 10 oz can. So I used the water that was left over at the end of the beef-cooking to make up the difference.

***My pie crust was not golden brown after only 25 minutes. In my oven at 350F it took 40 minutes. I would say put it in for 25 and then check it and add time accordingly, checking every so often.

Easy Chicken Casserole

I wanted to do something different with the chicken breasts I had taken out, so I made a casserole. It was really simple and turned out amazing. The crappy thing is, I don't measure anything, so these are just a rough estimate.

1 1/2 cups shell pasta
3 chicken breasts, cut into small bite sized pieces
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350F.

While pasta is cooking, cook diced chicken breasts in some olive oil in a large frying pan or skillet. When pasta is cooked, drain, and mix with the chicken. Add can of cream of mushroom soup and about 1/2 cup (or half the empty soup can) of milk and mix thoroughly until everything is creamy. Transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and then cover with shredded cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Garlic Potato Bake

Alex invented this "treat" as he calls it, the other night. He didn't put ALL the potatoes he made into this, he left some out (after step 1) for Charlie and I because we don't like tomatoes. He said it was absolutely amazing. I didn't get a picture, but will the next time he makes it for himself.

1 lb peeled potatoes
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 diced tomato
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Boil potatoes until they are cooked. Mash with butter, milk, salt and garlic powder.

2. Place potatoes in the bottom of a greased loaf pan. Top with tomato and parmesan cheese.

3. Bake in oven at 425F for 20 minutes.