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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

30 Minute Chicken Noodle Soup (from Rachael Ray)

Tonight was rainy and cold so soup was definitely in order. I found this recipe and decided on a whim to try it out!  I really liked how quickly it all came together and also the way that it was seasoned. Throwing the veggies in before adding the liquid gives them a chance to caramelize and add more flavor.  I would usually shy away from using dill since I don't love it, but I decided to just throw it in and give it a whirl- and surprisingly we all liked it!

30 Minute Chicken Noodle Soup (From Rachael Ray)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (2 turns around the pan)
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped or substitute a potato
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 fresh bay leaves or dried bay leaves
salt and pepper
6 cups good quality chicken stock
1 lb chicken breast tenders, diced
1/2 lb wide egg noodles
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (dried 1 to 1 1/2 tsp)
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped (dried 1 to 1 1/2 tsp)
My add in 3-4 Kale leaves washed and torn into bite size pieces.

Place a large pot over moderate heat and add extra-virgin olive oil. Work close to the stove and add vegetables to the pot as you chop, in the order they are listed. Add bay leaves and season vegetables with salt and pepper, to taste. Add stock to the pot and raise flame to bring liquid to a boil. Add diced chicken tenderloins, return soup to a boil, and reduce heat back to moderate. Cook chicken 2 minutes and add noodles. Cook soup an additional 6 minutes or until noodles are tender and remove soup from the heat. Stir in Kale, parsley and dill, remove bay leaves and serve. This is a thick soup. Add up to 2 cups of water if you like chicken soup with lots of broth.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

French Dip Sandwiches

French Dip Sandwiches 
1lb Leftover roast beef or Beef sliced from the deli
Au jus mix (I buy the packet from the store and mix it as directed)
optional- 1/2 Sliced yellow onion sauteed in olive oil until translucent
French rolls or chibatta buns
Provolone Cheese slices

Mix the Au jus according to the package directions. Place Au jus, meat and onion into crockpot. Heat until meat is warm. Serve on a toasted roll, with some onions and provolone. Dip sandwich in extra Au jus if desired.

*bad picture, but hey at least I took one!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Eureka! I think that I may have struck gold with this recipe! I have now made these cookies over 10 times and they have been perfect each and every time. The texture and flavor are DIVINE and they look just like the ones you can buy in the store, gorgeous! You'll want to double this recipe so that there are plenty to share! The recipe is a little specific but boy oh boy- AHHH I need to make them again right now! I'm not sure where this recipe came from so I'd like to give credit where credit is due, I have done nothing to alter this recipe at all. If anyone knows perhaps where this recipe came from let me know...
Just look at them!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour (2 cups plus 2 tablespoons) 
1/2 teaspoon table salt 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (1 1/2 sticks) 
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark) 
1/2 cup granulated sugar 
1 large egg 
1 large egg yolk 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
1-2 cup chocolate chips ( the recipe calls for semi or bittersweet, I like milk chocolate) 

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, vanilla and egg yolk. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips. 
Form scant 1/4 cup dough into ball. Holding dough ball using fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves ninety degrees and, with jagged surfaces exposed, join halves together at their base, again forming a single cookie, being careful not to smooth dough’s uneven surface. Place formed dough onto one of two parchment paper-lined 20-by-14-inch cookie sheets, about nine dough balls per sheet. Smaller cookie sheets can be used, but fewer cookies can be baked at one time and baking time may need to be adjusted. (Dough can be refrigerated up to 2 days or frozen up to 1 month—shaped or not.). 
Bake, reversing cookie sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (start checking at 13 minutes). (Frozen dough requires an extra 1 to 2 minutes baking time.) Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store in airtight container. 

Sunday, April 11, 2010

White Enchiladas

While growing up in SoJo my next door neighbor used to make these enchiladas often and they were so yummy! I remember on occasion eating dinner at their house, with my friend Jenni, and enjoying them so much! After I was married my ward put together a cookbook and I was lucky enough to get one; Well- Sandi (my neighbor) contributed her recipe for these delicious enchilada's and I finally got it. Now this has become a go-to recipe for me, my family just loves these and they are really easy to make not to mention tasty!  Thanks Sandi!


White Enchiladas
2 Cups cooked and chopped Chicken
1/2  onion diced
1/2 lb grated mozzarella cheese
1 can green chilis 4oz
1 Cup sour cream
1 dozen fajita sized flour tortillas

Sauce 1 can cream of chicken soup and 1 cup chicken broth whisked together until well combined.

Combine all ingredients above (Save some cheese) into a large bowl. Put heaping tablespoons of ingredients into the tortillas. Roll and place the tortillas seam side down into a 9X13 dish. Combine sauce ingredients and pour the mixture over the tortilla rolls. Top with the left over cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Serve with fresh pico de gallo.






I ran out of mozzarella this day so instead of going to the store I subbed in cheddar and it worked out really well!  Mmmm I wonder what using some pepper jack would taste like?

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Very Very Tasty Frosting

My little buddy Luke wanted  a swimming pool cake for his birthday.  So I made a swimming pool cake! I wanted to try something new so I tried this recipe for the frosting and I am entirely sold! I thought it was strange that it had no powdered sugar in it, but the flavor and texture are great and I didn't even miss the traditional buttercream! Try it! You just might like it as much as I did!

Very Very Tasty Frosting
1 cup Milk
5 Tablespoons Flour
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Butter
1 cup Granulated Sugar (not Powdered Sugar!)

Whisk flour and milk in a saucepan: heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. (If you are in a hurry the fridge will be your friend!) Stir in the vanilla.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add the cooled milk/flour/vanilla mixture and beat until it all comes together and resembles whipped cream. Frost your cake and enjoy the creamy goodness that is this frosting!

The water is made from blue jello and we colored the frosting a little to make it pale yellow.  
Luke put the candy on his cake all by himself with just a little bit of help from me!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

The Great American Bake Off

My Friend Christel and I are doing The Great American Bake Sale to end childhood hunger in America. 
It will be held on April 17th, in 2 weeks. 
Would anyone be interested in donating baked goodies or even doing this with me? You can join my team, and hopefully we'll get a lot of people to donate different baked items. I think it will be SUPER FUN!! So...any takers? 


Go to 
http://join.strength.org/site/TR/CEM/General?team_id=95180&pg=team&fr_id=1110 

and click on the words "Join Team"

We also welcome $ donations, but prefer the cookie/baked good kind. 

Thanks in advance
-Whit