Chicken Noodle Soup

I've had so much fun cooking lately. We're trying to buy less processed things because first of all, they're really expensive, and second, they're really not that good for you. As a result, I'm cooking more from scratch. It's a lot of work, but it's been really rewarding. Not only has it been keeping me busy while I'm not working, but Damon's really enjoyed eating it :)
Tonight (well actually, I started it last night) we had homemade chicken soup! It's my sister Taylor's recipe, and it was SO YUMMY! And fairly easy.
A few weeks ago I made a chicken. After I made it, Damon picked all the extra chicken off of it that we didn't eat, and I froze that and the bones. I had used a recipe online that turned out really yummy and juicy.

Last night we got home from family night and I pulled out the bones and put them in the crock pot. I just covered the bones with cool water and let it sit on low all night long til about 1 this afternoon (must cook it at least 8 hours). I seasoned it last night, but this being my first time making soup I went on the safe side and didn't salt it enough (we found out when we sat down to eat it tonight) I put in lowry's, salt, pepper, oregano and basil.

By the time we woke up this morning the house smelled amazing! I let the broth cool for about an hour and then strained it into a pot using a thin kitchen towel (I didn't have cheesecloth). I chopped up fresh carrots and celery and put that and the leftover shredded chicken in the pot on the stove along with some barley.

Now, you could totally do it with noodles but we thought the barley might be a little better for us, and we both love it. Next time I will probably add more. I cooked that for about 2 hours til the veggies were soft and the barley was done. We both added a little salt to our bowls, but it was so delish and easy that I will definitely do it this way again!

Here you can see the broth after I strained it but before the veggies >

 Fresh veggies and the chicken I froze! ^

The veggies in the

broth as it's 

cooking >

<The finished 

product!

I'm also making Amish bread too, but I didn't get started soon enough so we aren't having it for dinner, but for more of an after dinner snack :) It was really easy, and even if you're not a big bread maker you could make this. 

What you'll need for the bread:

4 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp Butter

3 tsp salt

1 1/2 C hot water

2 Tbsp rapid rise yeast

5 C flour

Put all ingredients but the flour into the mixer (I used my kitchenAid) and let it sit for a few minutes so the yeast can start to work. Add the flour in small batches (I used half wheat, half white) and mix with a dough hook for 8-10 minutes. Remove and place in a bowl that has been greased. Let it rise for 30 minutes or until it has doubled in size. Pinch down and divide into 2 round loaves and place on a greased cookie sheet. cut slits on top and let rise again. 

The recipe calls for an egg white wash but I used butter instead. Bake at 400 degrees
for 17-20 minutes.

The bread was delish but next time I may use less wheat flour.

I hope these recipes are helpful to all of you. I really urge you to try the soup. It's not as hard as it sounds and it's so good.

Cooking

Lately, money here has been a little tight with me not working. As a result, I've been very careful when grocery shopping that we have good meals planned and that we aren't going out to eat very much at all (even though we love it).  I try to shop only once a month (usually the 15th) and it really does take a little planning but this month we are doing very good! I've been taking some pictures of the meals I've been cooking because I wanted to share with all of you! Now, most of the meals I've been trying recently I've gotten off of Pinterest (a very cool website where you can pin other website links all to one place) but some are tried and true recipes I got from my mom.

Last week we invited my sister Taylor and her hubby Jon over for dinner because we wanted to ask them if they would be guardians of Liam (and any future children we may have) if something were to happen to Damon and me (heaven forbid). They said yes! SO for the occasion, I made a double batch of Broccoli Cheese Soup and I made it from scratch :) I made 3 loaves of Beer Bread to go along with it. We had some beer on hand that hadn't been finished, and were both craving bread. It was SO easy! Even my sister Katie could make it! We had had some beer in the fridge that was going to get skunky if we didn't use it, so the bread was a perfect remedy. We didn't eat all of the bread of course, so I brought some to my parents house when we went for dinner Sunday and Mom made homemade bean soup with ham in it - which I will have to try to cook on my own. It's very delicious. Here are the directions for my soup and bread: Remember I doubled the soup and froze some for another day.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 tbsp melted butter
1/2 medium chopped onion
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half cream
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb fresh broccoli
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 cup carrot, chopped small
1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 oz grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste



Directions:
1. Saute onion in butter. Set aside.
2. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and add the half and half.
3. add the chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes
4. add the broccoli, carrots, onions and chicken. cook over low heat 20-25 minutes.
5. add salt and pepper. Can be pureed in a blender but I didn't do that. Return to heat and add cheese. Stir in nutmeg.

Beer Bread Recipe

yields 1 loaf

3 cups bread flour (all purpose works too, I used half wheat half white)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
12 oz can or bottle of beer (Choose your favorite, I used MGD)
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) butter, melted.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Pour in beer and mix until just incorporated. Spread batter evenly in prepared baking pan. pour melted butter over top of dough.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the top is browned. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

Tonight for dinner I also made a pot roast. It's one of our favorite meals and since we were given a deer by Damon's dad and Elaine, it's a very cheap meal for us but still very hearty and tasty! (with lots of leftovers for Damon's lunches at work) 

Pot Roast

1 round or steak roast (I used venison, but beef or pork works too) 
1 bag of baby carrots (or whatever cut your heart desires)
desired amount of potatoes chopped into small chunks (I didn't use them this time)
1 can cream of mushroom soup 
one packet of dry onion soup mix
teriyaki sauce to taste
1-2 cups of any kind of wine (red port works best but I've also used whites-tonight I used white)

I don't really measure anything...you can't really go wrong. If you like more gravy, use more wine and maybe another can of soup.

Put roast in a medium sized crock. Top with onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, teriyaki sauce and wine. Pour veggies over top of that. Cover and cook at 350 degrees for 4 hours. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. If I don't have carrots or potatoes I'll make instant mashed potatoes and put frozen peas in them (which I always have) and then serve the roast on top of that. It works in a pinch and is just as yummy.

I also made blueberry muffins for breakfast tomorrow! I got this recipe from Pinterest as well, and Damon tried one already and said they were great. Even the batter is really delicious but has raw egg. Here is that recipe:

Blueberry Muffins 

Streusel Topping

5 Tbsp Butter, softened

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1/3 c flour or until crumbles are pea sized

Muffins

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1 1/8 cup plus 1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp water

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 large eggs

4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1/4 cup veggie oil

1 cup buttermilk (I didn't have this and used half and half instead)

2 tsp vanilla

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. 

Prepare standard muffin tins with nonstick spray or liners. Bring 1 cup blueberries, water, and 1 tsp sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing the berries with fork several times and stirring frequently until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced by half. this will take about 6 minutes. Let cool. 

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and well combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)

Using cookie scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly) Spoon tsp of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter and gently swirl with toothpick. Sprinkle streusel evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm. 17-19 minutes. Cool in muffin tin 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack and cool.

Again, I got the bread, soup and muffin recipies on Pinterest and they're all under my recipe board. I will continue to try to keep you all posted about what's cooking :)

As for Liam, he's 2 months old now! He's smiling and mimicking and growing like a weed :) My heart melts when he looks at me and it's such a blessing being his mommy!

Denali and Gambell think they are his babysitters, how funny is that! :)