Chicken and Noodles

First let me say, I am a crock pot girl. If I can throw a few ingredients into a bowl, turn the heat on, and come back to dinner hours later…well, let’s just say the benefits rock.

• One dish meal = one dish to clean
• Menu = planned and prepared
• No menu = grab from the pantry and it will still taste good
• Soccer = eat before or after, it will still be warm and ready
• Mom of four kids who plans a menu but still manages to forget it? Perfect.

That said, this chicken and noodles is not a crock pot recipe, but it is sooooo easy that it rates right up there with it.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 3 cans chicken broth
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 large package of Reame’s egg noodles (in the frozen section)
• salt, seasoning, pepper

Salt chicken. Bake chicken breasts until done. (I threw them in frozen at 375 for an hour or so, thawed 350 for 25 minutes on a stone). Pour all cans into pot on stove. Stir well. Add seasoning. I usually use salt, Mrs. Dash, and onion powder or dried onions. Shred or dice chicken and add to soup. Bring soup mixture to a boil. Add noodles.  Cook according to package directions, stirring enough to keep anything from sticking to the bottom of the pot. It’s usually 20 minutes. Enjoy!

 

Not Enough Time For Beans

I really enjoy living where we do. I am pretty sure I have mentioned that before... It is especially nice when fresh produce is easily available at the auction or from our garden. Yesterday our lovely neighbor brought home two pecks of green beans, green beans that I have dreamed of canning since summer started. However, as is the case in our crazy home, making time to can beans is like trying to read an adult fiction novel while sitting in Dada's chair in the daytime. It just doesn't happen...yet. Someday, when the kids are older and more independent I will can beans when they are ready. I will probably stand over the canner dreaming of the days when those same kids were running around crazy wishing them back again. For now, as I embrace my days of planning homeschool, feeding tummies that never fill, fighting Mt. Washmore, removing Star Wars toys from mouths, and picking cheerios and yogurt out of my laptop...I resort to freezing beans.

Here is where I found the idea.

One hour, and they were done. AND I felt rather the capable survivor as I transformed an old ballpoint pen into a straw to facilitate old fashioned vacuum sealing.

Yum Yum Yogurt

On average, our family can put away over a quart of yogurt on any given day. It was one of the first solids that we introduced to all of our kids (after the customary veggies, fruits, and the like), and they all enjoy it. What I don't enjoy is the cost and the additives, or the additional cost for natural/organic. I had heard that making your own yogurt was not that difficult, but I was a bit skeptical because I have struggled with things like sourdough starter in the past (although I am going to attempt it again thanks to Granola Mom 4 God). However, with the chance to increase our grocery budget by $15-20 per week, I was willing to take the chance.

Step One...Find someone else who knows how to do it. Quite conveniently the first website that popped up on my search was one of the best. It had easy to follow instructions and pictures; it also included hints on what you should think about doing while completing the step at hand. You can find it here.

Step Two...Follow this wise person's instructions. Essentially to make my own yogurt I took milk, equal to the amount of yogurt I desired, heated it, cooled it, added yogurt cultures (Brand X All Natural Organic Plain Yogurt), and let it rest for seven hours. Here are the tools:





That really is a heating pad, and it is an ingenious use for it! Essentially you use two large pots to create a warm water bath/double boiler type cooking device. Heat the milk, stick it in an ice bath to cool it quickly, add the yogurt cultures and let it hibernate...











Of course it is wise to check the time _before_ you begin the hibernating process, so you don't end up staying up until 1:38 am. *grin* Hopefully, if all goes well, you will refrigerate your yogurt and find it creamy and delicious in 8 or so hours. It will be a bit runnier because it lacks pectin and the like, but it is really tasty. With such luxuries as fresh berries and honey, it can be quite a treat!
I figure if I will keep plugging away at one half gallon batch per week to start and build it up from there. I am thankful for a chance to feed my family another healthy homemade food sans additives. I very thankful that all of them find it tasty too. Bye Bye store bought yogurt!

Chicken Black Bean Burgers (aka Chicken Cookies)

I have one Rachel Ray cookbook, and I have not had it out in a few months. I grabbed it yesterday in hopes of inspiration for my chicken burgers. We love chicken burgers, and we pack them full of various beans and spices depending on our mood...or pantry. Last night I made a spin on her Turkey Bacon Burger recipe, and the result is this:
1 Tbsp EVOO Bacon, enough to top your burgers
1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp chipotle seasoning
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 lbs ground chicken
1 16 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
Cheese, enough to top your burgers, we used sharp cheddar

Heat your oil in the skillet (love cast iron!). Cook your bacon until desired crispness. While bacon cooks, mix lime juice, paprika, chipotle seasoning, and chili powder. Add chicken and blend well (used my clean hands). Add black beans and mix again. Form into patties. In a skillet, brown burgers until cooked through. Adventurous? Use the bacon skillet, yum! We had no buns per se, so we piled the burgers, bacon, cheese, and some mayo on homemade bread. Steamed some broccoli as a side (or in the case of Sirs Wallace and Lionheart, a garnish), and presto!

Dinner in less than 30 minutes...all interruptions included. Cost? Under $10 for six people. And because the girls ate mostly broccoli after discovering they were chicken burgers with black beans and not chocolate chip cookies, we actually managed lunch out of them today after church.