Cold Weather = SOUP!

So how many times have you felt the crisp coolness of the fall weather and said, "This is Soup weather." ? Well, not only do I do that, but I make the soup too! I've found that, lunchtime can be a bit of a struggle for "what to eat". This is more often then not when we choose to eat out instead of something healthy. This definitely will have an impact on my ever growing waistline and turns out to be a bit expensive too. Never fear! Ween is here!!
Yes, soup, it's what for LUNCH! Every day, I have a bowl of soup for lunch. Not those salty, processed, canned soups, Heck No! But Home made, and delicious soups that take little effort and they just bubble into the most wonderful lunches! With a good base, then most any soup is possible.

I find that, for me, home made chicken stock is super easy and definitely delicious. How do you make it? You ask? Well, it takes just a few things and a little time.
1. I always start off with a whole chicken. I use this meat either in my soups, or I use it for a meal like chicken tacos or chicken spaghetti.
2. An onion - Really, what is soup without an onion? I cut up an onion and put it with the chicken.
3. Celery - A few stalks of celery cut up into big chunks is another must for a good soup base.
4. Carrots - The last "must' in my chicken stock. Peel a few carrots, and cut up in chunks as well.

Now your ready to start the stock making process.. Is that a real process/?  Fill the really big stock pot(hopefully you have one) with water and add some seasonings.. such as.. I add Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Season salt.. and good amount of regular salt. Then.........let it cook. Thats right, just let it cook.
Not for 30 mins, not for an hour.. let that sucker cook for 2 to 3 hours. Make sure it doesnt go dry, but let that sucker cook. If you cook it a long time, the flavors will all come out into the water and you will have some awesome broth.
If you lucky, you can just make a bunch of stock and freeze it for when you want it. I usually make it, then start my soup once the stock is done. This weeks soup? Chicken Soup with Orzo pasta.

Easy to make. I simply take the already made stock from the information above and add to it,....
The chicken meat that you pulled off the whole chicken from the stock.
One onion, diced
Four or Five Carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces
Three or Four Celery stalks, diced

I let these ingreedients cook for a while, (hour or so) so that the veggis are nice and soft. It is then that I add the pasta
1/2 to 1 Cup of uncooked orzo pasta - depending on the size of your soup.
I also let this cook anywhere from 30 mins to an hour.
IMPORTANT -  Season your soup. Soup cannot survive on broth alone, it must have salt and pepper and any other seasonings you see fit, like Onion powder or Garlic Powder. I dont have measurements for your seasonings because I do not know how large your soup pot is or how much you made, so use common sense, taste it and add a little at a time. :)

Once it's done, I let it cool a bit and put it into lunch size containers for us to enjoy through the week. Healthy, delicious, and I only cooked once for a weeks worth of lunches!
Next time your thinking about whats for lunch, think about a nice bowl of soup.

Scared Spaghetti?

Every once in a while, I decide I am going to make Chicken Spaghetti. This is a good thing to do if you are in need of chicken stock for something, but don't know what to do with the chicken you have left over after making the stock. When I first saw this dish, I thought "Eww" to myself for I wasn't one, at the time, to branch out and take my taste buds to the limit. But upon tasting this creamy chicken goodness, I fell in love.
What is Chicken Spaghetti? Or for that matter, Scared Spaghetti? It using spaghetti noodles in a bit of a different fashion. Yes, it indeed involves chicken and it is a creamy version of spaghetti rather than a red, tomato sauce version. Take a look.

Chicken Spaghetti
This one is pretty easy to throw together. You can adjust as you go. I actually usually cook a whole chicken in a pot (thus making chicken stock for my soup for the week.. LOL) but if you wanna throw a few pieces of chicken and cook less or more pasta no biggie. Or add more cream cheese .. yummo.

Super yummy and creamy.
All you need is:
2 cups cooked chicken shredded
1 1/2 boxes of spaghetti
1 1/2 to 2 packages of cream cheese
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup.

Simply cook your chicken, I boil it and then shred it up and salt and pepper it.
Cook your spaghetti and drain it.
then add all of the ingredients into the pot.
Stir stir stir

Empty the pot into a casserole dish, or a large rectangle type dish, and bake at 350 for 20 mins or so. Just to get it all good and melted.
Then enjoy!
:) 

The Dip Starts here!

So I went to a meeting yesterday for the Marine Spouse Association of Pensacola (MSAP) and had the most amazing dip. I must admit, I can sometimes be a picky eater when it comes to foods made by others, but the meeting ended around lunchtime and my tummy was telling me it was time to eat. Everyone Raved about this spinach dip that was made by one of the spouses. Spinach Dip? Eww! I have never been one to eat Spinach Dip. But the cute little bread slices that were up there to spread your dip on could hold me over until I get some lunch,.. Hmm... Ok I will try it too. So I walked over there and casually spread some dip on my piece of bread, thus placing it in my mouth.

WOWEE ! what great dip,. I didn't know that spinach dip could be so yummy!! I listened closely as others talked about the recipe for this and that it was on the back of some soup package.
The soup was some brand with a K.. or a KN. Heck, I could figure that out!! So I went home and researched that soup name and then looked up their recipe.
Knorr's soup was the brand that I found and sure enough, they had a spinach dip recipe. I was thrilled to be able to make this yummy dip and eat more than one!
I made some today to either eat tonight or tomorrow. You must chill it a couple hours after mixing it, so perhaps I will bring it out tomorrow around lunch time.

Coming soon.. Big Weekend

So a big BBQ weekend is quickly approaching and we are slowing putting our plans together. We're having some people over and will grill some ribs and make some baked beans. We have our friends bringing some pasta salad and chips and dips. Even have someone bringing the beer! But with all this, I am in a form of struggle. Dessert!
My husband, John, has a sudden extreme interest in dessert. Not just eating dessert, but he has this new found obsession with having a dessert that is interesting and people will be in pressed by. Now, I am definitely a cook. I can cook circles around a lot of people and if he wants something cooked with extra love, I'm the gal for the job. But desserts? Not exactly my forte. So, what will it be? Last BBQ, I made a trifle, layered with graham cracker crumbs, chocolate pudding, and homemade whipping cream. It was absolutely delicious. And to boot, everyone loved it and John was excited we had this beautiful looking dessert to serve everyone.

So now we're are at our next BBQ. Not just any BBQ, but the Memorial Day BBQ. And can you believe it? It's at our house. We've finally gotten a social life. But here I sit, sifting through recipe after recipe online for some great dessert that looks patriotic. Not only that, but John's a pretty picky eater. So to make some Blueberry and Strawberry dessert with whipped cream... wont work, he doesn't like those. He likes Cherries though, o maybe I can do something like this


This is a Cherry Trifle that I think I would also incorporate some whipped cream between the layers. Not only will it look pretty, it should taste pretty good too. Angel food cake, cherry pie filling, and homemade whipping cream will be brought together for a delightful and refreshing treat. Here's to keeping my fingers crossed.
As for tonight, some chicken enchilada's with some Mexican rice on the side. It's definitely going to be delicious.