Turkey Noodle Soup

It is 100* outside, so what do I do?  Make soup.

Crazy I know but just hear me out.  So we had our deep freezer stop working and not know it til after almost 3 days.  In 100* weather.  The freezer is outside.  Needless to say, we lost a lot of food.  I didn't know what to do with all the meat and when I asked my mom for advice she said, "Get cooking."  In 100* weather.  I'm so grateful for central air conditioning. 

So... I happen to have some turkey on hand.  You could make this with chicken but it is so much better with turkey.  I don't know why.  You may want to dress up the soup a bit too, add some onion or carrots and celery.  DON'T.  It will not taste right.  Believe me,  I've tried.

Let's get going.  First you want to put about 4-5 cups of cooked turkey in your pot.  It will get eaten up.  I make this for 6 of us.  Add at least 10 cups of water.  I think I used 12.  Then I added 6 chicken bouillon cubes.  Bring this all to a boil.

 Once that boils, you want to add your noodles.  This wouldn't be the great soup that it is without the home-made noodles.  This is an egg noodle recipe.  You want to do 2 eggs to 1 cup of flour, or in this case, 4 eggs and 2 cups of flour.  Mix this and roll it out thin.  Then you want to slice them up.  I used just a regular old pizza cutter for years because I couldn't find a noodle cutter like my mom's.  A little search online and we found this herb cutter that is perfect!

As you add them to your soup, you want to make sure that they are floured well.  This not only keeps them from sticking together but it is what helps your soup thicken up.

 That is it!  Now you salt and pepper to taste and devour. it!  These little fingers did.  5 bowls people.  That is what each of my older kids had.  This little one is on her 3 for this picture.

Turkey Noodle Soup
Serves 7-8

4-5 cups cooked turkey
12 cups water
6 chicken bouillon cubes
double batch home-made egg noodles

Home-made Egg Noodles

2 eggs
1 cup flour

Mix well.  Roll out thinly.  slice into noodles. Flour well.

Bring turkey, water and bouillon to boil.  Add noodles.  Cook for 5 min.

Chicken Pillows

We needed to do something with chicken.  I had some biscuits in the fridge and the cream cheese.  I know that this recipe calls for crescent rolls but going with what I had...   they would have been better with the crescent rolls.  We still loved them though.

You can get the recipe here if you don't have it.  We ate it with some rice and loved the sauce.  I had some left over chicken filling stuff that I used the next day on some tortilla's with some cheese, fresh tomatoes from my garden and cooked it on my skillet so that it was crunchy.  So good!

Orange Chicken

We had a craving for orange chicken at our house a few weeks ago and didn't have the money or desire to drive to a restaurant and by some.  My husbands best friend Google found us this recipe.

O!M!G!  We will never eat at Panda Express again!

This is not our dinner.  I stole the picture. ;0)  But it was so amazing!  I am getting hungry for this as I type and now know what I will be making for dinner tomorrow.

It was so amazing that we made it for our extended family dinner night that we have once a month.  We liked it with a bit more sauce that we can eat over the rice.  And egg rolls from Costco.  Oh, I'll be back, now I need to run to the store.

Pineapple Chicken Salad Pitas

This turned out amazing!  I am a firm believer that you can change any recipe to how you like.  This is one that I think I'll be adding a bit to next time I make it.  But still amazing!  I loved the almonds in it and the pineapple gives it a wonderful flavor.  Try it and see how you like it.

Basil Chicken in Cocomut Curry

I have to say that this was pretty yummy.  My family wasn't a fan because it had a bit of a kick to it.  We are not a spicy family.  But if you like spicy, this is for you.  Got it from Pinterest here. Enjoy!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

We loved this!  It was good and it made nice left overs.  I think I'll make this when it will be more than just our family though. It made a lot. :0)  Here is the link over to the recipe.

Inside-Out Lasanga

Here is a recipe that I use my Meat Sauce with.

You will need:

1 package (12 oz) uncooked noodles.  We usually use bow-tie but we had shells.  It was pretty good with the shells.
1 serving Meat Sauce, thawed
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
4 eggs
1 container (16 oz) cottage cheese.  I always use cottage cheese instead of ricotta when it calls for it.  You may use which ever you like.
2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup (2 oz) grated Parmesan cheese
1 container (8 oz) cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black peper
Dash of nutmeg.  This really makes it!  :0)



Preheat oven to 350*  Cook pasta according to package directions

Mix your meat sauce, tomato sauce and Italian seasoning.  Set aside.

Lightly beat eggs. Add cheeses, salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Mix well.

To assemble, put pasta into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Top with meat mixture.  Top with cheese mixture.  Bake uncovered 1 hour or until cheese is set and slightly browned.

This is a good make ahead recipe.  Just pull it out and let it come to room temp, about 30 min, then bake the same way but add 10-15 minutes.

Butternut Squash Soup

Okay, so this is the second time I have tried to make this soup.  The first recipe I got from my husbands Grandma Parry.  It was a comfort soup for my mother-in-law Kristine as she was battling the last few months of cancer.  I am very sad to say... we didn't like it.  Sorry Grandma.  But, I was given an different recipe and since I still had a squash, I thought I would give it another try.  This one was much better.  A little rich but very good.

You will need:
1 butternut squash
For the squash preparation: salt, pepper, olive oil
1 15oz can petite diced tomatoes
2 to 4 slices of bacon (preferably peppered bacon)
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 head garlic, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350*.  Quarter squash; remove seeds; brush meat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place squash skin side down in a large baking pan; add enough water to the pan so that it is 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch high.  (I forgot to do this and it really made the squash have a darker look and a richer flavor.  I won't be forgetting this step next time.)  Roast squash until fork tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Remove tender meat from squash and puree.

In stock pot, cook bacon and remove once crisp.  You'll use this to crumble on top of the soup.  Saute onions on medium heat in grease from the bacon.  Once the onion is tender, add tomatoes and garlic.  I used 5 cloves of garlic.  4 would have been fine.  Allow tomatoes to cook for a few minutes before adding the balsamic vinegar.  Once the tomatoes have started to break down, add the pureed squash and chicken stock.  I pureed all of this again so that it was smooth.  If you don't want to do that I'm sure it would be fine.  Stir to combine.  Stir in heavy cream.  I used half and half and if you wanted to, milk will work too.  Salt to taste.

I ended up making baked potatoes to go with mine because I knew that my kids wouldn't enjoy the soup as much as I would.  We also dipped crackers in it.  The bacon on top really made the soup.  I would have liked it not as thick but it was very tasty.

Lemon Herb Chicken Ring and a Cocoa Add-In

So when my friend came over to craft, we made this for lunch.  It is a Pampered Chef recipe and I love it!

You need:

2 cups coarsely chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
3 TBS chopped fresh parsley, divided
1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 cup (2 oz) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
2 packages (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 375*.  Zest lemon to measure 1 tsp zest.  Add 2 TBS of the parsley, lemon zest, garlic, mozzarella cheese, mayonnaise and Italian seasoning to the chicken and bell pepper and mix. Set aside 2 TBS or Parmesan cheese and add the rest to chicken mixture. 
Unroll crescent dough; separate into 16 triangles.  Arrange triangles, slightly overlapping, in a circle on a pizza pan.  (I use the Large Round Stone from Pampered Chef.) with wide ends 4 inches from edge of pan.  (Points will extend off the edge of pan.)  Roll wide ends of dough toward center to create a 5-inch opening.
Spoon chicken mixture evenly over dough in a circle.  Bring points of triangles up over filling and tuck under dough at center to form a ring.  (Filling will show.)  Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese over ring.  Bake 28-30 min.

So good!

I had some for breakfast this morning with my new favorite breakfast drink.  I usually add milk to my cocoa to cool it down to drinkable temperature but I had some Egg Nog in the fridge and used that.  OH MY GOSH!!  Never will I drink plain Egg Nog again or Egg Nog with Sprite.  It was so good!  You really need to try it. 

The other think you can try to dress up your plain cocoa, add pumpkin pie spice.  Plain cocoa is just to over-rated and Stevens is pricy.  So just dress up the cheap stuff and you've got your own gourmet cocoa.

Zupa's Cauliflower Soup

My husband and I are in love with Zupa's.  When we had strep throat in the spring, the only thing we could eat was this Cauliflower soup.  So good!  I happen to look through a ward cook book...

I found a recipe.  Made it.  Love it!  Tastes just like Zupa's!  Thought I'd share. :0)

2 celery ribs, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 Tbsp. butter
1 large (2 lbs) head cauliflower, broken into florets
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup flour
2 cups milk
3/4 cup half & half
1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried dill weed
1/4 tsp. white pepper

In large soup pan, saute celery, onion, carrot and butter for 3-5 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Stir in cauliflower and broth; bring to boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender.  Cool slightly.
In a blender of food processor, process vegetable mixture in batches until smooth.  Return to pan.  Heat over medium heat.  In a small bowl, whisk flour and milk until smooth.  Stir into puree.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Reduce heat; stir in half & half, parsley, salt, dill and pepper.  Heat thoroughly.

I made it just like this up to this point.  Tasted it.  It was good but missing something.  I called a neighbor over to taste it with me and asked her what she thought it was missing.  Cheese.

I added 2 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese, let that melt in.  Perfect!

I paired it with my beautiful pink ribbon bowl and plate, and a yummy, yummy rolls.  Pure Heaven!  It was surprisingly filling.  I thought I would need to make a grilled cheese sandwich with it but between a really big bowl of soup and a few rolls, :0) I was good the the rest of the night.

I will never pay for Zupa's soup again.  Or at least not any time soon.  The only thing I had to go buy was the half & half.  I borrowed the white pepper but I think I'll just leave it out next time.  Having everything else in the house was so cool!  Bountiful baskets are amazing. :0)

Now if I can just learn how to make Zupa's pesto sauce for their sandwiches, I'll be set for life.  Now I need to go make sandwiches with pesto sauce, sprouts, tomato, cheese.....

Ham Fried Rice

My husband has always wanted a rice cooker and so with some Christmas money he got from his Grandpa, he bought himself one.  We wanted to find some recipes that was more of a meal than just rice and I found 2 online that we really, really like.  This is one of them.  Here is what you need.


2 cups rice
2 cups beef stock (I like to use what I have in the house.  I don't buy beef stock but I do buy chicken broth.  Sometimes I'll use a can of chicken broth plus a can of water.  Or if I really want to, I'll use bouillon cubes.  Either beef or chicken and just crush them up in 2 cups of water.)

1 Tablespoon oil
1 1/2 cups ham, cubed; this is about 1 lb (The recipe I found had you use bacon but we like the ham and usually have ham on hand.)
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced; or pressed if you have a garlic press
1 cup frozen veggies, (We like to use the stir fry mix but you can use the peas and carrot mix too.)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
4-6 eggs scrambled (optional)  


Turn on your rice cooker.  Add oil, ham, onion and garlic. Stir frequently until onion is soft.  A good rule of thumb that my mother-in-law taught me was when the onion is clear, its soft.

Add rice and coat in the oil.  Add veggies and beef stock, (or what ever you choose).

Mix.  Cover.  Cook.  When it's done add your soy sauce and eggs.

Serve.

So good.  We haven't had any left overs the last 2 times I've made this.  And I've made it twice this this month.  My kids love it!

Meat Sauce

This is the best meat sauce that I have every had.  I have gotten the recipe out of my "Stoneware Inspirations" cook book from Pampered Chef.  I use to sell Pampered Chef and I really enjoyed it.  My husband finally talked me out of selling when I was spending more than I was earning.  But I have a ton of fun things from them and I love the cook book.  This one I have tweaked a little bit so I'll share what I do.

You will need:

5 lbs of hamburger
4-5 medium onions, (I used 3 large white onions this time)
3-4 green peppers, (I used 2 green and 1 orange.  We like it with yellow and red too.  I usually use one of each color)
5-6 garlic cloves, (again, use to taste,  we love garlic so I use a lot)
5 cans (28 oz) diced tomatoes in juice, undrained, (I used whole tomatoes and just cut them up by hand because that is what I had on hand.  I prefer to use the petite diced tomatoes)
5 cans (8oz) tomato sauce
3 Tablespoons sugar.

Chop the onions and peppers.  I have a garlic press that I use for my garlic but you can mice them if you don't.

 Brown with the hamburger.  Drain.  I do this in different parts.  My pan is not big enough to hold all 5 lbs of hamburger plus the onions and peppers all at once so I cook it 3 times.  I split the hamburger, onions and peppers into 3 parts and cook each one on its own.  When one is done I'll put it in the larger stock pot on warm, while the others are cooking I add the tomatoes and sauce to what is already cooked.

Once it's all cooked and mixed together let simmer for an hour or two.  I like to let it simmer for most of the day when I do this big of a batch.  That way the peppers and onions are all soft and it just makes it taste better I think.

Let it cool.  Separate into freezer bags with 4-5 cups in each.  I make 3 different things with this meat sauce.  Tacos, (just add taco seasoning to the meat sauce and warm up), Lasagna, (add a can (8 oz) tomato sauce and some Italian seasoning to the meat sauce) and Chili.  My Favorite!!!  (Add a can of tomato sauce, chili seasoning and a can of beans.  I like to add two cans of beans, I like beans. :0)  Serve with monkey bread.  That will have to be another post soon.)


So happy to have all this.  It lasts a while for us because we only use a bag every two weeks or so because we can get two meals out of one bag.

Potato Fries

I made what my kids called, "Potato Fries" the other night.  Oh...My...Gosh...!!!  They were so good!  I couldn't have done better.  I sort of made up my own little mixture of spices and just tossed them with olive oil and the spice mix.  Next time I'll use less oil but other than that they were perfect!  Bake at 400* for about 20 minutes.  Toss and bake another 10.  Awesome!  I did the chicken fingers too and just covered them with Italian dressing.  They could have been a little better but hey, it works for 4 kids and no Dad home for the night. :0)

April

Oh - My - Gosh!!! I didn't post at all in April? Believe me, I've been doing so many fun things, I just haven't had time to post or take a lot of pictures. I have just two pictures. One is our dinner when we went camping the first weekend in April.

Chicken and Rice in the dutch oven. So good!A little chicken, some milk, cream of chicken soup, carrots and instant rice. We used brown rice this time and it was amazing!

This is the Mini Wallet I made for my self. I also made a backpack to go with it. I'll get a picture of that and the one I made for my sister for her birthday which was on May 2nd.
I have been sewing for my brother's wedding which is this Thursday. I made all the dresses for the nieces and ended up making dresses for them for the open house too. That was last night. I didn't take any pictures but there were a lot taken. I'll steal some when they get posted on Facebook. :0)
I've also been cooking up a storm too. I'm making 150 cream puffs for the wedding luncheon plus a few jello's and some brownies. I'll post those pictures and recipes. You'll want them. :0)
For now know that I haven't forgotten to be doing fun things instead of chores, (I really have let my house go while working on all these dresses and it Really needs some attention this weekend) and I'll have a ton of pictures to show you in about a week or so.

Chicken pasta bake

The picture looks as good as it tasted! So yummy! I thought I would share this recipe. We tweaked it just enough and let me tell you, it made enough to feed 8-10. We are totally doing this next time we have the in-laws over. ;0)

Chicken pasta bake
1 onion chopped
4 garlic cloves crushed
8 oz. mushrooms sliced
2 small zucchini diced
3 cans (14.5 oz.) crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar
3-4 cups cubed chicken cooked
2 cups mozzarella cheese
2 pkg borsetti fresh pasta uncooked

Preheat oven to 400*. Saute onion and garlic 1 minute. Add mushrooms and zucchini and saute for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and seasonings. Stir to combine. Remove from heat, add chicken and 1 1/2 cups cheese. Spread uncooked pasta evenly in the bottom of baking dish. Top with chicken mixture. Cover with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

So totally worth it! Had all but the pasta on hand and that was on sale. :0)