Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup: A Family Favorite

Since I was little, my mother and I used to always make chicken noodle soup together. I was always assigned to make the noodles and as I did, my mother normally made the rest. We would always bring a match of the delicious soup to our neighborhood parties, and when I got to college I even tackled making the soup a few times, generally for an Air Force get together.

The reason this chicken noodle soup recipe is so special is the delicious and super easy to make homemade noodles. While yes, egg noodles are super cheap to throw in your basket at the grocery store, the tiny bit of extra time and love it takes to make the homemade egg noodle is worth it and won't go unnoticed.

Homemade Egg Noodles

Ingredients 
 2 Cups of all-purpose or whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt
3 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1/3-1/2 cup of water

Directions
1) Mix the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and proceed to add the egg yolks, whole egg and water into the well. Mix thoroughly, add more water if the dough is too dry. The sough should be easy to handle, if it is too sticky, add a bit more flour

2) Divide the dough into 4 equal parts to make it easier to handle. Roll a part of the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/6-1/8 in thick. Keep remaining dough covered. Cut 1/8-1/2-inch strips depending on how thick you want your noodles to be. As you roll and cut out the other parts of dough, keep pasta arranged in a single layer on lightly floured towels or a drying rack.

3) Let them stand for 30 minutes or until dry. They are then ready to add into your chicken noodle soup!

Noodle recipe found in Betty Crocker's Cook Book

Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients
1 batch of homemade egg noodles
2-3 large chicken breasts or pre-cooked chicken from grocery store {my mom's favorite}
12 Cups low-sodium chicken broth or chicken bouillon cubes
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
1 medium onion
1/2 Tbsp of minced garlic
1 Tbsp dried parsley
2 sprigs Thyme or 2 dashes of dried thyme
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp+ salt
1/2 tsp+ pepper
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning

Directions1) Dice chicken breasts into bite size pieces and brown in pan lightly covered with olive oil, adding salt and pepper to taste. Once lightly browned (do not overcook!- as you will be adding to soup to simmer) set aside to later be added into the soup

2)  Chop onion, carrot and celery. Saute onion and celery in pan with butter until onions become translucent. Then carrots, and sauteed onions and celery to chicken stalk in large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add garlic, parsley, and thyme. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.

3) Add homemade noodles (once dried) and poultry seasoning, simmer for 6 minutes

4) Add chicken, salt and pepper, mixing the pot together. Cook for 2 minutes or until the noodles are done.

5) Enjoy! The soup can served immediately, moved to a crockpot to be brought to a party or once cooled, placed in tupperware containers to bring to a family in need of a home cooked meal or a sick friend.

Total Cooking time: 1 hour

Serves 6

Grandma JuJu's Ham Roll

Ingredients:
¼ cup melted butter
2 TBS prepared mustard
2 cups ground ham
2 cups sifted flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup shortening
¾ cup milk

1) Mix butter, mustard and ham together in food processor

2) In a medium-large bowl sift dry ingredients together, cut in shortening.

3) Add milk and stir.

4) Roll dough ¼ inch thick, then spread ham mixture.

5) Roll like a jellyroll. Cut in 1-inch slices.

6) Bake in 400 degree oven until brown.  Serve with cheese sauce or creamed peas over each roll.

Cheese Sauce:

Ingredients:
4 TBS butter
4 TBS flour
2 cup of milk
 1 ½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese  OR 4 inch chunk of Velveeta cheese (My mother's favorite)

1) Melt butter and stir in flour on stove top to make a rue.

2) Add milk.  Add chunks of velveeta or your favorite cheese.

3) Stir until it is melted and smooth.

4) Serve over ham roll and if you want, the veggies you serve on the side! Peas is a family favorite.

Serves 4 people with about 3 rolls each

Ham roll was one of my favorite recipes growing up. Whenever I go home, there are a few things I will ask my mom to make, one of them is ham roll. I found myself daydreaming about it the other day and that is when I knew I had to ask mom for the recipe! She had all of the ingredients on hand, I was 2 short, so she actually made it for dinner yesterday when I wanted too! This is a great recipe to use if you ever have any left over ham, although it certainly can be made with fresh ham (like I am doing tonight). To make this a tad bit more healthy, I substituted 1/2 a cup of regular flour for whole wheat flour. This didn't change the flour too much (similar to the breadsticks recipe I posted a few days ago.) I hope you enjoy one of my favorite home cooked meals!

Chicken N' Wild Rice Soup

Ingredients

1 box of long grain and wild rice mix

6 cups chicken broth
2 Tbs butter
3 cups chopped frozen broccoli
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 minced onion
8 oz cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 cups cubed cooked chicken breast (I chopped mine and sauteed mine in olive oil quick)
 1/2 cup all-purpose flour OR 1/4 cornstarch if you want to make it gluten free
1/4 cup of slivered almonds

Directions:
1) Cook onion and carrot in butter for 2 minutes in large dutch over or sauce pan

2) Stir in the broth, wild rice and seasoning packet, potatoes, salt and better. Bring to boil

3) Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes

4) Add cream of chicken soup and cream cheese, stir until cheese is melted

5) Add cooked chicken, broccoli and cook for 3-7 more minutes, or until the potatoes are tender

6) Sprinkle with almonds

7) Enjoy!

Makes 6-8 servings

Bread sticks: A Perfect Side for Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 Cup +2 Tbs warm water
2 tsp active dry yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Cup whole wheat flour
2 - 1 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour
     (You could use entirely all-purpose flour if desired)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup of softened butter

Garlic Butter Topping
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions:
1) Measure warm water in a liquid measuring cup. Add yeast and sugar and mix until yeast dissolves. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. The top of the mix should become foamy.

2) In either a stand mixing bowl or regular large bowl, combine 3 Cups of flour and salt. Using the paddle attachment to your stand mixer (or a mixing spoon), mix in the softened butter until it is well combined with the flour mixture.

3) Switch from the paddle to the dough hook and add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Knead the dough for about 8 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add a little bit more flour until the dough pulls away from the side and stops to sticking it. The resulting dough should be smooth and elastic, while only being slightly sticky.

4) You can either proof your bread on the counter by transferring the dough to a large, greased bowl and cover with a dry towel or plastic wrap. Allowing it to rest in a warm place until double in size (about 1 - 1 1/2 hours).  OR you can proof the dough in your oven. My oven has a proofing setting which will keep the oven at 100° which I use or you can preheat your oven to 400° for exactly a minute. When proofing your dough in the oven be sure to use a glass or oven safe bowl and instead of covering it, add a pan of water to the rack beneath the dough. Be sure to remove the third rack from your oven to ensure that the dough has enough room to rise.

5) Once risen, punch dough down and divide it into 12 equal parts. Roll each piece of dough into a 9in rope and transfer to a greased cookie sheet. Cover and let them rise again for 1 hour on your counter, or return to your proofing oven.

6) Bake breadsticks at 400° for 10-12 minutes, or until they are just beginning to lightly brown.


7) While the breadsticks bake, mix the garlic butter topping ingredients together. Brush butter mixture over the tops of the hot, cooked bread sticks just after you remove them from the oven. Serve warm. Store in a airtight container.

Recipe makes 12 bread sticks

Scrumptious Meatloaf

This meatloaf came out very moist with tons of flavor! I hope you give the recipe a try! The only special purchase I made for it was the meatloaf mix, which I found in the meat section of my grocery store. The rest I had already in my kitchen!

Ingredients:
1.25 lbs ground beef
1.25 lbs meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork & veal)
1.5 cup bread crumbs
4 Tbs packed  brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C Parmesan cheese
1 medium chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 Tbs parsley
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
 1 tsp jarred minced garlic or 2 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs A1 Sauce
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 Tbs tsp dried basil
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella, thickly sliced
1/2 shredded mozzarella

Directions:
1.  Heat oven to 375°. I turned my oven on the convection setting, but this isn't required.

2. Add all ingredients, except shredded mozzarella to a large bowl and mix by hand until combined.

3. Spread out mixture over parchment paper. Add sliced mozzarella over top, and then roll up as best you can.

4. Place in a loaf pan, or free-form the meatloaf mixture into a loaf shape.  If using a loaf pan, place it inside of another baking pan with lips to ensure that when the juices overflow they do not ruin your oven. You can also utilize the juices to make a sauce or gravy if the loaf produces a substantial amount.

5.Bake uncovered for 1 hour or until done. An internal temperature of 160° should be reached.

5. Add shredded mozzarella on top, and return the loaf to oven until the cheese has become a golden brown.

6. Cover to keep warm and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

Serve with mashed potatoes, if desired

Serves 8 people or 4 with leftovers for each.

I hope you enjoy making and serving this recipe as much as I did! I served it for my husband and my in-laws when they came over for dinner tonight. It got rave reviews, especially from my husband who apparently never liked eating his mom's meatloaf growing up! He even went back for a second helping instead of eating the cheesecake I served for dessert!

Delicious Turkey Chili in a Crock Pot

Ingredients:

1 Pound - Lean Ground Turkey
1 Onion, chopped as finely as you'd like
3 Tbs Chili Powder
1 Tbs Red Pepper Flakes
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
heaping dash of pepper
1/4 tsp of salt (I used pink salt)
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic (I use the pre-minced kind that comes in a giant container from Costco)
1 tsp  dried parsley
1 15 oz can of black beans, drained
1 15 oz can pinto beans, with juice
1 15 oz can kidney beans, with juice
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 15 oz can of corn or bag of frozen corn
2 diced sweet peppers (I used 2 1/2, because I had half of a yellow pepper in the fridge)

Directions:

1) Begin by browning turkey on the stove, once mostly browned, drain any excess of fat left in the pan. 

2) Add chopped onion and minced garlic to the pan and cook for a few minutes until onions become translucent. Once done, add to the bottom of a medium-large crock pot (you never want to fill a crock pot all the way to the top).

3) Add the rest of the ingredients into the crock pot. Once all added, stir together. 

4) Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. Stirring a few times throughout the process. You can also choose to use less chili powder and pepper flakes, and taste test half way through to see if more needs to be added to adjust to your spice preference. 

My favorite way to serve chili is over spaghetti noodles with cheddar cheese and sour cream. But I can also attest that chili is wonderful paired with cinnamon rolls!

Enjoy!