Thursday, January 31, 2013

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

It has been cold and snowing where I live. So soup sounded good. Nice, big, warm bowl of chicken noodle soup. It is very easy and so very very good.


Ingredients :
1 Pound of chicken
3/4 Bag of egg noodles
3 Sections of celery
10 baby carrots
1 Can of chicken broth
2 Chicken bouillon cubes
Water
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Dump the can of chicken broth into a large pot.
Add the chicken.
Cut up celery and carrots add it with the chicken.
Add water (enough to go about and inch or two over the chicken. That is to cook the noodles)
Add bouillon cubes and bring to a boil.
Once the chicken is cooked through remove from pot and shred or cut up in chunks.
Put the chicken back in with the carrots and celery.
Bring it back to a boil and add about 3/4 of the bag of egg noodles.
Cook the noodles according to the directions
Add salt and pepper and you are done.

I will tell you once the noodles are cooked you don't want to leave it on the stove any longer
because the noodles will get gross tasting and slimy.

Of course the kids loved it and if you want to try something different I am up to hearing about it.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Crock Pot Potato and Broccoli Soup



So one of my favorite meals to make is potato soup. Love, love, love it. There are many different ways to make it but I like to take the simple way. 
What I typically use for our family of 4 is about 4-6 potatoes depending on the size, two 10.75 oz cans of condensed cheddar cheese soup, one 10.5 oz can of cream of  chicken soup, milk (chicken broth can be substituted for milk), and seasoning. This time I added about half a bag of frozen broccoli. Some other add ins I have used are bacon, sour cream, shredded cheese, and ham.
Basically for this recipe you just peel the potatoes, cut them up, open the cans, open the broccoli, and then dump everything in the crock pot. Mix it up and add milk until it covers the potatoes and makes a soup like mixture. 
Cook for 4-6 hours on high depending on the amount made. If you made more than the 4-6 potatoes you may have to cook it for 8 hours. It may look too watery but it will cook down and thicken up.
Ingredients 

Local off brand canned soup.
You can use Campbells soup
or any other brand.

Everything mixed

So good
I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do.
Please leave comments on how it turn out or any questions.


Thursday, January 10, 2013

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers (Crock Pot) Recipe


 Stuffed Green Bell Peppers

So I have been trying a lot of new recipes recently and something that I love that I have never made is stuffed green bell peppers. I always try to find a recipe online that has everything I plan on using but a lot of the time it has more ingredients like onions, which a certain man won't eat. So I take what I see online and simplify it to fit my needs. For this recipe this is what I used:

1 pound of hamburger
4 large bell peppers
1/2 cup of minute rice
1 - 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce divided
Seasonings of your choice
Cheese of your choice

Some ingredients
Seasonings I used
Filling
In the crock pot they go

Looking good
Topped with cheese














Put the lid on





Finished!

















































































































So here are the directions
Filling :
First I cooked the rice according to directions.
As the rice was cooking I browned the hamburger.
Drain and rinse the hamburger to remove grease and set aside.
I took one pepper removed all the seeds and cut one half of it up and fried them in the pan the
hamburger came out of until soft.

I mixed the hamburger, rice, half of the tomato sauce, seasonings, a small handful of cheese, and fried peppers.

Peppers:
I cut the tops off of the peppers and removed the insides.
I blanched the peppers. You do this by placing the peppers in boiling water for 3-5 minutes.
Once removed from the boiling water, I placed them in the crock pot and filled the peppers up with the filling.
I dumped the other half of the tomato sauce in the bottom of the crock pot so it will steam up and
keep the peppers moist and then can be used as extra sauce when it is finished..
I then put cheese on top of the peppers and put the lid on.
I cooked them on high for about 4 hours.

I hope you enjoy!


Monday, January 7, 2013

Chicken Potato Corn Soup (Crock Pot) Recipe


This is another new favorite that I came up with.
We are a small family of 4 and my kids are kind of picky.

What you need is:
1 pound of chicken
4-5 large potatoes
1 can of corn
1 large can of cream of chicken
Bouillon cubes
Seasonings you prefer

Put water in a pan added two chicken bouillon cubes heat to a boiling and add chicken.
While that is cooking peeled and cut the potatoes put them in the crock pot.
Open the corn and put that in the crock pot as well.
Once the chicken is cooked and cool enough to touch removed it from the broth and shred it.
Add it to crock pot with the potatoes and corn.
Then dump the broth from the pan with the chicken in the crock pot.
Open the cream of chicken and add it to the crock pot.
Add your seasonings and mix everything together.
If you find there isn't enough liquid to cover everything you can add
either milk or water.
Once everything is mixed well put your crock pot on high and cook 4-6 hours or 
until the potatoes are soft and ready to eat.

When it is done I like to add cheese to my bowl. It is very good. I also make yeast rolls to go 
along with the dish.
Like I always say you can add something you like to it. Change it up and try something new.
I hope you enjoy.

Chicken Broccoli Penne


I made this yesterday and it was a big hit especially my picky kids.

What you need is:
1 pound of boneless skinless chicken
1/2 box of Penne noodles
1/2 bag of broccoli
Sour Cream
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Oil
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium high heat
Heat water for penne to boil and add noodles
While the noodles are cooking add chicken to oil and cook until white
Add frozen broccoli once chicken is white and put lid on
Once broccoli is soft season to taste and add a large spoonful of sour cream.
You want enough sour cream to coat everything.
Once the noodles finish cooking drain them and add them to the pan with the
broccoli and chicken. Stir them in with everything else.
You made need to add more sour cream to coat the noodles as well.
After everything is mixed up it is ready to eat.

Now my kids like cheese. So you could add shredded Parmesan, cheddar, or mozzarella cheese.
You could also make some kind of roll or bread stick on the side. I like Rhodes Yeast Rolls.
I get them at Walmart. Get creative add different stuff.
Leave some feed back on some things you added and I will give it a try.

Top Things Moms Will Need in the Diaper Bag

When I was a new mom I had no idea what to pack in a diaper bag.
I asked friends and family and everyone packed different stuff.
Now as an experienced mom of two I have some tips on the top things I pack in mine.



  1. Diapers - I pack at least 3 for my 1 year old now, but with a newborn I would pack a few more. They go through more diapers because they pee more often.
  2. Wipes - They can be used for a lot more than wiping butts. Clean off hands, faces, feet, boogers, to blow your nose, wipe up spilled stuff, and etc. You get the point multiple uses.
  3. Change of Clothes (including socks) - Anything can happen. They could throw up, pee or poop out the side of their diaper, pull the nipple out of the bottle (if bottle fed), take off their socks, or get food on their clothes. I have had to buy a set of clothes at the store because I forgot to pack some after my son pulled his nipple out and dumped the bottle on him and all over the floor at Walmart.
  4. Pacifiers -  If they take a pacifier pack extra. Sometimes they like to throw them out on the floor and you don't want to put it back in unless you have washed it at home and some moms boil them.
  5. Bottles, Formula, and Sippy Cup - Seems kind of obvious for a baby (if bottle fed) but I have walked off and left the formula at home. Sippy Cup if old enough for one.
  6. Changing Pad - You don't want to lay your baby on one of these germ infested changing tables in public. Most diaper bags come with one inside or you can purchase a separate one.
  7. Burp Clothes and Bibs - You will need those at each feeding to help keep baby formula, breast milk, baby food, and regular food of you your baby's clothes and your clothes.
  8. Baby Ibuprofen or Baby Tylenol and Gas Drops - A lot of people don't mention this but a fever could show up or they could be teething. They can also have belly pain and it can be from gas. It is always good to have this just in case.
  9. Rash Cream - A rash can show any time better to have it than not.
  10. Toys -  To keep little hands entertained.
  11. Nursing Cover - If breast fed.
  12. Stuff Mom Needs -  Diaper bags aren't just for baby and toddlers. Put things you need like make up and tampons. I also keep my wallet, phone, and insurance card for doctors appointments.
Now each mom is different. If you breast feed or bottle feed you each need different things.
If I missed something you think is important please leave a comment. I am interested in what other moms put in their bag.