Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles

I'm sorry, darlings.

I know I promised new recipes a few days ago, but life got away from me...

Having two kids under 2 does happen to take up quite a bit of your time.

My sweet babies have caught a summer cold. Our poor Divine Cupcake was the first to come down with it, and lets just say, there has been a lot of this face in our house lately:

I decided to bring back an old classic.

I have many wonderful memories associated with homemade chicken noodle soup. We were the lucky kids on our block who had a mom that was home full time. While my dad was generally the main "chef" of the house, he enjoyed more experimental cuisine being a foodie...when my mom cooked, it was generally the wonderful meat and potatoes fare that many people grew up with. For us, because it was a rare occurrence, it was ALWAYS special.

We always welcomed walking in from school at 3:00 after our bus ride and smelling the delicious combination of chicken, veggies and homemade breadsticks. We knew dinner would be early that night and delicious. Mom always made enough for any stragglers passing by (aka the neighborhood kids who had to wait patiently for their moms to get home) to come in and enjoy a bowl with us if they wanted to.

I think that is one thing that molded me. My home was a safe haven and the whole neighborhood knew it. All the neighborhood kids loved and respected my mother. I was and still am blessed by her wonderful example.

My favorite days were the days she was a little late finishing up and we got to help her make the noodles.

I've been making this dish since I was about 5 years old and I will make it until I'm in my grave because its THAT good and reminds me of wonderful times past.

Here you go, darlings. Enjoy the nostalgia!

(Note- I made my in the crock pot, but its just as easily done in a stock pot and quicker. I just knew that my little ones wouldn't wait for me for long and when you do it in a stock pot, you kind of have to do everything all at once.)

Ingredients:
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (you can use bone in, just be sure to remove the skin and be careful to make sure to get ALL the bones out.)
3 celery stalks, diced finely (dice the leaves and add them in too. My grandma always said that celery leaves helped cure colds fast. Its probably an old wives tale, but they are delish too!)
2 carrots, diced finely
1-2 cups any other veggies you'd like (I used about 1/2 c of peas and 1/2 c of corn)
1 recipe homemade noodles
onion powder, salt, pepper to taste

In a large stock pot or crock pot, place your carrots, celery and chicken with 3 cups of water. Sprinkle the top with onion powder (and garlic powder if you want), and salt generously (this will make your stock, and you will be adding more water later so if its too salty, you can always diffuse it.) sprinkle lightly with pepper. (I did add some dried minced onion to mine as well)  If using a crock pot, place on low for about 4-6 hours, if using a stock pot, bring to a simmer and simmer on low until chicken is soft, cooked through, and easy to shred (usually takes 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on how hot your surface coils get and how quickly you want it to be done.  : ) )

Once your chicken is just about ready to shred, start your noodles.

2 eggs
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 c water

Put the flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Put the eggs in the middle of the well, and sprinkle the salt on top.

 (take your rings off for this part ladies...) Add a splash of water. Using your hands, slowly mix all the ingredients together. Add enough water so that the dough is pliable and somewhat sticky (almost like play dough but slightly stickier).  It should look something like this when its ready to be rolled out:

Split the dough into thirds. Take one of your thirds and roll it in flour. Then roll it out as thin as you can (*note* if you're using a crock pot, you want to make the noodles slightly thicker, as they will melt down instead of cook through)

Once its rolled out, roll the dough up like you're making cinnamon rolls. Using a sharp nice, slice your roll into 1/4 to 1/2 inch rolls. Unroll them and voila! You have your noodles.

I wanted my noodles to be shorter so I didn't have to cut them up for my babies. I cut my rolled out dough in half and repeated the process with the other half. My noodles ended up being, at the longest, about 4 inches in length.

If you have a hard time unrolling the spirals (the ends have sealed) simply pop the center out and unroll them from there. You will easily find the sealed end and get it apart.

Toss the noodles lightly into your bowl as you unroll them. No need to pack them in.

Once you've shredded your chicken, go ahead and add your extra veggies and about 2-3 more cups of water . Taste to be sure you don't need to add more seasonings, or more water. If using a stock pot, bring to a rolling simmer, if cooking in a crock pot, adjust to high heat and let simmer for about 20-30 minutes.Toss in your noodles and lightly stir to break them up. If you're cooking in a stock pot, it will take about 10 minutes for the noodles to cook through, if you're cooking in a crock pot, watch them and taste. Depending on how hot your slow cooker cooks, it can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes. You don't want to let it go too long in the crock pot, or the noodles will turn to mush.

and there you have it...have some breadsticks on the side and you have a hearty meal guaranteed to knock out any cold...:)

Bon appetit, darlings!

Who needs Olive Garden? or Manicotti with Homemade Noodles

I'm back!

Did you miss me?

Did you even know I was gone?

This is another post entirely, but we unexpectedly moved to Rock Springs, WY a week ago. I will tell you all about it...but I figured you'd all want a recipe more than reading the life and times of a diva named Brittany right now...

So....here goes...

There it is! That hankering! That craving you just can't deny....you want Italian food....No- you don't want to pop open a can of premade spaghetti sauce and boil some noodles...you want something CLASSY...something a little more refined than a pile of noodles on a plate. Maybe its your anniversary? Maybe its a date night?...and maybe you're as poor as a church mouse and can't afford to go to Olive Garden or some other Italian place like Carinos, etc. and spend $10-30 a plate on a meal...

Don't worry friend...I've got your back! YOU TOO CAN MAKE DELICIOUS ITALIAN DISHES AT HOME AND IT IS EASY!!!

Manicotti...

Yes...those cheese filled tubes are calling your name...but those Manicotti noodles you buy at the store...they are so cumbersome, aren't they? You have to take 20 minutes to boil them and then half of them split in half as you're trying to fill them and your Manicotti ends up looking like a sad mess and not an elegant, refined, date night kind of meal...

But, what if there was another way? What if you could make your own noodles and it would be SUPER easy and take less time than boiling and filling those premade tubes of yuck....

I have the way my friends...in high school I was introduced to this method by a sweet old lady on the first, and only real date I ever went on (again, a story for another day).  It was the Commencement dance. We went to some lady's house for dinner (I can't for the life of me remember her name.) and she made the most delicious Manicotti EVER and when she found out I was so interested in the recipe. She divulged to me her secret for the noodles...CREPES...

It changed my life, and its about to change yours...here it is...

Better than a Restaurant Manicotti:

 For the "Noodles" (crepes)

Mix 1 c flour
2 eggs
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt.

It will be runny like the picture below. Try to get as many of the lumps as you can out of it as you whisk it.

Lightly spray either a crepe pan (pictured below) or if you don't have one, a small 6 inch/8 inch frying pan and heat it up over medium heat. Pour a thin layer of the mixture into the pan after it heats, making sure that it will spread out to the edge of the pan. If you have a crepe pan, put the top part down and let it cook, if you are using a small frying pan, just let it sit and cook until the edges are starting to firm up and turn slightly brown.

Flip the crepe by either flipping the pan (with crepe pan) or using a spatula and let it sit for 5-10 seconds. You only want to make sure there is no raw batter left. You should be left with a round that is slightly browned on one side and shiny like a cooked noodle on the other, like so:

So the crepe doesn't stick to the plate, be sure to put a napkin beneath it. They shouldn't stick to one another if you have cooked off all the raw batter.This batch should make 10-12 crepes. Enough to fill a 9x13 pan across.

Spray the pan again, and repeat until all the crepes are made. This process should take as little as 10 minutes to complete.

Once you have your crepes, you can make your filling. My favorite thing to do is take this basic cheese filling that I will share the recipe for, and add some cooked chicken (boiled or pan fried and cut into small chunks), bell peppers, and about a clove of minced garlic (or 1/2 tsp of garlic powder) to make a unique and VERY tasty dish...but I told you we just moved...so you get to see the basic cheese recipe...

In a bowl mix:

One 15 oz carton of Ricotta (ignore your inner urge to be cheap and try to use cottage cheese...it will be runny and won't work...yes, cottage cheese can work if you drain ALL the whey off the cheese curds, but then it takes 3 times the cottage cheese to make the recipe work, not to mention 5 times the work and effort, and it won't be cheaper by then...besides...COTTAGE CHEESE ISN'T HOW THE ITALIANS DO IT...we are trying to be better than Olive Garden here!) 

1 egg

1/2 c parmesan cheese

1/2-1 cup shredded cheese of your choice (Italians would use Mozzarella, but if all you have in the house is cheddar or colby jack...fine...)

1/4 tsp of salt

1 TBS of parsley

(at this point you can add the aforementioned chicken recipe above, but mine is just going to be the cheese mixture. Its okay that its a little dry. You don't want it to be runny and cook out the sides of the noodle shells)

Now, pull out your 9x13 pan. Open your spaghetti sauce of choice (if we hadn't moved, mine would have been my homemade spaghetti sauce that I make in the crock pot and then freeze the leftovers for Italian dishes down the line, but I didn't have time and we are still living out of boxes, so I used my favorite store brand which is Prego Heart Smart Traditional- I love the Veggie Smart, but I don't think they sell it anymore, I haven't been able to find it for a while. P.S. I will leave the recipe for my crock pot, freezer sauce at the end of this blog.)

Pour about a half of your bottle of spaghetti sauce (maybe a cup to cup and a half worth) onto the bottom of the pan and spread it out.

Then, add one heaping spoonful of your cheese mix to the middle of one of your crepe noodles on the browned side. Roll it like a taco, being sure to make sure that the pasta spread out almost to the ends of the rolls. Place on top of the sauce in the pan seam side down to prevent it from unrolling.

REPEAT

Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with about a cup (or more depending on how cheesy you like it) of shredded cheese and sprinkle with parmesan.

Cover with aluminum foil (shiny side down, facing the food for you cooking novices out there...this helps direct the heat to the food and makes it cook evenly) and bake at 375 degrees (fahrenheit...saw a complaint on another blog from our friends in Australia since they cook using a different meter on their ovens) for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes until the cheeses are browned a bit and bubbling...

Et Voila' ! 

(sorry we dug in before I could get a picture of the finished product...) 

I am not a super heavy eater and I eat 1-2 noodles, my husband will eat 2-3. If you get all 12 in the pan, that means it will serve 4-6 people...and for WAY cheaper than the Olive Garden... You can also fry some ground meat and add it to the sauce before you sauce your pan and your noodles...but this vegetarian version is just as tasty...you won't even miss the meat. I know my husband doesn't (and he is one of the biggest carnivores I know!)

As promised...for those of you interested. Here is my recipe for Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce. I usually just spoon it into quart freezer bags. I find that I usually only need one bag to make a recipe that serves about 4 people.  It will store for 3 months. It works out to be much cheaper than buying store bought sauce...and its MUCH more tasty! I seem to remember it making 4-6 bags of sauce.

2 (15 oz) cans of diced tomatoes (you can use stewed, but I find those chunks are too big. You can also use Italian style diced tomatoes to add some increased flavor, if you're fond of basil and oregano)

3 cans (15 oz) tomato sauce

2 TBS minced onion (dried or fresh, doesn't matter- fresh is much more pungent) or onion powder

2 TBS parsley

2 tsp Italian Seasoning herbs

3 tsp salt

3 tsp sugar

2 tsp minced garlic or garlic powder

(optional) 1/2 diced small and fine green pepper (I don't always have it on hand, and I've made it without the green pepper and it tastes just as awesome.)

Pour all ingredients in the crock pot. Stir well together. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally. 

Let cool and spoon into quart bags or jars and freeze. Be sure to write the date so you know when its "past its prime"

Bon Appetit until next time, darlings!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Marinara

This is kind of a take on Chicken Parm...but its so easy and so restaurant quality delicious, its almost criminal NOT to post the recipe and share.

As my camera is packed away awaiting my induction on Saturday, I couldn't get a picture of it, which is a real shame, because it really does look like something you'd get at a restaurant and just looking at it definitely made me and hubby drool!

Here's what you need (this makes 4 fairly decent sized portions- if you have big eaters in the house, you may want to double it...)

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts butterflied in half
1/4 c mayonnaise (NOT miracle whip, it will be too sweet.)
1/4 c parmesan cheese
1/4 c plain bread crumbs
1/2 TBS onion powder
1 TBS garlic powder
1/2 TBS garlic salt, plus more for sprinkling later
1 TBS dried parsley flakes
1 jar your favorite spaghetti sauce (I used my homemade freezer sauce that we love, it was a quart of sauce)
linguini/spaghetti noodles (whatever floats your boat.)

Heat your oven to 425 degrees. Place the butterflied chicken breasts on a greased cookie sheet or other type flat baking pan (I used my pizza pan because it was handy and a squirt of Pam)  In a small bowl mix the mayo and parmesan cheese. Spread this mixture over the top of the chicken breasts, coating them generously. Once that bowl is empty, you can go ahead and use it to mix the bread crumbs and the spices, then sprinkle them generously over the chicken.  Sprinkle with one finishing touch of garlic salt.  Bake for 15-20 minutes. The crust will get golden and then chicken should be cooked through.  (See what I mean EASY...you could also just use Seasoned Italian Breadcrumbs instead of making the breadcrumb mixture if you want to make it even easier. I didn't have Italian Breadcrumbs on hand, so I improvised...but I'm so glad I did...)

Boil your pasta and heat your sauce while the chicken is baking.

To plate, put a bed of pasta down, layer with sauce and then place the chicken on top....

DEVOUR and contemplate seconds... or thirds, or fourths(because its that good...)

SO easy, SO delicious...you'll never want to go to the trouble to make traditional Chicken Parm ever again.

Bon Appetit Darlings!

Spicy Chicken Penne With Spinach

If I had known that this recipe was going to turn out as delicious as it did, I probably would have taken pictures as I went....

Ever since I tried Pioneer Woman's creamy tomato pasta a few blogs ago, I have been looking for a chance and a way to use the recipe again in a new way.  I found a recipe on Pinterest the other day that used a similar sauce for a spicy chicken dish...Well, me being me, I can't just leave it at the recipe that I'm given...I just have to adapt it.

Of course, I put my own spin on Pioneer Woman's sauce this time too... it was marvelous darling! Simply marvelous!

...really, the picture doesn't do it justice...

Here's what you need to do:

Boil water in preparation for cooking the noodles- I used 1/2 of a 13.25 oz box of whole wheat Penne. Cook according to package instructions.

1 large boneless skinless chicken breast cutlet, partially frozen (this makes it easier to slice)
1/2- 1 TBS red pepper flakes
1 TBS garlic powder (you could use 2 cloves garlic, minced if you want to make it fresh, but I was hungry and wanted dinner without garlic hands...)
1/2 -1 tsp garlic salt (to taste)
1/8-1/4 tsp pepper (to taste)
1 cup fresh spinach, stems removed and chopped (can use frozen spinach if you don't have fresh on hand.)

Slice chicken into thin, bite sized pieces (you want them to be about as thick as a silver dollar.)
Add about a silver dollar sized portion of oil to the bottom of a  skillet and let it heat. Pour in your red pepper flakes and let them cook a bit to release some spice into the oil. They will start to turn slightly brown- this step literally only takes 30-45 seconds (you don't want them to burn). Add the chicken and sprinkle with the garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Sautee chicken until cooked through.  Add the spinach and toss together. Let the chicken mixture cook until the spinach is slightly wilted. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a separate sauce pan, mix:

1/2 c parmesan cheese
1/2 c milk
1 TBS garlic powder

Let this mixture come to a boil, stirring frequently. It should thicken on its own as it cooks.

Add to this:
1 c of your favorite pasta sauce and cook together until heated through. (I make my own freezer pasta sauce. The last time I made a batch, I made it even more delicious by letting it cook in the crock pot all day long...we've vowed that A) We will never purchase store made pasta sauce again and B) I will forever more make it in the crock pot.... I just added a quart bag of my sauce to the mix instead of measuring out a cup.)

Remember those noodles? They should be cooked by now if you've been multitasking. Drain the noodles. Toss in the chicken mixture first, making sure that it mixes throughout the pasta then add the sauce mix and toss together.

Serve with extra parmesan cheese on top if desired. Pair it with a salad or some veggies and an awesome dessert and you have the makings of a date night if you really want it. Seriously, to us it tasted like something we'd order in a restaurant!

All together, this was a super easy dish to make. I literally had it done in 30 minutes (seriously, I started at 4 PM and it was done by 4:30...I had initially thought it would take longer to come together but I proved myself wrong.)

This is on my list of "make again" things and Jeff is super excited to take the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. (I will have to remember to save some for myself...) It easily made 4 large servings or 6 not so large servings if you're having salad and breadsticks (or just salad if you're watching the carbs like me.), so this will easily feed a large family with small kids.

Bon Appetit darlings...I'm always happy to share my culinary ventures...