Paula Deen's Chicken Noodle Soup

The name of this is The Lady's Chicken Noodle Soup.  It sounds heavenly...especially now that I think the cold is here to stay.  Here's the recipe, slightly modified by Jessica Sprague, a scrapbooker like me looking for more ways to simplify cooking.

• 1 rotisserie chicken
• 2 32-oz boxes of chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cups sliced carrots
• 2 cups sliced celery
• 2 1/2 cups uncooked egg noodles
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 cup grated Parmesan, optional
• 3/4 cup heavy cream, optional
• Seasoning salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Bring the stock and the water to a boil, add carrots and onion, cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package.

While the noodles cook, remove the skin from the chicken and shred the chicken breasts finely. When noodles are done, add chicken, parsley, and rosemary. Add Parmesan and cream, if using. Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if needed, by adding seasoning salt and pepper. Enjoy along with a nice hot crusty loaf of French bread.

Avocado Basil Pasta

I just found this recipe. Doesn't it look yummy?

Avocado Basil Pasta

8 ounces dried bow tie pasta
2 medium avocados, halved, seeded, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 slices bacon, crisp cooked, drained, and crumbled
2/3 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely shredded asiago cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the avocados, bacon, basil, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, pepper and salt. Add the hot pasta and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with cheese. Makes 4 servings.

It doubles just fine. This makes a great chilled pasta salad too if you wait to add the avocados right before serving.

Another good pork recipe

And again from Pioneer Woman.  Clicky

Amazing Roast Pork

I am not usually a big fan of pork.  But when I got an amazing deal on some pork roasts I went to Allrecipes.com  in search of a recipe I might like.  I made this in the crock pot for some friends and it was a huge hit!  And it even uses green chiles...which in Santa Fe makes it a winner.  It says it is for tacos, but it is just as good plain.  Super tender and moist and makes great leftovers.

Dee's Roast Pork for Tacos (copied from Allrecipes.com)

"This is a dish that will make your tongue jump out of your mouth, slap you in the face, and say 'Oh yeah'. Put meat and maybe some Pico De Gallo or salsa into warm tortillas to make tacos."

INGREDIENTS:

4 pounds pork shoulder roast 2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chilies, drained 1/4 cup chili powder 1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon taco seasoning 2 teaspoons minced garlic 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2.	Place the roast on top of a large piece of aluminum foil. In a small bowl, stir together the green chiles, chili powder, oregano, taco seasoning and garlic. Rub onto the roast. Wrap foil around the roast so that it is completely covered, using additional aluminum foil if necessary. Place on top of a roasting rack in a baking dish, or place a cookie sheet on an oven rack below to catch any leaks.
3.	Roast the meat for 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until falling apart. Remove from the oven, and shred into small pieces using two forks. Season with salt to taste. Variation: Make it in the crock pot on low all night. I used a boneless pork center cut loin (because that is what was on sale) and it was wonderful.

Two recipes from the Pioneer Woman

Here are two great looking recipes...two of her favorites.  A sandwich and a cake.  I'm excited to try them!

Sopapilla Cheesecake

This recipe uses two of my favorite ingredients: cream cheese and crescent rolls.  Update...we had this for Easter and it was amazingly good.  And rich.  We recommend fresh strawberries and whipped cream to top it off.  Oh, and eat it warm.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans crescent rolls
2 (8 oz) cream cheese, softened - not low fat - go for the good stuff!
2 C sugar (divided)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C butter
ground cinnamon

*Roll one can crescent dough into bottom of greased 9x13 baking pan.
*Stretch dough and pinch seams together to form crust.
*Blend together cream cheese, 1 C sugar and 1 tsp vanilla
*Spread over dough - not too close to edge
* Stretch second can of crescent rolls over cream cheese layer to form top crust
*Melt butter and 1 C sugar and 1 tsp vanilla and pour over crust
*Sprinkle with cinnamon
*Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Brownie in a mug

I found this recipe on facebook.  Why haven't I tried it yet??

Brownie in a Mug

4 Tbsp of flour
4 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
a dash of salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla
Chocolate chips (optional)
Whip cream (optional)

Mix together dry ingredients in a large coffee mug. Add oil, water and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Mix in a few chocolate chips if desired. Microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes. Cool a couple of minutes, add whip cream and enjoy! (This is also great with a small scoop of ice cream and some hot fudge!!)

Variations:

My friend Andrea says she cooks this in a large cup for 3 minutes and it is cake.

Make a lower calorie version by using splenda instead of sugar, sugar-free pudding or yogurt instead of oil.

Zesty Tomato Soup

Benjamin was in charge of dinner for Family Home Evening this week and we found this recipe online for dressing up canned tomato soup.  It was amazing...Courtney even asked for seconds and she never eats tomato soup!  Well, I don't know if it was the recipe or the fact that we served it in bread bowls that had her asking for more, but she ate more soup than she did bread bowl, so I'm guessing it's the bread.

2 cans condensed tomato soup

2 cans water

1/2 c. salsa (we used Pace Picante sauce)

Mix in pot and heat on stove.  Great with a sprinkle of shredded cheese and some tortilla chips!

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Kyle and I love Thai food.  And I love to order this soup...it is soooo tasty.  My Scrapshare friend Elaine posted this recipe that she took from a Weight Watchers cookbook and she says it is very close to the version she loves at her favorite restaurant.  I can't wait to try it! (The notes in italics are hers, not mine.)

Thai Coconut-Chicken Soup, from the “In No Time” cookbook, page 99.
Serves 4, 6 WW Points per serving.


2 stalks fresh lemongrass, minced (I used 3/4 tsp of the lemongrass spice blend I found in a tube in the produce department at Publix)
2 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced (I used 1 heaping tsp of jarred minced garlic)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (I crushed it in my hand with my thumb first to release the oils)
1/2 pound ground skinless chicken breast (I used cooked shredded chicken that I poached today… Next time I’ll probably go with firm tofu instead since that’s what’s in the soup at Surin)
2 14.5-oz cans of reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 14-oz can light (reduced-fat) coconut milk (Surin probably uses the full-fat kind, because their soup is a bit heavier/richer)
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tsp Asian fish sauce (nam pla)
4 oz rice sticks (mai fun) (I’ll probably leave these out next time, just because they’re not in the Surin version, and truly, they made it kind of hard to eat. May require further experimentation)
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (I probably used a bit more, since I don’t really bother to measure herbs much, and Jerry loves cilantro so I knew it wasn’t a risk.)
Next time I will probably add half of an 8-oz. carton of white mushrooms, thinly sliced. But that’s not in the original recipe.


1. Trim away the tops of the lemongrass, about 4 inches from the root end; trim away the root. Crush the 4-inch pieces with the side of a knife and mince the tender white inner stalk. Discard the outer stalk. (I just squeezed 3/4 tsp out of the tube and called it done. Ha!)


2. Heat the oil in a nonstick Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the minced lemongrass, garlic, and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add the chicken and cook, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 3 minutes. (With my cooked shredded chicken, I only cooked it until heated through before the next step. Next time I’ll brown the tofu at this step. I’m not sure I’d like it as much with ground chicken.)


3. Add the chicken broth, coconut milk, lime juice, and fish sauce; bring to a boil. Add the rice sticks and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro.


Servings are 1 1/2 cups each.

Variation on Buffalo Wing Dip

I also got this recipe from my ScrapShare friends, as with the first version.  This one I could pretend is healthy because it has celery in the dip!  :D

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; cooked

2 packages (8-oz each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup wing sauce** (I use Texas Pete's wing sauce)

1 cup blue cheese salad dressing (you can also use ranch dressing)

1 cup celery; chopped

4 stalks of celery for dipping

crackers and tortilla chips

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Mix with softened cream cheese. Add wing sauce and dressing. Mix well. Stir in chopped celery. Put mixture into 9x13 pan (8x8 if making a smaller batch) and bake at 350* for 20 minutes. Serve with crackers, celery and chips.

** Please note that there is a difference between hot sauce and wing sauce. If you want a milder version of this dip then use 3/4 cup wing sauce and 1 1/4 cup blue cheese.