Monday, November 19, 2012

Meals for Monday: Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

So...I guess I haven't been as deliberate about keeping up these posts. Therefore, don't be surprised if there are a few more recipe posts this week, but also don't be surprised if it doesn't materialize either.
...blah...blah...blah...here's a recipe for today.
Creamy Chicken Noodle soup
  • ¼ c butter
  • ⅓ c flour
  • 3 T minced onion (dried onion flakes)
  • 1 t chicken bouillon
  • 2 c milk
  • 1 cup cooked chicken, diced/shredded
  • 1 ½ cups egg noodles (uncooked)
  • 1 qt canned carrots, partially drained
  • 1 ½ t black pepper (ground)

  1. Melt butter in saucepan
  2. Add onions, flour, and bouillon, constantly stirring to avoid burning
  3. Once a paste is formed, add milk.
  4. Cook on med/med-hi until thick and bubbly
  5. Add cream mixture to crockpot (~3qt) with the remaining ingredients.
  6. Cook on “high” for ~1 hr or “low” for at least 2 hours.


I sort of made this dish up as I went, meaning I read a recipe (Tuscan Chicken Soup), which spawned the idea for this final product. Ideally, I would have added celery too, but I didn't have any on hand. Regardless, this dish was DELICIOUS, especially if you like black pepper (if you don't, I advise you dial it down a bit).


Monday, November 5, 2012

Meals for Monday - Recipe: Shepherds' Pie

Most of the time my cooking is rooted in using what I (we) have. Sure there are times where I go to the grocery store specifically to buy something for a recipe I want to make, but that's atypical (I'll save details about this story for another post). Anyways, my husband and I were having company, and I was planning on making Shepherds' Pie using the supplies we had on hand: vegetable orzo soup (instead of vegetable beef), ground goat burger (instead of ground beef/hamburger), homemade canned vegetables (instead of frozen veggies), and flavored instant potatoes (instead of homemade/real mashed potatoes). So, here's the directions for what I put together and our company has since requested (of course you can make the reverse substitutions that I mentioned above).
 
Shepherds' Pie
  • 1 lb ground burger
  • 1/2 onion, yellow, diced
  • 1 can (10.75 oz) vegetable orzo soup
  • 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
    • If I had vegetable beef soup, I would not have used this
  • 1 tsp beef bouillon 
  • 1 pint (or ~12-16oz) canned green beans, drained
  • 1 pint (or ~12-16oz) canned carrots, drained
  • 1 pint (or ~12-16oz) canned corn, drained
  • 6 cups prepared mashed potatoes
    • I used 2 pkgs, ~4oz/pkg, of flavored instant potatoes (I would have used 3 if I had them)
    • I used less butter than what it called for since there is plenty of salt and fat in the meat-vegetable mixture and the cheese.
    • Make homemade if that is what you prefer.
  •  2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
  1. Fry burger in a large fry pan, and drain grease.
    • I don't use any oil/fat to fry the burger. Sometimes I add water to make the burger cook faster.
  2. Add onions
    • If you want the onions to soften, add some water to the burger-onion mixture, cover, and steam for ~3 minutes.
  3. Add soup, tomato paste, and bouillon, and stir.
    • Again, if using vegetable beef soup, that latter two can be omitted.
  4. Add vegetables and cook until the desired consistency is reached, adding water as needed.
  5. While the meat-vegetable mixture is cooking, prepare mashed potatoes.
  6. Divide meat-vegetable mixture in half, placing each half into a 2 qt casserole dish (or place all of it into a 9x13" glass dish).
  7. Top each dish with prepared mashed potatoes
  8. Cover each dish with cheese
  9. Microwave covered on "hi" for 10 minutes
    • Or bake in conventional/normal oven at 350F for 10 minutes, or until heated through
      • Can also broil to make top crisp
    • Or bake in a nuwave oven for 10 minutes on 60% Power, or until heated through
    • NOTE: Uncovering the dish in oven or nuwave oven will result in a crispier top. You can uncover the dish in the microwave, but the top won't achieve the same crispiness as the other cooking options (and it's more prone to make a mess in your microwave).

Mmmm...I like Shepherds' Pie because it is super easy, nutritious, and delicious (unless you're one of those people who prefers not to have their food mixed).