Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Hey y'all!! Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I will do better! So those of you that know me well, know that I am a speech therapist at a nursing home. My company has multiple homes in the area... all with their own SLPs. We came up with the Super Secret Speech Club as our monthly gathering to talk about work, eat, and have wine. It's fun!! I'm very thankful that I work with a great group of girls! This month I hosted our get together. One of the girls does not eat seafood and another is a vegetarian. So I had slim pickings. I figured chicken noodle soup was easy, good, and feeds a lot. This recipe is from MyRecipes.com. I poured the noodles in with the soup but I will not do that next time. The noodles soaked up all the broth! So boil the noodles on their own then pour soup over noodles in individual bowls. We had a salad and bread with it. It was tasty!  You can use any pasta you like.

Ingredients

2  cups  water

1  (32-ounce) carton fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

1  tablespoon  olive oil

1/2  cup  prechopped onion

1/2  cup  prechopped celery

1/2  teaspoon  salt

1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

1  medium carrot, chopped

6  ounces  fusilli pasta

2 1/2  cups  shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast

2  tablespoons  chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
**I add a dash of dried basil

Preparation

1. Boil broth and water (I used a carton + a can of broth + 2 cans of water) over medium heat.

2. While broth mixture heats, heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion, celery, salt, pepper, and carrot; sauté 3 minutes or until almost tender, stirring frequently. Add hot broth mixture and chicken; bring to a boil. Stir in parsley before serving.

3. Cook pasta separately. Place noodles into bowl and pour soup over noodles.

Serves 6-8

Enjoy!!

Warm Jalapeno Dip

My friend and coworker, Darla, brought this dip to book club. I was surprised by the warmth of the dip. I was not disappointed!!! It is almost addicting. I made it for Superbowl and everyone commented on how great it was so try it for yourself. I took it to work the next day and it was gone quick. We didn't heat it up and it was good cold. We mentioned how it would be good over enchiladas. Enjoy!!

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup mayonnaise

1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained

2 ounces canned diced jalapeno peppers, drained

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Stir together cream cheese and mayonnaise in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in green chile's and jalapeno peppers. Pour mixture into a microwave safe serving dish, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Microwave on High until hot, about 3 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips.

French Onion Soup

At work, one of the TVs stays on the Food Network. I always have my eye on it. One day, Sandra Lee was making French Onion Soup. One of my coworkers, Pat, was saying how it looked good. I printed off the recipe for him so he could make it the next day at lunch! When I got to work, he was cutting up onions and poured everything in the pot. VERY EASY. Once it was lunch time..... we sliced bread to put on soup, topped with cheese, and broiled until browned. It was so good!! I didn't think I liked onion soup but this was delicious!! The aroma from the soup flowed through the home... you could smell it when you walked in the front door (rehab is in the back of the building) so everyone up front kept asking what we were cooking and they wanted some of it! It would be great on a cold night.

5 small sweet onions, thinly sliced

2 cans (14 ounces) low sodium beef broth (recommended: Swanson's)

2 cans (10 ounces) beef consomme (recommended: Campbell's)

1 packet onion soup mix (recommended: Lipton's)

8 slices French bread, about 1 inch thick

1 cup shredded Gruyere (we used Monterey Jack cheese)

Combine onions, broth, consomme, and soup mix in a slow cooker. Cook on HIGH setting for 4 hours, or LOW setting for 8 hours.

** We did not use a slow cooker. Pat boiled the soup for about a hour and simmered for about 2-3 hours.

Ladle soup into serving bowls. Top with a slice of French bread. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cheese over each bread slice. Put soup bowls under broiler until cheese is melted. Alternatively, place the bread on a baking sheet and top with cheese; broil until cheese has melted, about 30 to 40 seconds, and set on top just before serving.

Enjoy!

To Moe... Cheesy Chicken Roll Ups

It has almost been a year since we have lost an amazing man. Lee's dad passed away right after Easter 2010. This picture was taken at the Easter Vigil when I converted to Catholicism. It was a great weekend that was spent with his parents and my parents. It has been a tough year especially during the holidays and Father's Day. I just loved that man because he reminded me SO much of my dad. He always had a solution for every problem, a reason for everything that happened and a life lesson for every situation. Lee has learned almost everything he knows from his dad.... and I'm thankful for that because he was a good man. I'm so happy I had a chance to know him so one day we can tell our kids all about him and all his stories he used to tell! It does weigh on my mind that he won't be here to see the birth of our children, the first steps they take, or even the first deer they shoot. Oh, I could go on and on. He would be so fascinated with my blog and how far my cooking has come! We were always in the kitchen cooking something. I believe that is how we formed our bond... through our love for cooking! We spent many hours in the kitchen cooking together and just talking. He was a good talker! He could go on and on and I just loved listening. So now that I put my cooking on the Internet for everyone to see, he wouldn't believe it. I personally think he would be impressed with me! His birthday was February 2. Libby, Lee's sister sent me a picture of her 3 boys (Lile, Rhodes, and Parks) having cupcakes and they were getting ready to send balloons up to heaven for Moe. They are just precious!! I know Moe was so excited to see these balloons come his way.

This has by far been the most emotional blog entry I've written but when I'm happy or sad, I eat! Food can be comforting when down and celebratory when happy. So when in doubt, eat good food. I wanted to make Lee something that reminded him of being home with his family and that is where cheesy chicken roll ups come in. Lee LOVES these. His mom made these a lot for him. I hope y'all enjoy these as much as we did.

Cheesy Chicken Roll Ups

1 can of chicken breast
1 can of crescent rolls
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (can use cream of chicken)
1/2 lb of Mexican Velveeta, cube (or can use regular Velveeta but add a can of drained Rotel for spice)
a handful of shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
1/4 a cup of milk (I'm guessing on this; I usually just pour a little milk; you want it a creamy texture)
salt/pepper

Roll out crescent rolls and separate. Place chicken in widest portion of crescent roll and roll up. Bake according to package.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining ingredients on the stove.

Once roll ups are finished, pour cheese mixture over crescent rolls in a baking dish. (I cooked rolls on cookie sheet then moved them into a Pyrex dish.) Top with pepper and bake another 10-15 minutes or until bubbly.

I served with a Cesar salad and broccoli. The broccoli and cheese mixture go very well together!! They are good the next day too.



ENJOY!