Chilled to the bone? This recipe will warm you right up.......

This recipe is by far one of my families' favorites.  I make this recipe alot, I usually make this anytime I need to take a meal to someone.  It is comfort food, and when your sick or have just had a baby, you need comfort food.  I just made it for my neice Aly a few weeks ago when she was sick and all she wanted was my chicken noodle soup.  I usually make a huge pot, so I have some for my family, some to take to someone and usually I have some to freeze as well. This recipe will make a really big batch,  so if you don't want that much just half it.  I have worked and worked and adjusted and adjusted to try to get this just perfect, the problem is that I'm the kind of cook that sometimes doesn't really stick to the recipe and sometimes I try a new kind of noodle or some other ingredient so it usually doesn't turn out the exact same, but I think that is what makes it so fun to cook, you can take a recipe and truely make it your own.  I usually use an old fashioned egg noodle, you can get these dry at Kohlers, they also carry Grandmas homemade frozen noodles, these go on sale sometimes and I will use those, but they take along time to cook, but they aren't dry so they don't soak up as much of the liquid.  I order noodles that are an Amish Kluski noodle on Amazon by the case, I just like the length, and width of these and they are acutally cheaper by the case, but the others work fine.  I usually make rolls or breadsticks to serve with my soups, alot of times I will use Rhodes frozen dough for the rolls, and if I have alot of time and energy I'll make the rolls from the Cinnamon roll dough that is on this blog, but usually I just make breadsticks because they are really easy and fast so that recipe is just below as well.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

4 large chicken breasts w/bones and skin

1 medium onion, chopped fine

8 stalks of celery, 3 of them chopped fine

5 medium carrotts, chopped fine

4 cups chicken broth or stock

2 large cans cream chicken soup

2 packages kluski egg noodles

Salt, pepper and chicken bullion to taste, I usually use 3/4 tsp sea salt, 1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper and probably 3 to 4 tsp of bullion, just depends on how much water you have to add.

Boil the chicken breasts just until cooked through in a large pot of water, usually mine are still a little pink by the bone,  if you over cook the chicken it will be tough, this water will be the stock for your soup.  Once the chicken is done, take it out and place on a plate to cool enough to cut up or shred into peices.  I prefer to just kind of shred it with my fingers into small chunks.  I use a strainer and pour the stock through it to remove any of the fat and little foreign matter(for lack of a better word) from the juice.  Then melt about 2 TBS butter in the pan, add in chopped onion and just saute it until the onion is really aromatic, about 2 minutes, this just releases all the flavor of the onion and gives the soup a really good flavor, add the chopped celery and carrotts and simmer for another minute.  Add your stock, the extra broth and the whole celery stocks back into your pot(The extra celery stocks just add extra flavor, just take them out once they become soft) Bring this mixture to a boil and simmer for about a half an hour, then add the noodles keep simmering until they are done.  Usually you do have to add more water or broth, as the noodles depending on which ones you use, do soak up quite a bit of the broth, don't over cook them, they will cook more as they sit in the liquid.  Add shredded chicken, and cream of chicken soup, mix well and let soup come to a simmer one more, then just turn heat to low until served.  This soup is almost better the next day after all the flavors have blended together all night in the fridge.  Sometimes I will make this in the evening to serve the next day, it is easy to warm up on the stove or just put it in your crock pot on low and then when it starts to simmer, turn the heat to warm.  ENJOY!!!

Note:  I chop my vegetables, my family don't like big chunks of onions or the other vegis, so this works well and is very kid friendly, however, some do like the chunks, so just adjust this to your liking.  Also some won't want to use the chicken with the skin and bones, I do, I won't make it any other way.  The bones and skins give the broth its flavor and keep the chicken moist.  So adjust this if you must, but I promise it won't be as good.

More to come . . . . soon

I've been very neglectful with my blog the last few months, sorry guys, it seems like its been a crazy year.  One of the problems is that I am really not very computer and technology savy, so I've got to work on that.  But I'm going to make a new goal to try and post a new recipe at least once a week, and with colder weather it is easier to bake without melting, and I get to make some of my favorite soup recipies which really are some of my best.  So hang in there with me, I'm making my Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup on Sunday for my sweet little neice Kloe's baby blessing dinner so I'll start with that one, you will love it!!!

Zucchini season is upon us . . . . .

It is Zucchini season and I've allready been given lots and lots of it.  My family really likes it just cooked as a vegetable, so I have done this alot.  I just peel it, slice it and put in it a fry pan that I have sprayed with canola cooking spray, I sprinkle it with Nature's Seasoning Salt and just kind of fry it for a couple of minutes, then I put the lid on and let it steam.  They love it.  But my favorite way to eat Zucchinni is in chocolate.  I have tried a couple of recipes for Chocolate Zucchini Cake, but this is my favorite, Chocolate Zucchini Brownies, so try it and enjoy.

Chocolate Zucchini Brownies



1/2 cup canola oil

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups Zucchini(shredded)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts(optional)I don't use

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 9 X 13 inch pan. I just line my pan with parchment.  In a large bowl mix together oil, sugar and vanilla until well blended.  Wisk together dry ingredients in another bowl, add to sugar mixture a little at a time.  Fold in Zucchini and nuts.  Batter will be dry and crumbly, don't worry, just spread mixture into pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until brownies spring back when gently touched.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Chocolate Frosting

6 TBS cocoa powder

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 cups powder sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

In a small sauce pan over low heat, melt together cocoa powder and butter, set aside to cool.  In a bowl blend together sugar, milk, vanilla and cooled butter with cocoa powder, blend well and spread over cooled brownies.  Cut into squares and enjoy!!!!

Some more inspiration from Mom . . . .

Over the July 4th holiday I spent time with my Mom, Dad and the rest of the gang in the July 4th celebration capital of the world, Fillmore, Utah!!!  There is nothing like the 4th in Fillmore, it is truely amazing!!!!  So fun to see all my family.(Shelby is now officially a cowgirl, with boots, hat and belt, oh yea and one of grandpas horses) There is also lots of wonderful food there at our family celebration.  Navajo Tacos for lunch, BBQ hamburgers, brats, and hot dogs for dinner and of course all the sides and salads.  But this recipe is for a casserole my mom made the first night I was there, it was so yummy and not too complicated.  As usual, I tweeked it a little bit to my taste.

Stroganoff Casserole

1 lb ground beef, browned with onion
4 to 5 large potatoes, boiled, skinned and cubed
1 can cream mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded colby jack cheese(or whatever you prefer)

Spray medium sized casserole dish with cooking spray.  Mix browned ground beef and soup, simmer on low for about 10 minutes.  Add sour cream and mix well.  Then layer potatoes and meat mixture in casserole dish until gone. Top with cheese.  Cover with foil and cook at 350 for about 45 minutes or until bubbly.  Let sit for at least 5 minutes and serve.

Another Foundant Cake . . . you'd think I'd learn . . . .

My cute little neice Aly is getting married and asked me if I would make her wedding cake . . . I said, "Al, didn't you see in my blog where I said I wasn't going to do that again for a long time?"  She said, "Ya, I waited a few days to ask you."  So cute, anyway, I really wanted to do it for her, I used to babysit her when she was a baby and she is my oldest daughter Brooke's age, so she spent alot of time at our house when they were younger.

I decided that I better get practicing so I did a birthday cake for my girl friends granddaughter's first birthday.  It was going to be great, she wanted a lady bug theme, so I came up with a plan, you know how you always envision things so much better then they actually turn out?  Well thats what happened, it was soooo much better in my head then it actually turned out, although if you didn't look at the back side of the cake it was still pretty cute.  I think I rolled the black fondant too thin, it just started to slide on the buttercream and ripped, it got ugly, there were cuss words flying . . . .to make a long night and long story short, I had to bow out of the wedding cake project, I just wasn't sure I could make her the kind of cake she deserves.  But here is a picture of the good side of the Lady Bug cake.

Cafe Rio Chicken . . . . .Mmmmmm Mmmmmm Mmmmmmm

In Utah we have this amazing Mexican grill called Cafe Rio.  The food is amazing, however, you go through an ordering line and some people including myself do not like this ordering line, it reminds me of the soup place on Seinfeld with the soup Nazi.  If you don't order fast enough or just right, they yell out "First Timer" and that just makes me so nervous, anyone that knows me, knows that the last thing I want is more attention.  Usually I just call in my order and avoid this line all together.  There are lots of Cafe Rio recipies out there, alot of people love the sweet pork, I love the chicken and this is the best set of recipies I have tried, it tastes amazing and is fairly easy, it does take some time to prepare all the extras, but its so worth it.  One thing I will say is, if your going to fix it for a small group, 1/2 the rice recipe, it makes a big batch, the chicken you can always freeze or use in other recipies.  ENJOY!!!!!

Cafe Rio Chicken

5 to 6 large chicken breasts
1 cup zesty italian dressing
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 pkt ranch dressing mix
1 cup water
1 TBS chili powder
1 TBS ground cumin
2 TBS powder chicken bullion

1. Place chicken in crock pot
2. In a bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over chicken
3. Cook on low for 5-6 hours
4. Remove chicken from crock pot and shred
5. Add chicken back into the liquid to keep moist and turn crock pot to warm
6. Serve in burritos, salads, tacos, quesadillas etc.  This meat also makes amazing chicken enchiladas,
    and freezes well.


Lime Cilantro Rice

3 TBS butter
1 small yellow onion, chopped fine
2 cloves minced garlic
6 2/3 cups water
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped fine
2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 TBS fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups long grain rice/not minute rice

In a large pot, saute onion and garlic in butter for 2 to 3 minutes, add everything to pot except the rice, bring to a boil stirring well.  Add rice, stir, cover and simmer until all the liquid is incorporated.  Stir occassionally to prevent sticking.

Tomatillo Creamy Dressing

1 pkg Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayo
2 tomatillos(peel off skin)
1 clove minced garlic
1/3 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh lime juice
1 small jalapeno(seeds removed)

Put all ingredients into blender and blend well.  For best flavor do ahead of time and put in fridge until ready to serve.

Just a note on the dressing, last time I made it I forgot the tomatillos, so I just made it without, I didn't notice a difference except in the texture, my daughter actually thought it tasted better without them.  Also you don't have to use the jalapeno, it just adds some heat, if you want more heat, add more, for less heat, add less.  Home grown jalapenos are usually alot hotter then the ones you buy at the store, so add slowly and taste before adding more.

Chili's Chicken Enchilas Soup

I love to make soup . . . . just ask my family.  They get kind of sick of it, I think.  I just love it when it gets cold because that just signals some need in me to make soup, rolls, cookies, you know what I mean . . .  . . . . . . .comfort food.  I must need alot of comfort, I just noticed I make alot of comfort food.   Anyway, a few years ago I tasted the Chicken Enchilada Soup at Chili's and loved it.  So like I often do, I went in search of the recipe.  As I searched the internet there were several different versions.  The one below is the one that I liked best.  I got it from the recipe zaar online.  Its called Copycat Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup.  Now I am including the recipe for the Pico de Gallo that you need to put in it to serve, but I ususally just buy Pico at Smith's grocery store, it's about $3.00, which is probably about the same or a little less then it would be to buy the ingredients and  I think it's really good.  Some people don't like pico(my son and husband) so they don't put it in theirs, they claim to think its still great, for me and the girls however, the pico is a must, it makes a huge difference in the taste of the soup.  I usually use crumbled corn tortilla chips on top as well, but sometimes if I am serving this for a special occasion, I will go down to Cafe Rio that is just a few minutes from my house, they will sell you a plastic container full of these(about 2 cups) for 95 cents.  I know we only have a limited amount of cold days left this year so I thought I would throw this in before it gets too warm for soup.  I have lots of yummy soup recipes, so next fall I'll get to the rest of them.

Copycat Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup

1 TBS vegetable oil
1 lb chicken breast cooked and cut up
1/2 cup diced onion
1 garlic clove, pressed
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup masa harina(you will find this either with the mexican food or the flour and baking goods)
3 cups water
1 10 oz can mild red enchilada sauce
16 oz Velveta Cheese/I use the bargain brand
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin

1.  Add the oil to a large soup pot over medium heat.  Add chicken breasts to pot and brown for 4-5 minutes per side.  Remove and set aside.
2.  Add onions and garlic to pot and saute' over medium heat for about 2 minutes, or until onions begin to become translucent.
3.  Add Chicken broth.
4.  Combine masa harina with the 3 cups of water in a bowl and wish until well blended, add to the pot and stir well.
5.  Add enchilada sauce, cheese, and spices to the pot and bring mixture to a boil.
6.  Cut the chicken into small bite size peices and add to the pot.
7.  Reduce heat and simmer soup for 30-40 minutes or until thick.
8.  Serve soup in bowls, garnish with shredded cheese, tortilla chips and pico de gallo.


Pico de Gallo

2 medium tomatoes, diced small
1/2 cup diced Spanish onion
2 tsp finely minced frest cilantro
2 tsp chopped fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and deribbed
1 pinch salt

Mix together and refridgerate for at least 2 hours.  Can be made ahead.