Yummy Chicken Noodle Soup

  Saturday, my mom got sick and long story short, I learned very quickly how to make homemade chicken noodle soup.  Working with what I had, which was frozen chicken breast and some vegetables.  I immediately put the chicken on to boil, but it just wasn't getting done soon enough so I opted to use canned chicken. ( I know, I know! Desperate here!)  I kept the other chicken boiling though because I didn't have any chicken broth.  Here I am now a few days later without broth and a chicken breast.

  

 Ingredients:

1 Chicken Breast

1 Carrot

1 Celery

1/2 cup Onion

2 Tbsp Garlic

Oregano, Parsley, Salt, Pepper to taste

2 cups Pasta Noodles 

( I think that these are elbows...)

5 to 6 cups of Water 

( If you are using broth it's 50/50, broth to water)

Chicken Broth

  To start out your going to stir fry the carrots, onions, celery, and garlic with a couple tablespoons of oil of your choice in the bottom of your soup pan.  

  When everything is caramelized add in chicken and cook for a few minutes.  Add in 1 cup of the water and the seasonings, let simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes.  I didn't have any broth I tried to let it simmer together as long as possible.

   After pouring in the rest of the water bring to a boil and add in the noodles.  Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes.  I would taste test through out this process, so as to add any additional seasoning if needed, while it has a chance to soak into the soup.  There you have it! God Bless!

  

Smell the flowers

    Okay, changing gears here for a little while.  I have a bit of a closet passion.....not really a talent, but a passion.  Spring is here, everything is blooming and budding for a season.   Back to this closet passion.  Though it is something that I have no talent for, I love taking pictures!  The only thing that saves the pictures is the awesome camera that I borrow from my sister...:(.  I noticed on a path that I jog on, that trees have been barren for so many months are now blooming.  

  Though we consider this a weed, in a field spread over acres it's as if the sun has landed and taken root. 

Song of Solomon 2:11-13

~For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.  The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.  The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.~

  God's creation is something that never ceases to amaze me!  I know that life can get hectic and wild....but, it never hurts to stop and slow down once in a while and just enjoy the beauty of life and what God has given you.   God bless! 

Cranberry Pinwheels

In light of spring jumping out full force from around the corner, I decided to do something a little different.  I normally would do a dessert or something along the lines of a one dish wonder.  As I was saying about spring, I was thinking light and snacky...( I was probably hungry at the time).  Let me just say that pinterest is a life saver!  I found these wonderfully, light and scrumptious yummies, and they are easy to make to boot!

Ingredients:

3/4 to 1 cup of Feta Cheese

1 cup Green Onions

1 cup Dried Cranberries

8 oz of Cream Cheese

4 large Tortilla's

  (I made mine from scratch, but store bought works just as well.)

Chop.

Whip.

Mix.

Spread.  Roll up and put in fridge.

Chill 1 hour at least, then chop into pinwheels.

   You can see, these are super easy to make and to eat!  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did.

    God Bless!

Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

I'm the best baker...I can bake anything..Not!  Seriously though, I have tried and failed many, many times on oatmeal cookies (More that just oatmeal cookies.... but lets keep that to ourselves)!  You would think that I hadn't baked a day in my life.  On Sunday's we all (my family) gather at my grandparents house for lunch and most times we have my best friends family over as well.  We have a pot luck or sorts and divvy out we all will bring that week.  This past Sunday my Aunt Judy (not really related, but I claimed her), made these wonderful cookies, and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get the recipe! Shout out out to Aunt Judy and Thank you for sharing!

Ingrenients:

1 C. Butter, softened (2 sticks)

1 C. firmly packed Brown Sugar

1/2 C. Granulated Sugar

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Salt (optional)

1 1/2 C. Flour

3 C. Old Fashioned Oats

1 C. Dried Cranberry's or raisins if you like those better :) 

 Celtic Sea Salt

  Preheat the oven to 350 F.   Cream the butter and sugars together.  Add in eggs and vanilla.

 

  Once that is blended well, sift together the flour, cinnamon, salt, and the baking soda.  Add to the butter mixture, and mix that well.

 

                 

....a couple of stirs later......







  Stir in oats and cranberry's.  We probably would have had a few more cookies.....had I not eaten some of the batter.....You know you would too!

 
  The scooping of the cookies onto the pan.  I used a small ice cream scoop, it's the perfect size!  Because I have had problems in the past with the cookies spreading so wide that it made one big cookie, I placed them far apart.  I put them about an 1 1/2 to 2 inched apart.  Bake for 10 to 13 minutes.  *Very important part.*  *As soon as the cookies come out of the oven sprinkle a little of the Celtic Sea Salt on the top.*  This brings out the sweetness in the cookie and makes such a HUGE difference.  Remember though, all it takes is a little!  Thank you Aunt Judy for that tip!

I hope that you enjoyed this ( I know I did, raw or cooked...hehe).  Till next time and God Bless!

Coconut Joys

  So, today I had my blog planned out and it...flopped to say in the least.  Plan B.  This is a family favorite that hasn't been made in a while and when I was desperately trying to find something to make, my mom suggested that I use this one.  I am all for simple and easy, but I also want it to taste good.  This definitely fits the bill!  No baking involved!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups  Sweetened Coconut Flakes

1 cup Powdered Sugar

1/4 cup Butter, melted

1 ounce melted milk chocolate

Chopped Pecans (Optional, I didn't have any.)

  1.  Mix coconut, powdered sugar, and butter together well.

 

  2. At this point you will want to melt the chocolate, I use a double broiler to melt mine.  I would guess that you could use a microwave....we don't have one so this is what we do.
  3. Roll into 1 inch balls and thumb print them.  Mine may be a little bit bigger than 1 inch.

  4.   Fill thumbprint with chocolate.  This would be the time to sprinkle pecan, or more coconut.  Put the cookies in the fridge, then when you are ready to eat pull them out and enjoy!

  Hope you enjoy and God Bless!

Iced Coffee

 
  So, lets talk coffee.  As I have mentioned in previous blogs, our family loves coffee.  My Dad, Brother and I like ours straight black, though I will sometimes put cream and honey in mine.  Mom just wants heavy whipping cream but doesn't want it cold, Sister loves loads of stuff in hers, but.....there can always be exceptions.  I'm sure you have all heard of Starbucks...my sister loves that place, and she told me that this iced coffee tasted like Starbucks!  Where we live though it's just not convenient to take a trip over, I think that the nearest one is an hour and a half away.  In order to make up for that, we started researching easy ways to make an iced coffee on the go, and this is what I found. It's so simple!

 Ingredients:
  10 cup pot of fresh brewed coffee
  1 can of sweet and condensed milk 
  That is it!

 I just use the biggest mason canning jar that we have, but what ever floats your boat.  To start you will want to brew the coffee, and pour the condensed milk in the jar. (I did not use the whole can, but you can use however much you like).  :) Next, pour coffee into the jar.

 

  This part is really up to you.  I put a lid on and shake, shake, shake, and shake till all of the condensed milk is mixed in.  You could just use a spoon and stir it.....but where's the fun in that?



















   Now you will want the coffee to cool before putting it in the fridge, to avoid broken jars...hehe.  Now, tomorrow morning when you need a "pick me up" before work or just a refreshing cold coffee, just pour and enjoy! Like I said before, you can add more or less of the milk, it's really your choice.  Hope you like and God bless!

Monkey bread

  Last week was kind of a blur and with all the business going on I didn't get a chance to post.  I did some research on the term "monkey bread".   This is what our family has called it since I can remember, but it's also called sticky bread, monkey puzzle bread, pinch me cake...ect.  Many, many names but still similar outcome.  In making this for years we used canned biscuits from the store, and that's how we made for some time.  I had been searching for a homemade alternative, and come across this one on pinterest.....I think..hehe, I've had it for a while now.  It's definitely a keeper!

  Ingredients:

  3/4 c. Butter

  1 1/2 c. Brown Sugar

  1/2 c. Brown Sugar

  1 tsp Cinnamon

  4 c. All-Purpose Flour

  4 tsp Baking Powder

  1 tsp Baking Soda

  1 tsp Salt

  3/4 c. Butter

  1 1/4 c. Buttermilk

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  In a small pan melt together the 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar and 3/4 cups butter over medium, stirring constantly.  Once all of the butter is melted and brown sugar is dissolved, turn off your heat and set aside.


 







  2.  In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and cinnamon, stir well and set aside.

  3.  In a large bowl whisk flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.
  4.  Cut in 3/4 cup butter into flour.  The butter needs to be pea size or smaller...this is why I use my hands.

  5.  Add buttermilk, stir then knead mixture, working in all flour.
  6.  Divide the dough in half.
   7.  Tear off 1 in chunks off of one half and roll into balls.  Place in a layer at the bottom of the pan.  Pour half of the butter mix on top, then sprinkle half of the cinnamon mix on top of that.


                                               

 


 



 8.  Repeat step 7.  Bake for 25 to 35 minutes.  I hope you enjoy and God Bless!