Skinny Soup (Instant Pot)

Delicious, filling, and super low calorie.  It's a snap in the Instant Pot.  If you wanna take it over the top, add some freshly sliced avocado to your hot bowl of soup.  Amazing!

Ingredients
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 chopped onion
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 head green cabbage, chopped
1 chicken breast, cubed small
3 cups chicken broth
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes-Italian style
1 can corn, drained
Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper

Directions
Saute carrots, celery, onion, and bell pepper in instant pot for 4-5 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients.  Pressure on high for 15 minutes.  Natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then quick release.

Creamy Chicken & Zucchini Pasta

If you're a gardener, you know that August brings zucchini.  Much zucchini.  I came up with this recipe because my family was tired of the regulars.  My WHOLE family ate this and loved it. 

Creamy Chicken & Zucchini Pasta

1 lb pasta

1 minced onion

salt & pepper

3 cloves minced garlic

2 Tbsp butter

2 cups chopped zucchini

2 cups cooked & shredded chicken

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to directions on box/bag.  Meanwhile saute the onion with garlic, butter, salt, & pepper at a low temperature.  Once onions are soft and translucent, add zucchini and chicken.  Stir and cook together for 1 minute.  Add broth, heavy cream, and parmesan cheese then cook on medium for 2-3 minutes.

Drain pasta, stir into zucchini/cream mixture.

I use a rotisserie chicken.  Easy to shred up, and the broth is already in the bottom of the rotisserie container.

Proof that kids love it too!

Grandma's Chicken

 This recipe is one of our favorites my Grandma whips up for us.  It's super simple and goes with just about any side dish you can think of.

Grandma's Chicken

1 package chicken pieces (we like drums and thighs)

garlic salt

lemon pepper

seasoned salt

Season each piece of chicken (with skin) on both sides.  Place on baking sheet and bake at 375 for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

We love to go camping.  I love everything about it . . . the fresh air, the trees, the dirt, the food.  What I DON'T love is cooking WHILE camping.  It cramps my style.  We're usually off playing and by the time we make it back to camp, everyone is way too hungry to wait for dutch oven meals.

I precook most of our food, throw it in the cooler or in the fridge of the camper.  Then it just takes a quick re-heat in the microwave or over the camp chef or even over the fire, and we're done.

These sandwiches make wonderful camp food.  AKA, they're quick and easy!  We heat it up, throw it on buns, and serve with chips and fruit salad.

BBQ Chicken

3 chicken breasts

3 Tbsp brown sugar

14 oz. ketchup

1/2 cup water

2 Tbsp liquid smoke

4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

3 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. celery seed

6 Tbsp butter

1/4 tsp cayenne

salt & pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Once boiling, add chicken breasts and boil for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove chicken from water and shred with forks.  Add sauce to shredded chicken.  

Made with Love

Sometimes I like to show love through food. Do you have any food memories from childhood that made you feel special and loved?

Nothing says love like homemade chicken noodle soup. If you've never made homemade noodles, give it a whirl. There's nothing that even compares in taste . . . and your family WILL feel the love!
This recipe makes one large stockpot full of goodness--plenty to share with a friend or two.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
6 eggs
3/4 cup water
2 tsp. salt
4-5 cups flour
6-8 chicken thighs (or drumsticks)
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp dried parsley
salt & pepper
chicken bullion

In a bowl combine eggs, water, and salt. Add in flour one cup at a time and mix with fork for first 3 cups. Mix in 4 and possibly 5th cup with hands. Knead together a few minutes until dough is cohesive, a bit sticky, but not tough or dry. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.

Roll out dough onto a pastry cloth or onto floured surface until quite thin. Sprinkle more flour over the top and rub it into the dough. Let dry for 2-4 hours. It won't be dried out completely, just enough to make it easier to cut and handle.
In the meantime, bring a large stockpot of water to boil. Add vegetables, salt & pepper, parsley, bullion, and chicken thighs. Boil for 30 minutes, remove chicken and let cool. Turn off the heat.

Once chicken is cooled, remove meat, then add to stock pot and bring back to a rolling boil.

You can cut noodles with a knife. OR, you can make your life wonderfully simple by using the tool pictured below . . . it's called an herb mincer in stores. But in my house it's called the noodle cutter. My kids love helping cut the noodles. I typically cut the dough into smaller sections before cutting into noodles so each noodle ends up being about 6-8 inches long.
Cut noodles and add to the pot, separating the noodles a little bit as you add them so they don't stick together. Don't shake off excess flour as it will help thicken the broth.

Cook for approximately 20 minutes or until noodles are cooked through.

Tortilla Soup

I am re-posting this recipe with pictures this time around. With all the not-so-healthy recipes I've posted lately, I decided it was time for something that's really, truly good for you! This soup is jam-packed with flavors and vegetables. But don't tell your crew about those kinds of details.

It takes a few minutes to create the soup base, but oh so worth the depth of flavors. Don't be deterred by the list of ingredients. It's quite simple. I often use the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving rather than chicken to make it.

Tortilla Soup
3 chicken breasts
1 small onion chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
2 cans mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp worchestershire sauce
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups beef broth
1 can corn, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Toppings: tortilla chips, shredded cheese, diced tomato, diced avocado, sour cream

Directions:
Cook chicken breast until cooked through. Remove from pan and let rest. In the same pan, saute onion, bell pepper, and garlic on medium low for 5-10 minutes until softened. Add cumin and chili powder while cooking.

Transfer sauteed ingredients to a blender and add canned tomatoes, worchestershire, and salt. Blend until smooth.

In a stock pot, pour in blended ingredients. Add chicken broth and beef broth. Add cubed chicken, corn, and kidney beans.

Bring the soup to a simmer. Serve and add toppings. Be sure to ladle plenty of broth into the bowl so it has room to absorb all the chips, etc.

*This soup freezes perfectly. Just thaw and add fresh toppings.

My kids saw this array of vegetables for the soup base and quickly stated they didn't want red peppers or onions in their soup. They said they don't like those things. Little did they know they ended up eating it anyway!! I love motherhood trickery!!

Soup Base Ingredients:

Soup Fillers:

Soup Toppings:

Soup - ready to eat!

Chicken Tetrazzini

Who likes noodles? Everyone does! This meal is my go-to when I'm short on time. The ingredients are always in my pantry/fridge/freezer. Today I even had leftover cooked chicken breasts in the fridge so the meal was prepared in the time it took the angel hair pasta to cook.
Chicken Tetrazzini
12 oz angel hair pasta
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup shredded cheese - mozzarella or cheddar
milk - for desired consistency
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add pasta and cook until tender. Meanwhile, combine other ingredients into saucepan and bring to simmer.

Serve sauce over top of pasta.

Southwest Chicken Chili

My friend, Angela, shared this recipe with me. So good to eat, so good to your figure!! My family ate every last bite of this pot of chili. I took out some for Alyssa before I added the cheese at the end.

Again, I used leftover turkey. I'm sorry, it's soup season in Idaho, so you'll have to bear with me in my soup phase.

Southwest Chicken (or turkey) Chili
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp olive oil + 1/3 cup olive oil
3 cups cooked and cubed or shredded chicken
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp oregano or italian seasoning
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 can (14 oz) chicken broth
2 cups drained Great Northern beans
1 (4oz) can diced green chilis
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Saute onion and garlic in 3 Tbsp olive oil on medium low heat for 5 minutes. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper. Cook together for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 20 minutes. I let it stand on the stove another 20 minutes and it thickened up quite a bit.

You could even freeze this and pop it in the crock pot on a busy day.

Asian Noodle Bowl

Lo and behold: The Asian Noodle Bowl. It's fast, easy, and DELISH. It's one of my family's faves.


















Here's the recipe for those of you that like chinese food. Or japanese, or whatever kind this is. It's Asian---I think that covers it!

Asian Noodle Bowl
8 oz. linguine
3 cups broccoli florets
2 cups carrots sliced
2 Tbsp oil (I just spray the pan with pam instead)
1 lb beef or chicken sliced thinly
1/2 cup Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing
1/4 cup Teriyaki Sauce (any brand)

In a large pot, bring water to boil and add carrots and linguine. When almost finished cooking, add broccoli for last 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil and cook meat until browned. Stir in teriyaki sauce and dressing. Cook 2 more minutes.

Drain pasta and vegetables. Add to meat mixture. Toss to coat and serve.