Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• ½ cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 whole Chicken, Cut Into Pieces (cut Up Fryer) . Or whatever chicken you have on hand. I happened to use 4 leg/thighs.
• Salt And Pepper
• 6 carrots
• 2 ribs of celery
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
• ½ teaspoons Ground Thyme
• 12 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 1.5 cups Heavy Cream
• Dumplings:
• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups Yellow Cornmeal (you can substitute flour if you do not have)
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1-½ cup Half-and-half (if you do not have, melt 1T of butter in a 1 cup container; add milk to 1 cup)
• 2 Tablespoons Minced Fresh Parsley (optional). I do not use.
• Salt As Needed
Preparation Instructions
Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then dredge both sides in flour.
Melt butter in a pot over medium-high heat. In two batches, brown chicken on both sides and remove to a clean plate.
In the same pot, add diced onion, carrots, and celery. Stir and cook for 3 to 4 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir in ground thyme, then pour in chicken broth. Stir to combine, then add browned chicken. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes.
While chicken is simmering, make the dough for the dumplings: sift together all dry ingredients, then add half-and-half, stirring gently to combine. Set aside.
Remove chicken from pot and set aside on a plate. Use two forks to remove chicken from the bone. Shred, then add chicken to the pot. Pour heavy cream into the pot and stir to combine.
Drop tablespoons of dumpling dough into the simmering pot. Add minced parsley if using. Cover pot halfway and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Check seasonings; add salt if needed. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Gets better after sitting in fridge overnight!

Wheat Bread - SS

Wheat Bread Recipe

***Makes 2 loaves
***Be sure to get all ingredients (eggs, butter, yeast) to room temperature before starting. If you don’t, the yeast will revolt.
***I have never used a bread maker, I just use my Kitchen Aid mixer. I use the regular flat mixer until I add the yeast. Then I switch to my dough hook.
***When making bread, never over mix the dough. Always just mix until combined.

To your mixing bowl…

-Whip 3/4c of butter. Unsalted is preferred.
-Add 1c quick oates, organic
-Add ½ cup of blue agave. You can substitute honey.
-3/4 T salt
-1/4 c flax seed (crushed not whole)
-2 cups of warm water. Be sure it isn’t too hot or too cold. Yeast is very picky.

Gently mix. Switch to your dough hook and add…

-2 packets of yeast (or 4 ½ t if you use bulk yeast….it is cheaper than the packets but only if you bake often).
-2 room temperature eggs, organic
-2 cups whole wheat organic flour
-2 cups high gluten or bread flour, organic. High gluten flour is very expensive. Bread flour works just fine.

Mix until just combined. Should be slightly sticky. If it is too sticky, add in a bit more flour.

Coat a large glass bowl with olive oil. Add dough ball to bowl, cover and allow to rise. Depending on the temperature in your house, this could take 2-6 hours.

After it has risen, punch it down (my favorite part of the process outside of eating the bread!) and gently roll into a ball with your hands. Sprinkle some flour on top to make this less messy. Split in half and form into a loaf shape. Put each loaf into a pan sprayed with Pam/Olive oil, cover and let rise again. The second round should take an hour or so.

I cook one at a time (not sure why), 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Let bread sit in pan for a few minutes before turning out.

Lasagna - SS

Stacy’s Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients
• 1 pound lean Ground Beef
• 1/2 pound mild Italian sausage
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
• 2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• ½ cups Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese (Optional)
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese (I generally don’t need quite this much)
• 1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles

Preparation Instructions
Heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy pan. Add onion and sauté for 10 minutes or until onions are soft. Add in garlic. Salt and pepper to taste.
Add the ground beef and sausage and heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes.
In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons.

To assemble:
Spray pan with Pam and add a little sauce, just enough to lightly cover the bottom. Arrange 4 lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.
Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.
Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until bubbly!

PEANUT BUTTER HAY STACKS

PEANUT BUTTER HAY STACKS


1 cup light Karo syrup
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups peanut butter
5 cups corn chex or corn flakes

Add Karo syrup, sugar and vanilla in a pan and bring to a boil, add peanut butter until melted. Take off stove and add corn chex/corn flakes and mix well.
Drop by spoon on wax paper.

Makes a lot! I tried to add chocolate chips to one batch. Next time I do that I will cut down on the sugar.

Cannoli Cake

Cannoli Cake

1 pkg (8oz) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 (8 oz) Cool Whip, thawed, divided
Nilla Wafers, divided

Beat cheeses, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
Add chocolate chips and mix well.
Stir in 2 cups of Cool Whip.

Spread 2 cups of the cheese mixture onto bottom of 13x9 pan.
Top with layers of about 30 nilla wafers and half of the remaining cheese mixture, repeat layers of wafers and cheese mixture.
Top with remaining cool whip and cover.

Refrigerate 4 hours and store leftovers in refrigerator.

Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie

Another great meal Leslie made for us. A great meal to take to someone who just had a baby, had surgery, etc. Includes your meat and your veggies. Of course you cannot go wrong with velveeta!

Cheesy Chicken Pot Pie

3 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used store rotisserie)
1 pkg. (16 oz) frozen veggie blend, THAWED and drained
1/2 lb. (8 oz) Velveeta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 can (10 3/4 oz) reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can (8 oz) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (I used the seamless kind....)

Heat oven to 375. Combine first four ingredients in 13x9 dish. Unroll dough and place over chicken mixture. Bake 20 to 25 min. or until crust is golden brown. Note: Make sure veggies are thawed well!!! I put them in a colander inside a bowl and ran warm water over them - let stand for about 5 min.....just to be sure.....

It took more like 30 minutes to turn golden brown.

Chilli

A really great chilli recipe Leslie made for us....

Chili

1 lb. extra-lean ground beef
2 tsp. chili powder
2 cans (15 oz. each) no-salt-added kidney beans, drained
2 cans (14.5 oz. each) fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained
2 cups Thick 'N Chunky salsa
1 cup 2% milk shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream

Brown meat with chili powder in large skillet on med-high heat. Stir in beans, tomatoes, and salsa. Bring to boil. Cover; simmer on med. heat 10 min., stirring occasionally. Top with cheese, sour cream (onions, fritos....)