Chicken & Dumplings

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that I've been a bad blogger! We have been so very busy lately that I just haven't had time to post anything! On top of our already busy lives, I have school work- which sometimes takes over my life! To add to the chaos, we will be moving in exactly one month! We are SUPER excited to be moving closer to our families, but I am so not looking forward to packing up our belongings with two kiddos running around the house! Our last move was easy- we had movers that did all the grunt work for us. This time it won't be as easy, but it should be our last move...ever:)

Here's a recipe I found on Amanda's blog. My husband loves chicken and dumplings, but I've never made anything like this for him. When I saw this recipe, I decided to give it a whirl. The picture just does not do this recipe justice!

Creamy Chicken & Dumplings

1 lb. chicken breasts
10 bouillon cubes
2 quarts water
2 cups bisquick
2/3 cup milk
2 tbsp butter
4 eggs
2 stalks celery

Place chicken breasts & bouillon cubes in a large pot & cover with 2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20-25 mins until chicken is done.

Meanwhile, boil the eggs. Then mix together the bisquick and milk until soft dough forms. When chicken is done, remove from pot and set aside. Drop spoonfuls of dough into the chicken stock. Simmer over low heat, covered, for 10 mins, then uncovered for 10 mins.

Meanwhile, dice 2-4 stalks of celery until you have approximately 1/2 - 1 cup of diced celery. Cut or shred chicken into bit sized pieces. Saute celery in 2 tbsp of butter for a couple of mins. Add in chicken & season well with salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Add the chicken and celery to the soup. Remove yolk from boiled eggs and chop whites and add to soup. Stir all to combine. Serves 4.

**NOTE** We did use the egg whites in our recipe this time, but probably won't go through that trouble again- they don't add much flavor to the dumplings (and it's a lot of work!).

Taco Seasoning

So, I was making this yummy taco filling in the crock pot and I realized I didn't have any taco seasoning. Not a big deal if you live near a store, but we live about 30 minutes away from town. I did some searching and found a recipe for homemade taco seasoning on cooks.com. We've tried it before when we were out of the packaged kind, so I'm hoping it satisfies us this time around too.

Here's the recipe:

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

1 TBSP Chili Powder
2 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tsp. each: Ground Cumin, Garlic Powder, Paprika, Powdered Oregano (we used regular dried Oregano), and Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Makes 3 Tablespoons of seasoning mix, which is equal in strength to a 1/4 ounce package of commercial seasoning mix.

Coming Soon.....

Okay, so I saw these adorable flower hair bows on someone's etsy shop and had to try to recreate them. I must have tried nine or ten different methods, but I think I finally came close. Now that I have it figured out, I'll be adding a tutorial on how to make them very soon. I just had to share a quick pic because they are so darling. They're made of fabric, not ribbon....so the creative possibilities are endless! I'll be making more this week, so stay tuned for the tutorial:)

Yummy Goodness!

Oh, my! This recipe was SO good! My husband works out every day at the gym. While running on the treadmill, he spotted this recipe on the Food Network. He immediately looked it up online when he got home that day. It only made 4 servings and I was very disappointed that we had no leftovers for the next day:( Next time I make this, we'll double the recipe! It seriously tasted like something you could order from a fancy Italian restaurant. Enough rambling, here's the recipe:

Italian Baked Chicken & Pastina- by Giada De Laurentiis

1 cup small pasta (we used elbow macaroni)
cooking spray
1/2 cup cubed chicken breast
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parsley
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain. Meanwhile cook chicken in sprayed skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through. Put chicken mixture into bowl and add drained, cooked pasta. Add canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Beef & Mozzarella Bake

This recipe is another one I found on the Campbell's Soup website. It was a huge hit at our house. Grace even enjoyed it! Kevin and I both thought it tasted similar to the lasagna flavored Hamburger Helper, just better. It was really easy to make too!

Beef & Mozzarella Bake

1 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 1/4 Cups spaghetti sauce of your choice
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 1/4 Cups water
2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
3 Cups medium shell-shaped pasta, cooked and drained (you can substitute other types of pasta, like rotini or penne).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook beef, basil, black pepper and garlic powder over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring frequently to break up meat. Pour off any fat.

Stir the sauce, soup, water and 1 cup of cheese into skillet. Stir in the pasta and coat with the sauce mixture. Spoon into 2 quart shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbling. Serves 6.

Next time we try this, we're going to add some fresh chopped onion to the meat mixture...just for a little more flavor.

Hearty Chicken & Noodle Casserole

We tried this recipe last night that I got off the Campbell's Soup website. Everyone really liked it. The Parmesan cheese makes it taste a little like Alfredo sauce. Anyway, good stuff!

Hearty Chicken & Noodle Casserole

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup Milk
1 cup Frozen Mixed Vegetables
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 cups egg noodles, cooked and drained
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Stir soup, milk, veggies, chicken, noodles, Parmesan cheese and pepper (we added a little bit of Cheddar cheese to this mix) in a 1 1/2-quart casserole dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until the chicken mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the chicken mixture. Top with the Cheddar cheese. Enjoy!

More Hair Bow Pics

Here are some pictures of the various things we've done with the 4th of July hair bow. They are so easy and so fun to make!