Chicken Pot Pie Soup

As my skin and sinuses can attest, winter is definitely upon us!  However, the weather is actually pretty nice right now!  Back when I made this soup, it was realllllly cold out and boy, did it hit the spot!  It gives you the yummy taste of chicken pot pie, but without the hassle. You can literally throw this together and be ready to eat in less than 1/2 hr!  Take THAT, Rachael Ray!

You will need:

1 1/2 Lbs. Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
1/2 Stick REAL Butter
2 Cloves Garlic
2 Carrots (approx 1C baby carrots)
2 Stalks Celery
2 Small Potatoes
1 Onion
1C Cream
4C Chicken Stock (I only had Turkey Stock and Chicken Bone Broth and they worked fine)
1/4C Flour
1/2t Curry Powder
1/2t Oregano
1/2t Thyme
Pinch of Tarragon
Pinch of Dill
Salt and Pepper to taste

Start by setting a pot of water to boil.  Add chicken and cook until done.

When done, remove chicken to cool, then dice into bite-sized pieces.

 While that's cooking, chop up all of your veggies.

Melt your butter in your pot and add all veggies except for the garlic.

If you add it now, it's likely to burn. Cook over medium heat until

your carrots, onion and celery are soft.

Now you can add in your garlic and spices.  Stir. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes.

Add your 1/4C flour now.

Stir well to coat the flour with the butter that is in the pan.  Cook for a few minutes to get the raw taste out of the flour.

 Add in your chicken stock.

Add in diced chicken.  At this point, you will have something like this.  Bring to just shy of a boil.  You don't really need to let it cook for long unless you need more time for your potatoes to soften.

Remove from heat and add in your cream.

Salt and pepper to taste.  Ladle into a bowl and enjoy!

Notes:

This nourishing soup was so tasty, so rich, so yummmmmy!  I'm craving it right now!  It really did taste like chicken pot pie!  The only thing I might do different next time is to use some arrowroot or xantham gum to thicken as the soup wasn't quite as thick as I would have liked.  Another option is to add peas and/or mushrooms, but that just didn't sound good to me at the time.  I don't like mushy peas. I'm weird like that.  If you don't spend $7 on the chicken thighs like my husband did!*@#*!!, it's actually very economical.
Recipe adapted from The Frickin Chicken.

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Easy Chicken Marsala

Today I'm going to show you how to make one of my hubby's favorite meals, chicken marsala.  I have no clue if this is traditional or what.   I winged it a long time ago, we liked it, so we kept doing it this way.  Here's what you'll need:

Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless (mine are about 1 1/3#)
Small pack of Mushrooms, diced
3T Butter
3T Olive Oil
1/2 Medium Onion, diced
1C Flour + 2T
1t Salt
1/4t Pepper
2t Garlic Powder
1/4-1/2C Marsala Cooking Wine (mine's really cheap and it works great)
1/4-1/2C Cream
2C Homemade Chicken Stock (forgot to put in picture)

Before getting your hands all chicken-y, pour your 

flour, salt and garlic powder in a shallow dish.

Mix with a fork and set aside.

Place a chicken breast in a gallon baggie and close the slider.

Man, look at the size of that baby!  This must've been the Dolly Parton 

of all chickens!  Hubba Hubba!  Har de har har!

Using the flat side of your meat mallet, pound the breast thin. 

See how grody and dull my meat mallet is?  

That's because I washed it in the dishwasher.

Apparently, you're not supposed to do that.  No one told me.

I usually pound the hell outta mine, taking out my aggressions,

before I notice I've smashed it perhaps a little too much. If you do

this, it may fall apart on you a bit.  That's okay, you can just take

those small pieces and make 'nuggets' out of them for the kids.

To make things easier on me, I just cut mine into quarters.  

Now, let's get our pan ready.  In a large pan (mine is at least 14", maybe even 16"),

place your butter and olive oil over medium/low heat.  The recipe above calls for

3T of each butter and oil.  As you can see below, I used 4 of each and it was a little

too much, so please follow the recipe.  I've learned recently that you really shouldn't 

heat up Olive Oil or it loses its nutritional value.  But I figured even EVOO that has

lost nutritional value is better than using vegetable oil that had none to begin with.

Had I been thinking, I should have used coconut oil (the unscented/unflavored kind).

Using tongs, dredge your chicken pieces in the flour mixture 

one at a time.  Turn over to coat the other side.  Shake off well.

We're not trying to create a fried chicken crust so much as a little

dusting that will make our chicken crispy and yummy.

Place your chicken in the hot oil to fry.  Now, most recipes

you see will tell you to cook 4 minutes on each side.  Mine is 

NEVER done in 4 minutes.  Ever.  Mine usually takes about 10

on each side.  I suppose if you were to partially cook it, then

finish it in the sauce afterward, the 4 minutes would be fine.

We like ours good and crispy, like this!  This is when I turn mine over,

when it's golden brown.  Mmmmmm, mmmmmmmmmnnn! Turn over

and cook until the other side is done.  Do your 2nd batch as well, if you have one.

Set on paper towels to drain while you prepare your sauce.

 

See those yummy brown bits in the bottom of the pan?  Don't get 

rid of those!  We need those to help flavor our sauce.

Using the remaining butter/oil in the pan to saute,

throw in your diced onions and mushrooms.

Saute until brown and soft.  We like things browned around here.

Sprinkle in a couple of tablespoons of flour.  NOT from your earlier mixture,

please.  It's contaminated with raw chicken germs, remember?  

Yes, I'm a germaphobe.  Thank you.

Mix well and cook for a few minutes to get the raw taste out of the flour.

It will all clump together like this.  That's okay.

Working in small batches, add in your chicken broth, stirring constantly.

I do it slowly because this eliminates lumps.  Pour, stir, pour, stir and so on.

I'm actually using bone broth that is very nutrient-dense and healing.

I didn't make a tutorial on it because I made it quite by accident one day.

As you stir, scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze it.  This will

get up all those yummy browned bits and add tons of flavor to our sauce.

If your sauce is too thick, add some more stock (or even water).

Let your pan sauce come to a simmer. It will thicken up when it simmers

Your pan sauce will look something like this when it thickens.

Add in 1/4-1/2C of your marsala now.  Taste it and see if you need

more.  It's all based on how much you like.

Now, some people add the chicken back in at this point and turn the heat to low.

For demonstration purposes, I did, but I usually don't because

it's a bunch of switching stuff around.  If you par-cooked your chicken

earlier, you would need to do this.  At this point, I would cover it with

a lid and let it simmer until the chicken is fork-tender.  I've done both ways.

Just depends on what I'm in the mood for and how much other stuff I 

want to cook while the chicken takes care of itself.  The longer you let it

go, the more concentrated the sauce will get.  Keep an eye on it.

I totally forgot to take a picture of the next part, but at this point,

you would remove the chicken to a plate, take the pan off the heat,

and add in 1/4-1/2C of heavy cream.  Just to taste.  Mix well and

pour over your chicken and whatever else you are serving.  In this case,

my hubby made FAKE mashed potatoes from a box that I refused to eat, LOL!

Blech!  We did have a veggie, but didn't have it ready yet.  Anyway,

you get the idea.  I always salt/pepper to taste afterward on meals like this

because pan sauces can become quite salty after they reduce, 

especially if using store-bought stock. Don't waste your money on it.

Notes:
I titled the post as 'easy', which it is.  However, this can be a bit time-consuming depending on how much you make because you have to cook it in batches.  The end product is worth it though!  I made this whole batch of chicken marsala (8 pieces/2pcs per serving) for about $5.00 (including the sauce, but excluding the fake potatoes) and it fed 3 people.  It should have fed four, but my husband ate enough for two people, lol.  The chicken only cost $3.31 and there was 1 1/3 pounds in there!  Those chicken breasts were huge... about 2/3Lb (10 1/2oz) each!  Using homemade stock really helps to save on money and is very good for you.  Give it a try sometime and let me know what you think!

Homemade Hamburger Helper!

Or as the HyVee version is called...Panburger Pal or something goofy like that.  Because I was so swamped and so tired before/during/after our huge garage sale, I found myself needing to make things that are quick.  My feet were just so tired.  I came up with this and we all really liked it!  Give it a try and let me know what you think!  The stars of the show are:

The milk and water forgot to show up to the earlier scheduled photo shoot!  Drama Queens!

Ingredients:

1/2 - 1Lb Ground Beef  (I used 3/4# because that's what we had on hand.  I don't like a ton anyway)

2C uncooked Pasta

1/2 Med. Onion, diced

1C Milk

1 1/2C Hot Water

1 1/2C (or 1 Can) Cream of (any kind) Soup

2-3T Sour Cream

Garlic Powder

Lawry's Seasoning Salt

Black Pepper

Salt to taste

I started by chopping my onion. I always chop extra to put 

in a container to use over the next few days.  For some people, 

on busy days, this can sometimes be the deciding factor between

making something from scratch or ordering out!  I say do it now!

And don't throw away those ends!  

Throw them in your stock bag for later!  By the way, I highly suggest

not adding the celery leaves to the bag.  They look really gross and slimy.

Back to the recipe.  Because I knew my son would not tolerate a

bunch of raw/half-cooked onions, I decided to throw them in with

the ground beef at the very beginning. I also seasoned my beef as

normal at this time.  For me, this includes garlic powder, Lawry's

and ground pepper.

Once well-browned, add in 1 1/4C hot water.

Then dump in 1C Milk.  Any kind will do. I just happened 

to have whole milk leftover from making pudding.

Next, add in your can of cream of (any kind) of soup.  OR.......

you could make this fabulous recipe for Cream of Anything Soup

on a day when you have more time.  TRUST ME!  It's worth it!

Okay, let's not talk about how gross this looks, LOL! 

Mix thoroughly and add in your 2C of pasta.  I used Penne Rigate.

Mix well and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Sounds just

like Hamburger Helper, no?  Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer

and cook as long as your pasta directions say to, stirring occasionally.

The Penne took about 12 minutes.  If you're using

macaroni, it may only take about 8 minutes, so read the label.

After the time is up, check your pasta to see if it's al dente.  If not,

cook a little longer, checking periodically.  Remove from heat and

stir in 2-3T Sour Cream, depending on taste.  Give it a taste

and add some salt and pepper as desired.  I found that because I used

homemade soup, I needed to add about 1/8t of salt.  Set aside 5 minutes to thicken.

 Serve up with a quick salad with some homemade 

croutons and a homemade roll and you're ready to go. 

Note: this was my hubby's plate.  He asked me where the

rest of the dressing was?!  I told him it was my 'beauty shot', so 

I couldn't let the whole world know think you're a total

salad dressing glutton, now, could I?  LOL!  

(Yet another test to see if he's really reading this.  Love you, honey!

He's not reading it, trust me)

Notes:

This was reallllly yummy!  My husband and son horked it down!  It tasted like Hamburger Helper, but better because it wasn't so engulfed in sodium!  I actually do like the flavor of Hamburger Helper, but I can't really enjoy it because of all the salt. Maybe I'm just weird. I have not looked up the actual numbers, but if I had to guess, I'd say HH has probably 90% more sodium! Update: I was wrong.  It's 84% more! I checked!  Be prepared to be shocked!  

Sodium in Homemade:

Beef      225mg

Pasta         0mg

Milk       120mg

Milk in (homemade soup)   90mg

Water  0mg

Broth in soup    0mg  (I didn't salt mine, but I suppose there could be some residual salt from when the chicken was cooked, but I have no way of knowing that number.  I always go easy on salt)

Butter (unsalted)      0mg

Onion       0mg

Sour Cream   0mg

Salt added at the end (maybe 1/8t for the whole batch)  287mg 

Total sodium in whole batch:  722mg, so 120mg per serving!  That's great!  (Of course, some people might salt theirs after it comes to the table.  That's just a matter of taste that I cannot account for)

Sodium in store bought:

Beef    225mg

Pasta   0mg

Milk  120mg

Water  0mg

Seasoning Packet 4150mg!!!!!!

Total sodium in whole batch: 4495mg, or 899mg per serving!!!  That's 50% of your daily allowance right there, and that's if you're not on a salt-restricted diet. I noticed the box said it made 5 servings, not 6.  I added an extra 1/3C of pasta than the HH has in theirs, so mine actually made 6 servings.  (In case you're wondering why I used differing serving amounts for each)  You can eat a whole batch of mine and get less sodium than in ONE serving of HH.  Crazy!

I had not made this in the past because I wasn't certain I could make it for less than HH costs.   Let's compare!

The whole batch

3/4Lb Ground Beef   $1.77

1 1/2C Homemade Soup  18c

1C Milk (Aldi)     12c

1 1/2C Water    -0-

2C Pasta     23c

Spices         maybe 2c

1/2 Onion (Aldi)   7c

3T Sour Cream (Aldi)  11c

Total:          $2.50 for six servings!  Not bad!

 The whole batch of store bought Hamburger Helper:

Hamburger Helper (let's use Stroganoff since this is the closest)   $1.79

3/4Lb Ground Beef   $1.77

2C Milk 24c

1C Water -0-

Total:       $3.80 for six servings.  Costs 50% more!

For just the products that would make up what comes in a box of HH:

1 1/2C Homemade Soup (since I cannot make a packet of powder)   18c

2C Pasta (Aldi)   23c

Spices    2c

1/2 Onion (which is technically optional)  7c

3T Sour Cream (also optional)    11c

Total:   .61 CENTS!

Store bought HH:  1.79.  That's 3 times as much as it cost me to make 'the box' at home.

Yessss!  I always thought I could never make it as cheap as HH costs, but I really can!  And it tasted so much better!  I just can't believe how much sodium the food companies put into the food today to make up for flavor from not using real ingredients.  Try some today and let me know what you think!  (Please try the homemade soup recipe.  you'll be glad you did!)

This was actually very quick to put together.  Had I had my beef precooked and frozen like I often do, it would have taken me about 15 minutes from start to finish.  As is, it took me just over 20 minutes.  I'd say that's pretty darn quick for a good, homemade dinner. 

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Mmmmmm, Pot Roast!

I bought this big package of Arm Roast because it was almost as cheap as hamburger.  That's been my goal lately, to have all meat purchased cost about what hamburger does (or less).  Here's what you'll need:

Ingredients:
{Part One}
2t Dried Thyme
2t Salt
1t Pepper
1t Garlic Powder
1t Onion Powder
Olive Oil
Roast (Mine is just under 4 Lbs)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{Part Two}
2C Beef Broth
15oz Can Diced Tomatoes (or 2 fresh)
One Onion, roughly chopped
10 Mushrooms, diced (I didn't have any)
5 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Stalks Celery, chopped
1 Bay Leaf
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{Part Three}
Carrots
Potatoes

Okay, this recipe kinda goes in three stages.

We'll start with part one, naturally.

Mix thyme, salt, pepper, garlic powder and

onion powder together in a small bowl.

Sprinkle over your roast on all sides.  I do this in the sink to save cleanup.

Then I give it a good rub-in.  See my nails?  I had to cut them all

off.  They do this.  They get nice and long and finally look pretty,

then they crack and peel and I have to cut them, boo hoo.  Like

you really care about my nails.  We're talking pot roast here...

Drizzle some oil in a large pan.  Or in my case, glug, glug some oil

while you're trying to take a picture, then end up having to pour some out.

When oil is hot, slap your roast in the pan to sear it.

You may have to add a little more oil when you turn it over 

as the spices give it a tendency to stick a bit.  I make sure to 

sear the sides a bit, too.

Look at those babies sizzle!  Yummo!

When done searing, transfer them to a roasting pan. 

Okay, on to part two.

If you didn't chop your veggies while your roast was searing, 

do that now.  I didn't want to walk away and end up with burned roast!

Chop your onion into large chunks.

Mince your garlic cloves finely.  Not finally, finely.  Har de har.

If you have a can of tomatoes, pour that over the roast.  If not,

you can cut up and de-seed two tomatoes like I did.  No, I

do not normally put my hand on the blade of the knife, but I 

didn't have my little helper today, so I had to hold the knife

in order to take a picture.  The selfless things I do for you readers!

(All three of you)

Before I chop my celery, I like to take a knife and peel back some

of the stringy outer portion.  I don't like string.  Buh-bye!

Chop into larger-than-you'd-normally-like chunks.

Make sure they're very uneven like mine.

Gordon Ramsey would be calling me a stupid cow right now, lol.

 Throw it all in a bowl and give it a stir.  Or maybe you were smart

and just poured all the stuff in the roaster as you were cutting them.

Before you forget, take your waste parts of your veggies

and throw into your freezer bag for future stock-making.

Add your beef broth.  To your veggies, not the stock bag.

Dump it all in the roasting pan, then push it off the meat into

the little crevices.  If it stays on top of the meat, the covered

portion will not brown well.  It's true.  I've tried that.

Then tuck your bay leaf in there.  Or in my case,  10-year-old

crumpled partial parts of leaves that I'm wondering if I'll be

able to find to fish out later.  Don't worry, someone will find it.

Pop the lid on and throw in a preheated 275 oven for 5 or 6 hours.

1 Hour before you plan on eating, cut your potatoes in half and

peel/trim your carrots.  I'm using baby carrots, so I skipped that part.

I like to do like my grandpa did and put some salt on the bottom,

but then it occurred to me that that isn't a dry pan with just a bunch

of fat in the bottom to caramelize them, so this was stupid.  Ignore that.

Add your potatoes to the pan.  I usually put them all around the beef,

tucking them in little crevices. Not today, people.  NOT today!  

Read on as to why, then wonder 

why you ever came here in the first place.

Okay, brace yourself because the next part is really weird because,

well, I'm weird I suppose.  I have always hated carrots cooked in

with my roast.  I usually prepare them separately because everything
ends up tasting like carrots to me.  Because this

recipe said to put them in one hour before the roast was done, I 

thought maybe I'd have a chance at a NON carrot-infused roast.

I built a dam with my potatoes, then added my carrots, hoping

it will keep them far enough away to not contaminate  flavor

my roast with their carroty grossness  goodness.
Get out while you can, people.  Do not look back!

After an hour, I took out the meat and veggies and put them on a platter.

I then took my roaster pan and put it on a burner on the stove.
I turned it to medium high and brought the veggies/drippings to a boil.

I then mixed 2 heaping tablespoons of starch and
about 1/2C cold water together.

Dumped it in...

I was mixing it together and found my bay leaf.  Throw that out.

Bring back up to a boil and voila!  You have gravy, people!!

Slather that on top of a big hunk 'o roast and you have yourself
what we like to call supper in these parts!

 The next day, you can have this for lunch!  A roast beef gravy burger!

Notes:

This was so yummy!  I really like the sauce it made, even though I was a little trepidatious about adding

tomatoes.  I was picturing something like the gross canned vegetable stock taste.  Not at all!  It was rich and not overly salty at all, with a really good flavor.  I am definitely making this again!  My husband ate so much that we only have enough left for a couple days' lunches max!!  

I know some of you may be saying....but it's summer...why heat up the house?  Wellllll, it was only at 275F and I didn't notice any difference in the house, but I have a confession while we're talking brass tacks.  I really do not like a lot of crock pot food.  There, I said it, she said, cringing.  I sometimes feel that it all turns to one big mushy mess.  Don't get me wrong.  I do occasionally use my crockpot and have had some wonderful meals out of it.  But roast is not my fave in there.  I really like a nice, brown crusty texture that you just can't get with a crock.  Please don't send me hate mail.  I really like you.  Going to stick my head in the toilet now....

Hey!  Guess what?!  The carrots did not cross their potato border, invading the precious land of roast beef!  Hallelujah!  I eat the roasted carrots, I do.  I just don't want my roast tasting like them.  'Nuff said.  Moving on...

Maybe you'll try this yourself and let me know what you think.  I love to hear your comments.  Unless they're nasty.  Then, go away.  (juusssst kiddding!)

Because I would need to add 4 more potatoes and 1/2 bag of carrots to make this into 8 servings, that would bring the grand total up to $14.40 for this whole huge meal, which is 1.80 per healthy HUGE plate full!
And here's what you get for that ONE serving...Each person gets almost a HALF POUND of meat (precooked weight), one potato, 12 baby carrots, and a boatload of gravy all for $1.80 a serving! (I mean, really!  That's more like two servings!) That is insanely cheap.  Unless you're my husband who ate three servings worth, then it came to $5.40 for him.  But even so, that's a heckuva lot cheaper than you can get dining out!  And he had a LOT more than they'd serve.  I'm wondering if he'll be alive in the morning.  Going to see if his health insurance policy is up to date...

Recipe courtesy of For the Love of Cooking

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