Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Now that it's Fall time...its a great time for soup! 

Ingredients:

5 cups water
3 chicken breasts
1 TBS chicken bouillon
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
2 cans cream of chicken
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups dry egg noodles

To thicken:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cold water

Bring water to a boil in large pot.  Add chicken, bouillon or base and stir until dissolved.  Cover and cook for 20 to 30 minutes until chicken is no longer pink in center.  (I skip this step and just use about 2 cups cooked and cubed chicken breasts.  Remove chicken and cut in small pieces.  Return to broth and add carrots, celery and onion.  Cover and cook until tender.  Add noodles and cook for 10 minutes or until noodles are tender.  Mix cream of chicken soup, evaporated milk and spices together and add to vegetables.  Stir in chicken.  Whisk flour and cold water together stirring until smooth.  Stir flour mixture into soup and cook until thickened. 

Easy Chicken Pot Pie Crumble

A neighbor made this for my family one time and it was SO DELICIOUS that it is now my favorite chicken pot pie recipe! This recipe can be found HERE

INGREDIENTS:

CHICKEN AND SAUCE:

• 1 ½ pounds chicken (about three medium-size chicken breasts)
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
• 3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced (about 1 cup)
• 2-3 stalks celery, chopped (about ½ cup)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• ½ cup flour
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup frozen peas

CRUMBLE TOPPING:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 6 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. To prepare the chicken, place the chicken and broth in a large Dutch oven or pot and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Cook the chicken until it is just done (don’t overcook or it will dry out) – about 10-12 minutes. Alternately, if you are planning in advance, you can place the chicken and broth in a slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 5 hours. Transfer the cooked chicken to a medium bowl. Pour the broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a liquid measuring cup and reserve. Return the pot to the stovetop (no need to wash if you used it to cook the chicken).
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Sprinkle the chilled butter pieces over the top of the flour. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Add the cream and stir until just combined. Crumble the mixture into irregularly shaped pieces onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the crumble topping until fragrant and starting to brown, about 15 minutes, tossing halfway through. Set aside.
3. For the filling, heat the olive oil in the now-empty pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 5 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, shred the chicken into small bite-size pieces. Transfer the cooked vegetables to the bowl with the chicken; set aside.
4. Over medium heat melt the butter in the empty pot. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the reserved chicken broth and milk. Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes, taking care not to burn the bottom. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Remove from the heat and stir the chicken, vegetables and peas into the sauce.
5. Pour the mixture into a 9×13 pan. Scatter the crumble topping evenly over the filling. Place the 9X13-inch pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until the topping is well browned, about 15-20 minutes. Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Easy Goulash

Easy Peasy pasta for the win!  I found the recipe HERE

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Two 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes (undrained)
• Two 15-oz. cans tomato sauce
• 3 cups water
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoons seasoned salt
• 16-oz. box elbow macaroni

Instructions:

1. In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, cook ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain grease. Add onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes, or until soft and fragrant.
2. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, seasoned salt and elbow macaroni to the pan. Mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low heat, cover pan and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until pasta is cooked through.
3. Remove from heat and serve immediately!

Easy Fish Tacos with Lime Crema

Fish tacos?  Yes!  My kids loved these and asked for more!  I found the recipe HERE

LIME CREMA:

• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• zest from half a lime
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

SLAW:

• 2 cups cabbage, shredded
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 green onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced

TACOS:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 pound white fish (eg. cod, snapper, talipia)
• 8 (6-inch) soft taco tortillas
• 1 avocado, sliced (optional)

Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta

We found this recipe and LOVE it!  It can be found HERE. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless, uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
• 8 oz cavatappi noodles (you can also use cellentani noodles or elbow macaroni)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 (8 oz) jar sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed, drained and chopped 
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp fresh chopped basil (or 2 Tbsp of basil in the squeeze tube or 1 tsp dried basil)
• 2-3 cup baby spinach

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add the chicken, noodles, broth and butter to the Instant Pot. Try to cover the noodles as much as possible with the liquid. Cover the pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to “sealing.” Set the manual pressure cook button to 3 minutes.
2. When the timer beeps let the pot sit for 5 more minutes (the display will start counting up). Move the valve to “venting.” If foam starts coming out move it back to sealing and wait a few minutes to try again. Once all the pressure is release, remove the lid.
3. Turn the pot to the saute function. Stir in the garlic powder, cream cheese and milk. There will seem to be a lot of liquid in the pot but don’t worry. Once the cream cheese is melted add in the Parmesan and stir until melted. Add in the sun dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil and finally the spinach. Stir until the spinach is cooked down.
4. Scoop the pasta onto plates and serve.