Chicken Veggie and Kale Soup~Paleo friendly

Ive been thinking about making this for a couple of days now, but I just got around to it today!! I love when you have a thought of something in your mind and it comes to life in a bowl!! There are different varieties you can make of this soup but it is certainly tasty and is a Paleo friendly recipe!!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and its also great because you can make it and snack on it for a couple  days!!! And a side note for this recipe, I made it with basil chicken meatballs that I had, but you can just used chicken breasts and it will be just as delicious!!

1 1/2 lbs of chicken (I used basil chicken meatballs but boneless breasts are fine or ground chicken or turkey. Whatever you have available
3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
1 med onion, diced
3 small carrots, diced
1 small bell pepper, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced (or less if your scerd)
3 cups of fresh kale, chopped
8 cups of chicken stock, or you could use water and salt it but stock adds more flavor

In a large stock pot saute sweet potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, and bell pepper  with coconut oil or olive oil for about 10 min. Add stock and chicken and cook until chicken is cooked all the way through. Add kale and simmer for 5 minutes. Drizzle with fresh squeezed lemon juice and 700 dashes of hot sauce....cuz that's what I did!!

Now if you were not following a paleo lifestyle you could add rice to this soup if you wanted, you would just add it at the same time as the chicken!!

Spinach & Swiss Stuffed Chicken Breasts w/ Marinara and Pasta

This was another one of those shot in the dark recipes. I used what I had available. I usually make marinara in big batches and freeze it so I have it on hand. This chicken actually came out sooooooo tender just by cooking it in the sauce!! I must say I was pleasantly surprised!!

We really enjoyed this meal....I hope you will too!!

4 lg boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced in half long ways and pounded thin (so it looks like one becomes two)
4 cups marinara
4 cups fresh spinach
8 slices swiss cheese, or whatever kind you want
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb of cooked pasta of your choice

Once chicken is pounded thin, place your slice of cheese and 1/2 cup spinach. Then roll chicken over to cover spinach and cheese, then fold each side over to close in spinach and cheese. Finally continue rolling chicken the rest of the way. You can insert toothpick to hold together. Continue with remaining chicken breasts. Once you have completed that, heat a large saute pan and add about 2 T of olive oil. Brown chicken breasts on all sides. Once that is done add marinara sauce. While these are cooking you can boil your pasta. The chicken should simmer on medium for about 20 minutes. Serve with sauce over pasta.

Chicken Thigh, Kale, and Marinara topped Whole Wheat Pasta

This.......well this was just one of those nights. You know the night I'm talking about....where you defrosted chicken thighs.....but really had no plan for them. This was that night!! I looked in the frig and I saw pizza dough  and marinara sauce left over from the night before,  and half a bag of kale. So....I thought....I'll make bread sticks out of the dough and cook the chicken thighs in the sauce. Then for some greens I will throw in the kale!! And wha la.....a dish is born!!

6 Chicken thighs
3 cups marinara sauce
4 cloves garlic, grated on micro plane
2 cups kale
3 T olive oil
1 med onion diced

In a very large dutch oven heat olive oil. Add chicken thighs and brown on both sides. Add onion and saute while chicken is browning. Add marinara and simmer for about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. At the last 5 minutes add kale and grated garlic. Check for seasoning, but mine needed not salt because of the flavor in the marinara sauce. Serve over pasta and with bread sticks or garlic bread.

Chicken Pad Thai

This dish is AMAZING!! It is so fresh and light and delicious but filling. It is a perfect summer meal. I could literally make it and eat it everyday for lunch!! Making this dish is the first time I have used tamarind paste and who knew that stuff was sooo tasty??

It's interesting that tamarind is used in Hispanic and Asian cooking. My hubby grew up in El Salvador and he remembers his grandma making juice out of the tamarind and also just eating it raw. So on our hunt for tamarind paste (which we found at our local Asian market) we also visited one of our local Hispanic markets and bought some whole tamarind pieces so we could taste that too. Not gonna lie....it was pretty yummy!!

approx. 8 oz  rice noodles

 4 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked

1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly

1 stalk celery, sliced thinly

3 spring onions, sliced thinly

2 to 3 cups bean sprouts

1 cup fresh cilantro, lightly chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil, lightly chopped

1/3 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts, lightly chopped

DRESSING:

1/2 cup hot water

1 +3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste

1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar

1/4 cup fish sauce

1-2 Tbsp. chili sauce

 4 cloves garlic, minced

1 thumb-size piece ginger, minced

Cook noodles according to package direction. Drain and cool. In a large bowl place all ingredients.  Make dressing and pour over your noodle mixture. Toss until everything is coated in dressing. Serve.

Chicken Pot Pie

If you look up comfort food in the dictionary there is a picture of chicken pot pie. Seriously!! It is definitely on the comfort food top ten list, along with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, meatloaf, mac and cheese, egg rolls......ok....well maybe not egg rolls......but they are good!!

I used the pie crust recipe that I posted with the Blueberry Pie you can find it here in case you missed it. This was probably the best pie crust I've ever made!! I will use it again and again!!
I put so much love into this pot pie and there were just layers and layers of flavory goodness!!

I roasted my veggies in the oven before mixing it with my roux that I added sage to. I also used mini potatoes whole. But I must confess it wasn't all fresh veggies....I used frozen corn, peas and pearl onions. It's just so much easier to add them frozen at the last minute before pouring into your pie dish and baking.

2 whole bone in chicken breasts (or precooked rotisserie chicken or 2 boneless chicken breasts)
1 lb mini potatoes
4 carrots, diced in 1" pieces
1 pkg frozen pearl onions
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen carrots
6 fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbls flour
3 Tbls butter
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 tsp nutmeg
3 fresh sage leaves, minced fine
Pie crust

Place chicken breasts on baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper and place in oven on 400 and roast until cooked through. Cool chicken for 10 minutes then remove from bone and dice in 1" pieces. Place whole potatoes and diced carrots on baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast on 400 til veggies are tender. In a large sauce pan melt 3 Tbls of butter, once butter is melted add flour. Whisk together and let 'fry' for 1-2 minutes. Then add milk, chicken stock, salt and pepper to task, sage leaves and nutmeg. Allow sauce to simmer and thicken for about 10 minutes. Taste to make sure you salt levels are good. Mix in chicken and all veggies. Once everything is coated in the sauce pour into pie plate. Top with pie crust and shape it to look pretty. Bake until golden brown on top. About 30 minutes.

Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry

Well not much to say about this little number. This is a regular dish that I make at my house. I usually try to make some homemade naan when I make this dish.....but this time all I had was pita!! Throwing in the sweet potatoes was just an idea I had that worked well!!

Then I just make some white rice and a veggie and serve the curry chicken over the rice. Good stuff and so is homemade naan!!

     3 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon paprika

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root

1/2 teaspoon white sugar

salt to taste

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup plain yogurt

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

 

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until lightly browned. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sugar and salt. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove bay leaf, and stir in lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Simmer 5 more minutes.

Jerk Chicken with a Chipotle Twist

Good stuff!! Jam packed full of flavor and the spices.....well...they are wonderful!! I served this with cilantro rice and the jicama apple slaw which I posted the recipe for yesterday. What an amazing dinner!! You should definitely marinate this for at least 6 hours, makes a huge difference in the flavor that absorbs into the meat!!

I actually have only made jerk chicken once before and it was literally like 8 years ago and that recipe was a dry rub recipe. I think this recipe was better because it was a liquid marinade and I think it was sooo flavorful!! Of course I changed things up to make it my own!! Instead of jalapenos or scotch bonnet like most recipes called for I used chipotle (jalapeno) peppers which created a lovely smokey spice. Good idea!!

2 chipotle peppers, minced
2 T chipotle pepper sauce (from can)
1 medium onion, rough chopped
8 cloves garlic, rough chopped
3 green onions, cut into 6 pieces each
1 T allspice
1 T thyme
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 T honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup gf soy sauce or coconut aminos
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup orange juice
zest of one orange
1 lime zested and juiced
3 lbs chicken

Put all ingredients except chicken into blender and puree until all spices are well blended. Place chicken in a zip loc bag and pour sauce over it. Marinate for minimum 6 hrs and up to 24 hrs. Bake or bbq to cook.

Chinese Mango Chicken

Ok....first of all I would like to apologize for my absence! I have been sick....very sick. Originally I got a cold, I was sneezing like every five seconds and crying out of one eye etc. I had that for like a week and then it went away. Well my husbands cold turned into pneumonia for him and after a week of a clean bill of health for me......I got we he had.....with a vengeance. :/ So I have been battling that now for a week and it has been just super fantastically awesome. Needless to say....I'm a little behind on my blog posts. ;)

With that said..........Who doesn't love Chinese food??? Not it!! I love Chinese food and I am always looking for more authentic ways to make it!! I definitely found a way!! This was sooooo good I just  love the sweet and salty tastes mixed together!! Have you ever eaten Doritos and peanut m&m's at the same time? If not you should try it!! Ok....that was random....but I typed sweet and salty and it took be back in time to the day I first tried that!!

Any who.....my neighbor Marcie had gone on this trip to Los Angeles and posted a picture of mango chicken that she ordered at a Chinese food restaurant. She said it was the best thing she ever tasted. Well I don't know about any other foodies out there.....but when someone says those words.....for me....its like a challenge. So I started researching recipes, then came up with this....

3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, sliced into bite sized pieces
2 Fresh Mangoes, peeled and sliced
1 Small Onion, chopped into 1" cubes
6 Green Onions, sliced diagonally
1/2 of a Red Bell Pepper, cut into 1" squares
1/2 of a Yellow Bell Pepper, cut into 1" squares
1/2 cup Chopped Cilantro
4-8 Thai Dried Red Chilies
2″ Piece of Fresh Ginger, peeled and grated on microplane
2 Tbsp Chinese Rice Wine
2 Tbsp Chinese Rice Vinegar
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tsp Sesame Oil
2 Tsp Cornstarch
3 Cloves Freshly Grated Garlic
1/2 Cup Sugar (I used xylitol)
1/2 cup chicken stock/broth
1 Cup Tempura Flour + enough water to make a slightly stiff batter
Vegetable Oil for deep frying
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

1. Mix the Tempura Flour with water in a bowl to form a slightly stiff batter.
2. Add the chicken pieces and ensure all the pieces are coated with the batter.

3. Heat the vegetable oil for deep frying in a large pan or deep fat fryer. When the oil is hot, add the chicken pieces in small batches and fry until golden brown. Remove the chicken pieces and drain on kitchen towels. Set aside.
4. Put the Soy Sauce, Rice Wine, Rice Vinegar, Sugar, Sesame Oil, Chicken Broth, Fresh Grated Garlic and Corn Starch into a bowl and mix well.
5. Pour the 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil into a wok and place over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the White Onion, Red and Yellow Peppers and Ginger. Fry for 3 minutes.
6. Add the sauce mixture from the bowl and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 or 3 minutes, adding a little extra water if necessary.
7. Add the Chicken pieces, Green Onions and Mango. Continue cooking for about 3 minutes, stirring well. Stir in Cilantro and serve immediately.



Teriyaki Chicken Burgers

Sometimes when I'm laying in bed at night, I get ideas of things I want to try and make and this burger is one of those ideas that came to life!! I'm just soooooo happy about it too!! There is just something about having an idea.....a vision if you will......and then seeing that vision come true!! *wiping tears* *sniff sniff*

lol....ok enough of the mushy stuff....lets talk burgers!! Oh.....btw....I made the english muffins here for these and you can either use those or use a bun for these burgers, whichever you like!!

Also, I ground down 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts for these, because I didn't have any ground chicken on hand. You could substitute ground turkey if you wanted to. I know I've mentioned this before, but by grinding your own, you do know exactly what parts of the chicken are in your ground chicken!! ;)

For the Burgers:
1 1/2 to 2 lbs of ground chicken or turkey
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, fresh or canned
1/2 cup red onion, diced finely
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 T teriyaki sauce (I made my own, recipe to follow)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, grated on micro plane
1 tsp freshly grated ginger

For the teriyaki sauce:
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/4 cup xylitol)
1/4 cup crushed pineapple (optional)
2 cloves freshly grated garlic
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger

Teriyaki Mayo Sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 T teriyaki sauce

Assembly:
1 tomato, sliced thin
6 pieces romaine lettuce
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
6 slices swiss cheese
6 english muffins or roll/buns of your choice

For the burgers:

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix all burger ingredients in a large bowl and form into 6 burgers. Bake on baking sheet for 20 minutes. During the last minute place swiss cheese slices on burgers to melt.

For the sauce:

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to boil. Then lower heat to medium and let simmer until reduced and thickened.

For mayo:
Stir mayo and teriyaki sauce together.

Assembly:
Spread mayo mixture on bun, then burger patty, lettuce, tomato, onion, and top with bun. Eat!!

Nectarine, Raspberry and Chicken Salad w/ Citrus Vinaigrette

*Doing a happy dance* Isn't this gorgeous????? I just love the colors!! I had some leftover chicken from last night (see previous recipe) and I had seen a recipe that was a nectarine chicken salad, but it called for mayonnaise and mixing it all together and that just didn't sound appealing to me today. Soooooo.....I decided to go with the concept, but make it my own. Here is what I came up with and the citrus vinaigrette was a bright added touch!!

Now, tattoo man being my food critic, said he didn't love the celery. He thought I should have used carrots instead. But...me....I thought the celery was great!! So....you can take it or leave it.....the real stars of this salad are the fruit, chicken and dressing as far as I'm concerned!!

Serves 2

1 1/2 cups of diced cooked chicken (I used leftovers, but you can cook 2 boneless skinless breasts)
1 nectarine, cut into 1" pieces
4 cups romaine lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
2 T sliced red onion
1 celery stalk, diced
1/4 cup almonds, chopped or sliced
1/2 cup fresh raspberries

First place lettuce in a bowl, then top with chicken, onion, nectarine, raspberries, celery and almonds. Pour vinaigrette over top and serve!!



Vinaigrette
2 oranges juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp dried herbs from pantry (anything that sounds good)
1/2 tsp salt
1 clove grated garlic
2 tsp honey

Put all ingredients in a container that has a good sealing lid and shake the snot out of it.

Chicken with Pistachio Cilantro Pesto

What can I say about this chicken.....except.....VERY GOOD!!! It's something different to do to chicken and it has a great flavor!! I was delighted as well that tattoo man enjoyed it very much and said it is a keeper to make again!! I love pesto.....but this one is lighter and brighter with the cilantro vs. the basil!! Try it....you will like it!!

You know what's funny that I thought of while typing this??? People either love or hate cilantro.....there seems to be no in between......weird....who hates cilantro???? Not me!!

1 cup raw unsalted pistachios (I actually used half pistachio's and half cashews)
2 cups (packed) fresh cilantro leaves
1 T fresh lemon juice plus juice of half of a lemon
3 garlic clove, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
4 large chicken breast halves with skin and ribs attached or 1 whole chicken cut up or 8 thighs

Preheat oven to 400°F. Toast nuts on baking sheet until golden, about 7 minutes. Transfer to processor. Maintain oven temperature. Add cilantro leaves, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, garlic, cardamom, and 3/4 teaspoon salt to processor. Using on/off turns, process until coarse paste forms. With machine running, gradually add 1/2 cup olive oil. Season with pepper.
Using fingers, gently loosen skin from 1 side of each chicken breast, forming pocket. Spread 1 tablespoon pesto evenly under skin of each. Then rub the pesto all over the tops of all the chicken. Sprinkle chicken generously with salt and pepper.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin side down. Cook until skin is dark golden, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken over and transfer skillet to oven. Roast chicken until cooked through, about 25 minutes.
Remove chicken from oven and drizzle remaining half of lemon juice over all chicken. Serve

Chicken w/Tomato & Tomatillo Salsa

This is going to be one of a several part series. I would tell you how many parts......but I just don't know yet!! So bear with me.......

Tonight I'm making chicken burritos for dinner, sounds easy enough right? Well........I like to be difficult...just ask my husband!! This salsa that I cooked the chicken in came out sooooo good I keep pausing my typing and going to take a bite!! :)

Anyways....back to my being difficult....I'm also making, homemade refried beans, homemade guacamole, and some sauteed bell peppers and onions to put in the burritos. Not to mention grating cheese and making a little cilantro and onion mixture!!

6-8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 roma tomatoes, seeded
5 tomatillo's washed
6 cloves of garlic, or less if that's too much for you, but I love garlic
1/2 of an onion
2 canned green chile's
1 chipotle pepper
1 T of chicken bouillon or just add salt to taste
1 qt of water

You can do this two ways. You can throw everything above in a large saucepan and cook it until the chicken is cooked through. Then remove chicken and add the sauce mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. OR you can put all the ingredients except the chicken in a pot and boil until the tomatoes are mush, then blend, then add chicken and cook until cooked through. Lastly, shred the chicken and add back to sauce. Whichever way floats your boat!!

EASY Chicken, Steak & Veggie Stir Fry

I just love love love when you just throw stuff together and make something delicious. It makes me feel fuzzy all over! :) This was one of those.......I'm really starving moments....I need something healthy, but it has to taste good meals. That didn't fit in the title or else I would have called it that!!

Sooooo.....I was digging around in the frig and found zucchini, mushrooms and cabbage. Plus I found leftover steak, I already had 2 defrosted chicken breasts so I figured I'd throw them both in and call it good. You don't have to use both, you could use one or the other. I'm only the boss in my kitchen.....not yours!!

Chicken, Steak & Veggie Stir Fry

2 chicken breast cut in chunks
3 oz of steak cut in chunks
2 zucchini's, cut in half then sliced
1/2 a head of cabbage
6 mushrooms sliced
1/2 onion, cut into wedges
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 T Chili garlic sauce (found on Asian isle)
2 cloves of garlic, grated

Heat pan until very hot, throw in chicken and steak (you can use either or, you don't have to use both) When they are cooked through add in all veggies. In a small bowl combine soy sauce, chili sauce and garlic. When veggies are cooked remove from heat and add sauce. You can serve this over rice if you'd like, but I ate it without.

Orange Chicken Spring Rolls

We have been addicted to spring rolls at our house lately. There is literally hundreds......no.....maybe thousands of ways to make these bad boys!! They are a great healthy food, fun to eat, and healthy too!!

We were having an episode of "Chopped" at our house one night and my oldest son found the recipe for this orange sauce, which is really delicious!! It tastes excellent with a crispy chicken, but was just as tasty with 'not' fried chicken.

You wrap these with Rice Paper wrapper and you put rice noodles inside them. I have found that most grocery stores sell the rice noodles, however not all sell the wrappers. I usually just visit my local Asian market to get both, because I found it to be the best price. But I do know that Cost Plus World market sells them too!!

Orange Chicken Spring Rolls

4 cups cooked chicken meat, I used boneless skinless chicken breasts
15 romaine lettuce leaves
1 large handful of washed cilantro
1 cup carrots cut in long thin strips
1/2 cup green onions diced
 orange sauce recipe here
1 pkg rice paper wrappers (square or round)
1 pkg rice noodles, wide or thin, I use wide

Most of your time will be spent in prep time, once everything is prepped you just roll them up and eat them!!!

Hydrate noodles according to package directions. I just boiled some water, turn it off and throw the noodles in for about 5-7 minutes. Then drain. Wash lettuce leaves and cut ends off, they should be about 5" long. Wash cilantro and carrots, then slice carrots. Wash and dice green onions. Prepare orange sauce while doing all the prep cutting. You could either cook the chicken according to the orange sauce recipe or you can just broil or boil it, depending on how healthified you wanna be.

Now its rolling time!! Have a pot or pan with really hot water at your assembly line. Dip your rice paper wrapper in the hot water and have a little water down on your clean prep surface. After dipping paper, be careful because it will stick to itself, lay flat on work surface. Start by putting one lettuce leaf in the center of the paper, top with about 5 carrots pieces, a couple springs of cilantro, about a tsp of green onions, about 1/4 cup of chicken, about a 1/2 cup of rice noodles and top with approx 1 T of orange sauce. Then roll up to look like an egg roll. You can serve immediately.

They are actually really easy to make and taste FABULOUS!!!

Alfredo Chicken Roll

Ahhhhhh.........Alfredo Chicken Roll.......brings back memories........it was many many years ago....the first Pampered Chef party I ever went to. The demonstrator made something similar, well the only similarities were the crescent rolls, chicken and garlic....lol. Anyways, I thought it was good, but I thought I could make something great!! So I came up with this, and......it WORKS!!

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped
1 cup marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, grated
3 green onions, chopped
6 mushrooms sliced
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 jar of Alfredo sauce
2 pkgs refrigerated crescent rolls

In a large frying pan cooked chopped chicken breasts. When almost done add in mushrooms and season mixture with salt and pepper. Add in remaining ingredients and stir until mixed well.

Open crescent rolls and separated each roll. On a round pizza pan or baking stone arrange crescent rolls to look like a 'sun' with the point part facing out of the pan and the wide edges over lapping each other on the pan. Press those wide edges together and flatten out to form a nice sized circular base for your chicken mixture. There should be an open center in the middle. Along the inner edge of the crescent roll sun, place your chicken mixture so it forms a circle as well. Now take the pointy edges of the dough and bring over the top of the chicken mixture to tuck into the center. Brush top with 1 beaten egg. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown and crescent roll dough is cooked completely.

Feel better chicken soup

Ok....so I know that there is probably really not healing qualities in chicken soup.....its still fun to make when there are sick people in the house!! Besides....with the amount of garlic I put in this bad boy......there's no way it couln't be good for you!! There must me hundreds of varieties of chicken soup and I enjoy hearing what people like to put in theirs!!
Here's mine:
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 stalks of celery, halved + 2 more, diced
2 carrots, halved, + 2 more, diced
1/2 an onion
4 large cloves of garlic + 5 more
4 T rice
dash of red chili flakes
chicken bouillon

Put first 5 ingredients in a pot and boil until chicken is cooked through. Then remove everything, reserving chicken, but throwing out carrots, celery and onion. Dice chicken in bite size pieces. Add diced chicken, diced celery, rice and carrots. Boil until rice is cooked, about 20 min, then using a microplane grate remaining garlic into soup. Chop a hand ful of cilantro and stir it in. Serve right away after adding garlic and cilantro. That way the garlic stays as fresh and raw as possible. It has a nice spicyness to it from the fresh garlic.

My take on a Chicken Corn Stoup....mmmmm!!

Ok the first thing I would like to say is.....this is a basic recipe of NOT exact measurements!! I make this stuff up as I go depending on what sounds good!! So I'm gonna give it my best shot trying to remember everything I put in there!! Good luck and may the force be with you.
On a side note....even my kids liked this soup!! That's always a bonus!! ;o)
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or chopped(depending on how many you are feeding)
1 container chicken broth
3/4 cup salsa (I used homemade that I had already)
2 cans corn
1 cup heavy cream, milk or sour cream
1/2 onion diced
1 can diced green chile's
1 cup grated cheese of your choice (cheddar, pepper jack, monterey jack)
cilantro
corn tortillas fried until crispy, then broken into pieces
Just cook the chicken and shred or chopped it. In a saucepan cook onions until translucent, I think I threw in a little butter! Add chicken broth, and corn. Now use your fabulous immulsion blender and blend it up a little. Next add in all the rest of the ingredients except the tortillas and cilantro. When cheese is melted serve. Top with broken tortillas and cilantro!! Yummy!!

Turkey/Chicken Salad

Since Thanksgiving is coming up, I thought we'd talk about leftovers!! Here is one of my favorite turkey leftover recipes!! I LOVE a good chicken salad so why not substitute leftover turkey!! If you notice, there is also a dinner roll in the picture. I got that recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks website....and oooohhhh man are those rolls good. I will put the recipe up so you can try them out!!

Another good thing you can make with your leftovers is Potato Soup out of the mashed potatoes, or stuffing patties....just take your leftover stuffing and shape it into a crab cake looking thing. Then fry on both sides or bake it and serve with a little leftover gravy!

Turkey/Chicken Salad

3-4 cups cooked turkey/chicken
1 cup chopped cashews
2 stalks celery chopped
3 green onions chopped
1 1/2 cups red seedless grapes
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash of fresh grated nutmeg
dash of salt

Mix everything together and serve on your favorite bread or over greens or avocado.

Here is the link to thepioneerwomancooks.com it will take you directly to the dinner rolls....which I highly recommend making. I made them on Wednesday and just refrigerated the dough until Friday, which is when I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for my family, and they worked out perfectly!!!

Enjoy and happy eating!!


http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/11/pw_dinner_rolls_-_no_kneading_required/