We have been so busy these past few weeks…my dad was up from
Florida, my cousins were up from North Carolina (who we haven’t seen in years),
and we are trying to fill our days with fun Fall activities like pumpkin picking,
hayrides and parades!
Today we decided to take Harper to our town’s Oktoberfest at
the local park. Hayrides, games, food
and Harper’s personal favorite: pumpkin painting! She carries her pumpkins and gourds around
the house like a prize! I made a yummy breakfast and knew I didn't want to cook
for the rest of the day—just family fun time, so I took out my
crock pot and
some leftover chicken soup from the freezer.
I put the soup in my crock pot (
using a liner, of course!) on high and
at the last minute I added some dumplings and let them cook up. DELISH.
My family would eat chicken pot pies until they were blue in the face,
but my loyalty is to chicken and dumplings (right, dad?).
This recipe is different than the
other recipes we've used
in the past. While the other recipe is
super quick and delish, it uses canned soup, broth and biscuits. Now, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that easy convenience
and it’s certainly yummy to eat, but once in a while you just need a home
cooked meal from scratch. This recipe certainly delivers there! I made the stock from chicken and veggies
from our local Amish Market and the dumplings are an easy mixture of pantry
staples. Don’t be scared of making
stock…it’s time consuming for sure, but SO SIMPLE. And really cost effective. Plus, you get to control the ingredients and
seasonings to fit your family’s needs--I go low salt for Joe’s high blood
pressure. I don’t use the chicken from my stock making in my soup. I find that it just gets way too dry and
chalky. I prefer to bake bone-in, skin-on
chicken breasts in the oven (seasoned with a little salt and pepper) and dice that
when cooled. It may seem wasteful, but
no one wants to eat dry chicken! But to be a bit more frugal, I will save my
chicken bones from oven roasters and make stock using two of them.
Homemade Chicken Stock
1 whole chicken
2 onions, halved
4 stalks of celery
3 carrots (or 1c small carrots)
A few cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
Pot herbs (rosemary, parsley, thyme, sage)
1 tbsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp whole peppercorns
Salt & pepper to taste
1.
Add all ingredients into a large stock pot. (I add the insides of the chicken, just make
sure to remove them from any bags or wrapping they may be in).
2.
Cover the ingredients by 1 inch with cold water.
(No more or it will dilute the flavor.)
3.
Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 6
hours.
4.
Drain stock into a large bowl or pot using
cheese cloth (or a clean dish towel works, too).
5.
**Now the stock is ready to be used in a soup OR
can be cooled and frozen at this point.**
To FREEZE: Allow to cool and store in containers.
To EAT: Thaw, reheat slowly over low heat in saucepan.
Homemade Chicken Soup
Chicken Stock (about 2 quarts*)
3 stalks of celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 cup pasta, uncooked
Salt and pepper to taste
1.
Heat oil in a large pot. Add diced carrots, followed by diced celery
and onion. Add a pinch of salt and
pepper. Sauté until tender, about 10 minutes.
2.
Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
3.
Add pasta and cook according to package. *Add
more stock if the pasta absorbs more broth than you’d like.
4.
Add diced chicken.
5.
Serve and enjoy!
To FREEZE: Allow to cool and store in containers.
To EAT: Thaw, reheat slowly over low heat in saucepan.
**Special note: When I make a large batch of soup and plan to use some for
Chicken and Dumplings I will cook the pasta in a separate pot of water. I will add the pasta to my bowl and then ladle
the soup on top. I prefer my chicken and
dumplings to not have pasta. You can also do this to prevent the pasta from
absorbing the chicken broth in the soup. **
Homemade Chicken and Dumplings
Chicken Soup (without the pasta)
2 c. Flour
1 tsp parsley
Salt & pepper
¼ c Ice water + more as needed
1.
Heat the soup until simmering.
2.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, pepper and
parsley. Add water a bit at a time and
stir. Should be sticky. (Add more water or
don’t as needed.)
3.
Drop spoonfuls of dough into simmering
soup. Allow to simmer for 25 minutes until
cooked through.
4.
Serve warm and enjoy!
{I think it gets better on the second day after the dumplings have more time to soak up the broth!}
To FREEZE: Allow to cool and store in containers.
To EAT: Thaw, reheat slowly over low heat in saucepan.
What keeps you warm on a cold day?
Stay full!
