Chicken Tortellini Stew

This was absolutely fantastic.  I'm not kidding.  Ridiculously healthy, less than an hour to make, and delicious!  I got this recipe courtesy of my husband's MSgt.  An excellent choice!

Ingredients:
   2 packages of cheese tortellini
   4 Chicken Breasts
   1 large bag of baby spinach
   1 can of Progresso Tomato Soup
   8 Cups of Chicken Broth
   2 pinches of salt
   Oregano
   Basil
   Thyme
   Sage
   Ground Coriander Seed
   Pepper
   Creole
   1-2 triangles of parmesan cheese (grate it yourself, so good)


Directions:
   1)  Grill or Skillet-Cook the chicken.  Then chop up into 1 inch or so chunks.
   2)  Mix tomato soup and chicken broth together.  Add chicken.  Set to boil.
   3)  Put tortellinis into broth.  Cook for 12-13 minutes until Al Dente.
   4)  Add Spinach.  Bring to simmer, cook until spinach is 'done'.
   5)  Grate Parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle cheese over served dish.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

You can make your own noodles if you like, I'll put that recipe at the bottom of this page.

Ingredients:
   Noodles of some sort
  Chicken with bones
  Basil
  Oregano
  Lemon
  Pepper
  Salt
  Creole
  Thyme
  Coriander

Directions:
  1) Put chicken into a large pot.  Add water.  Add seasonings.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook for two hours.  After two hours, check to see if chicken is done.  If chicken can be removed from bones, do so and put chicken in a bowl.  Re-add bones to broth and boil until you reach the flavor you desire.  Remove bones from water and dispose after reaching desired flavor strength.
  2)  Add chicken to broth, add any vegetables you wish.  15-20 minutes before it is time to serve, add noodles.  Voila!  Homemade chicken noodle soup!



Egg Noodle Recipe
Ingredients:
  1 C Flour
  1 Egg
  1 Pinch of salt

Directions:
  1)  Beat egg thoroughly, add salt, then slowly add flour.  Eventually you will have to mix by hand, so add some oil to your hands if you want to avoid sticky mess.
  2)   Lay some wax paper down, add a bit of flour over the wax paper, and then roll the dough out to a thin consistency.  Slice into desired noodle length and width, then let dry.  After it is dry, you can add it to boiling water and cook for 15 minutes.

Homemade Mac&Cheese

Normally there is a picture here... but I completely spaced and forgot to take one.  So, the next time I make this dish, I'll remember to take a picture and add it in, I promise!



Ingredients: 
   Pasta (My kids love shells, but use whatever)
   Shredded Cheddar
   Shredded Italian Cheeses
   Flour
   Butter
   Milk



Directions:

  1).  Boil pasta.  Remember to add a little oil to the boiling water, or your noodles will get REALLY sticky.
  2.)  Remove pasta into a strainer, leave there for now.  Put pot back onto stove, melt 2-3 tbs of butter.  Add just enough flour to create a paste.  Add 1/2 cup milk.
  3.)  Add noodles, stir together.  Now begin adding cheeses, a little bit at a time. Stir well, the cheese melts fast.  Once you get the amount of cheese you want, remove from heat, and serve! 


Note:  We like adding a bit of garlic and pepper, but this is great without spices too!

Roast Beef

 

Ingredients:

     2-3lbs of Roast

     Baby Carrots

     Yukon Gold Potatoes

     1/2 lb Bacon

     Minced Garlic

     Parsley

     Oregano

     Thyme

     Sea Salt

     Black Pepper

     Red Wine

     Oil (I use Grapeseed or Coconut)

     Butter

     Flour

Directions:

  1.)   Remove the roast from packaging.  Dry it of excess liquid using a paper towel.  Try to make it really dry on the outside.  Put some oil in a large skillet. (I use a cast iron skillet).  Season all sides of the roast.  Be liberal with the salt, rub it in.  Seasonings to go on roast are salt, pepper, parsley.  Put into skillet, and sear all sides.  I do mean ALL sides.  Remove from skillet, and put into roasting pan (fat side UP).

  2.)  Add generous amount of minced garlic to skillet (including liquid, if possible.  If you don't have  a jar of minced garlic, then add a little water.)  Once the steam dies down a bit, add carrots.  Season with Thyme, Oregano, and Pepper.  Cook carrots in skillet for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Also slice up potatoes while doing this, and lay around the roast.  I slice them to look like they will be scalloped, as I think it makes them soak up more flavor.  Add carrots on top of the potatoes.

  3.)  Pour a bit of red wine into the skillet and 'scrape' the skillet.  You want to get as much of the seasoning and flavor out of that pan as possible while on low heat.  Once you've gotten it as best you can, pour the contents over the roast and vegetables.

  4.)  Preheat oven to 310 degrees. Cut your bacon in half, then in half again.  You don't have to cook them completely, just enough to start curling.  Then add most of it over the roast, and toss a few on the veggies.  Cover Roasting Pan.

  5.)  Place Roasting Pan in oven for a minimum of 90 minutes, but 2 hours is preferable.  After cooking, remove meat and veggies into another dish.  Take a 3tbs of butter and melt in a saucepan.  Add enough flour to make a Roux.  Then pour the liquid from the roast into the sauce pan.  Stir liberally at medium high heat.  Sauce will thicken.  Serve food up, pour on the sauce, and VOILA!

FYI:  The reason you put the fat side up on this is because the fat 'melts' and keeps the roast moist as it cooks.  This is also why I said to put most of the bacon on top of the roast, as it allows the bacon fat to flavor the roast while it cooks.  Absolutely DELICIOUS.

Pork Beer Stew

1-3 lbs of meat (pork loin is what I use)
Grapeseed oil (or substitute with whatever oil/fat you want)
garlic
salt
pepper
oregano
basil
rubbed sage
carrots
green beans
northern white beans
potatoes
1 cup Deglazing liquid (beer, wine, etc)
3 cups Water/Broth

1. Heat oil in skillet (i prefer cast iron).  Cut your meat into bite sized chunks.  Season chunks, then brown in skillet.
2. Put meat in pot you will be cooking in.  (Need large pot, btw)
3. Add carrots and green beans to skillet.  Season well, stirring around in oil and seasonings for 3-5 minutes. Add to pot.
4. add white beans to skillet.  More oil (tsp at most) may be needed.  season well.  3-5 minutes of stirring, then add to pot.
5. Add deglazing liquid and the water/brother.  Stir well, turn heat to 'high'.  Once the soup boils well, bring the heat down to a simmer, and leave simmering for 2 hours, stir occasionally.

The stew should be thickening up on its own at the simmering heat, but if it isn't as thick as you'd like you can 'cheat'.  1/4 cup a milk with a bit of cornstarch will thicken it right up, and give it a creamy color/texture.

30 minutes before service, cover and turn the heat off.  Soup can be brought to room temperature and store in the fridge (tastes even better the next day)

Apple Pie - From Scratch

Makes a great Thanksgiving addin, or for any reason that you can think of having apple pie.  I add a bit of powdered sugar to the top, but that isn't really necessary if you don't feel like it.

Ingredients:

2 pie crusts (one on bottom one hatch cross, so more like 1.5 crusts)
1/2 butter
3 tbs flour
1/4 c water
1/2 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
8 apples - peeled, cored, and sliced


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).  Melt the butter in a saucepan.  Stir in flour to form a paste.  Add water, white sugar, brown sugar, and bring to a boil.  Reduce temperature and let simmer.  Stir occasionally to avoid any burning or excessive stickiness to pan.

2. Place the bottom crust in your pie pan.  Fill with apples, mounded slightly.  Cover with lattice/hatch pattern crust.  Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust.  Pour slowly so that it does not run off.  Use a spatula to attempt even covering, as the sauce will drip down as it cooks into the apples.

3. Bake 15 minutes at the preheated temperature.  Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F (175 C) for 35-45 minutes, until the apples are soft.

Bite Sized Apple Pie

This stuff is delicious!  I use a really easy pie-crust recipe  but you can also buy premade crust and roll it out if you want to.

Flaky Crust Ingredients:
1.5 cups flour
2 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/6 cup Crisco
1/3 cup COLD butter
1/4 cup COLD water

Directions:
1. Mix flour, sugar, shortening first.  It doesn't have to be smooth.  Pea-quarter sized granules make for flaky crust.
2. Mix and add water as needed, but only enough to make it hold together.  A good doughy consistency.

Bite Sized Apple-Pie Ingredients:
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 pkg. (14.1 oz..} refrigerated pie crust
3 tbsp. melted butter, divided
2 medium tart apples, each cut into 8 wedges

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon, set aside 1 Tbsp. On a lightly floured surface, unroll the pastry. Brush with  2 Tbsp. melted butter, sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture.

Cut each sheet into 8 one inch strips, about 8 in. long. Wrap one strip around each apple wedge, placing sugared side of pastry against apple.

Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar mixture. bake at 425 for 13-15 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 16.

Glaze (optional):
3-3/4 cup (l lb. box) C&H® Pure Cane Powdered Sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup butter or margarine (2/3 stick), softened

1)  Be sure to keep the heat on low-medium.  Stir often, or it could burn to the inside of your pan.  Once it seems thicker in the pan, turn the heat down and let it simmer for a little while.  Stir occasionally.  Once it is completely set, put it all in a bowl and place in the fridge.  Tada!