Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken

   I'm back! I seriously can not believe how long it's been since my last post! I am done my holiday's, and am back on here like normal! I appreciate all the messages and texts regarding my random absence! Sometimes life gets in the way! :)

   We had a lot of back to back things happening in June, some of which involved good friends, family, booze and dirty food. Ok, all of the things had those factors!! Needless to say, my pants are tight and I feel like a beached whale! But like I've mentioned before, I'm learning to allow myself the good times and then picking up, and back to the gym when it's all said and done! And I did, and I'm fairly certain I had beer and clam coming out of my pores on the treadmill tonight! :))

   Summer gets tricky because it's hot, for one. No one likes sweating to death over the stove in the heat. Plus, there is tons of fun stuff to do! Going to the gym is hard to make a priority in the summer. I mostly workout at home, as we have a pretty great gym here. But when my kids are home, I get the sweet pleasure of hearing about Jedi's and Angry Birds basically the entire time I'm on the treadmill. Anyone with kids home from school should feel my pain on this one! It can be a challenge, but try to get some activities in and get outside!

   For a few weeks I thought my new camera was broken. I kept trying to load my photos to post and the camera would die. After several angry sessions, some swearing and rage....I finally decided to sick my tech-dork husband on it. Turns out I was plugging into the wrong spot (huge surprise there) and it was shorting the battery. So, easy fix. I just had to turn down my dumb a little. Haha!!

   This recipe tonight is a super easy one. Great for hot summer days because it's done in the crock pot. Only a few ingredients and makes lots for great leftovers. I had a box of organic ancient grains quinoa and served it over that, with some sauteed red peppers. Done. Thank me later! :)

Honey Sesame Crock Pot Chicken
You need:
3-5 boneless chicken breasts (depending how much you want leftover, I used 5 medium sized ones)
1/2 a white onion, chopped
3 minced garlic cloves
1 cup raw honey
1/2 cup soy sauce (I used coconut amino's, as a soy free option)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cayenne (adjusted for little peeps)
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp chili flakes (or red pepper flakes for less heat)
sea salt and pepper to taste
sesame seeds
chives to garnish (optional)

1 red pepper cut into matchsticks
quinoa or rice for serving with, if desired


Place chicken into slow cooker and season with sea salt and pepper, turn to low

In a mixing bowl add the rest of the ingredients, excluding the red pepper (if using). Whisk until smooth.

Pour mixture over top of chicken in the crock pot. Making sure all chicken has been mixed with sauce to prevent drying/burning.

Lid on, no peeking for 2 hours! My crock pot cooks really hot, this was done for me after 3 hours on low. You want no pink remaining, (duh) and basically falling apart and easy to shred.

Once the chicken is done, transfer the meat using a slotted spoon, onto a plate. Leave the sauce in the crock pot.

Using 2 forks, shred the chicken into bite sized pieces. Everybody back into the pool. Aka, chicken back in the sauce, lid on until you're ready to serve. Make sure to mix it all back up reallllllllllllllllllllllll good.

Like I said, I made ancient grains quinoa to go with this. We have never had this particular brand, and it was good. Fun to try something new.
Once the chicken was sitting I started the quinoa. Then just sauteed the red pepper sticks in some butter and garlic.
Plate your quinoa or rice, then some peppers, and finally your chicken. Spoon some sauce over top, add chives and or sesame seeds and BOOM! heaven. Or just slap it all on the plate in no particular order like a barbarian, what do I care.
 So tender, flavorful and melt in your mouth. You'll have trouble keeping your grimy little hands off this! :)

original recipe pingback to "www.fitandbusy.wordpress.com"

Strawberry Ice Cream

 

   It's Thursday! And it's sunny! Booooya! :)

   What have you been up too all week? Trying any new recipes? So happy to finally see the sunshine. Makes such a difference in a person's mood, hey? I thought today was a perfect day to share this ice cream recipe with you, since the weekend is supposed to be warm! Cut out all the artificial sugar and garbage and try this awesome, clean, natural ice cream! You will seriously not believe how good it is.

   If you have kids, you know the days that seem to be a hundred years long. My youngest has swimming at 9 am. For anyone that really knows me, knows that's basically the middle of the night for me! The kids and I aren't big early risers! As we are rushing through the locker room to get dressed, I put in the quarter and lock our locker. Ask me if the key came out. Nope. Stuff locked in, key stuck in the locker. Sigh. What a more practical outfit to be stranded in than ones bathing suit?? Awesome. After lessons, no one had bothered to go and look at it and now I was wet. And mad. I gave it a few mom-arm smashes and reefed the life out of it and finally got it out. Another super awesome sequence of events in a bathing suit, I might add.

   I tried to shake that little episode off as we drove home. I figured I deserved a coffee. After the longest Tim's line in recent history and Grey changing his mind about 378 times, I forgot to order my coffee. Sweet mother of Mary...what an awesome day so far, and only 10:30 in the morning!! My kids were happy, and they enjoyed their breakfast. Bonus there. I managed to wolf down some cheese and a turkey stick that I'm pretty sure one of my kids had already chewed. Whatevs. I'm just glad to be out of my bathing suit. :)

   One quick, interesting tidbit before we batch up this ice cream. One fitness article I was reading was talking about jumping jacks and how you can torch calories easily by adding them to your daily routine. It said you can burn a pound a week by doing 10 sets of 100 jacks. Now, don't go banging all 1000 of these out at once and call me from the ER when you recover from your stroke. I think if you add roughly 100 a day, not even at once, you'd be solid! I did 100 today with my workout, in sets of 20. You could even do them randomly during the day (I don't recommend Safeway as a start) not even as part of an official workout. Although that doesn't work for me because I need to cram on about 12 bras to do them, so I need to be dressed accordingly. :))

Let's do this.....

 **note..you will need at least a day for this one because the coconut milk needs at least 24 hours in the fridge. Buy your can, put it in the fridge without shaking it around in there, and leave it.

Strawberry Ice Cream:
You need:

1 can coconut milk, refrigerate at least 24 hours
1/3 cup honey
1.5 cups chopped strawberries (not frozen)
ice cube trays (or something similar)

Remove your can of coconut milk form the fridge, without shaking it around. Open and scoop out all the glorious cream that has formed on top. Roughly 3/4 the can. (Save the remaining water for a smoothie!)

Add the cream, strawberries and honey to the food processor. Blend until mixed and no big pieces of berry remain.

Pour into the ice cube trays. I usually get about 2 trays worth. If I have leftovers my kids just drink it! :)

Put the trays into the freezer and leave until completely frozen. I do it in the morning then we have it after supper for dessert.

Once frozen, pop out the "cubes" back into your food processor and simply process until creamy! Scraping the sides occasionally. It won't take too long,a minute or so. If you go too long it will be less like ice cream and thinner. Still yum, but not the thick texture you're looking for!

If it looks crumbly like this, just a little bit longer!

 Serve immediately!

And that's it, you're done! How easy is that, right?? We've added a frozen banana before, raspberries....you could do anything! Try just the berries first, until you get the hang of how you like it! Kid approved allllllllllll the way!!! Now get out in the yard and love the crap outta this, and the weekend forecast!

Enjoy! :))

Hawaiian BBQ Crock Pot Pulled Chicken

 

 Hey, everyone! How's the week going? Like it needs to be said again, but man this weather is a special treat! I was so cranky this morning first thing, when I saw the snow. All the kids want to do is be outside! Still rocking the winter jackets over here, how about you?? Ughhhh!

   We have been trying to clean out the house and garage a bit these last few weeks. It is seriously amazing what a secret hoarder I am. I feel like I do a good job at decluttering and getting rid of stuff, but I'm clearly a dirty liar. My kids have toys that they don't even know where they came from! This is partly due to my mother, who thinks it needs to be Christmas morning every time she comes over! And if you have kids you know how "fun" it is to try and sort through things with them around! I'm a "night tosser". When they go to bed you can find me walking a singing, blinking, flashing garbage bag to the dumpster! No one will have a clue. :)

   I am having a blast with my new camera, and I'm so glad we got it. It's so easy to just take pictures off your cell phone, but once they are blown up bigger, they look like ass! I can't believe the amazing photos I'm getting. You'll have to never mind the extra pictures I'm adding as I learn to stage and get better quality for you, my dear fans. HAHA! Or else just my mom and my friends that I force to read my blog and try my food. I will call those people fans and they can't stop me. :)

   If you've been following my glamorous life, you'll remember a while back I was trying to get Shane more on board with the slow cooker. I am finally winning. I got a new, bigger one at Xmas and it has a timer. It was the total key. I also think it's re-donk to cook anything on high in those things! Mine is done in less time than suggested, while on low. High is scorching, burning territory! I was waiting to do my shop for 15% Tuesday, so I wasn't left with much to choose from last night. I love a one dish, low prep meal. Such a good feeling in the morning to know you have supper on the go! Then I can enjoy my daily episodes of "Sid The Science Kid" and "Peg+Cat" without being bothered by cooking!! :)  Don't know what I'm talking about? You are one lucky bugger!
I also made a savoury crepe-type wrap to serve with these, I've blogged the recipe in my previous "enchiladas" post. Obviously store bought wraps will work just fine. But they are not needed, it's good with just a good old fashioned fork, too! :)

   Let's cook this mutha' up.....

Hawaiian Pulled Chicken:
You need:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts (I used 3 and it was plenty with leftovers)
2 cups salsa
1-1.5 cups bbq sauce (depending on taste)
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1 can pineapple rings, drained-juice reserved
1 Tbsp smoked paprika (use regular if you don't have smoked)
sea salt and pepper to taste
shredded cheese and avocado for serving (optional)

Get out the 'ol crock pot and turn to low.
Add your chicken breast, season with salt and pepper and layer the jalapeno and pineapple rings on top.

In a small mixing bowl, stir together your salsa and bbq sauce. Add as little or as much of the reserved pineapple juice to the mix as you like. You can also leave it out, just depending on your desired flavor. Give it a taste without and add a little at a time to see what suits you.
Once you have it dialed in, add paprika to the sauce, mix and pour over the chicken to coat. No need to stir once it's in the crockpot, just use a spoon and spread it to cover the contents.

Lid on and keep it there! Mine was done in about 3.5 hours. Once the chicken easily pulls apart and is cooked through, shred it (right in the pot) with 2 forks. Basically just pulling it apart. Put the lid back on and turn off the heat. Let the shredded chicken rest in the remaining juices until ready to serve.

Boom! Done. How easy was that, right??? I mashed up a few avocados and served with some shredded cheese and plain Greek yogurt. It was amazing, although my salsa was a tad spicier than anticipated! It was a good sinus clearing meal, if nothing! :)

Enjoy!!!

Sweet Potato Fudge Brownies

Well, rainy, cold.....snowy. Sigh. What a crappy weekend, outside! Congratulations Mother Nature. The Christmas Cactus plant on my counter is blooming. You win, you dirty bastard!

   This kind of weather makes me want to bake and cook all day. On Friday's we like to have a treat day. I don't cook dinner and we usually eat out or Shane brings something home. We decided to keep it pretty low-key this week because we've had a few big treats and meals lately, so we stuck with Subway.

   I felt awesome about my decision until later in the night when I started browsing recipes at 9pm. Bad choice from the start. All of a sudden I am on the dessert section of Pinterest and fading fast! I was almost headed to the pantry to see what I could pull together! I managed to reel myself back in a bit, but I DID end up batching up a half mix of my Macadamia Nut Crunch, that I posted around Xmas. It is soooooo good, we didn't wait the whole time to let it set! Sitting in bed, eating it from the pan with a spoon. If that's wrong, mama don't wanna be right.....

    Grey has been asking for brownies forever. I was searching, looking for a good one that wouldn't toss us all into a diabetic coma. Then I came across this one. Sweet potato as the base? Say whaaaaaaa? The old me would of been interested, but assume it wouldn't be good and carry on. Once you get good at baking, you'll never want to go back to store bought stuff- promise! And, you'll realize that all these extra ingredients aren't needed to make things awesome! These sweet potato's don't even need to be cooked first, just peeled and grated. They are very choco-delish and were even better the next day. A total keeper. And if you want to get totally chocolate-wasted, you could slap some icing on there and call 'er a day! :)

   A few things I want to mention before we make these bad boys.... If you are following my Paleo board on Pinterest, and see me pinning some things that don't make sense to the norm of the eating plan....no need to slam on the Paleo Police panic button and come unglued! Someone mentioned they wondered "how closely" I follow the Paleo rules. Most times if I see a recipe that looks good, I can change it around to fit more into our lifestyle. So, I'll change out the flours, or the oils and add or take away things. I know not everyone is Paleo, and all I want to provide is recipe ideas, and help with new ingredients and cooking methods. Simple, clean eating for busy families/people. Annnnnnnnnnnd I've now lost 90 pounds, so hush up and do what I say....:)

   I'm going to add a few extra pictures today because I'm learning my new camera and trying some staging techniques, so bare with me and don't drool on the screen...mmmkay?

Sweet Potato Fudge Brownies:
You need:
1 medium-large sweet potato (white or orange)

2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raw honey
generous 1/2 cup olive oil
1 heaped Tbsp baking powder
1/2 Tbsp baking soda
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (less for a milder chocolate flavor, if you're nuts :) )\
2 Tbsp coconut flour
1/2 cup mini carob chips for sprinkling (optional)

Heat oven to 365
Cut ends off sweet potato and peel. Shred using a grater, just like you would a block of cheese. You want the same size as grated cheese, in strings. You want aprox.2- 2.5 cups of grated potato.

 In a large mixing bowl, add grated potato, eggs, vanilla, honey and oil. Stir in baking powder and baking soda, mix. Add cocoa powder ( I use Dutch dark), mix and then dump in the coconut flour.

Grease a smaller, square glass (if you have it) dish and pour the mix in. I think my dish was 8x8....

Sprinkle the mini chips on top, if using.
Into the oven for 30-35 minutes. The original recipe says 25-30 but mine were not near set at 30. So, knowing your own oven, start checking around 25ish minutes. Please don't burn these, I think there's a law regarding wasting chocolate.....?

Once your edges are a bit crusty and you're sure the middle is set, take out and cool on racks for 10-15 min AT LEAST.....before you try and get your greedy little hands on these buggers! They really do need some time to set, so you'll be getting cake crumbs if you mess with them early!

Once cool, remove the corner slice first, get a fork and cram it down your throat. Once your family gets their eyes focused on these, that'll be the last you see of them. May as well get a bite while you can......

These were totally enough chocolate "factor" for me, I didn't bother with the icing glaze. I wanted to get a picture of the cooked inside so I could prove to you, the amazing disappearing sweet potato shreds! Promise, you'll forget they are even there. Or are you already chocolate wasted and you forgot we even added those? Either way, yum. :)

original recipe pingback to "eatdrinkpaleo.com"

One-dish Mexican Quinoa Scramble

   

  Hey, hey!! How is everyone tonight? Such a nice sunny day today, makes me happy!

   Something super exciting for me, I finally got a new camera! Target had all their camera's on sale this weekend and I snagged one up! Thank goodness I have a tech-dork husband because I had no idea what the guy was talking about, or what makes a camera a good one! I am learning how to use it properly and can't wait to load some pics. As soon as I figure out how. And how to plug it in. :)

   This past weekend Shane and I had a chance to go to Calgary for the whole weekend by ourselves! That's right! No ankle-biters allowed! It was so dreamy, we had the best time. We stayed at the Hotel Arts, downtown. On Friday night we ate at one of the restaurants in the hotel called Raw Bar. Have you ever been there? It was honestly one of the most delicious, fun meals we've ever had! The atmosphere is so nice, and the service was great. We had sweet potato spring rolls, a whole pineapple squid, pad Thai and lemongrass chicken curry. Seriously, unbutton your pants early. I was SO full! But fo' shizzle the best meal in recent times!

   I'd like to think that I burned a fair amount of dinner off in the 7+ hours we spent walking the mall the next day! But we may of had Caesar breaks and then hit another fab dinner that night! So, all in all I don't think I came out ahead! At Cilantro for dinner on Saturday, we had the single most delicious cheesecake I've ever tasted. Honestly, unreal. Upside down toffee cheesecake. Homemade (of course) whipped cheesecake with this crunchy toffee topping and crust. Droooooooooool just thinking about it. It was some of the best food and we never get that chance these days. Totally the right time to indulge, if you ask me! I totally recommend both restaurants if you ever get the chance! I'm burning a trail to the treadmill all week, and it was SO worth it. :)

   The Comic Con sci-fi festival happened to be in Calgary this weekend and this kind of thing is right up Shane's alley- for anyone that doesn't know I'm married to a geek, raising 2 little nerdlings in training. As we sat and looked at the menu, we realized that Bill Paxton was sitting up at the bar! He was in town with the Aliens cast, for the festival. This basically made Shane's life. I tried to force him to go up and talk to the guy, but he wouldn't do it! Not even a bottle of pricey wine and some sweet talkin' could get the job done! So, inevitably he left, and Shane didn't get to talk to him. If you listen very hard right now, you can probably still here Shane sobbing. 

   Ok, food. Food is good. There is nothing I love more than a one-bowl baking recipe. Throw it all in and and Hail Mary that bugger to the oven and you're done! When I saw this Mexican Scramble recipe, and that it was all one dish- sold. Two times a week my son is in swimming right at supper hour. So I made this all up before we left and it was ready to go as soon as we walked in! Perfect weekday meal. The original recipe doesn't add meat, but I'd have a tough time selling that to Shane after he had just swam 1km! I simply scrambled a small package of lean ground beef and added it in to the mix once everything in the main dish was done and let it simmer together. My mom ate here as well and it fed 3 adults with seconds for someone.....ahem...Shane. 

  My kids had already eaten because of swimming, so I made it quite spicy. Obviously dial it down a bit for sensitive mouths. Another thing is the quinoa. I don't usually ever cook with this, but have in the past. Quinoa is not considered Paleo and can be very hard for some people to digest. So if you're following this type of diet, you may consider leaving it out, depending on your allergy restrictions. I decided to try something new and give it a try. Also make sure to thoroughly rinse it if it does not come pre-washed. I buy organic bulk at Heritage Foods.

One-dish Mexican Scramble

You need:

1 smaller package ground beef

I Tbsp oil for frying

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, seeds removed and diced

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1 cup chicken or veg broth

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can fire roasted tomatoes 

1 cup corn

1/2 cup black olives

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp paprika

sea salt and pepper to taste

plain greek yogurt to garnish (optional)

shredded cheese to sprinkle (optional)

Brown your beef in a smaller frying pan until cooked through, and set aside. 

In your large, deep frying pan add oil and heat over medium. Add jalapenos and garlic and stir until fragrant. A minute or so.

Next stir in everything else, except your garnishes. (yogurt and cheese) Mix well. Cover and let simmer about a half hour over medium to low, stirring occasionally. It will seem soupy, but once the quinoa cooks and fluffs up it will fill out.

Once quinoa is cooked through and dish has simmered nicely, stir in your beef you cooked earlier. For the love of Baby Jesus, don't stir in raw meat and say I told you too! Cooked is how we roll 'round here, mmmmmmkay?

Cook a few more minutes until all heated through and everybody is mingling nicely at the pool party.

Use a slotted spoon and transfer to plates. Spoon a little scoop of plain yogurt into the centre with a brief toss of shredded cheese if you like it risky!! haha. 

Enjoy! I am looking forward to giving you better quality pictures so you can see more details in the food and have much better lighting etc. I've been reading about better ways to showcase and some tricks of the trade. Hope you like it! :)

original recipe pingback to "damndeliscious.net"

Chicken Bacon Alfredo on Spaghetti Squash

 
   Happy Easter, everyone! How was your long weekend? Hope you all got some time off to spend gorging yourself on bunny ears and Cadbury eggs! :)

   We had a great weekend, did a lot of stuff around the house. Sounds boring but I actually like getting rid of things and organizing! We finally got our garage cleaned out, and I'm surprised that A&E wasn't in my driveway, attempting to film an episode of hoarders! It is seriously amazing how much stuff a family accumulates in a short period of time. Sure feels good to get rid of it and clean up.

  Now, let's address this "small" issue of Easter candy. Who still has a chocolate moustache and is hiding in the closet with their kids Easter basket? Don't look away, I see you! Ok, maybe I was looking in the mirror there...but still!! We went for brunch in the morning, then a great egg hunt that my friend Shanda and her family put on every year. I was doing so awesome, I wasn't even interested in anything. Then later in the day hit. I was tired and cranky. Grey wanted to pick from his basket after supper, and there they were. Those shiny, delicious little eggs were staring me right in the eye. I tried the 'ol "I'll just have one, then that's it..." then the "ok, 3 and I'm done...." ending with the solid "well, there goes a whole workout to god damn chocolate eggs!" Why??? Why even start? I try to stick to only having stuff like that when it's really worth it and I really like whatever it is. And I'm totally a dark chocolate gal or caramel. These were neither! I swear, there is something about those stupid, perfect little hard eggs in their stupid, pretty wrappers that makes me blind. Until I realize I've had too many and am now chocolate wasted. Sigh....thank god for bedtime and elastic yoga pants. Not in that order.

   After my chocolate-whore episode I felt the need to bust out of the gates with a great, new crowd pleaser tonight. Grey is off school all week so it gives me some more freedom during the day to experiment with recipes. This is a recipe for Alfredo sauce that won't shoot the button on your pants clear across the room. It's easy and honestly I was surprised how great it was. I doubled the batch, thinking I needed too but I actually think it was fine the way it was. I have a lot left over. I think I'll try freezing it to see what happens. I had a few spaghetti squash that had no plans for the evening, so I decided to make a "pasta" Alfredo with chicken and bacon. You could obviously use this over regular pasta instead. Let me know if you try anything different with it! I cooked the chicken breast in the morning so it was ready to go, and crisped the bacon. Once the squash was done I just through it all together and BAM! Yum.

Chicken Bacon Alfredo on Spag Squash
You Need:
2-4 boneless chicken breasts
1 large spaghetti squash
3-4 pieces of bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled (try to use locally sourced bacon if you can)

Sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
2-4 cloves garlic, minced (depending on taste)
3 tbsp flour
1 cup cool chicken broth
1 cup whole milk (almond milk is fine, but make sure it's unsweetened)
3/4 cup fresh grated parm
1/2 tsp sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper
parsley for garnish (optional)

Heat oven to 375 and roast your spaghetti squash. (cut in half, remove seeds and roast cut side down on a baking tray with an inch of water, for about 45 min, until outer skin is fork tender.)
When done flip over and let them cool a while. 15-20 min at least.

If you haven't already, cook your chicken breasts in the oven and slice into thinner strips, or however you want to serve them.

When the squash and chicken are done, start the sauce. In a medium sauce pan, add the olive oil and heat over med about a minute- you don't want it boiling.
Add the garlic and cook about a minute while stirring often.

Sprinkle the flour over top and stir, stir, stir!!

You need to stir or whisk this constantly or it will be a clumpy mess. If you feel its seized up, add a splash more oil or a tsp of room temp butter and loosen it up. Slowly whisk in the broth. Then the milk. Whisk your heart out. No need to break a sweat, just keep it smooth looking! You should have no lumps.

Simmer on very low until you are ready to serve. Stirring occasionally.
Scrape your spaghetti squash out into strands and into a large bowl.
When you are ready to serve, add the parm cheese into your sauce and turn the heat up a bit, just until melted. You guessed it, keep stirring!
Plate your spaghetti squash, the chicken and the bacon on top. Spoon your sauce over top and add sea salt and cracked pepper if desired.

If your squash and chicken have cooled while you were making the sauce, add the squash to a large pan with some olive oil and just toss it to heat back up. You could also dump it all in there and mix it up, serving that way, if you have a deep enough pan.

There you go! A versatile sauce and totally delish! :)

original recipe pingback to "gimmesomeoven.com"

Creamy Chicken Soup

 
     Ok Mother Nature, the Christmas Cactus on my counter is now blooming. You win. Seriously. Why the grossest weather today? It's so frustrating when a person wants to start the yard work and it's a blizzard outside! Sigh, maybe tomorrow?

   I actually did a lot of cooking today, because what the hell else to do in this weather?! Can you tell I'm just a tad bitter? I also made a chickpea chocolate chip cookie recipe. Turned out great and super easy. I love, love, love a one-bowl recipe! I'll post that one this weekend.

    Have you ever tried to do Spring cleaning- or any kind of cleaning, with little kids around? It's a real treat. They take things out faster than you can put them away. It's kind of like being in a tornado. A tiny, 2yr old tornado. Shane was outside cleaning the garage and trying to drain and refill the hot tub. I was on my own, trapped in the 2 yr old Polar Vortex and he was winning. I was going through clothes in his room and he took it upon himself to empty out about twelve thousand diapers and spread them out for me. Thoughtful, hey? Not to mention how necessary it is to dump alllllllllllll your nuts on the hardwood AND crush them into nonexistent powder with your plastic hammer. I had to put out an SOS to my mom. She said they could come over and I was in the car before we were done talking. You don't have to tell me twice!

    When it's cold and gross out, the first comfort-type food that comes to mind for me is soup. An awesome, hot bowl of soup. Soup loves you on the 38 millionth day of winter, soup doesn't ask questions! I love the smell of soup simmering on the stove, and it makes me look super domestic. Double win. On the original recipe it had a lot of steps, and I found it a bit hard to follow. Kind of jumping around a lot. Once I was done, I realized it was pretty simple and it just did the steps a bit awkwardly. (in my opinion) So I'll post it as I did it, the easy way. Or better known as the right way. Haha!! Make it tomorrow, or freeze. Doooooooo it!

Creamy Chicken Soup

You need:

4 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

4 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery stalks, peeled and sliced thinly (I had none so I diced zucchini instead)

6-8 medium white mushrooms sliced very thin (optional)

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

oil for sauteing OR butter

4 cups chicken broth or stock 

2 Tbsp chicken granules (OXO)

1 Tbsp cracked black pepper

1 Tbsp dried parsley

3 bay leaves

1.5 tbsp Herbes de Provence

1/4 tsp garlic salt

3 cups cooked rotisserie chicken, cubed 

1/4 cup white wine (your fav)

3.5 cups of milk OR cream OR 1/2 and 1/2 (I used whole milk)

shredded cheese for garnish (optional) 

First you need to make a roux. That's a flour mixture that will thicken the soup.

In a small sauce pan, melt your 2 tbsp oil and butter over medium heat. Don't bring it to a boil, just melt. Sprinkle the 4 tbsp flour, one at a time, over top and whisk constantly until all absorbed and combined. Take off heat and set aside. It should be a golden color.

In a large frying pan saute your minced garlic, carrots and celery until just tender over medium high heat,  adding the onion and mushroom in a little later as they doesn't take quite as long.

While that's cooking, get out your large stock pot and add in your chicken broth. Heat it up over medium. Add your spices (granules through garlic salt), chicken and the wine.

Once veggies are done, add into your broth.

 Add the roux, giving it a quick whisk before to make sure it's mixed.

Stir in your milk. Increase heat to medium high, and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer over low for at least a half hour. Because this is a milk based soup, you need to pay it some consistent lovin'. It can burn easily, so keep heat low and stir often.

Before serving, scoop out your bay leaves and discard.

This soup is very versatile and you can obviously add whatever veggies you like. If you want the soup a little thicker, make a cornstarch or arrowroot mix at the end and stir it in to thicken. I liked it the way it was.

The recipe says it freezes well and lasts a few days in the fridge. It is very hearty and filling, and smells delish. A great comfort on a winter day in April. :)

Sprinkle with shredded cheese to serve, if you like. Enjoy!

original recipe pingback to "thecookierookie.com"