53 Mondays–Week 40 Chicken, Rice, and Vegetable Soup

I’m a little behind on this posting. 

Fall always makes me want soup.  I love rice and vegetable soups, in particular.  This is a adaptation of a recipe found in the Favorites recipe book.  I had never cooked with leeks before.  To me, they reminded me of more mild green onions.  I must state that I do not think my husband would have liked this soup, but I knew that and made it for me during the week. 

2 medium leeks, white part only

4 Tbsp butter

3 medium carrots, sliced thin (I LOVE my mandolin for this)

8 medium-sized mushrooms sliced (I used more because I Love mushrooms)

2 ribs celery, thinly sliced

3 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth

1 cup water

1/2 cup white grape juice

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

handful pecans

salt and pepper to taste

Cut leeks in half lenghtwise and rinse well to grit.  Drain and thinly slice.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add leeks, sliced carrots, sliced mushrooms, and sliced celery and saute until tender.  Add rice and stir to coat with butter. 

Add one can of chicken broth and one cup of water and bring to a boil.  Cover; reduce heat and simmer for 20 mins or until rice is tender. 

While rice is cooking, heat the remaining two cans of broth and grape juice. Add chicken breasts and simmer for 15 mins, uncovered.  Remove chicken and set aside. 

Strain broth from cooking chicken into rice and vegetable mixture. 

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chop or shred chicken and add to soup.  Add handful of chopped pecans.  Heat thoroughly and serve! 

 

I had some leftover chicken in the fridge, so I skipped the whole cooking chicken step and just added the extra liquid to the soup earlier.  I only had a few pecans but a lot of pine nuts, so I threw those in as well.  The pine nuts had a stronger flavor than the pecans, but they worked in a pinch. 

LiveJournal Tags: 53 Mondays,recipe

Good Morning…Sunshine?

I knew this day was coming.  We’ve had such great weather here that I knew it was going to change.  This is what we woke up to and what Tyson felt the need to disturb my slumber to tell me about this morning!   Yes, we did go outside and make snowballs.  Plenty were thrown, but amazingly none at me!  Must be my frightening demeanor!

 

THIS toy!

Let me state that I do not like this Halloween toy.  I find it to be REALLY obnoxious.  So why did I buy it?  Because it makes Austin do this: 

September Photos Wrap-Up

What’s the opposite of Heaven on a Plate?

Pretty sure it’s these. 

Not to say they aren’t heaven, but more like crack.  Not that I know from experience, but I’m guessing. 

We needed a treat to Boo our neighbors with.  What’s that, you ask?  I’ll refer you to my friend, Pam, for her awesome description of it! 

I found THIS fun website and improvised one of their recipes.  (picture above is linked to their site).

I did use a box mix (shhhhh….) and I used a fun pan from Pampered Chef to make mini brownie bites.  I just cut the Oreo into fourths and put it in the brownie.  As for the frosting, I followed the basic directions from bakeitinacake.com, but for the actual frosting, I used a recipe I found on the Pioneer Woman’s website.  THIS is amazing.   I honestly don’t think I’ll ever buy a can of frosting again.  I did add in the Junior Mints for a yummy combination and it was heavenly.  Good thing we were giving these puppies away. 

If you were boo’d with these yummy bites of crack and just happen to read my blog…shhhh… don’t tell my kids! 

53 Mondays – Week 39

What’s “53 Mondays” all about?  Read about it HERE. 

Just a few days late.  I actually had a few new recipes this past week, so I’ll post them as I get time, but this was so good!  I combined two recipes from the Favorites cookbook (why don’t you have your own yet?).

 

OLD FASHIONED POT ROAST (adapted from Favorites)

One (3 to 5 lb) beef roast

Salt and pepper

One (10 oz) can cream of mushroom soup

1 package dry onion soup mix

One (10 3/4 ounce) beef gravy (I used Franco-American)

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 TBSP vinegar

2 TBSP soy sauce

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

4 large potatoes, quartered

4 carrots, cut into inch pieces

8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms (I used a container, so I’m not sure if it was more than 8 ounces, but does it matter?)

 

Heat small amt of oil in large pan.  Season beef with salt and pepper.  Brown beef evenly.

Mix together soups and seasonings.  Pour over roast in Crockpot. 

Put veggies on top and season with salt and pepper. 

Cook on low for 12 hours or high heat for 6 – 7 hours.

Take roast out when cooked.  Strain gravy to get rid of lumps.  Serve with veggies. 

 

This really was so easy and dare I say foolproof?  And delicious.  It was so moist and delicious and just fell apart when serving!  YUM!

Sorry…no photo.  Too busy serving dinner!  : )

10-10-10 at 10:10

Here’s what we were doing at 10:10 am on 10-10-10!

You say Tomato, I say….

What’s a girl with

 

too many tomatoes on her hands to do? 

She researched how to make and can

 

her own SALSA!!!!!!!!

More details and recipe to come!

53 Mondays – Week 38 (recipe 2)

This was the main dish for the dinner I made for my neighbor.  I’ve never done beef stroganoff before.  I’ve made chicken stroganoff, but this was really easy and so tasty!  This was a definite repeat!

OLD FASHIONED BEEF STROGANOFF (recipe adapted from “The Favorites” cookbook — Seriously, I love this cookbook.  You should have one too!) 

2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into thin strips

1/4 cup butter

1 (8 ounce) package sliced mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

dash of paprika

dash of seasoned salt

dash of pepper

1/2 cup tomato juice

1 (10 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup sour cream

hot cooked egg noodles

Brown the sirloin in butter, along with the mushrooms.  Add juice and seasonings. 

Cover and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Stir in soup and sour cream, heat gently and serve over noodles. 

53 Mondays – Week 38 (recipe 1)

Photo from Kevin and Amanda

I could have ended right there, huh? Mmmmmm…….

I made dinner and dessert for a neighbor who had a baby and this was what I made for dessert.  I saw this on a blog and really wanted to try them, but didn’t want to make them for just us.  These were AMAZING, but so very, very rich.  If I were to do this again, I would skip the Oreos. They were so yummy, but a little over the top. 

 

ICE CREAM SUNDAE BROWNIES

recipe adapted from Pickypalate.com and Kevin and Amanda. 

1 box Brownie Mix

2 eggs

1/2 Cup canola or vegetable oil

Heaping 1/2 Cup of your favorite Ice Cream (I used Cookies and Cream)

1 1/2 Cups chocolate chips

1/4 Cup hot fudge topping (chilled)

 

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. In a large bowl mix the brownie mix, 2 eggs and oil until combined…and thick.  I did NOT add the water.  Scoop in ice cream, chocolate chips and hot fudge; mix until combined. 

3.  Pour half batter into a foil lined 9×13 inch baking dish that’s been GENEROUSLY sprayed with cooking spray.  More is better here   

4. Lay Oreos on batter in rows and top with remaining batter. 

5.  Bake for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes clean from center.

2.  Let cool completely.  Remove foil from baking dish, cut into squares and serve.

12 brownies

 

I actually prepared a meal too and I’ll add that recipe shortly.  I was pretty proud of my domestic-ness this weekend!