What's Cooking Wednesday - The BEST Chicken Noodle Soup EVER!!

"They" say necessity is the mother of all invention. I was sick on Monday and really wanted my mother-in-law to make me some chicken soup. But she lives 10 hours away...

On my trusty laptop (it's a MacBook) I typed in 'easy chicken soup recipie'. Google then asked if I meant 'easy chicken soup recipe'. I clicked that and I found a simple recipe calling for 2 cans of cream of chicken, 1 can of mushroom soup, and some water and veggies and seasonings if you want. Easy.

Then I went to my pantry. 10 cans of cream of mushroom, 0 cans of cream of chicken. Not sure what the heck I was thinking when I bought all those cans of mushroom soup but girls and boys, this is why you need to MAKE A GROCERY SHOPPING LIST and TAKE IT WITH YOU. I'm just sayin'.

I did have 4 cans of Campbell's chicken noodle soup. It is cold season. So, I improvised. Basically, I did what I could feeling like crap. I sat down to chop this stuff (normally I stand, like they do on TV) and I took a few breaks.

The BEST Chicken Noodle Soup EVER Recipe

Ingredients

2 cans of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup

4 cans of water

4 cups of water

1 big carrot, chopped

1 big celery stalk, chopped

1 green onion stalk, chopped

1/2 small onion, chopped

2 gloves garlic minced or chopped

2 tbl powdered chicken bullion

2 handfuls rotini noodles or any kind of thick pasta noodle

3-4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (or leftover chicken)

Seasonings

(I know it seems like a lot but I just throw this stuff in 'cause the spice shelf is right there.)

1 bay leaf

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Nature's Seasoning

1 tsp Lowry's Seasoned Salt

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp majoram

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground sage

1/2 tsp basil leaves

Pasta Noodles

Boil in salted, oiled water like directions say.

Drain. Set aside.

Chicken

I used a hybrid. 2 frozen chicken breasts that I threw in a pot of water and boiled until cooked. But don't cook it at boiling or all this gunk floats up (I learned that from Martha Stewart). Drain. Shred. While the pasta and chicken were cooking, I picked off the last of the chicken on a whole chicken I had roasted the day before. Set aside.

Soup Directions

Add all the ingredients (except pasta, chicken, veggies) to stock pot and bring to a boil.

Lower stove heat, add veggies and chicken.

Cook until veggies are tender.

Add pasta.

Simmer on the lowest setting with the lid on the pot until your people come home.

Serve with crackers, corn bread, or bread or nothing.

Serves 6-8 adults (minimum)

Be sure to head on over to the Home of What's Cooking Wednesdays at The Fairy Blogmother.

What's Cooking Wednesday - Turkey Chicken Noodle Soup

I LOVE my new cookbook: 

Taste of Home's Guilt Free Cooking

Each recipe from my new book has been a BIG hit with my family. The good news is that it is all healthy!!

TURKEY NOODLE SOUP

(Modified to Chicken)

WHATCHA NEED

4 cups water

1.5 cups cubed cooked turkey breast

(or chicken)

2 celery ribs with leaves, sliced

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dried marjoram

1/4 tsp pepper

2 bay leaves

1 cup cubed peeled potatoes

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup uncooked yolk-free wide noodles

Dash browning sauce, optional

WHATCHA DO

1. In a large saucepan, combine the water, chicken, celery, onion, garlic, salt, marjoram, pepper, and bay leaves

2. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until celery is tender.

3. Add the potatoes, peas and noodles, cover and simmer 15 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender.

4. Discard bay leaves. Stir in browning sauce (approx. 1 tsp or less), if desired.

WHATCHA DO DIFFERENT

I had chicken, so I used chicken

The original recipe is for 2 servings. Above is doubled.

I don't have marjoram in my pantry

I forgot to add the onions!!

WHATCHA THINK

Husband kept going on and on about how good it is

I thought it was yummy and filling, yet light

Kids said they loved it

Niece asked for it again

In-laws enjoyed it

WHATCHA GOT IN THERE

(Based on turkey)

Serving Size: 1.5 cups

156 calories, 1g fat, trace saturated fat, 

45 mg cholesterol, 659 mg sodium, 

18g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 19g protein

WHAT'S COOKING WEDNESDAY HOME

For more recipes, checkout The FairyBlogmother, 

the home of What's Cooking Wednesdays.

What's Cooking Wednesday - China Edition

This is the China edition

It's Tuesday in America but Wednesday in China!

This was my first time making Angel Food Cake

Peaches were going bad

I wanted a light, low-fat dessert

I surfed the web and voila!

WHATCHA NEED

ANGEL FOOD CAKE

by Fayrene De Koker from allrecipes.com

12 egg whites (or as needed to equal 1 1/2 cups)

1 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2  teaspoon cream of tarter

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 tsp lemon extract)

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

PEACH SAUCE

2 cups peaches (chopped in blender)

(approx. 5-6 small peaches)

1 1/2 tbsp corn starch

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp concentrated lemon juice

WHATCHA DO

ANGEL FOOD CAKE

Separate eggs. Place in mixing bowl

Let stand 30 min at room temperature.

Sift confectioner's sugar and flour together 3x. 

Set aside.

Add cream of tarter, extracts and salt to egg whites

Beat on high speed. Gradually add sugar

Beat until sugar dissolved & stiff peaks form. 

Fold in flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time.

Gently spoon into ungreased 10" tube pan

Cut through batter with a knife to remove air pockets

Bake at 350 for 40-45 min 

Or until cake springs back when lightly touched.

Immediately invert pan

Cool completely before removing cake from pan.

PEACH SAUCE

Combine. Cook.

Stir constantly on medium high heat until thick 

(approx. 1 min)

WHATCHA DO DIFFERENT

1. 10 egg whites - that was 1 1/2 cups for me

2. 1 tsp almond extract

I was out of vanilla, so I substituted lemon extract. 

3. Sprayed Pam on muffin tin

4. Cooked 35 min when sprung back

5. I put the extra in ungreased dish - it stuck!!

WHATCHA THINK

J said it tasted much lighter and had a slightly sweeter taste than the traditional blandish Angel Food Cake. That was because of the lemon extract.

Kids LOVED it!! Wanted more and more!

Be sure to visit Fairy Blogmother's site for more

  What's Cooking Wednesday inspirations.

What's Cooking Wednesday - Trinidad Breakfast

Wow, Widney Woman!! It's Sunday, not Wednesday.

I know. 

But my faithful blog reader, and commenter, Jen of A2eatwrite asked to get the recipes for our traditional Trinidad breakfast. Only Wednesday will be crazy for her, so I am very happy to oblige by posting today!

Bake

1 tbl baking powder

4 cups flour

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

4 tbl butter

1 1/2 - 2 cups water

Feeds: 4 adults

Preheat oven to 350. Spray cookie tray with PAM. Mix it all up together. Don't knead it. Should be like a thick porridge. Spread out round (like a pizza) on pan. Bake approximately 30 minutes, or until lightly brown on top. Turn over for bottom to get brown (approx. 10-15 min).

To Serve

Cut in chunks, slice center and add butter, or jam, or anything you want.

Whatcha Do Different? 

I don't know if I put too much water in, as I modified the recipe down, so the dough was sticky and lumpy.  Bake is supposed to be smooth and soft, like pizza dough. The above picture (courtesy TriniGourmet.com) is what a whole wheat bake looks like - yeah, nothing like mine. 

That said, I LOVE it when bake is bumpy and harder (kinda crunchy). Mine came out with lots of ridges and not at all smooth. It was perfect for me but a true Trinidadian would be appalled, I'm sure.

I let bake for 25 minutes and checked on it. It was cooked perfectly. So, I brushed some butter on top to make it brown and put in back in for 5 minutes. I did not turn it over.

Chow Chow

Cauliflower (couple little flowers)

Carrots (1 or 2-ish)

White onions (about 1/4 of a large one)

Jalepeno peppers (optional - 1 small)

Red peppers (optional - 1/2)

Jar of pickles (any kind)

Pickle jar juice

Bottle of mustard (like French's)

Matouk's Pepper Sauce (optional)

Refrigerate. Lasts about a year

Chop up the veggies (including pickles) into tiny, tiny pieces. Pour into the pickle jar, with the pickle juice. Pour as much mustard as will fit. Shake it up, baby! This has a bit of an after kick. But if you like hot things, add a drop or two of Matouk's pepper sauce in to taste.

To Serve

Spread over ham. Eat on the side. Put it on ham sandwich. Add it to potato salad, basically, you can do all kinds of things with this. I've seen it in German stores almost exactly like this, so there may be German recipes with it - only I don't know what it is called in German.

(Jar with mixture before chopping)

Whatcha Do Different?

I bought a bottle of vegetable medley from the Italian section. I poured out some of the water, added the pickles and pickle juice and mustard. You can also find it in the Chinese section. The chunks of veggies were too big, so I chopped it fine in my trusty

 Pampered Chef Chopper.

Eggs

Eggs (2 per person)

Green onions

White onions

Tomato

Salt

Pepper

(milk optional)

Chop onions fine. Chop tomatoes small. Pour oil in pan. Put onions in pan for about 5 minutes. Break eggs, add salt and pepper. Add more salt because most people just don't salt enough. Whisk eggs well with tomatoes. Add to onions in pan. Leave in pan and when start to get hot, stir up like scrambled eggs. Put on plate when cooked.

Whatcha Do Different

It was 2 adults and 2 kids, so I made 6 eggs total. Used 2-3 green onion stalks, 1 small tomato, 1/4 white onion, and no milk. I didn't add enough salt, so we added on our own plates.

Ham

Cooked ham, with/without bone in

Slice thin. Put on plate and warm in oven for 5 minutes or so - long enough to take out the chill and to have serve warm.  Eat on bake, like a sandwich, or on the side. Your pick.

Salt Fish

I didn't get to do the salt fish this time, but it is one of my favorites. So hopefully you can make it to the fish counter before they close - I'm just sayin'!

Cod Fish

Small White Onion

Tomato

Put cod fish in container with boiling water

Let settle. Drain.

Repeat to get salt out

Strip into pieces (shred)

Dice tomatoes and onions

Put oil in pan

Add fish

Add tomatoes and onions

Mix around in pot (stew around)

Takes 5-6 min to cook

To Serve

Serve with eggs and bake. Can also mixup (cook) with eggs if you want.

I like to put it on top of my bake, like an open-faced sandwich. Sometimes, I break a piece of my bake off, and put it on top, like when you eat Indian food. Or, sometimes I put the fish and eggs inside the bake, like a sandwich. And sometimes I do all of these things in one sitting.

Watcha Do Different

The picture of salt fish above, is from the Internet. It appears they used green peppers. We don't. You can. It's a matter of choice. You can have with rice for lunch or dinner. It's pretty versatile. If you do an Internet search, you will find recipes for Saltfish Bujole. Similar. Not the same. Equally good.

Tales of the Fairy Blog Mother is home to What's Cooking Wednesday, where you can check out lots of tried and worked recipes!

What's Cooking Wednesday - Banana Nut Muffins

BANANA NUT MUFFINS

This fabulous recipe hails from www.elise.com.

Makes 12 muffins.

WHATCHA NEED

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tbsp espresso or strong coffee (optional)

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup flour 

1 cup chopped walnuts (toasted or raw)

WHATCHA DO

No need for a mixer with this recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

With a wooden spoon, mix butter into mashed bananas 

in a large mixing bowl

Mix the sugar, egg, espresso and vanilla.

Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.

Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. Fold in walnuts.

Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center

of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on rack.

WHATCHA CHANGE

I did NOT put in coffee or espresso.

I used a rolling pin to grind the walnuts finer.

I only filled muffin cups 1/2 way, which gave 18 muffins.

WHATCHA THINK

J was sad when the muffins were all gone. 

The kids loved it. Motor Mouth ate 4 muffins!!

WHAT IS 'WHAT'S COOKING WEDNESDAY'?

What's Cooking Wednesday was born out of The Fairy Blogmother's desire to get out of the what's for dinner rut? Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over to link back here, the Home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

What's Cooking Wednesday - Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

BLUEBERRY YOGURT MUFFINS

Today is my turn to bring treats to my Park Mom's Group. So, I opened "Cooking Light's Five Star Recipes: The Best of 10 Years" cookbook that Grandma Grandma (J's grandmother) gave me. This is my favorite cookbook because Grandma used it and it has dog-eared pages. I found this muffin recipe she made. 

I love you Grandma!!

WHATCHA NEED

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup unsweetened orange juice

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (8 oz) carton vanilla low-fat yogurt

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed

Vegetable cooking spray

1 tablespoon sugar

WHATCHA DO

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl

Make a well in center of mixture

Combine egg and next 4 ingredients

Add to dry ingredients

Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened

Gently fold in blueberries

Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar evenly over batter

Bake for 18 minutes or until golden

Remove from pans immediately

Cool on a wire rack.

WHATCHA DO DIFFERENT

I had 2-8 oz yogurt cups so I just put it all in

I didn't spray the muffin cups enough

Shoulda drained the blueberry juice (muffins were blue)

WHATCHA THINK

Yummy!!!!

Just like everything Grandma makes!!

WHAT IS "WHAT'S COOKING WEDNESDAY"

What's Cooking Wednesday was born out of The Fairy Blogmother's desire to get out of the 'what's for dinner?' rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over to link back here, the Home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

What's Cooking Wednesday - Shepherd's Pie

SHEPHERD'S PIE

This Easy Shepherd's Pie recipe comes from www.elise.com.

WHATCHA NEED

1 1/2 lbs ground round beef

1 onion chopped

1-2 cups vegetables (chopped carrots, corn, peas)

1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)

8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup beef broth

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

(milk, garlic)

WHATCHA DO

Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water

While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 tbls butter in large frying pan

Saute onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins)

If adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time

Put any carrots in with the onions.

Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions,

or after the meat has initially cooked.

Add ground beef and saute until no longer pink. Add salt & pepper.

Add worcestershire sauce.

Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat

for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.

Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes

on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown 

nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in potatoes as well.

Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 min)

Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown

Serves Four

WHATCHA CHANGE

I made it like I was making mashed potatoes so I added some milk.

I also added garlic to the potatoes and to the ground beef.

Oh yeah! I forgot to peel the potatoes first, so I left the skin on, 

and mashed it with the skin on. It added nice texture.

It says this recipe serves 4. We had it for dinner twice.

WHATCHA THINK

J loved it. The kids wanted more. 

The kids actually ate the veggies!!

WHAT IS 'WHAT'S COOKING WEDNESDAY'?

What's Cooking Wednesday was born out of The Fairy Blogmother's desire to get out of the what's for dinner rut? Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over to link back here, the Home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

What's Cooking Wednesday - Banana Bread

BANANA BREAD

This recipe comes from Betty Crocker's 40th Anniversary Cookbook.

WHATCHA NEED

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened

2 eggs 

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-4 medium)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

WHATCHA DO

Place oven rack in lowest position. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches, or 1 loaf pan, 9 x 5 x 3 inches. 

Mix sugar and margarine in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla.  Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Pour into pans. 

Bake 8-inch loaves about 1 hour,  9-inch loaf about 1 1/4 hours or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans. Cool completely before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days. 2 loves (24 slices); 85 calories per slice.

WHATCHA CHANGE

1. I did not add nuts this time. I was making it for my Mom's Group and didn't want to risk anyone having a nut allergy.

2. I did not have buttermilk. I substituted 2% milk and 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice and let stand for a few minutes. You can substitute 1/2 cup plain yogurt instead. I didn't have yogurt.

WHATCHA THINK?

The reason why I posted this is because at least 2 ladies from the group asked for the recipe. So either they are extremely nice, or they actually liked it!

WHAT'S 'WHAT'S COOKING WEDNESDAY'?

What's Cooking Wednesday was born out of The Fairy Blogmother's desire to get out of the what's for dinner rut? Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over to link back here, the Home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

What's Cooking Wednesday - Designer Pancakes

While Grandma DonnaMomma and Grandpa FlyGuy were visiting, I decided to make pancakes for everyone. DonnaMomma asked if I needed help. I said 'no'. Then I remembered J talking about how his mom made heart-shaped pancakes for them on Valentines day, as kids. I took out my heart cookie cutters but realized that wasn't going to work! So I called DonnaMomma back in and asked her to please show me how she made heart shaped pancakes. She does it freehand! I am not artistic so I thought this was gonna be a flop.

Here is what we did for the kids:

Heart

Turtle (it was supposed to be a bear)

J for Motor Mouth

P for Mini Me

Kid's Names

Smiley Face

Chocolate Smiley Face

And, by special request from Motor Mouth.....A Dinosaur

 - Mommy came up with this all by herself!

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

This recipe was taken from Cooking Light's Five*Star Recipes. Grandma Grandma gave me this book. It's the one she used and has pages earmarked...Including this one!

WHATCHA NEED:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup nonfat buttermilk

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Vegetable cooking spray

WHATCHA DO:

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine egg, buttermilk and oil, and add to dry ingredients; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Coat nonstick griddle with cooking spray, and preheat to 350 degrees. For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook pancakes until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked; turn pancakes, and cook other side.

Yield: 9 (4-inch) pancakes.

Serving Size: 1 pancake (WTH? Who eats just 1 pancake?)

WHATCHA CHANGE

1. I was feeding 6 people so I doubled the recipe.

2. I didn't have buttermilk and I know you can put lemon juice with milk instead - I had it but I didn't feel like it. I used plain old 2% milk.

3. We used chocolate chips to make one of the smiley faces. Get creative!

4. Lightly butter each one when you pull them off the griddle.

DonnaMomma suggests using a mixer just enough to get the lumps out of the batter, pour into a mustard bottle (new & empty) to create your designs easier. When you make your design, do it and wait just a few seconds to use a spoon (or measuring cup) to pour the batter on top of the design to make a circle. If you start and stop the pouring, you can see it when you flip it over.

WHATCHA THINK?

Everyone loved the pancakes!

Normally, the kids like to drown it with syrup. They were happy with just butter!

WHAT IS 'WHAT'S COOKING WEDNESDAY'?

What's Cooking Wednesday was born out of The Fairy Blogmother's desire to get out of the what's for dinner rut? Playing is easy. On Wednesday, post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over to link back here, the Home of What's Cooking Wednesday.