Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and yummy breadsticks

Soup: 5-6 chicken breasts, cubed
2 Tbsp butter
1 32 oz container chicken broth
Minced onion
1 1/2 cup baby carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cup celery, chopped
8 cubes chicken bouillon
Seasoning salt
1 16 oz. package of Grandma's frozen egg noodles (can be found in the frozen aisle)

Brown chicken tenders with butter, minced onion and seasoning salt.

In a 1 1/2 gallon pan (I think it is how big it is) fill pan half with water. Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add carrots, celery, chicken bouillon, seasoning salt (to taste). (If you don't have seasoning salt, you can add celery salt and onion salt.) Add browned chicken and noodles. Cook until noodles and vegetables are soft.

Breadsticks:
I get the bread dough from Dick's bakery. Or you can use any white bread dough of your own recipe.

Flour surface and roller and roll out dough until flat. Cut into thin short strips and put on greased baking sheet. Let rise for several hours. Spread melted butter on dough and sprinkle McCormick's Salad Supreme on. Bake at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes or until done. If you are butter lovers, you can add more melted butter to the breadsticks right after you take them out of the oven.

Warning: breadsticks are VERY irresistible!!!

Italian Tortellini Soup

I've posted a Tortellini recipe in the past - but it was more of a stew, quite a bit thicker, while this one is definitely a savory soup.  This one may trump all however.  I'm in LOVE with this soup.  Pretty sure I ate it for a week straight after I made it; not only because it makes a lot, but I really loved it!  Perfect for our cold winter days ahead.  I challenge you to cook up a savory pot of this yumminess . . .

Also, this soup would be fabulous with this Macaroni Grill bread.

(Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!)

ingredients
1 lb hamburger
1 1/2 t minced garlic
1 onion
salt and pepper
3  14.5 oz cans Italian Stewed Tomatoes
1  8 oz can tomato sauce
1  6 oz can tomato paste
8 C water
8 t beef bullion
1 green pepper, chopped
1 C carrots, chopped
1 C fresh or frozen green beans, chopped
1 can kidney beans
1 C zucchini, chopped
salt and pepper
1 pk. Good Seasoning Italian Dressing mix
1 can tomato soup
1 20 oz pkg Cheese Tortellini (I used the refrigerated kind, but you can easily use dried. Costco has a good deal on refrigerated kind for $10)

instructions
1. Brown your hamburger in a large skillet with the onion, garlic and a bit of salt and pepper.


2. Put the canned tomatoes in a blender and blend them up nice and lovely like. Just for 30 seconds or so.

3. Put the meat mixture, blended tomatoes and all other ingredients BUT THE TORTELLINI and TOMATO SOUP into a large soup pot. Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes. I like to leave the lid partially on. Less to clean up, and it keeps the heat some what trapped.

4. In a separate medium sized sauce pan cook the tortellini according to package directions. Be sure not to over cook it. When it's done drain the water from the tortellini and add it to the large soup pot.

5. Stir in the tomato soup and let it simmer for just 5 more minutes.
 
Yields: 12 servings (lots of leftovers!  Have some people over for dinner, or freeze half)

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

So I found this yummy recipe on my friend Sarah's crafty blog, (she found it on another blog herself) and I am SO glad she shared. I love pumpkin anything (look for another recipe later this week that I am trying out with pumpkin.) Pumpkin cinnamon rolls? Frankly, you just can't go wrong with that combination. Here's the recipe. I did a tiny amount of tweeking, and then the cook time I recommend is the cook time for me here in Utah (Sarah is in DC.)

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough:

¼ c warm water

2¼ t yeast

1/3 c warm milk

1 large egg, beaten

¾ c pumpkin puree

1 T melted butter

2 c white flour

1¼ c whole wheat flour

½ c brown sugar

1 t salt

½ t cinnamon

¼ t ginger

¼ t cardamom

Filling:

¼ c melted butter

2/3 c white sugar

¼ c brown sugar

2 t cinnamon

½ t allspice

½ t ginger

¼ t nutmeg

1/8 t cloves

½c chopped pecans

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 ounces cream cheese (¼ stick)

4 T butter, softened

½ t vanilla

½ t lemon juice

1-1½ c powdered sugar

Instructions:

Dough:

Stir yeast into water and let rest for 5 minutes before stirring.

In a separate bowl, add milk, eggs, pumpkin, butter, 1¼ c whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. Add yeast mixture and stir for 2 minutes. Add white flour, a little at a time, until you have a dough stiff enough to knead. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough.

Put dough back into bowl, cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Filling:

Combine the sugars, nuts, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a small bowl, set aside.

Frosting:

Mix the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and lemon juice until smooth. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, blending in between, until well mixed and desired consistency is reached.

Assembly:

Transfer the risen dough to a lightly greased work surface, and pat or roll it into a 16" x 12" rectangle. Spread softened butter over dough and then sprinkle with the sugar mixture. Roll the dough into a log the long way. I like bigger cinnamon rolls, so I sliced my log into 12 rolls using string. Place rolls in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 25 minutes.

Frost warm rolls with the cream cheese frosting and serve immediately. I think the rolls are rich enough with the pumpkin flavor, and didn’t want the frosting to be to dominating taste, so my measurements above are half what Sarah used. I thought it more than enough icing to compliment the rolls.

Sorry, pretty pathetic photos, but I had a hungry crowd waiting.
There wasn't much time to take a quick snapshot.

Enjoy!

Tomato-Pesto Pasta Salad

This recipe is so easy, it's almost embarrassing, but easy and fast is the best way to go when it comes to cooking for me.



Ingredients:

• 1 packet pesto mix {you could easily substitute for fresh pesto sauce or from a jar}

• 1 package noodles {I used half a box of whole wheat rotini and half a box of bow-tie}

• 2 cups cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• fresh basil
• 1 TBS white vinegar

How To:

• Prepare your pesto according to directions {I used McCormack's brand and I believe it called for water and olive oil}
• Boil noodles according to instructions
• Once noodles are cooked, let them chill in the fridge for a little while
• Slice cherry tomatoes in half
• Put noodles in serving dish and add your tomatoes, basil and cheese {for this salad to taste good you really need fresh basil and the freshly grated Parmesan cheese, I wouldn't substitute}
• Pour your pesto sauce over the salad along with your vinegar and stir together
• Let it chill in the fridge until serving, it is best served as a cold salad

Now wasn't that easy! You could also add chicken to the salad, or basically anything you want, but this was how I made mine, and it was pretty tasty!

Meat Marinade

I am finally getting around to the post for the cooks challenge: chicken cuisine. For 8 years now, I have this go to recipe for a meat marinade. I love it because its not only delicious, but it's convenient because I always have the ingredients on hand. My favorite way to use it is for kabobs. Peppers are in season so I picked one up in every color. I paired it with a spinach salad. What a healthy and divine dinner.

Meat Marinade:

1/4 c. olive oil

1/4 c. lemon juice

1/4 c. soy sauce

ginger or garlic

Marinate for at least 4 hours (important if you want moist chicken). Grill on the barbie or do what I do, and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Happy and Healthy Eats!