Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

There is nothing like a warm cup of soup or chili on a cold, snowy winter day.  When picking up veggies for another recipe to have for dinner I thought, "With the leftover carrots and celery I could use them to make soup on Sunday." So that's what happened today for lunch.

I made this recipe Sonny's style of cooking...start with an idea and toss things together as you go. I didn't look at a recipe for guidance. I just put items together. I started off with the basics: chicken broth, chicken breast, a box of wild rice, chopped carrots, chopped celery and chopped onion. As Sonny was cooking the chicken, he suggested with add some garlic to the chicken. Why not add some parsley flakes to the chicken and then sauté the onions with the chicken? Oh and toss in a can of cream of chicken!

Chicken, onions and garlic!

I truly enjoy cooking and trying new things in the kitchen. I was VERY pleased on how this soup turned out. Its aroma made my mouth water and it tasted DELICIOUS! We made a good team in the kitchen. Sonny took care of cutting and cooking the chicken, I cut up and prepared everything else. I'm glad he cut the chicken because cutting up chicken into tiny pieces drives me nuts! But I don't mind cutting up vegetables...weird I know. We also had some corn bread (which was also very delicious) with our soup. A very simple soup with very tasty results!

To make the soup here's what you need and what to do:

Ingredients

* 1 can (14 oz) chicken broth

* 1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken + a can full of water

* 1 box Rice-a-Roni Long Grain & Wild Rice

* 1 large (or two small) chicken breast, chopped finely

* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1/2 onion, chopped

* 1/2 - 1 Tbs. parsley flakes

* 1 c. carrots, chopped

                                                      * 1 c. celery, chopped

Directions

1. Cut up chicken breast, garlic, onion.

"The final result is awesome-sauce." -Sonny

2. In a small stock pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil. While waiting for the broth to boil cook the chicken in a Tbs. of oil. (Drain the chicken if needed). Add the garlic, onions and parsley flakes to the chicken and sauté until the onions are softened, set aside.

3. When broth is boiling, add the rice and seasoning packet from the boxed rice. Simmer the rice until tender, about 20 minutes. While simmering chop up the carrots and celery, if not chopped already.

4. Add in the cream of chicken + a full can of water, chicken mixture, carrots and celery to the cooked rice and broth. Simmer for another 15 minutes, or until carrots and celery are softened to your desire.

5. ENJOY! 

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls: Failure and Success

Christmas morning brings the tradition of cinnamon rolls filling the house with their delicious aroma. My mother makes the cinnamon rolls. She goes back-and-forth from making from scratch (using a recipe from her Betty Crocker Cookbook) and the tubed rolls available at your local grocery store. My family's tradition still goes on even though we all don't live under one roof anymore. The cinnamon rolls still get made and enjoyed whatever time we arrive to the house for our family get-together.

This year I wanted to attempt making cinnamon rolls from scratch. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the connivence of the refrigerated tubes of dough all ready to be separated, placed on a cookie sheet, baked in the oven and iced when done...but there is the simple joy I find in baking that leads me to keep making things from scratch. I used this recipe here found on allrecipes.com for both the cinnamon rolls and the icing. I made the recipe twice...and not because the first batch turned out great and it was a big hit with everyone. I made a slight mistake the first time and didn't get past making the dough.

about to over flow! 

gooey and a pain to clean out!

My first attempt came Christmas Eve. The plan was to make for breakfast on Christmas Eve, then take some to my family and some to Sonny's family. I got up, started mixing everything in the bread maker, hit start and went about getting around for the day while the bread machine did its magic. When I came back to check on the dough it had filled the container and was more moist than excepted. It was then I realized that I put in too much water! I put a full cup of water when the recipe calls for a 1/4 cup. Whoops! Needless to say the batch was ruined and I didn't even attempt to salvage anything. Into the garbage went the dough. In attempts to clean up, the drain strainer and the dish brush were also thrown away due to the gooey mess I made.

cinnamon roll filling

The second (and successful) attempt occurred a week later for the new year. This time I only used a 1/4 cup water. :) This time the dough turned out how it was suppose to and plopped right out. When rolling up the dough it was a little hard to keep the filling from sliding across the dough instead of rolling with it.  The recipe says it should slice into 16 rolls, I sliced 22 rolls. I always enjoy getting more servings out a recipe than it calls for. That means more to be shared and less calories per serving! :)  I made the rolls up the night before. I placed some rolls into the fridge overnight and the rest I froze for later use. In the morning, I took out the rolls from the fridge, let them rise and baked for 20 minutes in the oven. While they baked I made up the cream-cheese frosting included with the recipe. I froze the leftover icing for later use with the extra rolls in the freezer.

warm, gooey and delicious

The cinnamon rolls tasted delicious! They were the perfect start to a snowy morning and the last day before heading back to work. There is a lot of butter in these cinnamon rolls, almost 2 full sticks! Not the best treat if you're watching what you eat. The recipe calls for pecans in the filling, but those can easily be taken out depending on those enjoying the treat's preferences. I wouldn't change anything about this recipe. Next Christmas I believe I'll be making the cinnamon rolls.

Note: To freeze the rolls I placed them on parchment covered cookie sheets until they froze (about 2 hrs). Then I placed them in freezer bags...allowing me to pull the number of cinnamon rolls desired out and bake up fresh.

Roasted Red Pepper Dip

The best type of party for me is a small get together with friends where everyone brings food to share. That is how I rang in 2012 with S. I decided to try a new recipe for the event. After I committed to what I was bringing I thought, "Oh no! I've never made this before! What if it is awful? What if nobody likes it? This could be a total disaster!" Have no fear...I had a back-up plan.

Roasted Rep Pepper Dip

I found this recipe, Roasted Red Pepper Dip, in The Good Neighbor Cookbook. It sounded like the perfect recipe for a small get together and I could serve it with a veggie tray...or so I thought. The dip contains roasted red peppers, almonds, Parmesan cheese, red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and cayenne pepper (some crushed red pepper flakes were tossed in as well). Mix all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Very easy to make. I mixed it up and gave it a try. Now I'm expecting it to have a little spice to it (with the cayenne pepper)...but to my surprise it was very cheesy. I was expecting more of a hummus type dip, but I got an alternative to marinara. At this point I'm thinking, "There is no way I can serve this with veggies." Plan B kicks in...I'll still serve it with French bread slices. PERFECT! I ended up taking a veggie tray too. I served it the dip cold, but it would taste great warm. Perhaps put it in a small crock-pot and turn on the warm setting. The dip was good, but next time I would change a few things: 1) add a little more cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes, 2) use a little less Parmesan cheese, 3) use a little more roasted red peppers.

Leftover dip served over orzo pasta with chicken

All the bread was gone, but there was still leftover dip from the party. My first idea for leftovers was to serve it with chicken on top, like a sauce. Sonny baked chicken with crushed red pepper flakes, garlic powder and oregano sprinkled atop the chicken. His creation was very much the make-up-as-I go recipe. I would stop and think about the different spices I'd put on before one flake hit the chicken...but not him. He just does then thinks then does again. I'll admit, I'm a little envious of his cooking style. The chicken was delicious...it had a great kick to it. We warmed up the sauce and served it over orzo pasta with chicken and garlic bread. The (now) red pepper sauce helped balance the spice from the chicken with its cheese flavor...a good combination.

After dinner I got to thinking about other ways to use the leftovers. The next leftover recipe I would try: pizza, with the dip as the sauce. Make a homemade crust, spread with dip (now sauce), and top with various veggies...perhaps some mozzarella cheese.