Wednesday's Chow - Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

It’s just around the corner….the Brenda Novak 2013 Annual Auction for the Cure of Diabetes.  Brenda’s annual auction runs May 1-31.  So far, there are over 800 items up for auction, with more to come.  Here’s another recipe from a cookbook from my “Calling All Cooks,” basket, Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup.

Calling all Cooks

The winner of this auction will win a box full of cookbooks.

Christmas Cookies

1001 Fast Easy Recipes

Cake Pops, Brownies and More

Fun Summer Recipes

Freezer Meals

Slow Cooker Recipes

And more…..

Here’s a recipe I tried from Slow Cooker Recipes. My family really enjoyed it.

Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

12 fresh baby carrots, cut up into ½-inch pieces

4 celery ribs, cut into ½-inch pieces

¾ cup finely chopped onion

1 tbls minced fresh parsley

½ tsp pepper

¼ tsp cayenne pepper*

1 ½ tsp mustard seed

2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved

1 ¼ pound boneless skinless chicken thighs

4 cans (14 ½-oz each) chicken broth

1 package (9-oz) refrigerated linguine

Directions:

In a 5-qt slow cooker, combine the first six ingredients. Place mustard seed and garlic in a double thickness of cheesecloth; bring up corners of the cloth and tie with kitchen string to form a bag.**  Place in slow cooker.  Add chicken and broth.  Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until meat is tender.

Discard spice bag.  Remove chicken; cool slightly. Stir linguine into soup; cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until tender. Cut chicken into pieces and return to soup; heat through.

*I put in this amount of cayenne but will not do so in the future…my family found it hot (and if they find it hot, it’s hot!) But aside from that, it was really good. My suggestion is to cut back to 1/8 a tsp or to leave it out if you don’t like spicy.

**Okay, when it came time to make the soup, I could not find the mustard seeds I know I had at one time…I think they got tossed when the spice cabinet was cleaned out.  Anyway, I left the mustard seed out and just added the garlic to the soup. It was still good.  But I plan to use mustard seed the next time I make it. 

Anna Kathryn Lanier

www.aklanier.com http://annakathrynlanier.blogspot.com/ 

Never let your memories be greater than your dreams. ~Doug Ivester 

Wednesday's Chow - Herbed Chicken and Shrimp

It’s just around the corner….the Brenda Novak 2013 Annual Auction for the Cure of Diabetes.  Brenda’s annual auction runs May 1-31.  So far, there are over 750 items up for auction, with more to come.  I will be posting several baskets/items in the auction, as I have in the past.  This year, one of the baskets I’m donating is “Calling All Cooks,” a boxful of cookbooks:

Calling all Cooks

The winner of this auction will win a box full of cookbooks.

Christmas Cookies

1001 Fast Easy Recipes

Cake Pops, Brownies and More

Fun Summer Recipes

Freezer Meals

Slow Cooker Recipes

And more…..

  

Here’s a recipe I tried from Slow Cooker Recipes. My family really enjoyed it and I plan to make it again (I have a copy of the book myself, too).

HERBED CHICKEN AND SHRIMP

Ingredients:

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 broiler/fryer chicken (3-4 pounds), cut up and skinned

¼ cup butter

1 large onion chopped

1 8-oz can tomato sauce

½ cup white wine or chicken broth

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp dried basil

1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions:

Combine salt and pepper; rub over the chicken pieces. In a large skillet, melt butter and then brown chicken a on all sides. Transfer to an ungreased 5-qt. slow cooker.

In a large bowl, combine the onion, tomato sauce, wine, garlic and basil; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until chicken is tender.

Stir in shrimp. Cover and took on high 20-30 minutes or until shrimp turns pink.

I served it with rice.

Anna Kathryn Lanier
www.aklanier.com annakathrynlanier.blogspot.com

Never let your memories be greater than your dreams. ~Doug Ivester 

Wednesday's Chow - Chili

From this week's guest blogger, Terri Thackston comes a recipe just in time for cooler weather and football season - Chili!

Murderous drug runners, a wildfire in the Texas desert and the  President's runaway daughter…Game Warden Shannon Walker didn't sign up for any of this. Add a sexy Secret Service Agent, unexpected betrayal and a desperate escape into the desert, and the border becomes hotter than Shannon can handle.

Border Heat is available in various ebook formats at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and smashwords.com.

Border Heat Chili

1 lb ground beef
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 chopped jalapeno, fresh or pickled, finely chopped
1 10 oz can tomatoes and green chilies
4 cups V8 Juice
1 6 oz can tomato paste
3 tblspns light brown sugar

Brown ground beef, adding onion and bell peppers as the meat cooks. Drain grease. Add jalapeno plus tomatoes and green chilies, mixing well as mixture continues to cook. Add V8 Juice and bring to boil. Add tomato paste and brown sugar. Simmer for twenty minutes.

Wednesday's Chow - Italian Vegetable Soup

Note: This first appeared on my blog in 2008. But it actually FROZE in Houston last night, so I decided I needed to pull out this recipe and share it with you all again:

I've had this recipe for about 20 years now. One day I received a magazine in the mail "The Farmer's Wife" or some such title. It included all these hints on how to can or freeze food, work the farm and had several recipes, too.I think someone sent it to me by mistake, believing I was domesticated!
I have a couple of the other recipes that were in it, but this is really the only one I make. It's pretty simple, once you get all the vegetables chopped. And it's yummy, good for you and filling. You may want to add water (or red wine) to it when you put in the macaroni, because that really soaks it up. Oh, and I usually don't add the green beans, but I think that's because I have canned, since I hate frozen green beans. I do get fresh sometimes, so maybe the next time I make this, I'll add fresh ones.

Italian Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 cup diced onion
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup sliced carrots
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (16 oz) tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, undrained
2 cups water
5 teaspoons beef bouillon granules or five bouillon cubes
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon sweet basil
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup frozen or fresh green beans, in 1-in pieces (optional)
½ cup small elbow macaroni
Parmesan cheese, grated
Directions:

Brown beef in large heavy kettle; drain off fat. Add all the ingredients except cabbage, green beans and macaroni. Bring to a boil. Lower heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add cabbage, green beans and macaroni; bring to a boil and simmer until vegetables are tender (about 10 minutes). If you prefer a thinner soup, add additional water. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese before serving.

Anna Kathryn Lanier
http://www.aklanier.com/

Holiday Cheer - Mexican Pinwheels

Here's yet another quick recipe for a holiday party.

Mexican Pinwheels:


Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
8 oz sour cream
8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
1 small can chopped black olives
1 small can chopped green chilies
Garlic and seasoned salt to taste
1 pkg large flour tortillas
Picante sauce

Directions:

Combine all ingredients. Spread evenly on tortillas and roll up. Place in refrigerator, covered, overnight. When ready to serve, slice into 1-inch sections and served with picante sauce.

Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone. - Charles Schulz

Holiday Cheer - Seven Layer Cookies

The first time I had these cookies was at a goodie exchange at my church. I have to admit, it took me a couple of years to finally ask for the recipe and am I sure glad I did.  These are a holiday staple in my house.  They are VERY rich, but well worth the extra ten pounds you gain just by looking at them.  Enjoy!

Seven Layer Cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup flaked coconut
6 ounces butterscotch chips
6 ounces chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Directions

Melt margarine and put in 13x9 pan. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over margarine. Spread flaked coconut over crumbs. Pour butterscotch bits over coconut. Pour chocolate chips over butterscotch bits. Sprinkle chopped nuts over all. Slowly pour sweetened condensed milk over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Struggling between the promise of the present and the hurts of the past, can Jacob and Tessa overcome their pain long enough to discover a gift beyond all measure?

A Gift Beyond All Measure - Available now at The Wild Rose Press.

I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

~Charles Dickens

Wednesday Chow - Pork and Apples

Well, I didn't mean to take last week off, but Wednesday snuck up on me and passed me by before I knew it.  The I realized there's five Wednesdays in September, so I'll still be able to post four recipes this month.

Can you believe that summer is almost over?  Tomorrow is the first day of autumn...okay, weather wise, down here in south Texas, it doesn't feel like autumn is almost upon us.  But nevertheless, I'm putting up a delicious autumn recipe - Pork and Apples, for the slow cooker...so you can toss it in and forget about it.

Campbell's Golden Mushroom Pork and Apples

Ingredients:

2 cans Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed
4 large Granny Smith apples, sliced
2 large onions, sliced
8 boneless pork chops, 3/4 inch thick

Directions:

Mix soup, water, brown sugar, Worcestershire and thyme in slow cooker.  Add apples, onions and pork.

Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 9 hours or on High for 4 to 5 hours.

There's still time to send in your recipe for the recipe contest.  Find out more about it here.

Wednesday's Chow - Garlic Mushroom Chicken

Here's another delicious, inexpensive, easy meal. Just put the ingredients into the crockpot and forget about the meal until serving time.

Garlic Mushroom Chicken

1 whole fryer chicken
1 (2.1 oz) pkg. Recipe Secrets/Garlic Mushroom flavor*
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 ozs. Fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (16-oz) pkg. Baby carrots
1 teaspoon salt

*I've not always been able to find this mix, so I use the herb mix (I think it's the Herb and Garlic Mix).

1.Rub olive oil over whole chicken and coat with Garlic Mushroom mix.
2.Place in slow cooker with fresh mushrooms, onion, garlic and carrots. Salt vegetables.
3.Cook on low 4-6 hours.

Serves 4-6.

Serve with salad and dinner rolls.

Anna Kathryn Lanier
More than Tumbleweeds
Heartwarming, Sensual Westerns
http://www.aklanier.com/

Wednesday's Chow - Chessy Slow Cooker Chicken

My eldest daughter Tiffany, the mother of two children, ages 23 months and 4 years, also works full-time in child care center. So, she's a pretty busy wife and mother. She recently tried this recipe and posted it on her myspace blog. My younger daughter, Holly, (mother of a 16 month old, and also working outside the home) saw the post and suggested that I post it here. I haven't tried it, but if Tiffany likes it, I'm sure it's good.

I personally like crockpot recipes....dump the ingredients into the pot in the morning and then forget about it. Go about your daily business and come home to a already-cooked meal. One word of warning (learned from personal experience)....make sure the crockpot is PLUGGED IN before you leave the house....somehow, the food just doesn't cook if it's not and you have to make something else for dinner (not to mention throwing away a really nice looking pot roast).

Leave a comment about one of your cooking disasters and be eligible for my monthly drawing for a really cook prizes.

Cheesy Slow Cooker Chicken (Crockpot Recipe)

Ingredients:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)

Salt, black pepper and garlic powder to taste

2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed Cheddar cheese soup, undiluted

Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Hot cooked pasta (your choice, I like the rotini with it)

Directions:

1. Place 3 chicken breasts in Crockpot slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Repeat with remaining 3 chicken breasts and seasonings.

2. Combine soups in medium bowl; pour over chicken. Cover; cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or until chicken is tender.

3. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired. Serve over pasta.

** Yields 6 Servings**

Note: This sauce is also delicious over rice or mashed potatoes.

****Tiffany gave this recipe 5 stars, saying the flavor is wonderful and the chicken is really tender.****

Anna Kathryn Lanier

http://www.aklanier.com/