Chicken Noodle Soup

When you're sick, nothing but chicken noodle soup will do! I even braved Costco on a Saturday when I realized I was out of chicken.

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts
• olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2-3 celery stalks, chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• optional: chopped mushrooms and/or 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
• 4-6 cups chicken stock
• 1 t. thyme
• 1/2 t dried parsley (or fresh if you have it!)
• fresh ground pepper
• a dash of oregano
• 4 oz noodles of your choice-egg noodles are traditional

What to do:

1. Salt some water in a small pot and throw the chicken breasts in to simmer. 
2. While they're simmering, chop all those veggies!
3. Put a drizzle of oil into a deep pot or dutch oven and put in the onions. After a couple minutes, add the carrots, celery, and garlic.
4. While those simmer, remove the chicken out of the water  to cool. Then pour chicken water through a mesh strainer and add the water to the pot, with some "better than boullion" or boullion cubes. That gave me about 2 cups of liquid, so I added 2 more cups from a box. 
5. Dice chicken and add to pot.
6. Add mushrooms and peppers if using, thyme, parsley, pepper, and oregano. Don't add salt until you taste it, because the stock contains salt and may be enough for you. 
7. If you want to let it all simmer for awhile, feel free. Check your pasta directions, put in the pot, and cover with broth if needed. I added 2 more cups of stock to the original 4 cups. Simmer according to package directions, probably 10-15 minutes, and remove from heat. Taste and add salt/pepper if desired, and serve!

Hot Spiced Cider

Today is a snow day! I always have one or two things cooking when the weather turns cold. This one doubles as an air freshener for your whole house. Whenever I search my blog to see if I've posted a recipe I want to make again, I know it's a winner!

Hot Spiced Cider-Ingredients

• 2 quarts apple cider (I actually bought apple juice because it had lower sugar)
• 1 orange, quartered
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• cinnamon candy-red hots were unavailable so I got cinnamon jolly ranchers and put in about 8
• 12 whole cloves 

What to do:

Put it all into a medium to large size pot. If you have cheesecloth you can certainly use that, I just throw everything in and fish it out with a slotted spoon when I'm done! Let it sit on the stove on low all day, or sip/serve to the kids when they come in. You can certainly add water, as some recipes recommend (up to a quart), but I like it the way it is.

If I were an adult, trapped with a bunch of small people home from school and acting all crazy and cooped up, I might possibly splash in some Fireball for myself. Just saying. 

Turkey Bean Green Chili “Enchilada" Casserole

Turkey Green Chili "Enchilada" Casserole

Inspired by http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2014/01/green-chile-chicken-mock-enchilada-casserole.html  I first got the idea to use green chilis instead of tortillas from Kalyn’s Kitchen…it’s healthier, easier to skip all the rolling, plus those tortillas get so soggy in leftovers. I’m sick to death of shredded chicken, so I changed it up, but check out her recipe if that sounds good. It kind of took a long time and made a fair amount of dirty dishes, so plan accordingly. I’m in love with the result!

Ingredients:

2 (15 oz.) cans mild or medium green chili enchilada sauce

1 package (1.25 lb.) ground turkey

1 small onion, diced

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 T cumin

1 can of beans of your choice, drained (optional)
27-Ounce Can of whole green chilies,
4 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
2 cups grated low-fat mozzarella cheese

1 small can sliced olives (optional)

Cilantro

Instructions:

1. Pour the cans of green chili sauce into a small saucepan and simmer on low so it reduces, stirring occasionally. This takes some time so start it first.
2. Brown ground turkey in a large pan in a little bit of non-stick spray or oil. Drain, then add onions. After a few minutes, add garlic and cumin. After a few more minutes, add drained beans and turn off the heat.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 and drain the green chilis. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray. Take half of the green chilis, open up, and use fingers to slide off the seeds and extra water, and make a layer in the bottom of your pan. Top with half of the turkey/bean mixture.
4. Add sour cream and cream cheese to the reduced green chili sauce. Mine stayed a little lumpy, but I didn’t stress out since it got baked anyway-it wasn’t noticeable!
5. Put half of the sauce on top of the turkey, as well as half of the cheese and olives, if using.
6. Layer the other half of the green chilis, turkey mix, sauce, cheese, and olives on each other. Bake for 40 minutes uncovered at 375. Feel free to turn on the broiler for the last couple minutes for a nice brown topping! Let sit for a few minutes before cutting. 
7. Top with cilantro and serve.

This will serve 6-8. I didn’t even miss the tortillas!