Chicken Noodle Soup

I never really grew up eating soups, unless I was sick.

And when I was sick, I had a can of soup, nothing homemade.

My family homemade lots of stuff, soup though, was never one.

My husband's family on the other hand, makes soup extremely often.

At first I was not really a fan, in my mind soup was for sick people.

I learned however that soup is the poor man's rich meal.

One batch of soup can last upwards of over a week, depending on how many people your feeding.

And if you freeze individual servings in muffin/cupcake tins, you can have personal soup portions for months!

The most popular soup in my husbands family is Chicken Noodle.

It's fast and simple.

You need:

One whole chicken (the small one)

Chicken stock/broth

Celery

Carrots

Egg Noodles

Seasonings

In my house we have to cook the soup in two different pans, because we don't have a big pan that will fit the whole chicken and all the trimmings.

So the first thing you do is wash rinse the chicken and cut it in half, right down the middle.

Place each half in a pot that is half chicken stock and half water, you want to get to the top of the chicken, or barely cover it.

Add all the seasonings you want. We usually do salt, pepper, Tony's, and a poultry premade mix, along with some other green herbs.

While the chicken is cooking, chop up the celery and carrots. One whole bunch of celery and a bag of baby carrots.

The thinner they are the less they will have to cook.

When the chicken is cooked all the way through, take it out and de-bone it. This is a hot process, and you may want to toss the chicken in the freezer for five min.

To de-bone it, you just pull all the meat off the chicken bones and put back in the broth.

Add the veggies and bring to a boil.

Let boil for a few in, til the veggies are close to finished, then add the Egg Noodles.

Your soup is done when the noodles are!

Here you go!

Perfect with bread and butter too!

Delish!!



Whiskey Cream Sauce

Ok, the focus in this post is simply the sauce.

It's something that can go on any type of beef steak.

I used rib eye, because I love the way I can pan cook them.

And the marble of fat makes for some major 'Mmmmms'.

I have never made a sauce to put on my steaks. I usually just eat mine sans a sauce and my husband likes just A1. But when I came across this in Pioneer Woman's Cookbook I decided to give it a try.

What you need:

First melt 2 tablespoons butter and cook the onions til they are nice and brown.

I would have used a white onion, but all I had were purple and I was feeling a little lazy.

Purple ones don't brown as well as the other onions.

Next your going to add the whiskey. I took my pan off the burner, cause I didn't want to catch fire.

Once it evaporates, add the broth and salt and pepper.

Whisk in another tablespoon of butter and let the mixture bubble for 30 seconds.

Turn the heat low and add the cream. Whisk, and add more cream if it looks to thin or brothy.

Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, while you cook your steaks.

When they are done, just spoon some sauce onto the steaks and enjoy!

Here's what you need (make two servings):

•  3 tablespoons of butter
• 3 table spoons of diced onion
• 1/4 cup of whiskey
• 1/4 cup beef broth
• salt
• pepper
• 1/4 cup cream
• 2 steaks of your choice



Lasagna

You know what I love the most about lasagna?

That it tastes even better as leftovers than when its fresh.

There is just something about putting it in the fridge, letting get cold, the microwaving it that is just....Mmmmm.

So I usually make it when I know I am not going to feel like cooking the next day.

Or when I am not going to go to the store for stuff to make.

I don't know about you, but we save all our leftovers, but somehow never get around to eating them.

It's a problem, I know.

We work on it.

Lasagna is our exception, we eat it all, and the leftovers don't last more than a day or two.

I used to make it like this:

1. Go to store.

2. Get frozen Stouffers Lasagna.

3. Go home.

4. Put frozen lasagna in oven.

5. Wait FOREVER, then serve.

But now I make it myself, and not only does it taste better,

it does NOT take 160 minutes to cook.

I am impatient when it comes to food, and usually I start dinner later in the evening, when I am ready to eat, so making a meal that takes more than an hour doesn't fit into my schedule.

This is how I do it now.

1. Brown your meat (I use two pounds, but the picture only shows 1), add what ever kinds of seasoning you like.

2. While that is working, get your cheese mix ready.

I use a mix of Ricotta and Cottage cheese with a hand full of Parmesan and an egg.

No exact measurements will be offered.

3. The meat should be done now, so time to add your tomato sauce, I use meat sauce because my husband loves it extra meaty. Then get your Ready to Bake lasagna pasta and start layering!

This is how I layer:

1st layer:

Pasta

Cheese mix

Meat mix

Spinach leaves (to taste, optional, I just need a little green)

Fresh mozzarella

Balsamic vinegar

2nd layer:

Pasta

Cheese mix

Meat mix

Cheese mix (very little)

Fresh mozzarella

Balsamic Vinegar

Parmesan

Seems like a lot, but its not.

See?

Here is the 1st layer

Making layer number two:

4. Throw it in the oven at 400 degrees for about half an hour (if you want you can cook it longer at 350 or whatever you like, but why???).

Just eyeball it really, I took it out when the mozzarella was getting crispy on the top.

That really brown part you see? That's just balsamic that soaked into the cheese, don't worry.

You should technically let it sit for, like 15 min to, I guess, firm up, but, like I said, I can't wait that long so I serve it after 5.

The whole process takes about an hour! Totally worth it!

There will be liquid in the dish, don't worry, you didn't do something wrong, it still tastes awesome, and the next day, when you eat the leftovers, your going to be amazed that it tastes even better!