Chicken Soup & Dumplings

It seems like everyone I talk to has a cold or the flu. The changing of the seasons can be beautiful, but also tend to make everyone sick. With this in mind, I made a huge pot of chicken soup and dumplings. The nice thing about making a huge pot, is you can share it with others or freeze it for those chilly winter nights!

What you'll need for the soup:

1 Whole Chicken

J.B. Jameson's Chicken Flavored Soup Base

1 Bunch of Celery, chopped

1 Bunch of Carrots, chopped

1 Onion, chopped

5-10 Bay Leaves

Fresh Ground Pepper

How to make:

Clean chicken thoroughly and place in a large stock pot. Pour water into pot until it covers the chicken. I tend to fill my pot almost to the top because I like to make a huge batch. If your making a large batch, make sure to allow enough room for when vegetable are added. Next add all your chopped veggies and your bay leaves. I think the bay leaves give the soup a wonderful flavor so I tend to use more. Depending on your own personal taste adjust the amount. Next bring soup to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for an hour.

After an hour your chicken should be floating and cooked. The chicken may not take the full hour to cook. The way to tell is look at the meat on the legs, if it starts to come apart from the bone, it's done. Remove chicken from pot and place on cutting board. While the chicken is resting on the board, skim any chicken fat that may be floating at the top of the chicken stock. You may have to do this several times to get everything. Once skimmed take the soup base, and add about a quarter of the jar. Stir in, taste and add additional base until soup is well flavored. I typically end up using at least half the jar, sometimes more depending on the amount of soup I make. Add gradually, because if you do add too much, it will be a little salty. If that happens, just add more water. I do not use bullion, I think it is way too salty, and has a generic taste to it. J.B. Jameson's soup base is excellent and rich in flavor. It can be found in your soup isle at the grocery store.

Once you have added enough base, let the soup simmer an additional 20-30 minutes. Remember to keep skimming the fat off the top. At this time you can take the bay leaves out of the soup, and add fresh ground pepper to taste.

Remove chicken from the bone along with skin. Meat should be very tender, and easy to shred or able to be cut into chunks. Once all chicken has been broken into bite size pieces, add to soup.

For The Dumplings:

2 Cups Flour

3/4 Cup - 1 Cup Cold Water

Seasoning Blend ( I use Tastefully Simple Spinach and Dill Blend)

Dash of Salt

In a bowl pour flour, salt, and your favorite seasoning blend. (I used about a tablespoon and a half of the TS spinach and dill blend.) Gradually add water to flour mixture and stir until a dough forms. Once dough has been formed, drop by tablespoon into simmering soup. Dumpling will float to the top once cooked. You'll probably want to add dumplings once you've added all your soup base. The dumplings can take between 10-20 minutes to cook.

Once dumplings are cooked, serve soup immediately! Enjoy!

Tips:

***You can use potatoes in the soup too, just chop into small chunks and add to soup with other veggies in the beginning.

***Store left over soup in gallon Ziploc bags in freezer.

Pot Roast

Fall is in the air, and with that comes hearty warm home cooked meals! The air is crisp and makes me think of being a kid. Those days I'd spend countless hours outside raking piles of leaves and jumping into them. The best part was coming in from the outside. My mother always had something wonderful cooking to warm our souls. One that I remember most is pot roast. The warm tender meat with root vegetables was a staple recipe for the fall. Here is my mothers recipe, hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 lb. Chuck Roast

1 Can Mushroom Soup

1 Pkg Dry Lipton Onion Soup Mix

16 oz. Cola

Salt & Pepper

Carrots

Red Potatoes

How To Make:

Clean potatoes and carrots and rough chop them. I use just enough vegetables to cover the bottom of my crock pot. Once vegetables are placed, put chuck roast on top of them. Season meat and veggies with salt and pepper. Pour mushroom soup over ingredients. Next sprinkle dry onion soup over meat. Lastly gently pour cola over everything. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove meat from crock once finished and shred. Serve immediately.

I know the cola sounds weird in this recipe, but it really gives the meat a nice flavor. I used Pepsi. You can really use whatever you like most. You can even cut up onions, squash or any other hearty vegetable that will benefit from a slow cooking process to add additional flavor. Hope you like this great home style dish!

Chocolate Covered Pralines

These pralines are a sweet treat to make as gifts for friends and family! They are easy to make, and look great when finished. A nice way to say thank you or just thinking of you! They will be truly appreciated by others. That's if you can resist the temptation of not eating them all yourself! They are very tasty, and quite addicting!

What you'll need:

1 1/2 Cup Sugar

1 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar, packed

1/4 t Salt

3 T Corn Syrup

1 Cup Evaporated Milk

2 T Butter

1 t Vanilla

1 1/2 Cups Chopped Pecans

2 Cups Chocolate Chips

How to make:

In a 2 quart saucepan, add sugars, salt, corn syrup, milk and butter. Stirring constantly over medium heat, mix until sugar dissolves and comes to a boil. Using a candy thermometer, boil until mixture reaches 236 degrees. Remove from heat and cool 10 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. When slightly cooled, stir in vanilla and nuts.

Spray 2 small muffin pans (12 count) with cooking spray to prevent candy from sticking. Spoon mixture into bottom of each muffin pan and transfer to refrigerator to set up and cool. Once cooled, remove from frig. Flip muffin pans over to release pralines.

In a small saucepan, melt 2 cups chocolate chips, and add a spoonful to the top off each praline. Transfer chocolate coated pralines to a cookie sheet and put in refrigerator to allow the chocolate to set. Once set remove from frig and store in an air tight container.

Hope you enjoy this super sweet treat!

Grilled Apple And Brie Cheese Sandwich

I have another great fall recipe to use all those beautiful fresh picked apples everyone seems to have this time of year. You might think an apple and cheese sandwich sounds a little strange, but the flavors work so well with each other that it makes you think "Why haven't I made this before?" This is a simple recipe, great with soup or salad.

This is what you'll need:

2 Slices 7 Grain Bread, buttered

1 Apple, cored and sliced thin

3-5 Slices of Brie

Dijon Mustard

How to make:

On medium heat, warm up a small skillet on stove. Take a slice of bread, buttered side out, and spread Dijon mustard to taste. Build sandwich with brie and then apples, and the other slice of bread. Place in warmed skillet, and brown on each side. Remove sandwich from heat when cheese is soft and melted. Slice in half and serve immediately.

Idea:

Add some fresh cranberry relish to sandwich to add additional flavor.

Sweet Potato, and Sweet Dumpling Squash

My mom recently introduced me to sweet potato and sweet dumpling squash; and I'm glad she did! They are absolutely delicious and make a nice side dish to any fall entree. They actually reminded me a little of a Yukon gold potato, but much better. These squash along with many other kinds are in abundance right now, and simple to make. Simply cut squash in half and remove seeds. Set oven to 350. Place squash on tinfoil face down. With a fork poke several holes into the skin of the squash. Place in oven for 35-45 minutes and cook until soft. Serve with butter and salt or a little brown sugar. Hope you enjoy these wonderful fall squash as much as I did! Enjoy!

Note:

**I bought my squash at a local farm. They may be sold at farmers markets and or other produce markets.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Bars

These bars are a great spin on caramel apples that we all know and love this time of year. They are packed with flavor and super moist! A must make recipe for the fall!

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Shortening

1 1/2 Cups Packed Light Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

1 3/4 Cup Flour

1 t Baking Soda

1/2 t Salt

1 t Baking Powder

1 1/2 t Cinnamon

1 t Apple Pie Spice

2 1/2 Cups Quick Cooking Oatmeal

1 t Vanilla

1 1/2 Cups Chopped Dried Apple Rings

1 1/2 Bags Werther Caramels Chopped into pieces

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray and set aside. Using an electric mixer cream butter, shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and then buttermilk. In a small bowl sift flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and apple pie spice. Gradually add this mixture to bowl. Stir until combined. Fold in oatmeal, apples and caramel. Pour mixture into pan and bake 20-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cut into squares and serve! Enjoy!

These bars should be stored in an air tight container, and can be stored for two weeks.

Caramel Corn

Fall is in the air, and there are so many great recipes to make this time of year! One of my favorite is this caramel corn recipe. It is easy and great for fall parties, kids Halloween parties, and treat bags. I make this every October to kick off the fall!

Ingredients:

5 Quarts Popped Corn

2 Cups Light Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Corn Syrup

1 Cup Butter

1/4 t. Cream Of Tartar

1 t. Salt

1 t. Baking Soda

Pop 5 quarts of popcorn and place in a large foil or roasting pan coated with cooking spray.

In a medium sized saucepan combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, cream of tartar and salt. Bring mixture up to a rapid boil, stirring constantly. Using a candy thermometer, cook mixture until 260 degrees. Once temperature has been reached, remove from heat and add baking soda. Mixture will grow in size and become fluffy. Stir until baking soda is completely mixed in.

Pour caramel over popcorn and stir until all corn is completely covered. This may take some time, but just keep stirring and all kernels will get covered.

Place caramel corn in preheated oven set to 200 degrees. Cook for 1 hour, stirring every fifteen minutes. If after an hour, corn is still sticky cook a little longer until done.

When finished, take out and cool. You may have to stir it occasionally as it cools to avoid it from clumping. When cooled, place in air tight container. Enjoy!