Creamy Chicken Soup

Per request I'm putting this "recipe" here on the blog. There are quotes around the word recipe because this isn't much of one. But I'll do my best to quantify how I make it. It's kind of one of those things where no matter how you tweak it it's incredible. 

Mmmmmmm. I make this in a Dutch oven cause I like saying it, but any old pot will work. And I make this with easy drop biscuits but a can of biscuits works too if you'd rather. 

Use: 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can low sodium chicken broth 

2 bags frozen vegetable blend*

1 half onion (minced) 

1 cup water 

1 cup butter 

3/4 cup all purpose flour 

3 cups milk (or cream)

(Dried spices)

Thyme

Oregano 

Parsley 

Garlic powder

Basil 

Salt 

Pepper 

So there are no quantities next to the spices because I honestly don't know. I'd say a minimum of a teaspoon each and salt and pepper to taste, but feel free to play! I like things SEASONED, so I go heavy and never have complaints. 

Do: 

1. Place the raw chicken breasts and minced onion in a pot with the chicken broth. Add about a teaspoon each of the thyme, basil, parsley, garlic powder and oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and cook on medium heat till the chicken is done. Shred the chicken with two forks when it's good and tender. 

2. Add two bags of frozen vegetable blends (I go for the blend of carrots, broccoli and cauliflower), and one cup of water. Stir together and cover. Let it simmer. 

3. In a medium sized saucepan melt the butter on medium heat. Slowly add in the flour, whisking the roux to keep it smooth. Add in the milk half a cup at a time, again whisking to keep it smooth. Every couple half cups use a rubber spatula to mix it, scraping the bottom to be sure you're incorporating everything. Add more of your spices into the rue if so desired (I usually do so desire, I add lots of pepper) (LOTS). 

4. Add the roux mixture to the pot of chicken and veggies and mix it up. Let it simmer for a while longer (the longer it simmers the better it tastes!!). Serve with warm biscuits! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

To make this flour/gluten/dairy free scratch the whole roux and use coconut milk to thicken the soup into a creamy consistency. 

I have made this with basically any scrap veggies I have laying around, corn, mushrooms, celery, zucchini, anything. If my vegetable recommendations don't tickle your fancy then pick your own! 

Oh, about the vegetables...you'll notice I asterisked them, here's why: *I have done EXTENSIVE looking into fresh/flash frozen veggies. There is a pervasive thought that fresh is best, and while that is true to an extent, the reality is that a lot of times flash frozen veggies are just as good, if not better than "fresh". You know how a car starts losing value the second you drive it off the lot? Vegetables are the same way with nutrients. The second a veggie is cut from the plant it starts losing nutritional value. The longer it's separated before being consumed the more nutritional value it loses. Flash frozen veggies are usually harvested, chopped and frozen in a matter of hours, meaning they retain a lot more nutrients than a "fresh veggie" that is harvested, loaded into a truck, and shipped into your local grocery store over the course of a couple days. This is ESPECIALLY the case out of season. So yes, if you have a garden or live on a farm and can go from field to table that day, fresh is best. Or if you have a recipe that requires a whole product, or something specific to "fresh produce", then yes, fresh is best. But for the sake of this recipe, where I need chopped, mixed veggies on a budget, flash frozen is just as good. And as I'm in Illinois in the middle of January it's better. No trucked in, nutrient deficient veggies for this girl!! (Side note: be sure and read packaging and avoid any frozen veggies with added salt)

Alright kids, there's the recipe, it's delicious, and this quantity feeds me and my husband and toddler for dinner and a couple lunches! 

Mushrooms Stuffed With Amazingness

Happy New Year!!!

So my husband doesn't have a lot of traditions from his childhood that he felt the need to pass on to our kids (or even a ton he remembers, sheesh), but early on I learned that the traditions that are important revolve around New Year's Eve. And the cornerstone of a Traditional Smith Family New Year's Eve is stuffed mushrooms. It's basically a miracle I got this much out of him. When I pushed for details like "stuffed with what" all information stopped. "Stuff them with whatever you want, it doesn't matter. They just have to be stuffed." 

Okay then. 

After some cruising of Pinterest and the internet and some tweaking and combining and altering and mish moshing of recipes I have a finished product that I love. Like, LOVE. Like I could eat these every single day. 

Use: 

- 8oz thick cut Hickory smoked bacon

- 1/2 to 2/3 of an onion (white or yellow) 

- 1 clove of garlic 

- 16oz button mushrooms (fresh is best)

- 4oz of cream cheese

- a little more than 1/4 a cup shredded Parmesan*

- salt and pepper 

Do: 

1. Let the cream cheese get to room temp. This process is infinitely easier with soft cream cheese. 

2. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. 

3. Cut the raw bacon into little pieces - I use a kitchen shears but you can do this however you want, a shears is just the easiest for me. Cook the bacon in a large saute pan over medium heat. 

4. While the bacon cooks cut the mushroom stems out of the caps (I know I'm doing good when I can see the ribbing of the underside of the cap). Lay the mushroom caps on a foil lined baking sheet as you de-stem them. Then mince the stems and set them aside. 

5. Mince the onion and hopefully by now your bacon is done so take it out of the pan and set that aside. Get rid of the bacon grease but keep 2 or 3 tablespoons and use that to saute the onion until it's nice and soft. 

6. Add the mushrooms stems and garlic to the pan and cook it all together. SMELLS SO GOOD. 

7. Add some salt and pepper as you like. Lower your heat and toss in your cream cheese and your Parmesan and mix it up till it's all melty and ooey gooey. Throw in the bacon and mix it all up really good. Take it off the heat and stuff the mushroom caps (generously!!!). Bake them at 350F for about 25-30 minutes. You want soft mushrooms and hot filling. 

Now eat and be delighted. SO GOOD. 

Side notes: I can make this recipe pretty quickly now, but during the experimentation and learning phase I cooked the bacon on low heat to give myself time to de-stem mushrooms because I'm a perfectionist and de-stemming mushrooms is not something you do willy-nilly when you're a perfectionist. Also this filling makes good hot dip with a bit of toasted French bread or crackers. In fact I usually have a couple tablespoons of the filling leftover after stuffing the caps so I secretly eat it on crackers while husband waits for his mushrooms. 

*I have done this once with grated pepper jack cheese because husband likes a little spice in life so feel free to experiment with your cheese selection,