Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:

4 - boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into strips or cubed

4 cups water

1-2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2- stalks celery, cleaned and chopped

2-3 medium potatoes, cubed

1 can biscuits(8 count), cut into quarters or 1/6th's, depends on thickness preference

1 chicken bouillon cube(optional)

salt and pepper to taste

1tsp flour mixed with water(optional)

Directions:

Bring water to a boil and and salt, add chicken. Cook chicken most of the way threw and add chicken bouillon cube, potatoes, carrots and celery (you can add the carrots and celery in a little later if you like them more aldente). Cook until tend then add biscuit pieces and more salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5-7 minutes, or until dumplings are cooked through, to help them cook faster stir them under the water and chicken. If you want to thicken the liquid add in the flour and water mixture until thickened to your liking.

Lasagna Rolls

I made these the other night and they came out really good, I'm not exactly sure on how long to bake them because I was getting ready to put them in the oven and my power went out ='(

Luckily the oven was completely preheated so I threw them in really fast and left them in there until I could smell them, They still came out tasting really good though, I even made some italian bread sticks to go with them, after the power came back on of course =p

Ingredients:

1 box (12 noodles) lasagna noodles

1 small bag baby spinach

1 jar marinara sauce

1 (15oz) ricotta cheese

1 package turkey breast lunch meat

2+ cups of your favorite shredded cheese, I had cheddar and monterey jack on hand

Italian Seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F

Prepare lasagna noodles as stated on box, drain and lay flat to cool before handling.

On each noodle spread about 1.5 tbsp ricotta cheese, 1tbsp marinara sauce, then 3-4(depending on size) spinach leaves, finally 2-3 slices turkey, sprinkle with italian seasoning and roll. Place seam side down in a prepared baking dish, repeat for all noodles. Pour remaining marinara sauce on top of lasagna rolls, then sprinkle as much shredded cheese as desired on top.

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until everything is heated through and the cheese on top is completely melted!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

2-3 Chicken Breast, about 2 lbs, boiled and cubed or shredded

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 small white onion, diced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small serrano pepper, seeded and diced

1 can, whole or diced, tomatoes with juice

1 can, black beans, drained and washed

1/2-1 cup frozen corn

1-1.5 cups minute rice, depending on who thick you like it

salt, pepper and chili powder to taste

4 cups chicken broth, I used the water I boiled the chicken in(or water)

Cheese and Corn Tortillas for garnish

Directions:

Saute onion and garlic until translucent. Add in peppers, tomatoes, black beans, and chicken. Add salt, pepper and chili powder to taste, then pour in chicken broth, bring to a simmer. Add in rice and then let simmer for about 5 more minutes.

Serve with corn tortilla and cheese

Potato Stoup

So this is a thicker soup, I like them a little thicker but if you want it more soupy add more liquids or less potatoes!

**Picture coming soon...I ate it before I took a pic =p**

Ingredients:

4 slices of bacon, cut

4 medium sized potatoes cubed, you can peel them but I like the skin

1 (14oz) can low sodium chicken broth

2 1/4 milk

1/2-1cup shredded cheese + some for garnish

~1tbsp butter, I used my country crock spread

salt and pepper to taste

cap full of dried chopped onions (all I had on hand, but I'm sure it would be better with fresh onions)

1/4 tsp minsed garlic

dash cayenne pepper *optional*

Directions:

In soup pot or dutch oven brown bacon. Once browned remove and place on plate with paper towel, it will be sued for garnish.

In bacon drippings add onion, garlic, and potatoes. Let cook about 5 mins. Add chicken broth and milk. Cook until potatoes are mash-able. Mash potatoes to consistency of your liking. Add salt and peppers to taste. Stir in cheese and butter. Serve with garnish of cheese and bacon.

I took this from a baked potato soup recipe, you can certainly add sour cream and bake the potatoes instead of boiling them, I just used what I had on hand and I didn't want to wait for the potatoes to bake =p

Spiced Pumpkin Cookies

In honor of it officially being Fall I decided to make a pumpkin themed dessert! They are so tasty and are only about 70 calories each!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 (about 1/2 can) cup pureed pumpkin (NOT the pumpkin pie filling)

2 eggs at room temp

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp pumpkin spice (yeah I added a little more of it, even though it's made up of all the spices your putting in the cookies =p)

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts) +some for topping *optional*

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F

In large bowl cream together butter and sugar. Add in eggs and pumpkin. Sift together flour and spices, then add to pumpkin mixture. Once all ingredients are thoroughly add in pecans.

Drop loaded spoonfuls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Top with a sprinkle of pecans.

Bake 8-10 minutes.

Once finished move to wire rack and let cool completely.

Fajita Enchilada Lasagna

This is my lazy way of making enchiladas, no rolling necessary.

Ingredients:

9 corn tortillas

2 chicken breast

1-2 cups of shredded cheese (depending on how cheesy you want it)

1 can Old El Paso enchilada sauce

salt and pepper to taste

fajita seasoning.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F

Spray a baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Salt, pepper and fajita season both sides of chicken breast. Either grill or bake chicken.

After chicken is cooked and cooled shred. Pour in about half a can of enchilada sauce into shredded chicken and mix well.

Layer 3 tortillas, then a third of the cheese, half (or most) chicken mixture, 1/3 cheese, 3 tortillas, rest of chicken mixture, 3 tortillas. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over, then top with remaining cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Feel free to layer more, I only had enough ingredients to do "2" layers

Semi-Homemade Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo

Ingredients:

1/2 lbs chicken breast (about 2), cubed into bite size pieces

1/2lbs shrimp, uncooked shelled and deveined(I used frozen)

1-2 cups chopped okra (I used frozen, less slimy that way =p)

1 -14oz can Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth

4 cups water

old bay seasoning

salt and pepper

onion and garlic powder

1 box Zadarans Gumbo mix

Directions:

Sprinkle chicken bites with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and old bay on all sides. Brown chicken in a little drizzle of EVOO. Once browned add Zadaran's seasoning, chopped okra, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil and cover, let simmer for about 15 minutes. Add Shrimp and let simmer covered for another 10 minutes.

Your basically following the directions on the box, I'm just adding to it =p

I added a little more cooked rice because I like lots of rice and the served it with a side of cornbread!