Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

I found this recipe on Jack and Jill's Kitchen. I have found a love for Wild Rice and decided yesterday with the snowy weather we needed soup.

This soup was a hit with my family. It was hearty and it was yummy. Had lots of great flavor and good yummy veggies!

I halved the recipe for my family and it was perfect. We had enough for us and leftovers for 2!

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

(Jack and Jill's Kitchen)

• 10 cups water
• 10 bouillon cubes or 10 tsp chicken base ~ chicken base found at Costco!
• 4 chicken breasts ~ can be frozen too!
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 boxes Rice a Roni Wild Rice flavor
• 1 onion, finely chopped ~ I used the dried onions, which worked out great!
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 1 cup celery, finely chopped
• 1 small can stems and pieces mushrooms ~ I didn't add!
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup

Fill your pot with water and bring to a boil.

Add chicken, onion, b0uillon, salt, and pepper and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer about 25 minutes. Remove chicken pieces from the boiling broth after the 25 minutes. Use scissors or knife and cut or shred your chicken. Return chicken to the pot. The chicken should be cooked through.

Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms and boxes of rice (pour in the rice and seasoning packets that come along in the box). Cover and let simmer about 15 minutes more, until the veggies and rice are cooked.

Add the cream of chicken soups, turn up the heat and let it come to a boil. Once the soup is thickened (this takes just a few minutes after it comes to a boil again) it is ready to be served. ~ I added about 2 cups of hot water to this soup. The picture above was taken before the water was added. I wanted more of a soup, not a stew. I also found the seasonings to be really strong and the water softened it up alot! Just add how ever much hot water to make it the consistency you want. The flavors should still be strong enough!
YUMMY!!

Banana Bread

I found this recipe on the Pioneer Woman Blog. I wanted to find another bread recipe for when I don't have cream cheese (which by far is a really really good recipe!)!!

This recipe was really good, I really wanted to drizzle chocolate sauce over the top of it, but I refrained. Or even add chocolate chips to it, but I again refrained!

Next time I might add some cinnamon to it, but overall it was easy and moist! I do think next time I wont put as much in the bundt cake pan and cook some in a smaller loaf pan. My bread was really tall! I liked that this was in a bundt pan. It makes it kind of fancier if you need something to take someone, maybe with chocolate drizzlied on top!!!

I had a friend tell me that they like to toast their banana bread in the toaster the next day and put butter on it! I tried this and it was super good and a new way to eat it for me!

Banana Bread

(The Pioneer Woman Blog)

• 2 sticks butter (I did 1 stick butter, 1 stick margarine)
• 1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
• 4 cups + 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan (I normally just spray the pan, but I did flour this time because I often times have difficulty getting these breads out in one piece).

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, one at a time, beating for a few seconds after each addition. Add mashed bananas and beat.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

Add dry ingredients and sour cream alternately to the mixing bowl. Beat well until combined. Pour into bundt pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean (Mine took the whole time!).

Invert on a cooling rack and allow cake to cool before slicing and serving with softened butter.

Fruit Salad with Citrus Glaze

I bought a bag of frozen mixed fruit a while ago and decided to finally try it out! The fruit was actually really good. I get nervous about frozen fruit being mushy or not having great flavor, but this was yummy! I made the glaze from the back of the bag and it was really good with it and not too over powering with the fruit!

Fruit Salad with Citrus Glaze

(from Dole Frozen Mixed Fruit Bag)

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 pkg (16 oz) Dole fresh frozen mixed fruit, thawed ~ about 4 cups

Combine pineapple juice, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and cornstarch in medium saucepan.

Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Cool slightly. Sauce can be served warm or chilled.

Spoon glaze over fruit. Refrigerate any leftovers in airtight container!

Chicken Spaghetti

I found this recipe on Jack and Jill's Kitchen! It was really good and everyone loved it! My family has been kind of tired of regular spaghetti and this was a great change!

You make it in the crock pot which was a big bonus for me!

I halved the recipe for my family and it made a lot even halved!!

Make sure that you add an hour to your when you start! Once the chicken is done and shredded it needs another hour with the saucy stuff!

Chicken Spaghetti

(found on Jack and Jill's Kitchen)

6 chicken breasts (I added more just because I was planning on feeding more than just my family) ~ I even used frozen chicken
1 onion chopped (I always use a sweet variety)
1 pkg. sliced mushrooms ~I didn't add these because of the boys
2 pkgs dry spaghetti sauce mix - use McCormick
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup butter (can substitute with chicken broth. I used 1/4 cup each butter/broth)


Cook in crock pot 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. I found my chicken was done sooner, so watch!

When done shred the chicken with a fork then add:

2 8 oz pkg. cream cheese
2 cans of cream of chicken soup

Stir. Cook on low for 1 hour longer. Serve over angel hair pasta.

Peanut Butter & White Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my favorite cookies as a child were chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies. My Grandmother would always have these at her house when we visited. It is a cookie that brings many memories of going to my grandparents house!

I found this recipe the other day, which is very similar but has white chocolate chips too! This cookie is equally delicious! It has a very similar texture and the white chocolate chips are a good addition!

Peanut Butter & White Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Our Best Bites cookbook)

• 1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 6 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 cup peanut butter chips
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350

Cream together softened butter, shortening, brown sugar and sugar for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla.

Meanwhile combine all the dry ingredients. Add to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Mix in peanut butter chips and white chocolate chips.

Use a cookie scoop and drop on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes (mine took almost 9 minutes). The centers should be set, but the cookies are still soft. Make sure not to overbake.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack!

MONSTER Cookies

Every month, we get the privilege of bringing snack to my son's preschool class. We were thinking together of something to bring, when we saw these amazing cookies. Of course the M&M's caught his eye, but they were fun for us to make together and a great preschool snack :) They don't have ANY flour, so they have a texture similar to a mix between a no-bake cookie and a soft granola bar.

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups peanut butter, smooth or chunky

3/4 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

4 1/2 cups oatmeal (not instant)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup M&M's (I used mini ones, they worked really good without being too overpowering)

Directions:

Mix eggs and sugars in a bowl with a spoon until well blended. Add softened butter and peanut butter and mix until smooth. Add vanilla and salt and mix again. Dump in oats and sprinkle soda and powder on top of oats. Mix well. Fold in chips and candies. Scoop cookie dough in balls on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Let sit on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before removing.

Teriyaki Chicken

I have had this recipe for quite some time and have never tried it! It was given to me by a lady that lives near by who is a great cook! I don't know why it took me so long to try it~it was simple, easy and my kids ate it up (and my husband)!

It isn't really saucy, but the chicken has great flavor! My kids prefer it this way, since they like there chicken on the side and butter on there rice! We all didn't mind the less sauce!

Teriyaki Chicken

• 6 chicken breasts (I only did 3, but kept marinade the same)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt

Place chicken in a zip lock bag. I cut up my chicken into smaller pieces so they would cook faster too.

In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic salt. Pour over chicken and squish the bag around to get the chicken coated. Can leave the chicken in marinade for a few hours or use the chicken right away after coating.

Grill or cook over the stove on medium heat for about 20 minutes. I poured some of the marinade over the chicken and cooked it in that too.

May also bake the chicken in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Serve over hot buttered rice!