Chicken Rice Soup ~ Easy, Fast and Frugal

Last week, I made some homemade chicken broth.  I had a quart left in the fridge that needed to get used, so I threw together a quick soup. 

I'm posting this, at the request of my friend Lisa.  Although, it's a pretty easy recipe, I thought I'd share! 

Chicken Rice Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 quart homemade chicken broth
• 1-2 cups water (or additional broth) *
• 1 cup carrots, carrots
• 1  medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, diced
• 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
• 1-2 cups cooked rice

Directions:

• bring homemade broth to a boil in soup pot on stove, medium-high heat.
• add water (or additional broth) if needed
• add vegetables, cover and reduce heat to low
• simmer until vegetables are tender
• stir in chicken and rice
• heat through

Notes:

* I made the homemade broth (more about that in a future post) using the cooking juices and bones/carcass from a whole chicken cooked in the crock pot (recipe on my other blog).  The spices on the chicken made this a very dark, spicy broth.  I needed about 1 1/2 cups of water to dilute it enough to be a light flavored broth for a light soup. 

This soup turned out great!  It was a really quick, easy and frugal meal!  I really just cleaned out the fridge of some veggies that needed to get used and the homemade broth I had made the week before!  Joe picked up a loaf of crusty bread on his way home from work! 

There is just one small bowl left and I'm eating that for lunch today! 

Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup ~ Crock-Pot

If you read my recipe post for Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic, then you know I added some potatoes and onions under the chicken to cook at the same time. 

When the Chicken with 40 Garlic Cloves was finished cooking, I removed the chicken to one bowl and the potatoes, onions and some of the garlic to another bowl.  I reserved those potatoes for this recipe: 

Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup

Ingredients: 

• Roasted Potatoes, Onions, Garlic*
• 1 quart homemade chicken broth**
• 2 additional cups potatoes, peeled & diced
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 Tbsp. Kosher salt
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions:

• Place previously roasted potatoes, onions and garlic in crock-pot with chicken broth, cover and cook on high for one hour.
• Using a stick blender,*** puree the potatoes and onions to your desired consistency and texture. 
• Stir in the additional potatoes along with the carrots, celery, water, salt and pepper.
• Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours, or until vegetables are tender. 

Potatoes and onions in chicken broth.

Pureed potatoes and onions in chicken broth.

Finished product! 

Mmmmm! 

  *I really love how easy it was to make this soup using the previously roasted vegetables.  I added extra veggies since I planned on pureeing the roasted veggies, but still wanted a chunkier soup. 

 **I made homemade broth using the bones and the cooking juices from the Chicken with 40 Garlic Cloves.  Store bought broth or stock can also be used. 

***If you don't have a stick blender, a food processor or standard kitchen blender will work.

I really enjoyed this soup.  It was very hearty and had lots of flavor.  We each had two bowls along with sliced French Bread for dipping! 

Even after our hearty portions, there was still about a quart of soup leftover.  I put that in the fridge for leftover night (probably Saturday)!

I'll be sharing this recipe with the following blog carnivals: 

• Food on Friday
• Ultimate Recipe Swap 

Crock-Pot Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Do you know there are several recipes for Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic posted all over the Internet? 

Seriously, I didn't realize it until I decided over the weekend that I wanted to prepare this dish for dinner on Monday night.  You can find some version of this recipe pretty much anywhere:  Food Network, Bloggers, Allrecipes, etc.! 

With the help of my friend (in real life) Lisa, I was able to decide on a combination of flavors that would work for me. 

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic with Roasted Potatoes & Onions

Ingredients:

• 3lbs. potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 3 cups onions, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced 
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 4 bone-in split chicken breast (approx. 4 lbs.)
• 33 cloves of garlic*, peeled
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
• 1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. pepper

This is a photo of the raw chicken layered in the crock pot on top of the potatoes and onions.

Directions:

• In a large bowl, toss the potatoes and onions with the sliced garlic, olive oil, rosemary and thyme. 
• Spread the potato and onion mixture evenly on the bottom of a large crockpot.**
• Use the same large bowl; toss chicken pieces with the olive oil and the remaining ingredients.  Fit a garlic clove or two into open spaces in the chicken breast (optional). 
• Fit the chicken parts in the crock pot on top of the potatoes and onions. 
• Place lid on top and cook on low 6-8 hours.***

This photo is the chicken after it cooked in the crock pot for 5 hours. 

See the nice roasted garlic? 

Mmmmmm!

Notes:
     * I was tired of peeling garlic at this point, we never missed the other cloves! 
   ** I reserved the potatoes and onions to use for another meal later this week. 
 *** I cooked this on high for one hour, then turned it to low for 4 hours. 

I really enjoyed this recipe.  The flavors were wonderful!  The chicken was a teeny bit dry, I'm thinking that I layered too many potatoes and they didn't allow for the chicken to baste in the cooking juices.  But I like that we were able to eat it like a nice piece of roasted chicken.  Sometimes meat is too tender when cooked in the crock pot.  At least to my liking.  I think I will try this combination of spices with a whole chicken the next time.  With less potatoes on the bottom.

When I began deciding how I wanted to season the chicken and prepare everything, I knew the chicken wouldn't fill the entire crock pot.  I remember someone telling me that they cook their chicken and potatoes at the same time in the oven.  I thought that was a great idea, but decided that the garlic potatoes along with the garlic chicken would be a bit much for one meal.  So, I came up with a plan for those roasted potatoes. 

Be sure to check back to find out how I used those potatoes and onions in another meal!

I will be sharing this blog post on the following carnivals this week: 

• Crock-Pot Wednesday
• Food on Friday

Asian-Style Pepper Steak: Take Out Fake Out

Joe picked up some London Broil the other day after seeing a really good price in the Acme sale ad.  I was trying to decide what to make using one of the packs of meat and I decided on Pepper Steak.  Instead of using my recipe, I decided to try my friend Lisa's recipe. 

But true to my usual form, I didn't follow her recipe completely!  Mainly, due to the fact that I didn't have all of the ingredients.  Plus, she makes her recipe in the crock pot.   I didn't have much luck using the crock pot for Pepper Steak in the past, so I used my dutch oven on the stove.  Other than that, I didn't stray from the original recipe TOO MUCH! 

You'll want to check out Lisa's recipe if you plan on using the crock pot to prepare this meal.

Here's my version of Lisa's Asian-Style Pepper Steak: 

Asian-Style Pepper Steak

Ingredients:

• 1-2 lbs. London Broil, diced
• A-1 Steak Sauce
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
• salt & pepper
• 1 tsp. beef bouillon granules
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp.  sesame oil 
• 1 Tbsp. ground ginger
• 4 Tbsp.  Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce*
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 1-2 red bell peppers, chopped

Directions:

• Marinate diced meat in A-1 Steak Sauce, overnight. 
• Remove meat from marinade with a slotted spoon and add to hot olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven with the cayenne pepper and salt and pepper, over medium high heat to brown the meat.  
• Mix the bouillon granules with the boiling water and add to the pot along with the the remaining ingredients. 
• Bring to boil. 
• Cover and reduce heat. 
• Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes to a half hour. 
• Add peppers and oinons, continue to simmer until veggies are tender.
• Serve over your favorite white or brown rice. 

*I didn't realize we were out of soy sauce.  After searching for substitutions, I found an easy solution to my problem on allrecipes.com.  I found out that for a 1/2 cup of soy sauce, you can mix 4 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce with 1 Tbsp. of water.  Since I only needed 1/4 cup, I cut that in half.  I didn't miss the soy sauce at all! 

This dish was excellent!  I may never switch back to my recipe again! 

As it was cooking, I tasted the sauce to see if it was tasting like I thought it should taste.  I was so tempted to call Joe and ask him to pick up egg rolls on his way home from work.  I resisted!  But I'll be buying some frozen egg rolls from Costco or Trader Joe's to keep in the freezer just for this meal! 

I served this over white minute rice with a some steamed broccoli on the side.  I really enjoyed this Asian-inspired meal.  I think I will make this often when I crave take-out but can't fit it in the budget.  It's a very frugal meal if you manage to get a decent sale on the meat.

This post is linked to Taste the World hosted by Alison at Hospitality Haven. 

Click the button below to find more Chinese inspired meals. 

Rice-A-Roni Fake Out

While taking stock of my pantry, I found 3 bags of fine egg noodles.  I didn't even realize they there!  I don't use them and I didn't buy them!  Sometimes Joe does the food shopping and odd things like this end up in our pantry! 

I made chicken noodle soup the other night and included some of the fine noodles instead of the heartier noodles that I prefer.  I was shocked at the small amount that was needed from the bag!  Still had more than half a bag left and 2 more full bags in the pantry!  I'll never use them up! 

I saw a recipe on the package for Pasta Rice Pilaf.  After checking to see if I had all the ingredients, I planned this for dinner the next night! 

I am known to be product loyal with some things.  For instance, Acme's knock off of Bush's beans are awful!   Other things, I love buying the store brand in order to save some money.  Giant brand of Raisin Brand is just like Kellogg's Raisin Bran.  (Before that  discovery, I could only eat Kellogg's Raisin Bran...see, I'm product loyal.)

I was super-surpised and thrilled with this recipe!  Not only did it taste better than beef-flavored Rice-A-Roni, it was easy, made larger serving sizes and I am sure WAY cheaper!!!!  (I don't have a price break down at the moment.) 

So, here's the recipe: 

Pasta Rice Pilaf

Ingredients:

• 
  
  1 cup uncooked long grain rice
• 
  
  1/2 cup fine egg noodles
• 
  
  1 Tbsp. butter or margarine
• 
  
  2 3/4 cups water
• 
  
  2 Tbsp. dried minced onion
• 
  
  4 tsp. beef flavor bouillon granules
• 
  
  chopped fresh parsley, optional 

Directions:

• 
  
  In large skillet, cook rice and noodles in melted butter or margarine, stirring frequently until rice and noodles are lightly browned.
• 
  
  Add water, onion and bouillon granules.
• 
  
  Bring to boil.
• 
  
  Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 minutes until rice and noodles are tender.
• 
  
  Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.

I served this with grilled London Broil and steamed broccoli. 

This recipe makes 4 hearty portions.  Hubby and I have big appetites and usually when a recipe serves 4, we don't have any leftover.  I had plenty of rice to put away! 

I left off the fresh  parsley, since we didn't have it, and I'm not much for garnishes when it's just the two of us for dinner. 

The recipe calls for beef bouillon, but I cannot wait to try it with chicken bouillon next time! 

Also, the recipe calls for the fine egg noodles, but I'm sure this would work great using the broken spaghetti, angel hair or vermicelli bits left at the bottom of the boxes.  Save them up and use them for this recipe!  I also think that orzo pasta would be a great match too!  We always have a 1/2 a box or so left in the pantry! 

This post is linked to Food On Fridays. 

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake Cookies

We do a lot of visiting over Christmas and New Years. I planned making some Cranberry Walnut Fudge and baking a few Gooey Butter Cakes to take to the homes we were visiting.

My friend Lisa posted a recipe for Gooey Butter Cookies that I just had to try! I had all of the ingredients so I made a double batch and took a half a batch to each house for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day.

When I first saw her recipe, I immediately wondered how great a chocolate version would be! I found out on New Year's Eve, when I made a batch of each! YUM!!!!!

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

• chocolate cake mix
• 1 egg
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• powdered sugar

Directions:

• Add cake mix, egg, cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Mix until well combined.
• Chill over night (or at least 4 hours)
• Roll into balls to desired size.
• Roll in powdered sugar.
• Bake at 350* for 9-12 minutes.

I plan on making these, using Lemon cake mix for Easter.

Taco / Enchilada Filling

A few weeks ago, we were in the mood for tacos for dinner. I usually use a taco seasoning packet but we didn't have any left in our pantry. Instead of sending Joe out to pick up a seasoning packet or just planning something else for dinner, I decided to check out my cookbooks and see if I could find a basic recipe that I could match up with items in my pantry.

I found a recipe for Tacos in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook and I had just about all of the ingredients, but as usual, I tweaked it a bit to fit our tastes.

Taco/Enchilada Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 3 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/4 cup diced chili peppers, drained
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• salt
• hot pepper sauce to taste
• 1 can chili beans

Directions:

• In skillet or dutch oven, cook ground beef, pepper and garlic until meat is browned and onions and peppers are tender.
• Drain fat.
• Stir in the chili peppers, chili powder, and salt.
• Add several dashes of hot pepper sauce to your liking.
• Add canned chili beans and cook until heated through.
  

We made soft tacos that night for dinner and I froze the leftover filling.

Tonight, I thawed the frozen filling and made enchiladas with it. We LOVE enchiladas and LOVE that we now have another type of filling for them.

There is still a bit of the filling left, so later this week, I plan on making a taco pizza using Pillsbury Pizza Crust, some salsa, Mexican blend cheese and the last bit of the taco/enchilada filling for the pizza toppings.

I'll be linking this recipe to the following blogs this week:

• Tasty Tuesday
• Tuesdays at the Table
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday