Homemade Chicken and Dumplings

I know it's been a really long time since I have blogged-- Almost a month actually. I have to apologize to you all. I was so dedicated to this blog at first but then I just got so busy with work, taking care of my daughter, hanging out with friends, spending time with my future husband, and getting ready for school that I really just haven't had time for anything else. Or maybe I've had time for everything else and none for blogging or cooking. Oh well. I apologize. Sadly though, with me starting school again next week, I'll have even less time to cook or make blogs. The days that I won't be in school I will be working and the days I'm not working I will be in school. Ugh! When will I ever cook again?! :( 

So anyway, on a lighter, cuter, and sweeter note, I have an introduction to make. Her name is Autumn and she's the love of my life. I know I don't have a whole lot of pictures on here so what I am going to try to do is introduce you to all of the most important people in my life, one blog at a time!

This is my precious baby girl:

And she helped me cook this fantastic recipe! I have to brag too... Besides her being just absolutely freakin' gorgeous (yeah, so what? I'm a little biased... at least I'm right! :)), she's an amazing little helper too! :)

Okay, so I can't lie to you in tell you that this is my recipe even though I would pay money to let the creator give me credit for it. Yes, my friends, it's that good. I found this recipe a few years ago and I have never had anyone complain. This has always been a hit anywhere I have ever taken it! I got this recipe from cooks.com and I didn't even tweak it. Honestly, there really isn't a need to at all. The only time I have ever changed this recipe at all is when I made my own dumplings. It turned out fine but it was too much work, so from then on I have always stuck to this recipe, word for word. I'm telling you now... It's wonderful.

I have also been told by a couple of people that I should try making this recipe, minus the dumplings, and try making a chicken pot pie out of it. When I have time to do a little research on making a pot pie, I am going to do just that!

INGREDIENTS:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 Knorr chicken bouillon cubes (or 4 regular chicken bouillon cubes)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 5 oz can evaporated milk
1 small onion
1/2 package of frozen peas and carrots (I usually use fresh carrots finely diced and frozen peas)
1 can 10 count biscuits
whole milk
salt and pepper

I always start by cutting my raw chicken into cubes and then boil chicken first. Once it's done I drain the water down to about 3-4 cups, take out the chicken, add the bouillon cubes to let them dissolve, and then re add the chicken.

 Then I add my milk and salt and pepper just like the recipe states. I suggest not adding much salt at all because the other ingredients that are added in have a high sodium content which makes up for the lack of salt added in the beginning.

Again, as suggested in the recipe, I add my peas, onion, and my cream of- soups

Once all of the above ingredients are added and incorporated well, I let this boil for about 7-8 minutes. Now, in the recipe it suggests that you cut your biscuits into fourths, but I don't like my dumplings that big at all so I always cut mine really small. They always expand to become much larger, anyway!

I usually only add about 5-6 of the biscuits into my soup because if you add all 10 of them, it's a little excessive, especially with the way I cut my dumplings, but I like it like that, so use your better judgement once you look at the pictures below.

Once my dumplings are added, I allow my dumplings to boil in my soup for about 10-15 more minutes. After I let my dumplings finish cooking, I add my evaporated milk and gently stir.

This recipe could easily feed my family for 3 days. I would say that it's easy to get about 10 servings out of this.

This recipe is excellent for a cold winter night or when you need the comfort of a good, hearty soup. Try it. It's sure to please!

Happy Eats!

Pepper Steak Stir Fry

Hey guys! I want to start off by apologizing to you about not blogging in a few weeks. I've just been so busy with getting registered for school, working, and spending tons of time with my daughter that I really haven't had a chance to do anything else. I'm hoping to be back in full force with the blogging now, but it's likely to come to an abrupt halt once school starts back in January. I will be blogging as much as possible, but in the likely event that I won't have time to cook, I won't have time to blog. I hope you understand. Don't leave me; I'll still be here and cooking to share, just around a very busy schedule! :)

So... About this Pepper Steak Stir fry! I found this recipe about two years ago, tweaked it, and my family has always enjoyed it ever since. It's one of Stacy's favorites, and my daughter loves it too. I am about to share with you how I make this recipe instead of following the one on http://www.cooks.com/.

MY INGREDIENTS:

1 lb pork roast or beef flank, cut into thin strips

2 Bell Peppers, cut into thin strips

1 large onion, thinly sliced

olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp butter

1 fresh container of pre-sliced mushrooms (optional)

2 tbsp flour

1 beef bouillon cube

black pepper

soy sauce

water

DIRECTIONS:

I start by heating enough olive oil that will cover the bottom of my large skillet (about 2-3 tablespoons) and then adding butter to melt into it.

Once my oil and butter heat enough, I add my onions and let them saute for a couple of minutes.

Then I add my bell peppers and whole garlic cloves. When the garlic starts to get a slightly glazed look, I crush them with the tines of my fork, like suggested in the original recipe.

I let the vegetables saute for about a minute more, but not long enough for the bell peppers to be too... flimsy (for lack of a better word). When the vegetables are finished, I take them out with a slotted spoon. When all of the vegetables are set aside, I add my meat (this time I used pork roast) into the oil and let it cook several minutes before adding the mushrooms.

I usually let my meat cook on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes and take it out with a slotted spoon as well to set aside with my vegetables. Next, I turn my heat to a very low temperature and add flour into my broth that has made on its own while the meat was cooking. Then I stir my flour into my broth to make it into a thick texture. Once it becomes a clumpy thick texture, I add about 1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce and about 1/2 a cup of water or more until I find the consistency of gravy I like. With this particular recipe, I make my gravy pretty runny so that I can pour some over the rice I eat with this. 

                                     

   Next I add my beef bouillon cube and let it dissolve into the gravy.
This is what I like my gravy to look like:

After I get my gravy to the right consistency I add black pepper, stir it well, and then put all of my vegetables and meat back into my skillet. I then toss all of this until all of the meat and vegetables are covered in gravy, let it heat for about five more minutes, and it's done!

After the meat and vegetables are hot, I serve it with a bed of rice.

I actually got really hungry doing this blog post. I wish I could eat some of this right now!

Speaking of eating; I'm doing so well on my whole diet! I have cut down eating, counted calories, and drank tons and tons of water every day. I'm well on my way to being thin again and I'm so proud of myself! Keep a lookout for blog posts on my diet plan because I plan to keep you all posted on my progress!

Happy Eats!

Weight Loss Begins TODAY!!!

For as long as I can remember, I've always been labeled as the skinny girl. The girl who always made others sick because instead of not being able to lose weight, I was never able to gain weight. Before now, the most I had ever weighed outside of pregnancy was 135 lbs. I looked good back then. I had a little butt, some meat on my bones, and I was confident.

Back in high school, I weighed 105 lbs soaking wet. Everyone always gave me grief because I was too skinny so I decided to get on the Depo Provera  birth control shot because I'd heard that people gained weight on it. I started the shot in May of my sophomore year and when I can back to school in August, I had gained almost 15 lbs. I couldn't help smiling when  people told me how much better I looked.

When I got pregnant with my daughter, I weighed 120 lbs.  At the end of my pregnancy, I weighed 165. A week after I had Autumn I weighed about 135 lbs. Today I am not much less than what I weighed when I was at the end of my pregnancy. As a result of my weight gain that has occcured within the past year and a half, I am no longer confident, I don't feel pretty anymore, and none of my clothes fit.

I am sick of looking in the mirror and not liking what I see. I am sick of going through my closet and not being able to wear any of my cute clothes anymore and I'm sick of always wearing t-shirts. I am SICK of being asked if I am pregnant and knowing damn well I look about 7 months along. But most of all, I'm sick of bitching about it and not doing anything at all. 

I can't blame my weight gain on having a child like most people can. I can't blame it on anyone but myself because I did it. I'm determined to lose this weight and lose it as fast as possible without being unhealthy. It just makes me sad because all of my life, I have been able to eat whatever I want and not worry about any consequences occuring. I have no excuses anymore. I have no reason not to lose weight.

I want to be sexy again. I want to get those looks from guys again because whether you're in a relationship or not, you know it's always nice to get stared at or know someone is looking. It's not being cocky, it's being confident. And I have always been confident... until now. 

So here I go. I'm making a change. I have never been able to stick to a diet or exercise before but I have to do this. I have to feel pretty again. The depressive slump I have been in for almost a year now isn't cutting it. I have to do this for me, but most of all I have to do this for my daughter because she is suffering from my depression too!

MY GOAL:


I WANT TO LOSE TEN POUNDS A MONTH UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY. I plan on doing this by:

1. Drinking lots of water. I just looked on an online calculator and I need to be drinking about 3 liters of water a day. That's a lot of damn water, but I am determined!

2. Eating small meals. As you all know, I love to cook. And I don't cook healthy. That has to change. My fiance is going to hate me for this, but it will benefit us all in the end.

3. NO MORE SWEETS, DAMMIT! I'm not a big sweets eater anymore anyway, but when I want something I go for it. I guess that calls for more:

4. SELF CONTROL. You have no idea how hard it is for me to learn self control. Whether it's me opening my mouth for something I shouldn't be so opinionated about or eating whatever I want, I've got to to learn to have more self control.

5.  NO MO' BEER! I mean it man. That's probably why my belly is so big. When I get off of work, I like to have a beer or two. I also like to go out and have a few beers with my friends. I'm changing this starting today. A beer every once in a while is alright. I will not be doing it several times a week anymore.  (Man, I hope I can stick to that one!)

So there. Those are my goals. I also plan on exercising as much as possible. And any kind of exercise would be an improvement from the lack of which I am accomplishing now.

I am hoping that by my birthday I will weight between 120-130 lbs.

So it starts now!

LET'S DO IT!