30-Minute Chicken & Dumplings

Most people are a little surprised when I tell them that I can have homemade chicken and dumplings on the table in a half hour. Chicken and Dumplings are notoriously associated with the picture of mom or grandma slaving away, rolling out the dough while cooking and pulling the chicken off the bone. It doesn't have to be that hard though...and it tastes just as good! 

6 boneless chicken tenders (or 3 breasts)

32 oz chicken broth (the fridge packs are 32 oz)

1 cup water

3 tbsp Wyler's chicken granules (seasoning)

2 cups flour

1.5 cups half & half (or milk)

1 egg

2 tbsp cornstarch

Salt and pepper to taste 

Cook the chicken in the broth, granules and water. Bring it to a boil and let it cook until chicken can be shredded. Meanwhile, prepare your dough by mixing the flour, half and half (or milk) and egg. You want a workable dough, not too sticky, so you may end up adding a pinch more flour. Just use your best judgment. You'll know if the dough is too sticky. Roll it out onto floured parchment paper. Cut it into rectangles. Once the chicken is cooked and shredded, drop the dumplings in one at a time into the still boiling water. Let them cook for up to 5 minutes before turning your heat down to low and adding the cornstarch to thicken. You can also use Campbell's cream of chicken soup to thicken it and give it that extra chicken flavor. As soon as it's reached the desired consistency, it's ready to eat! 

Let everyone think you slaved over a hot stove all day, just for them. Enjoy! 

Chipotle Chicken & Rice

Yesterday for lunch, I had a Lean Cuisine Chipotle Chicken & Rice bowl and it was pretty phenomenal to say the least. I read the ingredients and knew it would be pretty easy to recreate. Since we're snowed in at the moment, I couldn't use fresh ingredients so I had to improvise with what I had on hand. 

2 grilled chicken breasts, cooked and diced up

1 can of mexi-corn (the can I used has corn, onion, black beans & red peppers in it)

1 can of Campbell's cheddar cheese soup

1 cup brown rice, cooked

2 tbsp sour cream

2 tbsp chipotle hot sauce

Salt & pepper to taste

Pour the mexi-corn and cheddar cheese soup into a pan and bring to a slight boil and immediately turn it down to medium. Throw in your grilled chicken, rice, hot sauce and seasonings and cook on medium for about 10 minutes. Move the pan off of the heat and stir in the sour cream. It's a quick, simple meal that takes less than half an hour. Enjoy! 

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie is near the top of my list of favorite comfort foods. It's a food that sadly, I missed out on for most of my life so far because there were too many things in it that were good for me. Which, of course, is only the vegetables. But I grew up and now enjoy it whenever possible. This is a really simple recipe to make and it's delicious...much better than the slightly more convenient store-bought kind from the freezer section. Preheat your oven to 400...

2 cups baking mix (Bisquick)

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup chicken, cooked and cubed/shredded depending on how you like it

1 cup mixed vegetables, thawed if using the frozen kind 

1 can cream of chicken

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix Bisquick, milk and eggs together to form a dough. Take half and form a bottom layer in a greased pie pan. Mix chicken, vegetables, cream of chicken and salt and pepper. Pour it onto the dough and then take the remaining bit and pour over the top. Pop it into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes to cool and then cut it up and serve. 

Seriously, skip the Banquet pot pies and give this a try. I doubt you'll look back. Enjoy! 

Cabbage Rolls

I realize cabbage isn't for everyone but you should really give this recipe a try. It may just change your view of cabbage. The meat and rice is the most overpowering taste in this dish so just forget you're eating something good for you! You'll need to preheat your oven to 350...

1 medium head of cabbage

1 lb uncooked ground pork sausage

1 can of tomato sauce

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup of long grain rice (I used a mixture of white, brown and wild)

1 tbsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dill weed

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 can diced tomatoes (I used the Hunt's brand that has celery and onion in with it)

1/2 tsp sugar

Cook the cabbage in boiling water until outer leaves can be pulled away easily. In a bowl, combine pork, 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, onion, rice, parsley, salt, dill weed and cayenne. Mix it together really well. Cut out the vein from the cabbage leaves. It will make a v-shape. Put a tablespoon or so of meat mixture into the leaf and fold it up. Do this until leaves/meat is gone. Put any leftover cabbage as a layer on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Combine the tomatoes, sugar and remaining tomato sauce and pour it over the rolls. Cover and bake for 1.5 hours or until cabbage rolls are tender and meat/rice is fully cooked.

Delicious! It takes a little effort but it's worth it and it's an entire, filling meal in a pan. Enjoy!