Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup

I'm back!!  Did you ever wonder if I I'd return?  Well, these last seven months I have been on a diet, the divorce diet.  I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, really, unless you want to lose a lot of weight in a short period of time.  That would be one of the benefits.  Since many of us are going to be setting goals to loose weight in the next few weeks, let me tell you my secret on how I lost 40 pounds in five months.  First of all, you must convince yourself that crunchy Cheetos are the only food item that tastes good on the entire planet.  Stick with that for about six weeks.  Then, slowly add in cereal.  Bland cereal.  At first it will taste like dirt, but keep trying.  Eventually, it will taste better and get easier to eat.  After a few weeks add sandwiches.  Doesn't matter what kind.  Just keep it simple.  Something like peanut butter and honey.  And then miraculously after about two more months, you will feel hungry again and some food will start tasting good again.  When you crave chocolate daily, you will know you are almost back to normal.  Only much lighter.  It works.  I know.  I've tried it.  Oh, please take a multivitamin daily while on this diet.  If not, the only complete daily dose of anything you'll be getting is stress.

I am hoping to completely get off of the divorce diet really soon.  One thing that will help is to cut down on the amount of chocolate, cheetos, cereal, and peanut butter in the house.  That way I actually have to cook something.  Or rather, get to cook.  No excuses.  This is one of my hobbies, right?! 

 I decided to make a nice comfort food to kick off the end of the divorce diet.  What could be more perfect that my mom's chicken noodle soup.  Only I used a turkey carcass (that sounds like road kill, doesn't it?)  I really think that's what it's called.  And don't be intimidated by the homemade egg noodles.  They are super easy and make this recipe unique.  Although if you must, you can throw in some dried egg noodles at the end and cook until tender.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (or turkey carcass)
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup carrots, sliced
2 chicken bullion cubes
poultry season to taste
sage to taste
salt and pepper to taste
2 - 3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
Homemade egg noodles (see recipe below)


Directions:
Wash chicken and put in large pan.  Cover with water and boil until thoroughly cooked.  Or cover turkey carcass with water and boil for 30 minutes.  Pull chicken out of broth and cool.  Add celery, onion, carrots, and bullion to broth.  Boil until carrots are nearly tender.  Pull meat off of chicken or turkey and dice.  Add a desired amount back to the soup.  Add salt and pepper, poultry seasoning, and sage to taste.  Make homemade noodles and add to boiling soup.  Mix cornstarch with water and stir into soup.  Add more bullion for flavor as needed.

Homemade Egg Noodles
Ingredients:  
2 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour (approximate)


Directions:
Whip eggs, water, and salt with a whisk.  Add enough flour to make a stiff dough.  When dough comes to a ball similar to pie crust, it is ready.  Roll out as thinly as possible on a floured surface.  Sprinkle dough with flour.  Fold over and over like a thin jelly roll.  Use scissors to cut thin slices of rolled up dough.  Unroll the noodle and break if desired.  Drop in boiling soup.  Cook in two minutes.

Chicken Florentine Casserole

I adapted this from one of my sister Hannah's recipes. She is so creative with her chicken. Me, not so much. I usually throw it in the crock pot with some barbecue sauce or roast it, dice it up, and use it in something -- not as a main dish. Hannah's chicken recipes amaze me. You actually have to WORK with the chicken. And I don't really like to touch slimy uncooked chicken. But she has me stuffing, smashing, rolling, pinning, dicing and smothering chicken in savory sauce that's good enough to eat alone. Don't worry, you don't have to do all of that in this recipe. Trust me. This one is good. Real good.

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup butter

3 teaspoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1/2 cup half-and-half

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

8 oz fresh spinach

4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

2/3 cup bacon, crumbled

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken breast halves on a baking sheet; sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Bake 20 to 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat, and set aside. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, mix in the garlic, lemon juice, cream of mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, half-and-half, and Parmesan cheese.

Arrange the spinach over the bottom of a 9x11 inch baking dish. Cover the spinach with the mushrooms. Pour half the mixture from the saucepan over the mushrooms. Arrange chicken breasts in the dish, and cover with the remaining sauce mixture. Sprinkle with bacon bits, and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 20 to 25 minutes in the 400 degrees oven, until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve over pasta.