chicken soup (sick husband soup)

Cancy wasn’t feeling too well tonight. I think he might be coming down with what I had about a week ago. So to keep us both full of good stuff to fight off the colds, I made this soup really simple tonight. This time around I did just chicken, vegetables, and spices. Normally I would add noodles or dumplings to it, but I wanted to stay fairly plain. Oh and this always leaves more broth than soup so be sure you save it. We freeze it to use in recipes later or freeze it in ice cube trays for Chile to have her frozen “chicken’sicles” (which, by the way she loves)

 

chicken soup 

2 Chicken Breasts

2 Chicken Bouillon cubes

1 C chopped baby carrots

1/2 C chopped celery

1/4 C chopped green onion

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp garlic salt w/parsley

1/2 tsp pepper

Fill a medium pot with water. Bring to a boil & add chicken breasts & bouillon. Turn heat to medium and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle.

While your chicken is cooking, use that time to chop your vegetables. Once chicken is done, take out and place on a cutting board and add vegetables to broth. Let vegetables simmer for another 20 minutes or until carrots have softened.  While the vegetables are cooking, chop chicken into tiny bite size pieces. Add to broth & vegetables. 

Add seasonings to soup & let everything simmer for an additional 15 minutes.  

Dish up & Feel better.

pepper steak on brown rice

I was trying to think of a way to use up the thin beef steak we had in the freezer. After looking at several recipes for Pepper Steak, it looked easy enough so I raided the fridge to see what vegetables we could add in. I’ve gotta’ say, the longest part of this entire meal was the cutting of everything. I guess you could say I Julienned it. Really, I just cut everything into little strips. It definitely had some kick to it. You could always tone down the red pepper flakes & garlic. Enjoy!



Pepper Steak over Rice  

1 Tbs Olive Oil

1 pound lean steak sliced into thin strips

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 zucchini, cut into strips

1 red pepper, cut into strips

1green pepper, cut into strips

1/2 yellow onion, cut into strips

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 pkg dry brown gravy mix, mixed with 1 c cold water



Heat Olive Oil in large sauté pan. Add steak. Once meat begins to brown, add Soy Sauce, & Worcestershire Sauce.

 Add the zucchini, red and green peppers, onions, garlic, & red pepper flakes. Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat.

Whisk the gravy mix into the water and then add to meat & vegetables, stir, cover, and let simmer for about 15 minutes until the sauce thickens.

Serve over brown rice.

taco salad in tortilla bowls with super easy spanish rice

Tonight’s dinner had to be easy. Cancy is helping his brother move out of our house and into an apartment of his own. So, I made dinner for the 3 of us while they were out. Needing to use up some lettuce before we forget, I figured Taco Salad would be a good way to go. I’ve been seeing these taco bowls made out of tortillas on a few of the blogs out there, so I thought I’d give it a try. I made some Spanish rice to go with it & we had a complete easy meal. Plus the rice makes a lot so I have lunch to take to work tomorrow.



Taco Salad in Tortilla Bowls

1 lb lean ground turkey

1 jalapeno, diced (You can take the seeds out if you want it more mild)

Taco Seasoning from a packet or make your own (red pepper flakes, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper)

1 bag of lettuce (we had romaine on hand)

1C sliced cherry tomatoes (for my lovely husband, you have to use tomatoes that have the vine attached)

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

1/2 C beef broth 

3 10" tortillas

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make three balls out of aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. Place tortillas over aluminum foil balls and spray with cooking spray. These should bake for about 10 minutes or until brown.

Heat a skillet on the stove. Add chopped onion & diced jalapeno to the ground turkey. Cook until turkey is done & onions are transparent. Drain. Add your taco seasoning and 1/2 cup beef broth. Stir to combine. Let this cook another couple minutes to heat through.

Place salad greens in the taco shell. Top with meat, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, hot sauce, tomatoes, & whatever else your little heart desires. Enjoy!!  

*** I think this would also be good if you had spicy refried beans spread on the inside of the shell before you layer in the salad.

Super Easy Spanish Rice

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 Cup uncooked rice

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Cup Spicy V-8 (You can use normal V-8 to keep it mild)

1 Cup chicken broth  

In a medium saucepan, sauté rice, onion, green pepper and garlic in hot oil until the rice is golden. 

Stir in remaining ingredients; heat to a boil. 

Reduce heat and cover; simmer for 30 minutes.  Serves 6.

minestrone

It’s been ages since I’ve made this, but I love using my Crockpot on the weekends. I can just start something in the morning and almost forget about until it’s time to eat. Now there is a super long list of ingredients, but remember that this recipe just begs to be tailored to however you like it. I’m listing it out as I made it today. Oh, this freezes really well too.

 

Minestrone

 4 Cups of Chicken broth

4 Cups of Tomato Juice (I used Spicy V-8)

1 Tbs Dried basil

1 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp each Dried Oregano & Black Pepper

1 1/2 Cups of sliced Baby Carrots

2 Celery Stalks, chopped

1 8oz pkg of fresh/sliced Mushrooms

3 Garlic cloves, chopped

1 small Onion, chopped

2 14oz cans of Diced Tomatoes (I used Italian Rotel)

1 14oz can of Northern Beans

1 1/2 Cups of uncooked Rotini pasta (I used whole wheat Rotini)

Shredded Parmesan



Mix all ingredients except pasta & cheese in a 4-5 quart Crockpot. Cover & cook on low for about 7-8 hours or until the vegetables are tender.  Stir in the pasta. Cover & cook on high for about 15-20 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan.

pepperoni rolls

I needed something to go with my Minestrone & I saw the recipe for these last week on Michelle's blog. They looked so good. Now I cheated a little bit by using Turkey Pepperoni to try to keep it a little bit healthier. Cancy says he couldn't taste the difference.

Pepperoni Rolls

1 loaf Pillsbury Refrigerated French bread dough

Sliced Pepperoni (or Turkey Pepperoni)

Butter

Italian Seasoning & Garlic/Parsley salt

Shredded mozzarella cheese



Take the dough out of the container & lay it flat. Cut it in half & roll out two rectangles. Spread a little butter over the dough. Sprinkle that with some Italian Seasoning & Garlic/Parsley salt. Layer the pepperoni on the dough, and then cover with mozzarella cheese.

Roll up lengthwise and seal the ends and seam and place seam-side down in a baking pan (I used my Pampered Chef Stone). 

I baked them at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

introducing... SweetTeaInTexas

As a new wife, I've been inspired to start getting away from the easy box/packet/quick dinners and start really cooking for my husband. I love spending time in the kitchen, trying new recipes, and tweaking old ones. I'm hoping that with this blog, I can share my adventures in the kitchen with friends & family.

I feel that food is meant to be savored & shared. Good food makes people happy. Happy people make everything better. Please don't be shy about leaving comments.