Chicken and Dumplings and more...

Chicken and Dumplings

I absolutely LOVE this recipe. Got it from another military wife's blog. This will always be a weekend meal because of the cooking time. It took me awhile the first time I made it, but today it didn't take me nearly as long now that I know what I'm doing. DH and I will get two dinners out of this recipe, so it makes enough for 4 hungry adults all by itself. :)

Broth Ingredients

·      2 cartons of low sodium chicken broth

·      3 chicken breasts

·      5 carrots – three left whole, others sliced into rounds

·      1 medium onion chopped

·      5 celery stalks – 3 left whole, two chopped

·      1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

·      2 cloves garlic, crushed

·      chopped parsley

Dumpling Ingredients

·      2 cups all purpose flour

·      2 teaspoons baking powder

·      ½ teaspoon salt

·      1/2 cup whole milk (may use up to 1 cup)

·      4 tablespoons oil

·      poultry seasoning

Directions

       Put the whole black peppercorns, two cloves of crushed garlic in a tea bag or coffee filter, tie it up and put it in a stock pot along with the chicken, whole carrots, whole celery and two cartons of broth. Bring to a boil and turn down the heat and let it simmer for an hour. Take the chicken out and cut it up into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. Discard tea bag, whole celery and whole carrots.

Mix ingredients for dumplings well, I put it all into my kitchen aid stand mixer and let it knead with the dough hook. Turn out onto floured surface knead 4-5 times. Roll half the dough out to about 1/8 inch thick and cut into strips (or use heart cookie cutters). Repeat with remaining dough. Bring stock up to a boil, add carrot, celery and onion that was chopped up and chicken. Drop dumplings into stock. They will float to the top. Turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with parsley.

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt sushi for the first time ever. We'll see how that goes considering I still haven't figured out which internet advice I'm going to use. If it turns out well and easy, I'll share it. If I don't care....well, you know why. ;)

I really did make bentos all week long. I only remembered to take a picture of Monday's bento though - and it wasn't even the cute one from last week. As soon as I stop being lazy, I might actually upload the photo from my camera. :D

I also realized that I messed up on my menu. I'm still using the same meals, just in a different order. I lost my mind apparently and forgot about commitments and when MLK Day really is and the fact that we have to eat 5 dinners from Monday through Friday. lol. I think DH would notice if I didn't cook dinner one night. Oh well. Maybe next time I'll proof read my menu. 

12^th-16^th: Monday – Friday Meals: 

1. Pasta alla vodka
2. Hamburgers
3. Grilled cheese and frozen veggies
4. Shrimp primavera
5. waffles or waffles or waffles (can't decide if I want to try a new recipe or not!)