Homemade Chicken & Dumplings

Homemade Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients (For broth)

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

2-3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

Ingredients (for dumplings)

3 cups four

¾ tsp. salt

¾ tsp. baking soda

5 Tbsp. shortening

1 cup milk

Directions

In a Dutch oven, stir together chicken broth, water, cream of chicken soup, onion, celery, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Add raw chicken breasts. Bring to a boil, cook until chicken breasts are cooked all the way through. Reduce heat to medium. Remove chicken breasts, shred, and return to pot.

In the meantime, mix flour, baking soda, and salt together in bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture with your fingertips. Add milk ¼ cup at a time, and stir until a ball of dough just begins to form, being careful not to over-mix. Roll out the dough onto floured surface that you don’t mind cutting on. Roll about ¼ inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into strips, then cut across the other way to form rectangles about 1-2 inches wide. Drop dumplings into simmering chicken mixture. Cover and simmer for about 20 min., or until dumplings are cooked through.

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

I adapted this a bit from a recipe I found for a baked potato casserole. It turned out to be a great side dish, but it is hearty enough it could also be served as a main dish. 

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

Ingredients

5 large baking potatoes

1 cup evaporated milk

¾ cup sour cream

¼ cup butter or margarine

1 tsp. Garlic powder

1 tsp. Salt

¼ tsp. Pepper

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

4 green onions, chopped

Real bacon bits

Directions

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Poke holes in potatoes with a fork, wrap in foil, and bake for one hour. After taking potatoes out of the oven, reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Place potatoes in a large bowl. Leaving the skins on, mash potatoes with a fork. Add the evaporated milk, sour cream, butter, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and one cup of the cheddar cheese. Mix together with a hand mixer. Do not overmix. The consistency should not be creamy like mashed potatoes, but thicker. Spread potato mixture in a 9 x 13 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Top with remaining cup of cheese, chopped green onions, and bacon bits. Return to oven and bake for 5 addition minutes.

Stromboli Bake

Stromboli Bake

Ingredients

2 cans Pillsbury crescent rolls

1 lb. Italian sausage

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 (14 oz.) jar pizza sauce

1 package sliced mozzarella cheese

Pepperoni

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread one package of crescent rolls across the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Place the Italian sausage, onion, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning in a skillet and cook until sausage is browned. Spread sausage mixture on top of the crescent rolls in the 9 x 13 baking dish. Next, cover the sausage mixture with a layer of pepperoni. Spread the pizza sauce evenly over the top of the sausage/ pepperoni. Lay the cheese slices over the top of the pizza sauce until completely covered. Spread the second package of crescent rolls over the top of the cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil, then bake for an additional 20 minutes.