Chicken Vegetable Soup with Homemade Noodles

When I made or meal plan for this week I decided I wanted to try to make another soup from scratch.  Since my Hearty Ham & Split Pea Soup went over so well, I figured, let's try round 2 with a new one!  I've been wanting chicken noodle soup, so I thought about what I would put into it, researched how to make my own noodles, and here is what I came up with.  The egg noodle recipe I found at allrecipes.com, the rest of it, I made up as I went along.  Here is the recipe:

Chicken Vegetable Soup

Oil

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into small pieces
3 slices of bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled
1/2 onion, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1/2 cup cauliflower, cut into small florettes
1/2 cup broccoli, cut into small florettes
1/2 cup green beans, cut in half (ends cut off)
4 cups chicken broth
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Fresh homemade egg noodles (recipe follows)

In a frying pan, coat with a small amount of oil.  Heat, and cook chicken until cooked through.  Remove chicken from frying pan and set aside.  Add bacon to the pan and cook until crispy.  Remove from pan and set on paper towel to remove excess grease.

While the chicken is cooking, in a large pot, coat witha small amount of oil, heat over medium, and add onions, carrots, celery.  Cook until they start to soften.  Add in cauliflower, broccoli and beans.  Continue to cook, around 5 minutes.  Add in chicken broth, chicken, garlic, parsley and pepper.  Simmer at medium-low for 10 minutes.  Add bacon and continue to simmer for 5 minutes.  Add fresh pasta and simmer until pasta is cooked to your liking (approximately 5 minutes).  Serve, and enjoy!

Homemade Egg Noodles

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter

In a large bowl, stir together flour and salt.  Add the eggs, milk and butter.  Knead together until a smooth dough is formed, about 5 minutes.  Sit in bowl, covered with a tea towel, for 10 minutes.

After the dough has rested, roll it out to your desired thickness.  Cut into lengths (or shapes).

Leave the noodles to air dry after you've cut them.

*Notes 
- I made my egg noodles around 10 am and left them to sit on the counter until I started making the soup at 12:30 pm.
- I found that this recipe made enough for 3 batches of noodles, so I have packaged up the other 2 batches and will freeze them until the next time I make soup.

VERDICT:
Of course the baby decided he was hungry just as I was about to serve the soup.  So I dished up bowls for my husband and our oldest, and they ate while I fed the baby.  My husband's first reaction was "This is SO good".  He ate his bowl of soup really quickly and went back for more.  Our oldest wasn't in the taste-testing mood, he was tired after a busy day yesterday (swimming lessons, birthday party, babysitters so that Mom & Dad could go out for a grown-up only dinner) - so he didn't actually try the soup, he went for a nap instead.  Finally, I got to try the soup, and it was declicious.  I really enjoyed it.  The variety of vegetables, the fresh noodles, oh my.  It was yummy!  This is a keeper in our books!  To top it off, we have two nice sized servings leftover, already packaged for lunch tomorrow...can't wait!

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Savoury Fish

Today's post is straying from my original resolution about trying new recipes...but it's for a very good reason!  This month we will help my parents celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.  40 years...that is just awesome!  Such an inspiration!

In honour of their anniversary, I asked my Mom to share with me one of her tried and true recipes...one of the ones that has been around for the long haul.  She had a few suggestions, two of which had also come to my mind when I first thought about writing this post.  Her final choice was Savoury Fish.  She has prepared this dish for us forever.  I can remember having it when my brother and I were kids, and there would never be leftovers.  Now that I'm all grown up and married and have my own family, I make this dish for my crew...and still there are never any leftovers.  My husband and oldest son love it that much! (the baby is too young to have it yet) It's funny that my Mom would think of sharing this recipe as I just recently shared this recipe with both of my sisters-in-law...here's hoping that they and their families enjoy it too!

It is a super easy dish to prepare, great for after work when you might be in a rush.  Lots of colour to the dish too, which is nice!

I do make mine slightly different than my Mom (she steams the broccoli first, I don't).  Here is the recipe:

1 pound fish fillets (cod, sole, halibut)

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Broccoli

1/8 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped tomatoes

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

¼ cup white wine (optional)

½ cup grated cheese (we tend to use more, we like melted cheese!)

Place fish in shallow baking dish.  Season with salt and pepper.  Arrange broccoli around fish and sprinkle with onions and tomatoes. Cover with mixture of soup and wine. Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake at 450F for 25 minutes.  Serve with rice or pasta.

VERDICT:

We do love this dish.  We have it every few weeks, and never get bored of it!

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Scrumptious Sunday #1 Picks!

Good morning everyone!  As promised, I've picked three recipes to be featured this weekend from my first Scrumptious Sunday link party!  THANK YOU to everyone who partied! 

Those of you who are featured, I would love it if you would link back to my blog...either add in a link, grab my button, mention me in a post, whatever works for you!  Greatly appreciated! 

Here are this week's features:

1) #16 - Broccoli and Cheddar Soup from Scratch from Pocket Change Gourmet

2) #15 - Giant Cinnamon Rolls with Buttermilk Glaze from GirliChef

3) #35 - Easy Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken from Hot Eats and Cool Reads

These will also be featured on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AddictedToRecipes


Don't forget, tomorrow is Sunday....Scrumptious Sunday Link Party #2 will be on!  I look forward to reading everyone's submissions!

Kung Pao Pork

When it rains, it pours.  I've been reading so many old and new recipes lately that I'm getting quite the stockpile of new ones to try.  I'm *almost* getting worried that when I go back to work I won't have the time to be cooking all these recipes.  I guess I covered my bases when I made my resolution to try ONE new recipe a week, and on those weeks that I am able to try more, I will be blogging more.  Plus I'm pretty organized, so I'm hopeful that I'll continue with multiple blog entries each week!

Last night it was time to try Kung Pao Pork.  We love stir fry and trying variations of stir fry...and this one caught my eye.  I've adapted it to suit our taste. 

Here is the recipe:

1 pound pork (I used pork loin), cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 cloves garlic, minced (separated)

1 cup chicken broth (I used organic)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

½ cup fennel, thinly sliced

1 medium red pepper, seeded, cut into thin strips

Snow peas

Broccoli, chopped

In a small bowl, make marinade by whisking together soy sauce, fresh ginger, cornstarch, 1 clove of the garlic and the chicken broth.  Add the sliced pork to the marinade, toss to coat.  Marinate for 1 hour in the fridge, stir occasionally.

Over medium-high heat, warm the oil in a large saucepan.  Add onion, pepper and fennel; cook, stirring constantly, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.

Add remaining 1 clove of garlic and cook, stirring often, another minute.

Add broccoli and snow peas to the saucepan and cook, stirring frequently, approximately 4-5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low and pour pork and marinade into skillet and cook, stirring often, until pork is no longer pink and sauce is warmed through and thickened, approximately 7-8 minutes.

VERDICT:

LOVE LOVE LOVE. This was delicious! We served the dish over fried rice noodles, which was a nice change from our usual rice.  From the first bite we were all in love.  The pork was soooooo tender, it nearly melted in our mouths.  The flavour was awesome, and my husband said right from the start that there wouldn't be any leftovers.  We liked it THAT much!  His only complaint was that there should be more broccoli (he loves broccoli).  That's an easy addition! I might throw some cashews into the mix next time, just to give it a try, but really, we enjoyed the meal just as it was!

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