Easy Chicken Soup

Hubby was feeling under the weather and didn't want canned, condensed soup, so i made him some homemade.  It doesn't require much work and is good on the tummy.

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed small
3 cartons of chicken broth (I used 2 reduced sodium and one regular)
Bag of dried egg noodles

In a soup, stock pot or dutch oven, bring the broth to a boil.  Add chicken cubes and cook until they float.  Once they have floated, add half or so of the noodles.  Add more if you want more.   Cook and stir for approximately 9-10 minutes.  Serve with saltines or oyster crackers.

Serves many!  Freeze what you don't eat now.  Easy weeknight dinner!

Helpful Kitchen Tip

Check out this cool tip:

Fiesta Chicken Layered Enchiladas

This is a recipe in the Tastefully Simple Tonight Collection (item #100816).  I made it as a Serve It Tonight recipe, but you can also freeze this for later.  Also, I didn't have rotisserie chicken, so I cooked 3 breasts the night we had the Chipotle Chicken Fajitas so we had what we needed for this recipe.  Use what you have, be creative.  Think outside the box!

 

So, here is the finished product and you will notice I am not a professional photographer and we eat on paper plates....less dishes!  You get the idea though.  You can find the recipe here. 

Chipotle Chicken Fajitas

There is a recipe on tastefullysimple.com for Chipotle Chicken Fajitas, this is my take on the recipe because I always like to go my own way.  That gets me in trouble sometimes. ;)  I hope you enjoy!
 

Ingredients: 

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken, cut in thin strips

1/2 c. Beer, your choice (I used Rolling Rock) 

3-4 bell peppers in multiple colors, sliced

1 red onion, halved and sliced

Flour tortillas

Toppings of your choice
 

In a freezer bag, pour the beer and marinade mix and shake to mix.  Add chicken and marinate for 30 minutes or so.

 

While the chicken is marinating, slice your peppers and onions as well as any toppings for your fajitas (lettuce, tomato, avocado, cilantro, etc.).

 

After the chicken has marinated, preheat a skillet and add a tablespoon or so of oil.  Carefully add your chicken and discard the leftover marinade.  Stir and cook until cooked through.  I covered the skillet to speed the process.

Add your chicken to tortillas and top as you like.  Makes 4-6 servings.

 

Simple Pork Tenderloins

Kroger had a sale on Pork Loin this week, so we bought 2!  Saved a ton.  We also had the meat counter cut them into 1" slices for us.  As I was breaking them out to freeze for several dinners, we decided we wanted some as breaded tenderloins.  OH my goodness!  So good.  Below is the resulting recipe.

(So, photographer I am not, but doesn't that look scrumptious?)

Ingredients:

6 1" pork tenderloin "chops"

2 cups flour

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup of milk

2 tsp. Seasoned Salt

2-3 cups corn meal or Miracle Maize Corn Bread Mix (use what you have!)

2-3 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil

Take your chops and place them between 2 pieces of wax paper and pound them out to about 1/2 inch thick.  I used my rolling pin for this, but if you have a meat mallet, all the better.  Prepare 3 plates or dishes.  One with plain flour, one with the eggs, milk and 1 tsp. of Seasoned Salt, and one with the cornmeal or cornbread mix and 1 tsp. Seasoned Salt.  Dip each tenderloin in first flour, then egg then cornmeal.  Let rest on a plate or platter.  Repeat until all tenderloins are breaded.  

Heat your skillet on medium and add 1-2 Tbsp. of the oil.  Add a couple of tenderloins at a time and cook until brown on each side.  Then place in a 350 degree oven while you cook the rest.  Add an additional Tbsp. of oil if needed to cook all the tenderloins.  When all of your tenderloins are browned and in the oven, cook them approximately 10 minutes more or until they reach a temperature of 160 degrees.  While they are finishing cooking, make your sides.  I made mashed potatoes and a veggie.  Easy peasy because my family prefers instant mashed taters.  :)  You can make any side you like and can even make Garlic Mashed Taters by adding some Garlic Garlic to your spuds.  YUM, YUM!  

Gluten Free Chicken, Bacon & Artichoke Pizza

This is totally Tastefully Simple's recipe and not mine.  It looked oh so good I just had to share it.  You can find other tips for the recipe on the TS Blog.

Ingredients

• Gluten-Free Pizza Crust & Sauce Mix
• 1 cup very warm water
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 8 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1 lb. cooked, chopped chicken breasts
• 6 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 Roma tomato, chopped           

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°. Prepare Crust Mix as directed with water and olive oil. Bake 10 minutes. Combine Sauce Mix with cream cheese; spread over warm crust. Top with remaining ingredients. Bake 15-17 additional minutes or until crust is golden brown. Makes about 6 servings.

 

Very cool tip

Tastefully Simple is all about solutions and ease in cooking.  This tip is sure to help.