Cool Weather Cooking! Chicken Minestrone!

This is a post from the archives and I made it last night!

I thought I should share this with you all again. 

Why? Because where we live cool weather is in full swing!

And it is just so yummmmy!

If you saw my last post on Chicken/Veggie Stock you know I make large quantities of food. Meals that will last 3 days meal or I can freeze for later dates. I do this so I can spend more time with my husband and children. I am very careful about what I feed my family, so when I cook it's from scratch.

So this week I made Chicken Minestrone Soup. This pot of soup will last my family for about 4-5 dinners, or I can freeze half for a later date. This soup like most I make is almost 100% organic.

Each night you can try new things with your soup, here are some of our favorites.

• Sour cream and Homemade Croutons
• Cheese of your choice, We enjoy Parmesan or Extra sharp Cheddar
• Homemade rolls, and Jalapenos
• Crackers and salad
• Serve it with a fruit salad

You could also add what every meat you want to this soup. Over lent you can make this without meat and add Spinach, and eggplant.

Here is my Chicken Minestrone Soup Recipe, Organic and full of flavor.

You will need

A Large stockpot is needed- 16-20 quarts. (We have a 32 quart stockpot NSF certified, we found at a wine/beer making shop.)

1 Head of Garlic minced (or you can buy the organic garlic in the jar done for you),

2 onions chopped

1 full stalk of Celery, end cut off and please leave the tops on.

32 oz of Kidney Beans (we soak our own because, it is better for you and cheaper)

32 oz of Black beans, Pinto Beans, and Garbanzo beans (again we soak our own, these are made up ahead of time and then we freeze them.

3 cans of diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce

1/3 cup Fresh Parsley, Thyme, and a little cilantro

24 cups of broth and water (the more broth the better) add more if needed.

¼ cup of salt and black pepper

2 ¼ cup of Barley (not the quick kind)

1 cup of lentils

½ cup Pasta sprinkle of Italian seasoning (optional)

1 or 2 Natural Garden Veggie bouillon cubes (optional if not using homemade broth, or more water then broth)

5 cups of chicken or you can add Venison, ground beef, or even pork for a different taste.

If you like noodles you can add these in your bowls separately

You will add everything to your pot except the chicken. If using ground venison, ground beef or pork cook before hand and leave it in the pot.

If using chicken then you will add this later when you start to simmer your minestrone.

Bring your minestrone to a boil, add your chicken and then simmer for about 2 hours.

This soup becomes thick very quickly because of the starch in the Barley. You may need to add a little water when serving on extra nights.

I will be adding my cost for this meal in the next couple of days.

 

*** Okay update on my cost, to feed my family of 10 with each of us having seconds is not bad.

If we eat Organic $78.00 for 4 days of dinners. Break this down it cost only $1.02 a bowl!!

Please visit Janelle to link up with others who are comfy in the kitchen

Chicken Minestrone Soup

When my husband was off of work last month, I  found myself cooking a lot.  If you saw my last post on Chicken/Veggie Stock you know I make large quantities of food. Meals that will last 3 days meal or I can freeze for later dates. I do this so I can spend more time with my husband and children. I am very careful about what I feed my family, so when I cook it's from scratch.

So this week I made Chicken Minestrone Soup. This pot of soup will last my family for about 4-5 dinners, or I can freeze half for a later date. This soup like most I make is almost 100% organic.

Each night you can try new things with your soup, here are some of our favorites.

• Sour cream and Homemade Croutons
• Cheese of your choice, We enjoy Parmesan or Extra sharp Cheddar
• Homemade rolls, and Jalapenos
• Crackers and salad
• Serve it with a fruit salad

You could also add what every meat you want to this soup. Over lent you can make this without meat and add Spinach, and eggplant.

Here is my Chicken Minestrone Soup Recipe, Organic and full of flavor.

You will need

A Large stockpot is needed- 16-20 quarts. (We have a 32 quart stockpot NSF certified, we found at a wine/beer making shop.)

1 Head of Garlic minced (or you can buy the organic garlic in the jar done for you),

2 onions chopped

1 full stalk of Celery, end cut off and please leave the tops on. 

32 oz of Kidney Beans (we soak our own because, it is better for you and cheaper)

32 oz of Black beans, Pinto Beans, and Garbanzo beans (again we soak our own, these are made up ahead of time and then we freeze them.

3 cans of diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce

1/3 cup Fresh Parsley, Thyme, and a little cilantro

24 cups of broth and water (the more broth the better) add more if needed.

¼ cup of salt and black pepper

2 ¼ cup of Barley (not the quick kind)

1 cup of lentils

½ cup Pasta sprinkle of Italian seasoning (optional)

1 or 2 Natural Garden Veggie bouillon cubes (optional if not using homemade broth, or more water then broth)

5 cups of chicken or you can add Venison, ground beef, or even pork  for a different taste.

If you like noodles you can add these in your bowls separately

You will add everything to your pot except the chicken. If using ground venison, ground beef  or pork cook before hand and leave it in the pot.  

 If using chicken then you will add this later when you start to simmer your minestrone.

Bring your minestrone to a boil, add your chicken and then simmer for about 2 hours.

This soup becomes thick very quickly because of the starch in the Barley. You may need to add a little water when serving on extra nights.

I will be adding my cost for this meal in the next couple of days.

Please visit Janelle to link up with others who are comfy in the kitchen

Chocolate Trifle With Berries

With Valentines coming up I thought I would put up one of my favorite desserts. This is what I will be serving on Valentines night to my family.

Ingredients

1 box of your favorite Chocolate cake mix (We will make a chocolate cake from scratch or buy, an organic mix)

1 package (6 ounces) of instant chocolate pudding mix (we use Dr. Oetker organic chocolate pudding mix, this will take 2 boxes.)

3/4 cup of strong coffee (we use Starbucks espresso)

1 pint of heavy Whip cream (beat the cream till it becomes thick.)

1 pound of Berries your choice (we used strawberries)

Bake your cake according to the package directions. You will want to cool the cake before cutting it. Prepare pudding according to the package directions: set the pudding aside.

When your cake is cooled go ahead and crumble it. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cake. Place half of the remaining cake crumbs in the bottom of a 4 1/2 or 5-qt. trifle dish. If you have a decorative glass bowl this is just fine it will work.

Repeat each Layer the cake then the coffee, half the pudding, half of the whipped cream, then a layer of berries. Repeat the cake, coffee, pudding, and whipped cream. Make sure your last layer is the Whip Cream.

Top the trifle with your whip cream, sprinkle with the 1/2 cup of crumbled cake and berries.

Place in the refrigerator or front porch if you live north where it is really cold for about 2-3 hours.

This will serve a lot of people. We have 10 in our home, and it lasts for a couple nights.

Here is what it will cost if made with organic ingredients
 Dr. Oetker organic chocolate cake mix $3.99

Coffee we always have. a cup of coffee under a $1.00
Dr Oetker Organic chocolate pudding mix for 2 boxes $3.78
1 pint of organic heavy cream $2.99
1 pound of organic strawberries $4.99


Total $16.75 (.83 per serving) if you feed 20 people like we do.


You could make this for less money, but you will be filling your family with things not so good for them.

Blessings,
Pamela

Whats For Dinner Mom...

I felt so bad that at 4:30 last night I had forgot to make dinner. My husband and I have kind of lost track of days and time since he has been laid off. Well, mom came to the rescue and I made Nachos. The girls and hubby love them, and they are so easy to make. They taste better in the summer with fresh ingredients but we managed. So here is what I used to make Nachos last night. You can make them so many different ways, the ideas are endless.

Organic meat 3lbs (add an Organic Onion, Organic Garlic, and your spices.)
Organic Corn Chips
Organic toppings - Black Olives
Lettuce,
Avocados
Tomatoes
Final touches- Organic Sour Cream, and Jalapenos.

We used to make 1 huge plate of Nachos for the whole family. Now, we have more little ones, and everyone likes different things on their Nachos. In the past I have also set up a Nacho table where you can dress up your own.  It is so much fun to watch the little ones pick what they want, and the get so excited.

Here are some other ideas for Nachos
BBQ Chicken Nachos
Fajita chicken Nachos
Steak Nachos
Fish Nachos
Seafood nachos
Cheese Nachos
Plantain Nachos with Black Beans (from a great cookbook, Cooking the Cowboy Way: Recipes Inspired by Campfires, Chuck Wagons, and Ranch Kitchens)
Sausage and Sour Kraut Nachos (for the Polish man in my life)
Greek style Nachos (with lots of Feta)
Chili Dog Nachos
Dessert Nachos

Don’t forget refried beans, and Spanish rice.

Can you tell we love food in this house, What a gift from God.

Chicken/Vegetable Stock

I love to cook, and I love to use fresh, organic ingredients whenever I can. For years I used organic boxed broths, because I thought that making my own stock would just take too long. So, what can you use broth in really other then Chicken soup? Well, here is a list of things that I have used chicken broth for in the past.

• Soups of all kinds.
• You can use broth for boiling Vegetables, and mixing it in with your sweet potatoes "which taste wonderful."
• Rice cooked with half water, half broth is very yummy.
• American fries, hash browns, and boiled baby red potatoes.
• The list is endless really.

I was shopping for Christmas gifts, and found this lovely cookbook called, Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family . I really don't believe in some of her personal views, but she has some wonderful recipes. I have found many ways to make broth, but this is by far the best, and easiest.

I did change the recipe a little, I wanted to use the chicken meat, make more of a Veggie broth, and make a larger portion. This broth has a chicken flavor for sure so don't worry about that. We have a family of 9 to feed well 10 if we include grandpa, so we make very large portions. 

You can use whatever brands you love. I will say organic is 100% better all around if you can swing the price. Remember all my meals are almost always doubled if not tripled in size. I love to make large quantities and make my meals stretch a few days.

Here is the Chicken/Veggie Stock Recipe. This will make about 8 quarts of broth

You will need

A Large stockpot is needed- 16-20 quarts. (We have a 32 quart stockpot NSF certified, we found at a wine/beer making shop.)

3 organic chickens (about 5-6 pounds each); you could use turkey if that's all you can find. 

4 large organic yellow onions, unpeeled, and quartered

2 stalks of organic celery with leaves on, cut in thirds

10 organic carrots, unpeeled and cut in half 

4-5 parsnips, unpeeled, cut in half

30 springs of fresh parsley

20 springs of fresh thyme

30 springs of fresh dill

2 heads of organic garlic

Kosher salt (we love salt so I put in about 3 tablespoons)

4 teaspoons of whole black peppercorns

Place the chickens in your stockpot and all the other ingredients.  I add about 9 quarts of water and bring everything to a boil. Now, in Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family book she says to simmer uncovered, we do not follow this. We cover our pot so our water does not evaporate. We also take our chickens out, after the meat starts to pull away from the bone. I just can't see myself throwing out all that meat. So after about 1 hour your chicken will be close to coming out. Simmer your broth with all the veggies about 4-5 hours covered. After it is ready and the flavor is just were you want it strain the veggies through a colander, and throw away the veggies.

Chill the stock over night. Skim your fat off the top of the broth and use or store your broth for meals.

With the meat you saved from the chickens, you can now make wonderful meals. I use the chicken during this time of year to make chicken noodle soup with our yummy broth.

Here is a picture of our turkey, so you can see that if you don't have chickens, the other bird will work just fine.

We used 1 large Turkey here.

It looks so pretty all dressed in the rich colors of the earth.

This was a rich, bold in flavor, broth. We made turkey noodle soup with our broth that lasted our family 3 dinners.

So, here is what it cost us to make this wonderful broth.

12lb- turkey @ 1.29 a lb = $15.48 (3 5lb Organic chickens would be about $30.00.) 

A 3lb bag of yellow organic onions $2.99 (We only used 4, so you will have some left over.)

2 stalks of organic celery $4.38

A bag of organic carrots $1.19

Parsnips $2.39 (there is enough in the bag for a second time.)

All you fresh herbs about $6.57

2 heads of garlic .70 ($2.49 a lb.)

Salt and Pepper I always have on hand.

Total with turkey - under $34.00

Total with organic chickens - $48.00

We use to buy organic broth in the box. These boxes will give you 1 quart of broth.

If I wanted 8 quarts of broth, I would have to buy 8 boxes which would cost me

$24.00 - $32.00 depending on where I buy my broth from.

Now when you get the boxed broth you don't get all the meat.

 Yes it is cheaper to buy the boxed broth, but the taste is nowhere close. You also would have to buy meat to make your meal, like Turkey noodle soup.

Making your own food from scratch is one of the best things you can do for your family.

Is it really worth making your own broth?

I think so!

Remember to thank the Lord above, for all the yummy blessings he has given to you.

Blessings,

Pamela

A few more..

Cookies I added some more even though I have no idea how we are to eat all of them. I just talked to my sister and wished we were together in the kitchen together this year. Seems silly we were both baking some of the cookies. So here are a few of the cookies I baked this morning.

Polish Star Cookies dipped in Peppermint Chocolate

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Nutmeg Cookies

Candy Cane Dots

It is so hard to belive that Advent is now behind us. Tonight as a family we will watchThe Nativity Story (Widescreen & Full Screen Versions) , Attened Mass and praise God for the Birth of Jesus Christ.

Daddy and mommy will spend time finishing up food for Christmas day so we can relax as a family and just enjoy each other. It really is the most wonferful time of the year a time to relax and enjoy one another.

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve!