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Lynsey Lou's

Enjoying Life One Bite at a Time!

Veggies

Chicken Stew and Cornbread Dumplings

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Soups, stews, chilis and more.  Fall and winter are the perfect time to break out the classic soup recipes that are favorites as well as try some new ones that you run across.  There are all types of soups; from the ones that make you feel cozy and warm because they are “home style” to the ones that are a little more fancy with rich tastes.  I’m a huge fan of any type of soup and I’ll try anything once.

I’ve been looking through different cook books, catalogs and on different websites to get an idea of some different soups I would like to try this season.  There are tons out there that sound so incredible; I don’t know if I will get to all of them this year!  I’ve definitely gotten inspired by all the different types out there and I’m honestly amazed there are endless options.

I came across one that sounded so good and it was basically a spin on the classic chicken and dumplings recipe.  Spencer loves chicken and dumplings, so when I saw this recipe I knew it was a must try.  This wasn’t your typical chicken and dumplings; for starters the base was more of a cream base and the dumplings weren’t ordinary dumpinlings, they were cornbread!  I love cornbread so I really didn’t think you could go wrong having cornbread dumplings, plus they had cheese in them.  This treat just seemed to be getting better and better by the minute!

This was more of a stew than a soup, and it was so good.  Spencer absolutely loved this; I know it’s one thats going to be on the menu from now on.  Even in you’re not a dumpling fan you would probably like this recipe, these aren’t your typical dumplings that are actually down in the soup.  This is also a recipe that could be made without the dumplings and with a side of cornbread instead.  

Chicken Stew and Cornbread Dumplings        

Ingredients:

1 16 ounce bag frozen, mixed vegetables
14 Ounces water and 1 chicken boullion cube
1 Medium onion, roughly chopped
1/2 Cup water
1/2 Teaspoon dried oregano OR 1 Teaspoon fresh
1/2 Teaspoon dried dill OR 1 Teaspoon fresh
***You could use any other herbs instead. 
1/4 Teaspoon garlic powder
Fresh cracked pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
1 2/3Cup milk
1/3 Cup all purpose flour
2 chicken breast poached and cubed-season with salt and pepper
1 Recipe for cornbread dumplings

Cornbread Dumplings:

In a medium bowl stir together 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and a dash of black pepper.  In a small bowl combine 1 beaten egg, 2 tablespoons milk, and 2 tablespoons cooking oil; add to flour mixture, stirring with for just until combined.

Directions:

In a large saucepan combine brother, frozen vegetables, onions, water, dried herbs (if using), salt, garlic powder, and pepper.  Bring to boil.
In a small bowl combine milk and flour, stire into vegetable mixture.  Stire in checken.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Stir in fresh herbs if using.
Drop Dumpling dough from a tablespoon into 4-8 mounds on top of the bubbling stew.  Simmer, covered (do not lift cover), over low heat for 10-12 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in a dumpling comes out clean.  Once finished add a little more fresh cracked pepper and salt.

 

Recipe Source: adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Chicken Rigatoni with Cream Cheese Sauce

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I love pasta dishes; spaghetti, rigatoni, lasagna…pretty much any type of pasta there is I like.  It is such a versatile dish; it can be made as a main course, side dish or even an appetizer.  I was browsing through the recipes I have posted since I’ve started blogging and I realized I don’t have very many pasta type recipes in my blog.  I wanted to change that, so in an effort to add more pasta to my blog I decided I we would have pasta for supper. 

After determining I was going to cook pasta for supper I then narrowed it down to the kind of sauce I didn’t want which was a tomato based sauce.  From there I started looking through the different recipe sites to see if there was something that jumped out at me and that is when I came across this recipe on All Recipes.  After reading this recipe it gave me inspiration for what we would have for our supper.

I made a few changes, added some things and took away others and the end result was quite nice.  I also made a cream cheese cream sauce which complimented everything very well.  This was such an easy meal to throw together; and will be a “go to” meal for those nights where I need something quick, easy and tasty. 

 

Ingredients:

8 ounces rigatoni pasta

3-4 Chicken cutlets -cubed

Olive oil-for drizzling

Fresh cracked pepper- to taste

Garlic salt – to taste

2 1/2-3 Cups sugar snapped peas-prepared as directed

Parmesan cheese-for sauce and to garnish

Cream Sauce:

2 ounces cream cheese-at room temperature

2-3 tablespoons butter

1/4-1/2 cup milk

Fresh cracked pepper-to taste

Directions:

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add pasta, and cook about 8-10 minutes.  Once finished, drain the pasta and set aside.

Warm some olive oil in a skillet and then add cubed chicken.  Stir in chicken and season with pepper and garlice salt.  Cook about 5 minutes, until chicken is cooked entirely through.  Remove chicken to drain.

Cream Sauce:

In a small sauce pan add cream cheese and butter, melt together over low to medium heat.  Continue until the blend is smooth and creamy.  Stir in milk, fresh cracked pepper and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. 

Simmer mixture over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Once finished combine chicken, pasta, sugar snap peas and cream sauce and mix together. 

Serve with parmesan cheese on top along with fresh cracked pepper.

Pasta adapted from All Recipes

Cream Sauce by Lynsey Lou

   

It's Chili Time

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I love the fall and everything that comes along with it.  I have been waiting for the weather to change and actually feel like fall for quite some time now.  I love soups, chili, stews and all the other cool weather fall type foods.  I enjoy these types of food all the time but I really enjoy them when the weather is crisp and cool. 

On a cool night there is nothing better than a warm, spicy bowl of chili with cheese and Fritos.  The other night was the perfect night to make my first batch of chili for the season; it was cool outside and I was bundled up inside. 

I love deer meat; dear steak, chili, sausage or whatever…I’m a fan.  We had a deer processed and had some chili meat made so I thought I would try that out for this batch of chili.  The chili turned out incredible; it was so tasty and all the flavors blended perfectly.  The night before I browned the meat, cut up onions and peppers and got them all ready so I could just throw everything in the crockpot the next morning.  Chili is a great meal to make ahead; and that’s exactly what I did.

 

Ingredients:

1 Pound Italian sausage

1 Pound deer meat (I had the processor cut up some in a chili cut)

1 Can chili with beans

1 Can chili with hot beans

3 Cans stewed tomatoes

1 Can Rotel

2 Medium/1 Large bell pepper-chopped

4-5 Medium peppers- such as jalapenos or habaneros (add more or less according to taste)

2 Tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes

Pepper-to taste

Garlic salt-to taste

3-4 Tablespoons chili powder

3-4 Tablespoons Louisiana hot sauce

Cheddar cheese-shredded to go on top

Fritos

 

Directions:

Place meat in pan and cook thoroughly.  Once meat is cooked, drain, and then add seasonings.  Dice peppers and onions and mix into meat.  ***If cooking it in a crockpot place mixture in refrigerator until ready to cook. 

Once ready to cook place meat and onion mixture in crockpot; stir in rest of ingredients.  Place crockpot on low before work and when you come home you’ll have a nice, hot meal ready when you get home. 

Top with cheese and a side of fritos!

 

 

Recipe from Lynsey Lou

Asparagus with a kick

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After I started the No Name Chicken(the name is still to come) I had to run a few quick errands and I asked Spencer to take care of the asparagus and rice.  I gave him free reign over the asparagus; and I told him he could do whatever he pleased.  The end result was so awesome and it complimented the flavors of the chicken incredibly well.  The spice added to the asparagus was the “kick” we needed to go with our meal.  He did an excellent job; and the texture of the asparagus was perfect!

 

Chipotle Ranch Asparagus:

Ingredients:

Asparagus

Salt and Pepper, to taste

1 1/2 Teaspoons Tupperware Chipotle Ranch seasoning

Olive Oil for drizzling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a small pan with foil, place aspragus in foil.  Drizzle olive oil over asparagus and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chipotle ranch seasoning.  Close foil over asparagus and bake until desired texture.

 A picture of the yummy asparagus Spencer cooked!

 

Recipe by: Lynsey Lou’s hubby!

Simple Fried Rice

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So the theme of the food we had last night was Chinese/Japanese inspired.  We had chicken vegetable stir fry, which is in the previous post, and fried rice.  Like I mentioned earlier, this is my first time cooking this type of food.  Everything was more or less experimental for me last night, for the first attempt I would have to say it was pretty good and pretty successful.  

I didn’t want just normal, boiled rice to go with the stir fry so I thought while I was experimenting Iwould try fried rice too.  Everything turned out good, but like my stir fry recipe, there will be some tweeking the next time I make the fried rice.  I didn’t want to have too many flavor combinations going on, so the only thing I seasoned my rice with this time was salt, pepper and soy sauce.  Next time I will plan a little better and have a sauce to season my rice with that compliments what I seasoned my stir fry with.  

This version of fried rice is probably one of the simplest versions out there.  There really isn’t a whole lot that goes into this; so it could really be a base recipe which practically anything could be added to.  I think my next attempt at Chinese/Japanese type food is going to be a chicken or shrimp fried rice…that sounds so good!

 

Ingredients:

1 Cup Rice, cooked   (I used brown rice)  

1/4 Cup scallions/green onion, chopped

1/2 Small onion, diced

1-2 Tablespoons sesame seeds

Salt and Pepper, to taste

4-5 Tablespoons butter

2 Eggs

Olive Oil, to coat pan

Soy Sauce

Directions:

Add olive oil and preheat skillet/wok over low-medium heat.  Add diced onion and saute until onion begins to turn clear.  Once onion is cooked remove from skillet/wok.  Place eggs in skillet/wok and break yolks, cook while stirring and flipping occasionally until completely cooked.  Once eggs are cooked leave them in the pan and then add part of butter and return cooked rice and onion.  Stir together then add scallions, sesame seeds, the rest of the butter and soy sauce to your taste.  Once everything is combined and heated through, serve with favorite stir fry!

  

Recipe Courtesy of Lynsey Lou

Spicy and Sweet Chicken Vegetable Stir Fry

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I have been in the mood for Chinese/Japanese food for quite some time now, but everytime I’ve gone into the kitchen to make something it hasn’t been anything Chinese/Japanese inspired.  I don’t know why though, the best way to quench a craving is to have what you are craving!  Yesterday while I had some down time I started looking around the internet trying to find recipes that could inspire me on how to go about a stir fry. 

There are tons of recipes out there and there are so many different ways people go about making stir fry and seasoning it.  I guess the taste and spices that are added are all in the desired taste of the cook.  After looking around, I decided I would give stir fry a try and make a creation all my own.  I must say it wasn’t as difficult as I imagined.  I guess I just get discouraged when I am out and watching the professional chefs at the hibachi grills, watching them is so much fun but I guess they do so much extra for the entertainment factor and that also makes it seem like there is so much more to it.  It’s true what they say, looks really are deceiving. 

I think my first attempt at stir fry was pretty successful.  Now that I’ve finally gotten over my fear or complex of cooking Chinese/Japanese food I will definitely be cooking it more often.  There are some things in this recipe I think I’m going to work on and try to tweek next time, but ya know you have to start somewhere…and I think that’s half the battle.  So here’s the recipe I used for my first attempt at stir fry…please excuse the pictures, the presentation was not at all what I wanted it to be but I wanted to have something to post.  I will post me next attempts at this recipe and hopefully the pictures will be better too!

 

Ingredients: 

8 Chicken Cutlets, cubed

1 Small onion, chopped

1 Small bag fresh frozen stir fry vegetables

(I used a bag that had cauliflower, red bell pepper, sugar peas, carrots, and zucchini)

1 Clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons Chili Garlic Wok Sauce (Mine was from WIlliams-Sonoma)

Salt and Pepper

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 Cup water

1 Tablespoon Corn Starch

 

Directions:

Pour olive oil in large skillet, preheat over medium heat.  Add chicken and season with salt and pepper.  Once chicken is mostly done add the onions and garlic, saute until onions begin to clear.  Add the vegetables, stir together.  Once vegetables are mixed in and cooking add sugar, Chili Garlic Wok Sauce, and more salt and pepper if desired.  Cook combined ingredients for about 5-10 minutes.  

Stir together water and corn starch, pour over chicken and vegatables and cook for 1-2 minutes.  

***Serve over rice.

 

Recipe Courtesy of Lynsey Lou

Thick and Creamy Potato Soup

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This weather is killing me; a couple of days of fall like weather (soup weather) and then it goes back to summer time weather.  It seems like about the time I get my mind made up to start making fall type foods the weather goes back to cool, light food weather or grilling weather.  As you can tell by some of the previous posts I was in the fall mood and there is a soup or two out there right now.  The other night I wanted soup so bad that I really didn’t think about the weather outside and I made up my mind that’s what we were having. 

I love potato soup, it’s one of my all time favorites.  I think my top two favorite kinds are my Grandma’s and McAlister’s Deli; you just can’t beat them.  I have seen my grandmother make her potato soup a lot throughout the years but I couldn’t remember the recipe step by step so I tried to recreate it to the best of my knowledge.  It turned out pretty good; I did add a few extra things to mind.  This is definitely  a great cool weather meal!

Ingredients:

6-8 Medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 Stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 Medium carrot, thinly sliced
1/2 Onion, diced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2-2 Cups Chicken Broth
1 Cup milk (or more if needed to thin it down…depends on desired consistency)
1-8oz block cream cheese
4 Slices thick bacon, cooked and chopped (for this I used pepper bacon)
1 Cup cheddar cheese, shredded (reserve some to sprinkle on top)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Scallions
Sour Cream


Directions:

In a large pan, add olive oil and heat over medium.  Add the carrots, celery and onions and cook until tender.  Add the prepared potatoes and chicken broth and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.  Add the cream cheese and milk and stir to combine.  Add the bacon and cheddar and stir until combine.  Spoon into bowls, garnish with sour cream, cheese and scallions.

 

 Recipe Courtesy of: Lynsey Lou

BBQ Chicken Pizza

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I was craving a different type of pizza one night, so after preparing my drunken pizza dough I started thinking about toppings.  I was in the mood for something with chicken and you know with chicken there are endless possibilities; so I started listing all the options in my head and what all kind of chicken pizza I have had before when I thought BBQ Chicken Pizza sounds like it will hit the spot.  

This pizza turned out awesome.  The flavors of thedoughcomplimented the flavor of the chicken the flavores throughout the rest of the pizza.  This would be a great addition to any pizza night, or just for a quick meal.  

Ingredients:

6-8 Chicken cutlest

1 1/2-2 Cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1 Bell Pepper, sliced in strips

1/4 Red Onion, sliced (kept in long pieces)

1-1 1/2 Cups BBQ sauce-keep it sweet.  (I used equal parts of “Bone Sucking Sauce” and KC Masterpiece honey)

Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil

Montreal Grill Seasong-for chicken or steak

1 Recipe for drunken pizza dough (or your favorite dough recipe)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

After dough is made and rising, put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet on medium heat.  Season chicken cutlets with salt, pepper and Montreal seasoning.  Place is skillet and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.  Cook chicken completely and remove from pan.  Place sliced onions and peppers in skillet on low-medium heat, drizzle with olive oil and saute until onions begin to clear.  Once onions are clear remove both from heat.  After chicken is cooled, cut into bite size pieces.

Remove risen dough from bowl and roll out in desired size.  Place on pizza sheet or baking stone and form edges of the dough.  Spread part of bbq mixture over the dough and then sprinkle chicken, onions, and pepper (I reserved part of the mixture to put on top of the cheese) and then top with the rest of the bbq sauce.  Sprinkle cheese over pizza, and then add the reserved onions and peppers then place in oven.  Cook for 20-30 minutes, until dough is golden brown. 

***I cooked mine for 25 minutes

 
Recipe Source: A Lynsey Original

Broccoli Sunshine Salad

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Over the Labor Day holiday we didn’t have much going on but we did have a family reunion to go to.  I was looking for something that was light, and tasty but traveled well and looked just as good after the travel as it did when we left the house.  I needed something that didn’t have to be served hot or extremely cold, so I thought that some type of veggie salad would be the perfect item to bring.  There are so many salads out there and endless varieties of what can be done.  I started thumbing through some cookbooks when I started thinking back of all the pot-lucks and cookouts I’ve been too and there is one thing that is pretty much always there and that would be the Brocoli Sunshine Salad.  It had been forever since I had some and I had never made it, so what better time than now to have some and to try to make it. 

This recipe was so simple to put together.  I actually made it the night before, since we had to leave early in the morning to travel to the reunion, and it still tasted great the next afternoon.  I think it gave the flavors time to really mix together and compoliment each other.  I was skeptical of how the bacon would be the next day but it was still just as good as when I made it.  If you are leary you could always mix everything else together the night before and add the cheese and bacon the next day.  This is defininetly going to be a “go to” recipe for me from now on. 

***Be sure to let the bacon cool completely before mixing into the salad.  

 

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

3 Cups broccoli flowerets (1/2 pound)

4 Slices bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled

2 Tablespoons chopped red onion

Directions:

Mix mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar in large bowl.

Add remaining ingredients; toss until evenly coated.  Store and cover in refrigerator.

 

Recipe courtesy of: Betty Crocker’s Cookbook

Garlic Chicken Omelette

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I wanted to cook something different for breakfast, not just the same old sausage and biscuits or other traditional type breakfast foods.  I started looking at everything I had and then started brainstorming.  I had some leftover rotisserie chicken and thought…Chic-Fil-A serves chicken for breakfast so why can’t I make something with chicken it for breakfast.  This turned out really good and was the something different I was looking for.  It was so easy to throw together and cooked up really fast. 

 

Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 Cup chicken-shredded

1/2-1 Cup shredded cheese (I used part pepper jack and part sharp cheddar)

1 Clove garlic, finely chopped

1/4 Small onion, finely chopped

1 Small tomato, seeded and finely chopped

Salt and Pepper

Cumin-to taste

6 Eggs

Directions:

In skillet add a little olive oil then place onions and garlic.  Once onions start to clear add chicken; season with salt, pepper and cumin.  Keep on low-medium heat 3-5 minutes then remove from heat. 

Crack eggs over bowl, mix together and then pour 1/2 mixture in skillet over low-medium heat.  Once egg is pretty much entirely cooked; add 1/2 the chicken garlic mixture, 1/2 the cheese and 1/2 of the tomatoes to one half and then fold the other half over.  Cook until cheese is melted. 

***Repeat process for second omlet.  This recipe and these amounts make 2 omlets. 

 

Recipe courtsey of Lynsey Lou

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