Ahh, Mom’s Chicken Noodle Soup

My mom’s homemade chicken noodle soup is the best.  That is all.  It’s like a delicious bowl of warm blanket that wraps you up with every bite.  I can still remember the first time I had canned chicken noodle soup.  I was at the babysitters house.  She put this bowl of stuff in front of me and said lunch is ready.  I asked what it was.  “It’s chicken noodle soup.” she said with a smile, thinking she had given me something warm and delicious.  I was polite and ate it.  It was OK, I thought, but that stuff is NOT chicken noodle soup.  Chicken noodle soup, as I knew it, was full of flavor with big chunks of chicken, potatoes, and carrots, delicious homemade broth, and… wait for it… homemade noodles.

 

Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

• Servings: 8-10
• Time: 3hours
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Print

This chicken noodle soup recipe is how my mom used to make it with a few tweaks of my own. It's so basic. It does take some time to do it right, but it's so worth the wait. It's perfect for cold days or when your sick. It makes a lot, but that's ok. It's even better second day.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 small onion roughly chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 carrots peeled and chopped
• 2 medium russet potatoes chopped (I like to leave the peels on)
• 1 Fennel bulb sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 large parsnip peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 recipe homemade egg noodles (you can substitute egg noodles from the store, but they’re REALLY not as good)

Directions

1. Place chicken in a large stock pot and fill with enough water to cover by about 2 inches along with the onion, bay leaves, and plenty of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours.
2. Place chicken on a plate to cool slightly.
3. Strain broth and place in fridge for an hour or so to bring fat to the top. You can skip this step, but it allows you to skim the fat off which I prefer.
4. Return broth (sans fat) to the pot along with the carrots, potatoes, fennel, parsnip, and spices and bring to a boil on high heat.
5. Once it begins to boil, lower the heat to maintain a low boil until the veggies are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
6. Add chicken and noodles and boil another 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy with Delicious Crusty Beer Bread. Do you have a recipe for food that’s more comforting than this? If so, please share.

Homemade Egg Noodles? OMG

Nothing says “I love you”, like homemade noodles from scratch. If you’ve ever had homemade noodles in chicken noodle soup or minestrone soup, you know, they are worlds apart from the stuff at the store.  When my mom used to make soup, my siblings and I would always ask, “with homemade noodles?”  My mom was a pro and could whip these up in no time, so her answer was usually “yes”. (insert smiling children and applause here) With a little practice they become really easy to make so if it’s not quite right the first time, keep trying.  Making your own ingredients saves money and gives tons of extra flavor. It is a skill worth perfecting.

Mom’s Homemade Egg Noodles

• 1 cup flour, plus about 1/2 cup more
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 2 eggs lightly whisked

 

Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add eggs and mix with a fork until you have a solid mass.

Slowly knead more flour into the dough.  I do this inside the bowl to make less clean up.  You have to go by the way it feels for the amount of flour to knead into the dough at this point.  It should be only slightly sticky and fairly smooth.  If you add too much flour you will get tough noodles that are impossible to roll out.  Too little four will mean really sticky dough that is impossible to peel up after you roll it out.  Trial and error is your friend.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface.  You’ll need to continually lightly flour the dough, flip it over, roll some more, flour again, and repeat until the dough is about 1/8 inch thick. If you like a thicker or thinner noodle, go for it.

Slice it into thin rows and cut them to the length you want your noodles with a pizza cutter.

Toss them a bit and allow them to dry for about 15-20 minutes.  They’re ready to use.

Add them right to your soup and boil for about 10 minutes.  You can also boil them in water for other uses. Definitely try these in Chicken Noodle Soup or Minestrone Soup.

Throwback Thursday: Favorite Fall Memories

I have LOTS of great fall memories. I decided to grab a few pictures and show you some of my Favorite Fall Memories.

Favorite Fall Memories

Taking Pictures with Witches at Gardener Village

Here is Jason four years in a row with the witch that sits on the bench. It was such a fun thing to do year after year. The last one was the last time that I could get him to do it. If I remember correctly I paid him $10 to come and participate in the picture-taking (he drives a hard bargain, smiles were included in the price). Now that we are across the country I see pictures on social media and I am sad that we are there to enjoy the fun too!

Christmas Card Pictures

Having group pictures of the kids in the fall is something that I did for years. We had the best photographer and she always made it work with them even when they were tired, cranky, or freezing! We don’t have a photographer here so I have not had their pictures taken in a year and a half. I need to find someone local STAT!

Pumpkin Patch

Going to the pumpkin patch and corn maze has always been a fun fall tradition for our family. The kids always laugh and have a good time. We would go out to dinner afterward before heading home. Always a great time!

Halloween

We always make good memories on Halloween. The kids picking out their costumes, and trick-or-treating through the neighborhood with friends.

Pumpkin Decorating

As my kids are getting older I have to find ways to get the fun holiday activities in, and have them want to participate. Sometimes that gets really hard – I think I may have lost my teenage boys completely. Luckily I still have 2 young(er) girls that still like to do fun holiday activities with me. Hopefully I can keep it going for a few more years. I really don’t want to be the 50 year old lady running through the corn maze during the fall or taking selfies with elves and Santa all by myself.

This year I wanted to skip the carving and paint out pumpkins. We have painted pumpkins before but I wanted to do a whole set, or series of them with stripes, dots, and other geometric patterns.

I started with 7 pumpkins of all different sizes and shapes. I decided on a black and white theme for the front porch thinking that I could just parley them from Halloween into Thanksgiving porch decor with just a few accessories.

I quickly decided that I wanted a more washed out look to my pumpkins than a dark full coverage look.

Once I covered the pumpkins with their base color they looked like this:

I love the way the imperfections show through. On the black one you can see the lines very clearly.

Next I took the opposite color and just went to town with stripes and polka dots. I really wanted a fun look that wasn’t necessarily “Halloween”.

Here are some of the finished products. You can see on the large pumpkin I added small black dots in-between the large white dots. I liked how it added dimension. I also painted some of the stems or “handles” as my girls call them.

My girls still wanted to carve pumpkins – even after all the painting! If they still want to enjoy the classic holiday traditions that we have done since they were small I am going to let them as long as they will. I know they are getting big!

Final product for Abi is a typical face with triangles and a half-moon grin. She is a very imaginative girl except when it comes to her pumpkins. She likes her pumpkins classic. Haley and I did Jack again because well, Hello. It’s Jack. We have already watched Nightmare Before Christmas 4 times this year. I think our record is 30 times between Halloween and the end of the year.

No matter how they want to decorate them, as long as they want to do it, I will be right there doing it as well. What will I do when I don’t have kids at home anymore?

Back To School Means Back To Sports (And Their Smells)

My kids will tell you that I like my house to be clean. But not just any clean. I like my house to be so clean that you can smell the clean. I have a super nose when it comes to stinky odors. I have been known to search the whole house to find a dirty sock that I could smell from two floors away. (My lovely dog, Mojito, steals and hides dirty socks if someone takes them off and doesn’t put them away immediately.)

With the kids back in school I have lots of time to make sure that my house is as sparkly clean as I want it to be during the day. My morning consists of a short list of things to tidy up so that I don’t have to worry about the smells that messes create.

• Wipe down the bathrooms
• Start a load of laundry
• Wipe down kitchen counters
• Tidy main living spaces

Back To School Means Back To Sports

With everyone heading back to school it means heading back to school sports as well. I have four kids, two tween girls and two teenage boys. Having the teenagers and a sport loving husband participating in cross county, hiking, basketball and weight lifting on a daily basis I have a lot of odors to battle. Between the muddy uniforms, sweaty socks, disgusting gym clothes and “teenage smells” I have a lot to contend with to keep my house smelling good. I can spend all day cleaning but if one running shoe is left out or one pair of socks isn’t taken to the laundry room right away I will know it. Since we can all be forgetful and leave socks by the stairs I have come up with some ways to keep the “smells” at bay.

Dryer Sheets

Every 3 months I place a fresh dryer sheet in each air vent in the house. I use a non perfumed sheet that just smells “clean” to me. Every time the air conditioning or heat pops on it blows a clean scent throughout the house. I have friends that will still comment to me that “it must be laundry day, it smells so good” whenever they come over. (Forget the fact that I have four kids and everyday is laundry day.)

Plug Ins

Oh I love plug-ins! In the basement (where it can smell musty) they are a life saver. They get rid of that touch of ‘I’m underground’ scent that you might otherwise dread. I also secretly placed them in all of my children’s rooms without them even knowing. I use my 14-year-old son’s room as an overflow to my guest room when people visit, and guests would never know it. Even my son says, “It is a good thing I keep my room smelling so good so when people come over so there isn’t any cleaning to do.” Sure Jason, you keep thinking that it is you.

Candles

We like to cook dinner and we experiment with lots of different foods. Burning candles keeps those smells at bay in the dining room or front hallway where the door is located. In all of my main living areas (we have a great room and a front room with offices) I like to have a candle lit to help with the ambiance when people are over. I have found some great seasonal scents the past few years. Some that are perfect for fall give off just the right amount of scent without overwhelming the room. They work great if the runner in your family leaves his cleats by the back door after cleaning them off or if the husband leaves his SWEATshirt on the back of his office chair.

 

What are some of your tricks to keeping back to school smells at bay?

Romantic Skull Wreath

Once I start crafting I usually go overboard and don’t stop until I have 2 or 3 or 4 of any given item. This way I can try different styles and mediums to get exactly what I want. Last week I made a spider wreath, and this week it is a skull wreath. The spider wreath took  couple of hours to make where this one was so fast I had it done in under 15 minutes including hanging it on the wall when I decided where I wanted it to go.

This might be my easiest wreath that I have ever made. It doesn’t require a lot of supplies, and the ones that you do need are very inexpensive. I finished it in under 15 minutes while watching football last Sunday.

Supplies:

• 2 rolls of ribbon – any kind. I used black and white wire ribbon because I had it on hand. You do not need to use wire ribbon.
• Hot glue gun
• Green floral foam wreath
• 1 bunch of plastic flowers – I used 4 out of 7 that came on the bunch
• Coordinating ornamental piece – I found a clip flower with a skull head at a local craft store ($1)

Directions:

• Start by wrapping the ribbon around the foam wreath. I hot glued the edge to the side that I wanted to be the back and then just started wrapping at even intervals all the way around.

• Once the whole wreath is wrapped hot glue the end to the back side of the wreath.

• Next grab the flowers and decide the part of the wreath that you don’t like. Find a part that is wrinkly or bubbled up from wrapping. That is where you will want to start gluing the flowers. I cut most of the stem off of the flowers and I put the glue on the actual flower and then molded the flower around the wreath the way that I wanted it to sit.

• The last piece to add is the ornamental piece. I got a flower with a skull in the middle. I added this last piece on the exact opposite corner from the flowers to balance out the wreath. I put the hot glue on the back of the flower and then placed it on the wreath.

I choose not to hang this wreath with ribbon, although you could easily add some ribbon to the top to hang it. I hung it on the wall using large tacks and I like the look. It is a perfect layering piece to go behind other decor or to fill up the space.

Even though I like my wreath on the wall another way to display it would to put it on a plate stand on a side table or counter top. No matter how you decide to display your wreath I am sure people will complement you on your cute style.

Halloween Tablescape And Dinner Recipe

Every year on Halloween I try to do a special dinner. I try to make something easy, filling, healthy, and fun. Knowing that all they will eating for the rest of the night is sugar – I want their bellies full before they go out for their treats. I make this same dish quite often because it is a favorite of the whole family. It is inexpensive yet filling. It is a meal that can be kept warm all evening so people can eat early or late depending upon schedules.

Tablescape

A tablescape for a holiday meal can be as intricate or as simple as you want it to be. Last year I went very simple. I was traveling the week of Halloween, and I didn’t have much time to set anything up.

I started with a plain white over-sized cloth table-cover. I laid out a roll of chalkboard paper in one direction, and then a Halloween table-runner in the other direction. I used chalk pens to drawn spider webs, spiders, and Halloween words all over the paper. I did not use stencils or anything fancy. In fact that part took about 2 minutes.

Then I added PAPER place settings! That is right I went with paper. There are cute paper plates available everywhere now so there is no reason not to use it for a themed night like this. I got stripes and polka-dots in orange, black, and white to match the tablecloths. All of the paper products cost under $5 and there was enough for 2 meals with my large family. The next thing I did was just gather little things that I had around the house in the orange, black, and white themed colors. I had some empty jars – so I added some candy. Then I grabbed some votive candles out of the drawer, and we were done. This centerpiece cost me nothing.

Pasta And Tomato Juice

Now don’t judge this meal by the name. It might sound boring but it is delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 1 pound box of whole grain small shell pasta
• 1 large can of no-salt added tomato juice
• Salt free seasoning

Directions

• Put water on to boil and boil pasta
• While pasta is cooking brown ground turkey in a pan. Add seasonings as needed/wanted. My husband doesn’t add any when he makes this dish.
• Drain pasta
• Put pasta back in pot and add the cooked meat and can of tomato juice
• Warm through
• Garnish with shredded cheese

For the past three years or so I have been doubling this every time I make it for my family of 6. Sometimes we have enough for a lunch portion for the next day for a person or two, but most of the time it is all gone because of the teenage boys. This is one of the simplest meals that I make but it is one of the favorites. I like that it is lighter than pasta with sauce but filling and just as delicious.

Spider Halloween Wreath

Here is a quick and fun Halloween Wreath that can be made in a couple of hours while you watch a movie. I made a large wreath but if you have little girls and need a fun fall craft this is an easy one for all ages if you do small wreaths.

Halloween Wreath

Supplies Needed:

• Wire wreath – I got mine from Michael’s and it cost under $2.
• 2-3 colors of tulle. I used black and white. I was going to add gray but I felt that the wreath was full enough without adding another layer. I bought it in 3 inch wide spools. I needed 2 spools per color.
• Ribbon. I used some ribbon that I already had left over from another project.
• An ornamental piece. I chose a spider from the dollar store. You could use anything that matches your decor.
• Time.

Directions:

• I cut my tulle into 6 inch strips. I did this while I was watching a movie one night. It took about an hour.
• Pick your first color, I chose black first. Take one strip and knot it around the most outside ring of the wire frame. Repeat all the way around.
• Choose your second color and knot the strips all the way around the second circle of the wire.
• I chose to skip my third color because the wreath was very full already. I switched back to the black tulle and knotted the last layer around the bottom circle of the frame.
• Choose an ornamental piece. I choose a spider that I got for $1 and I hot glued it to the wreath. I love that it gives it a pop of color.
• Last take your coordinating ribbon and tie it through the biggest ring on the wreath. I choose to do a knot but a bow would look great too!

This is  very simple project that my 9 and 11 year old girls could do alone. My only tip: DO NOT use glitter tulle. You will find glitter all over the house forever. I made the mistake of buying black glitter tulle because I thought it would be fun. It is really fun, and messy!

Favorite Fall Recipe: Simple Crock-Pot Beef Stew

I made myself a calendar to encourage me to post each day this month. Today I am supposed to post my favorite fall recipe. This one was so hard for me because I have so many. I wanted to do something sweet and fun for a dessert recipe but decided to go with an easy crock pot recipe that can be done with little prep in the morning before heading out the door. Plus I made this dinner this past week so I could grab the pictures easily. (I said I would blog, I didn’t say I wouldn’t be lazy about it!)

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into bite sized pieces
• 5 lbs potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1’’ pieces
• 2 lbs of carrots (I use baby carrots and just dump the bag into the crock-pot)
• 2 Stalks of celery, cut into bite size piece
• 1 can cream of mushroom (or other flavor) soup
• 4 cups of beef stock
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Place meat in crock pot. Add all other ingredients on top. Cook on low for 10 hours. Dinner is served. My kids like to top the stew with a dab of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt. It just adds a little creamy-ness to the stew once it is all mixed in together. Serve it with homemade bread and butter and you have a full delicious meal. This is a hearty meal that will fill you up and warm you from the inside out. It is a perfect weekday meal when you need something hot and ready when you get home, but it is also great for a chilly Sunday afternoon.

I added my beef stock recipe here as well in case you need to try a new one. I do not add any salt so it is a great low sodium alternative to canned stock.

Ingredients for Beef Stock

• 4 pounds of meaty beef soup bones
• 3 carrots, cut into chunks
• 3 pieces of celery, cut into chunks
• 2 medium onions, cut into chunks
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 8 peppercorns
• 4 sprigs of fresh parsley
• 1 tea dried thyme
• 1 tea dried marjoram
• 1 tea dried oregano
• 3 quarts of cold water

Directions for Beef Stock

• Preheat oven to 450°. In a large roasting pan place soup bones and bake, uncovered, 30 minutes. Add carrots, celery and onions. Bake an additional 30 minutes. Drain the fat.
• Transfer the bones and vegetables using a slotted spoon into a large Dutch oven. Add the warm water to roasting pan; stirring to loosen browned bits from pan.
• Transfer the pan juices to Dutch oven on the stove top. Add seasonings and enough cold water just to cover the bones and vegetables. Slowly bring to a boil, about 30 minutes. Reduce the heat; simmer the pot uncovered for about 5 hours. Skim the surface (as needed) when foam rises to the top. If necessary, add very hot water during the first 2 hours to keep ingredients covered.
• Remove bones and throw away. Strain broth through a cheesecloth, discarding vegetables and herbs. Broth can be covered and refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen 4-6 months. Yield: 2-1/2 quarts.

Is Pumpkin All It Is “Pumped Up” to Be?

“If you believe the sales pitch, the pumpkin is the happiest, healthiest food,” said Suzy Weems, Ph.D.

But is it really? At this time of year we all flock to pumpkin. Today in the store I saw the following (note – I was looking for pumpkin products):

• canned pumpkin
• pumpkin coffee
• pumpkin bread
• pumpkin bread mix
• pumpkin cookies – frosted, un-frosted, with nuts, and with chocolate chips
• pumpkin pie
• pumpkin flavored whip cream
• pumpkin flavored peanut butter (really?)
• pumpkin flavored coffee creamer
• pumpkin beer
• pumpkin pancake mix
• pumpkin Oreo (NO)
• pumpkin ice cream
• pumpkin Pop-Tarts
• pumpkin hummus

I am sure that there was plenty more out there that I did not see. Needless to say America is OBSESSED with pumpkin in the fall. Here are the positives and pitfalls of pumpkin:

Pumpkin positives:

• Fiber. Nice thing for dieters who want a full feeling.
• Zeaxanthin. Hard to pronounce, but a weapon against age-related macular degeneration and impaired eyesight.
• Low in cholesterol and high in Vitamin A. For healthy skin and eyes — and an aid in fighting cancer.
• Magnesium, manganese, copper, phosphorus, protein, zinc and iron. On the USDA/FDA rating schedule, pumpkins are a good source of all those. Add them up, and you’ve got a cocktail for energy, growth and a top-notch immune system.

Pumpkin pitfalls:

• Pumpkin snacks:  Pumpkin-laced candy is still candy.
• Pumpkin desserts: Notice how much pumpkin is really is in it, and look for sugar amounts – I bet they are high.
• Pumpkin in coffee or for breakfast: A pumpkin latte is not going to mean any fewer calories. And pumpkin doughnuts, bread and pastries still have sugar.

So make the decision for yourself. Can you make pumpkin a part of your fall without adding too many calories, sugar, and fat?