Chicken and Dumplings - My Go To Recipe!

Over the  years I have had many versions of chicken and dumplings.  For the longest time I would roll out biscuits and cut them but I have since started making them from scratch and they are just so much better this way!  I never realized how easy it is to make them from scratch but it really is easy and so worth the tiny bit of extra effort!  This has become my favorite way to make them recently!  I grew up eating them this way and totally prefer the rolled flat dumplings instead of the balled plump dumplings that some people make.  The recipe that I took my inspiration from is actually for the Instantpot, but as much as I love my IP, I tend to do these in a large soup pot because there is just more room and I often double it to share.  Everyone in my family loves these and I have yet to meet a friend that I shared it with that didn't love it too!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bag of frozen diced cooked chicken (or 2-3 cooked and diced chicken breasts/shredded rotisserie chicken/leftover turkey from Thanksgiving etc.)
• 1 large carton of chicken brother + 1-2 extra cans of broth
• 2 ribs of celery, cut in half and chopped
• 1/2 onion, peeled and chopped.
• 1-2 peeled and chopped carrots
• Olive Oil
• Garlic
• 2 lemons - juiced
• Small carton of sliced mushrooms
• Bag of baby spinach
• Greek Seasoning
• salt & pepper to taste

FOR THE DUMPLINGS:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbs baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup + 2 Tbs milk
• Extra flour on the side in a dish

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare the dumplings by mixing flour, baking powder, salt, and milk until combined.  I like to separate them into 2 balls to make it easier to manage.
2. Lay down parchment paper and flour the surface well.  
3. Lay one ball on that surface and flour the top and flatten our some with your hand first then roll to about 1/4 inch thickness (dough will be shaggy on the edges).  I tend to flour the dough more to keep it from sticking to my rolling pin.  
4. Use a pizza cutter to cut into strips about 1-2 inch strips or squares.  
5. Repeat with each ball of dough that you have until they are all rolled and cut.
6. Add olive oil, garlic, celery, carrots and onion to bottom of soup pot and saute.
7. After about 3-5 minutes, add your large carton of broth and bring it to a boil.
8. Once the broth is boiling, slowly add your dough strips to hot broth and stir well the entire time as you add them.  If the broth gets too thick at any point, you can add another can of broth, or even water.
9. Simmer until dumplings are cooked and broth has begun to thicken, about 15-20 minutes.
10. While the dumplings are cooking, add the cooked chicken, lemon juice, mushrooms.
11. Season it well with Greek seasoning or another all purpose seasoning of your choice
12. Right before you serve, stir in a bag of baby spinach.
13. Serve your bowls and provide lemon wedges to add more to each bow individually as desired. Enjoy!

Inspiration:https://marginmakingmom.com/pressure-cooker-chicken-and-dumplings/

My Original Version using biscuits: http://boneyjeankitchen.blogspot.com/2013/07/chicken-and-dumplings-another-easy.html

Gammy Cherry's Sweet Potato Casserole

Gammy Cherry made this sweet potato casserole last year at Thanksgiving and everyone went back for seconds and went on and on about how wonderful it was.  Yummy!!


Ingredients:


Casserole:

• 3-4 medium sweet potatoes
• 1/4 C melted butter (use butter, NOT margarine)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C evaporated milk
• 3/4 C sugar with a dash of cinnamon added to it
• 1 tsp vanilla

Topping:

• 1/2 C crushed cornflakes
• 1/2 C chopped nuts
• 1/4 C melted butter
• 1/2 C light brown sugar

Directions: 

• Mix all of the casserole ingredients together in one bowl.
• Mix the topping ingredients together in another bowl.
• Beat well. 
• Pour into buttered dish. 
• Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.
• Reduce heat to 350. 
• Add topping.
• Bake for another 15 minutes.

Susan's Pecan Cookies

These are some of my very favorite cookies my mom used to make.  Recently my Aunt Sally made some and I asked her for the recipe because I am not sure where it is at my parent's house.


Ingredients:

1 cup butter or marg 2 cups flour

1 cup brown sugar packed 1 to 2 cups pecans

1 egg separated

1 ½ Tab Cinnamon chopped

1 ½ Tea spoon vanilla


Directions:

Preheat oven to 325

Melt Butter and combine with sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and egg yolk (add last.) Stir in flour and mix well.

Spread on greased cookie sheet to cover completely. Pour egg white on top and spread completely over dough. Pour excess off. Sprinkle on pecans and gently press into dough.

Bake 25 to 30 min, until light golden. IMMEDIATELY slice into cookie bars (approx 6 dz) and remove from pan to cool. They freeze well or keep will in tightly closed container.

OPTIONS: Sprinkle sesame seeds between pecans to completely cover. Or, Chop 2 pralines and sprinkle along with pecans. This needs to also be pressed into dough.

Aunt Sally's Super Delicious Seasoned Crackers

My Aunt Sally made these for everyone for Christmas this year and they are to die for!  I have eaten then plenty by themselves as well as put them out with cheese for guests.  These are so so yummy and very addictive!

Ingredients

• 3 sleeves of Saltines
• 1 c. of oil
• 1 envelope of ranch dressing mix
• 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp. red pepper flakes
• 1-gallon ziploc bag

Instructions

• Put the sleeves of crackers in the Ziploc bag.
• Mix oil, pepper and garlic power in container that can pour (I use my pyrex measuring cup)
• Pour mix over crackers and swish around a bit. Lay flat for 20 minutes.
• Flip bag for another 20 minutes.
• Maybe flip again twice, in 15-minutes intervals, or just give up trying to coat crackers evenly and dump entire bag out into your mouth.

I use the new round crackers, one whole box. A large ziplock bag works best...I think mine are 2 gal. It allows you lots of room to mix the crackers around. I flip my bag more than twice, but you can decide what works best for you. I don't always put 2 Tbs. of red peppers, then sometimes I put a little more. Keep them in air tight container, they will last for weeks, if you don't eat them first. :)

Diddo's Margaritas

These are the margaritas my dad likes to make and most definitely my favorite, however my dad's version was QUITE strong so I have adapted his recipe to make them a little crowd friendlier!  I like to save calories anywhere that I can so I usually use monk fruit or another equivalent replacement in place of the sugar.  

I usually double the batch for a small group and its plenty.  These are strong so I serve over ice.

1 cup tequila

1 cup water
1/2 cup orange liqueur (higher quality is much better like Contreu or Patron)
1/2 cup or simple syrup (bring 1/4 cup sugar & 1/4 cup water to a boil while stirring constantly) 
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

Mix all ingredients together.  Chill well and serve over ice if you like! Most importantly, ENJOY!