Cracked Out Chicken Noodle Soup

This is my third post in my "blog comeback". I type this as Dan has bath duty with Miss P.

Wait, scratch that. I waited too long to start typing this. Bathtime is over and the daunting task of brushing her hair is about to begin. I have a feeling this post is about to be on hiatus.

I never make soup, with the exception of my shrimp and corn chowder. Dan will only eat that and thick clam chowder. And since Dan eats next to no vegetables, most soup recipes are skipped over. With this one I figured I had a shot. He'll eat celery if it's small enough and cooked soft enough. Everything else in the soup he likes, and this was meant to be a thick, cheesy soup. This is the soup version of Cracked Out Chicken Noodle Casserole. We love the casserole, so as long as the broth was thick enough there might be hope.

He loved it. Well, WE loved it! The only thing I would change is that I had wide egg noodles already, so I would definitely stick with the thinner ones. The wide ones absorb so much broth, making the soup thicker than intended. The first bowl (yes, we had more than one) was great, but as the soup sits a little longer, the broth continues to thicken, so when the noodles absorb too much our last serving was pretty thick. Not that we minded, it was kind of like noodles with a cheesy sauce at that point!

But yeah, use smaller noodles. Other than the prep of chopping some chicken and veggies, I love how quick this was. Only two steps for the cooking, so I can throw everything in and walk away for 20 minutes until I have to put the noodles in. In under 10 minutes after that, it's done. And it is PACKED with flavor.

Dan ate so much of it that I don't have any to take to lunch tomorrow. Now I have to plan a lunch....

Cracked Out Chicken Noodle Soup
From Plain Chicken

3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
2 carrots, sliced thin
2 celery stalks, sliced thin or diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups chicken broth
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 cup milk
1 packet ranch dressing and dip mix
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8 oz. thin egg noodles

1. In a large stockpot, add chicken, veggies, garlic, broth, cheese soup, milk, and ranch mix. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then bring to a simmer for 20-25 minutes until vegetables soften.
2. Add the noodles and cheddar cheese and cook 5-7 minutes until noodles are cooked.
3. Serve!

Brown Sugar Bacon-Wrapped Chicken

I made these a few nights ago because they're pretty quick. The original recipe is to be made in the crockpot, but my morning was a little hectic so I decided I'd bake them at night instead. While the recipe is pretty quick to throw together, I still had to stop prepping a few times to get juice, change a diaper, and stop a dog from taking a diaper out the trash! So, realistically I'd say this takes 20 minutes max to get ready, but it took me around 30 or so.

Chicken thighs. Anyone who has read enough of my posts knows that I'm super, super picky about meat and poultry. It's not that I don't like dark meat, it's juicy, flavorful, but the "weird stuff" is near the dark meat. The fattier parts that are harder to chew through...you know, those parts. I pretty much exclusively cook with chicken breasts, but I figured I'd go for thighs this time since that's what the recipe was and Dan loves dark meat. This recipe is delicious, but I found myself cutting apart far too much of my chicken to fully enjoy it. That's my issue though, not a chicken issue. Anyone else this picky or is it just me?

I personally think the best part of this recipe is the brown sugar. The caramelizing of the sugar, with the saltiness of the bacon, give it amazing flavor. I wish I had added more brown sugar, but then again, maybe I could try and be a little healthier (with me choosing a fattier part of the chicken, thick cut bacon, and sugar to begin with).

You know what's great? When for no reason, your computer closes out of the internet and everything you just typed didn't save. Everything above this paragraph was started 2 days ago (remember, I'm on mom time). I just added a whole bunch more and started writing out the recipe. Put the laptop to the side to grab a Band-Aid for a mysterious cut that just showed up on P's foot, and came back to the window closed out and my task manager open...wonderful.

Anyways, what I had tried to add was that I bought a family-sized pack of chicken thighs because it was more economical to do so. So, I tried to sacrifice my chicken issue for savings, but I ate two of these and Dan had the rest. The pack had 14 thighs. I used 8 for this recipe and baked the other 6 plain so Dan could do what he pleased with them. He and P ate them for other meals. I think I'll stick to chicken breasts moving forward, I found that I wasted far more with the thighs due to my pickiness. Below is my preparation of the recipe.

Brown Sugar Bacon Chicken Thighs
adapted from Dinner Then Dessert

8 chicken thighs
16 slices bacon
3-4 cloves garlic minced
salt & pepper
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Lightly (very lightly, there will be bacon grease!) grease a cookie sheet. Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken thighs. Spread a little of the minced garlic on each thigh. Wrap two slices of bacon around each thigh.
3. Sprinkle brown sugar over each thigh.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Every oven is different, mine took just about 40, but I also used thick cut bacon.

And that's it! Add some sides for a quick and delicious meal!

Now to finish my grocery list, head to store, and try and make dinner for tonight. Maybe I'll even get to post it tonight.....

Chicken Cordon Bleu Rolls

Having a 2 year old and a 7 month old has really changed my blogging life. I haven't posted in over a year. It's not that I haven't made any new recipes in over a year, but some coveted time to sit here on my laptop almost doesn't exist. As I type this now, my eyes dart back and forth from the screen to my tiny gentleman, Cal (oh my goodness, I never even updated on the fact that I had the baby!), who is rolling around my living room, squealing and putting anything he can find into his mouth. This is also while hearing the words "Mumma, juice" on repeat as I tell Peyton "No". Seriously, part of my life is tracking juice intake to ward off diaper rashes and awful diaper messes. That part of my life is taking over my blogging part. All the other parts are taking over my energy and free time (the seriously small amount I have). My "free time" is catching up on Facebook on my phone at the end of the night, trying to keep up with some journaling, or going to bed leaving half a glass of wine that poured myself 3 hours ago on the coffee table.

No joke.

But, let's back track a second here. The last time I blogged I had found out I was pregnant about a month before that. It was quite the pregnancy, not as easy as my pregnancy with P, a few minor complications, but Callan Francis arrived 3 weeks early and is cute as can be. Being pregnant with a toddler at home makes it that more exhausting and also made it go by in the blink of an eye. P is wonderful with him and is an excellent big sister, so we at least don't have to add sibling jealousy to our chaos...yet...

Anyways, like I said before, finding time to cook new and exciting meals isn't really there, so nevermind if I do find the time for that, there's no time for blogging.  This post is a great example. I started this post last night. Then bedtime rolled around for P, which is a nightmare, and by the time that was done I put myself to bed. I have a little extra time tonight because she is at Disney on Ice with her Grammy (thanks mom!). I better just get to the recipe before Cal gets to fussing. I saw this on Pinterest but then never pinned it, so I just kind of recreated what I remember reading. Below is my version.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Rolls

1 can crescent rolls (I highly recommend the seamless ones)
3-4 slices deli ham
3-4 slices deli chicken
1 cup of shredded cheese of your choice
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. honey

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Roll out your crescent rolls onto a lightly greased surface. If you are using regular rolls like I did, pinch all the seams together to make a large rectangle.
3. Mix the mustard and honey together and spread over the dough.
4. Place your slices of ham down and top with half the cheese.
5. Place your slices of chicken down and top with remaining cheese.
6. Roll the dough into a log (the long way!).
7. Cut into 8 or 9 pieces and place into a greased pie plate.
8. Bake for 20 minutes until dough is golden brown.

I threw mine together quickly, and slightly overstuffed it, so the seams busted open making it messier, but no less tasty. Use the seamless dough if you can to avoid that!