Chicken and Dumplin's

or as Austin calls them Chicken Donkens
Since Austin has really found a love for them, I've really started making them fairly often...

Ingredients:
1 lb. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Tenderloins
2-3 Carrots (chooped small)
Celery (chopped maybe a cup)
Onion ( chopped small... approximately 1/2 cup)
Butter
Milk (2-3 cups)
Chicken Stock (2-3 cups)
1-2 Cans of Biscuits cut into fours (or make your own dumplings... I've even recently used frozen dumplings)
2-3 Tablespoons of Flour

Directions:
In a small sauce pan I boil the chicken.
While the Chicken boils I melt 2 tablespoon of butter (or margarine) in a LARGE sauce pan. I add the chopped onions to that and let them cook down... Then I add the carrots and celery as well as a little salt and pepper to taste. If needed I add a little more butter.

Once the chicken is fully cooked remove from heat (save the chicken broth) and cut (or shred) into small bite size pieces...
Add the chicken to the cooked down veggies and butter...
Pour in Chicken broth
Pour in Milk (it should end up being about half and half milk and broth if it isn't the right consistancy you can always add more milk... the more milk the creamier...)
Bring to a boil.. and add flour as needed to thicken the sauce.
Once the sauce has come to a boil, lower heat and begin dropping in your dumplings (or biscuits, etc.) and stir...

This is one of those dishes that you can eat as soon as the dumplings are the desired tenderness... but I find that the long it cooks the better it gets.

I've made this in the afternoon after work and had it ready for supper (with in like an hour? maybe and hour and a half?) but I prefer to cook it on the weekends when I can let it slow cook on low heat all day... ;)

Enjoy!

Taco Soup

I got this recipe off the internet after I tasted some that a coworker made. It was so good, I couldn’t wait to get the recipe from her... So I googled away and quickly found a version that sounded similar to hers. I made it for the family that weekend and it was an instant hit (even with my mom who doesn’t eat many vegetables).

I hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground meat
1 can whole kernel corn
1 (small) can Mexi-Corn
1 can Mexican Stewed Tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel tomatoes (we use the “original” ones but any would work)
3 cans of beans (I used one each of Black Beans, Pinto Beans, and Kidney Beans)
1 envelope of Taco Seasoning
1 envelope of Ranch Dressing Mix

Directions:
Season Ground Meat (I use a little chili powder, black pepper, and salt) and brown (sometimes I cut an onion up to add a little flavor to the meat... it isn’t really needed though). Once the meat is browned drain the grease.

Return the meat to the pot and dump in all of the remaining ingredients. Add about 2 cans (I use a bean can) of water... Mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring occasionally.

You can put everything into the crock-pot on the low setting for about 6 hours.

Serve:
Top with any Taco Toppings you like... Our Favorites are Sour Cream and Cheese.
Don’t forget the Tortilla Chips!!

*Note this recipe also freezes well*