Friday Favorites

Pumpkin patches are popping up left and right, and the leaves on the maple tree in my front yard are showing the slightest hint of orange.  That's about as close to fall as we get here in Dallas.  Sometimes I daydream about living in a place that has a great fall season, with beautiful changing leaves and crisp, cool weather that requires sweaters and boots instead of short sleeves and flip flops.  A girl can dream, right? 

It's the end of the week and time to share some more great recipes!  Thanks to Pinterest, I've been batting a thousand this week in the dinner department.  Each one of these recipes is a winner.  All images are courtesy of the original recipe source.   

Creamy bean soup with bacon...what's not to love?  This White Bean with Bacon Soup by Centsational Girl was just as delicious as the photo makes it look.  I used canned beans instead of dried, so this soup came together in no time at all.  My husband and I loved this soup.  My daughter gobbled it up.  My son threw the bacon on the floor and squished the beans in his hair, but he's only 15 months old, so I expected as much.  In time I'm sure he'll learn to appreciate the awesomeness of bacon.

I believe that no bowl of soup would be complete without a warm, delicious piece of bread on the side.  These Homemade Olive Garden Breadsticks by Full Bellies, Happy Kids were the perfect sidekick for the White Bean with Bacon Soup.  Making yeast bread from scratch can be messy and time consuming, but this recipe was relatively quick and was definitely easy.  I mixed the dough in my Kitchenaid mixer, then formed the breadsticks and let them rise while the soup simmered.  After rising for about 45 minutes, I popped them in the oven and 15 minutes later we were enjoying a delicious meal.  I cut the amount of garlic butter topping in half (even less than half the salt) and it was perfect.  We enjoyed these so much that I'm making them again this week!

On Monday afternoons, my daughter goes to ballet/tap dance lessons at the community center.  Her class ends at 5:15, which means that when we arrive home at 5:30 I am really squeezed for time when it comes to making dinner.  This recipe for No Boil Baked Penne by Plain Chicken is perfect for those nights when you want a great meal without a ton of prep time.  I had half a pound of leftover cooked ground beef seasoned with garlic from a previous recipe, so the prep time for me was nearly zero.  Mix everything together while the oven is preheating, pour it in casserole dish, cover and cook for one hour.  I had my doubts about not cooking the pasta first, but after one hour in the oven the penne was cooked perfectly and had the taste of lasagna without all of the fuss.  And this is a great excuse to finish off the homemade breadsticks from earlier in the week!

It seems like at least once a week we have breakfast for dinner..."brinner."  Brinner usually consists of eggs, bacon, and either pancakes or biscuits.  I have tried to make biscuits from scratch in the past with less than stellar results, so I usually fall back on frozen Grands biscuits, but this week I decided to give homemade biscuits another try using this recipe for 7UP Biscuits from Plain Chicken.  The combination of 7UP, sour cream, and Bisquick sounds crazy, but it seriously makes some of the best biscuits I've ever eaten.  Give it a try...you won't be disappointed.

Have a great weekend!  :)

Mmm, Mmm Good!

It may still be 90 degrees here in Dallas, but it's beginning to feel more like fall.  Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love everything about it, but I especially love Sundays filled with football and good home cooking.  These chicken and dumplings definitely fit the bill as a perfect Sunday dinner.  I am notorious for altering recipes with a little dash of this and a little bit of that, and this is a great basic recipe that you can use as a starting point in creating your own fantastic bowl of yumminess.  The original recipe uses a crock-pot, but I didn't get mine started early enough in the day, so I cooked them in a large soup pot on the stove instead.

Chicken and Dumplings
adapted from Bubble Crumb

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
2 cans cream of chicken soup
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 tube Grands buttermilk refrigerator biscuits, cut into bite sized pieces

Add chicken, butter, chicken soup, chicken broth, and seasonings to a large soup pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 30-45 minutes.  Remove chicken, shred with a fork, and return to the broth.  Add frozen veggies and return to a boil.  Add biscuit pieces, cover, and continue to cook until dumplings are cooked through, about 15 minutes.  Ladle into a bowl and enjoy!

To make this recipe in your crock-pot, simply add all ingredients except for the biscuits and cook on high 4-6 hours or until the chicken is tender.  Shred the chicken with a fork and return to the broth.  Add biscuits pieces and cook an additional 30 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked through.  Depending on the size of your crock-pot, you may need to reduce the amount of dumplings.  The dumplings are my family's favorite part of this dish, so I always use the largest dish in my crock-pot so we can enjoy every bite of dumpling goodness!

As you can see, this recipe is kid tested and approved!  Enjoy!