Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup :)

Ok, so my mom is sickly. She has a pretty bad viral infection, and she already has a bad immune deficiency so to call her 'under the weather' would be the understatement of the century. On top of that, Jason loathes his new job and my own life sucks and my health is suffering. I have been lurking around food blogs and I stumbled across a recipe for Chicken and Rice soup from The Pioneer Woman Cooks! In true form, I didn't care for a lot of the stuff she used in the recipe, so I did my own version of her recipe. It's so different from hers that I'm not even going to give her recipe. I'm going to give you my own.

For the record, this soup managed to put the hair on my mom's chest that she needed to start feeling better, and put a smile back on mine and Jason's face to the point where we were able to take a content little nap on the couch after dinner. All was well with the world, even if it were only for the evening.

Chicken Noodle Soup

3 large cans chunked chicken breast (fully cooked)

2 medium sized cans (16 oz?) chicken broth

1 bag no yolks egg noodles

2 cubes chicken bullion

6 tbsp regular salted butter, seperated

4.5 tbsp all purpose flour

a clove of garlic, minced

2 tsp celery salt

water

1) Pour cans of chicken broth in med-large soup pot. Add the equivalent of a chicken broth can and a half of water, bullion cubes, and celery salt. Cook on medium to medium high. Meanwhile, in a medium sized skillet, melt 4 tbsp of the butter. When melted, pour in the flour. Mix together well, and warm thoroughly to create a roux.

2) Pour roux into chicken broth. When the broth reaches a steady boil, throw in egg noodles and boil unlidded until al dente. Reduce to a low simmer when the noodles are done.

3) In the same medium skillet (or a different one, I don't care!), melt the last 2 tbsp of butter. Throw in minced garlic cloves, infuse butter. When garlic is fragrant, add chicken breast. Break up large peices, toss until warm.

4) Add chicken and garlic mixture to soup. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Buon Appetitto!

EAT TO THE BEAT IS BACK! :D

Yay! So, my goal is to have my submission in by the June 30 deadline. If you don't know what Eat to the Beat is, check out the blog I mentioned below called Elly Says Opa!.

Anyway, I love any opportunity to get creative and try something new. And, while I normally hate boundaries and tend to stay away from convention, in a creative setting I actually enjoy guidelines because it makes it a little more of a challenge. That's why I think EttB is such a great idea. It's not your standard blog challenge, you're not cooking from a specific celebrity chef's cookbook (*coughTWDcough*), or going iron chef style and only using a specific peice of produce or other culinary effect.

So I've been weighing my options, and I think I'm going to do 2 entries. I noticed that there weren't many regional entries the last time, so I think I might do what I know best, and cook according to my culture. Soul food, anyone?

I'm going to do Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Song of the South by Alabama. The question is, what should I cook for Sweet Home Alabama? What is so quintessentially Alabama that it's the first thing that comes to mind?

I immediately think Fried Green Tomatoes, thanks to the movie by the same title that made a little cafe in Irondale (my old stomping grounds) famous.

I think of grits, because to be honest, I've happily eaten so much grits in my life I think I'm partially composed of it.

I think about peanuts, because of the cute little peanut shop on Morris Avenue here in Birmingham.

I think of Crawfish because of the Crawfish Boil coming up...

and last but (definately) not least, I think of Shrimp because of the amazing seafood we have at the gulf coast.

That was a fun little train of thought :) I love being from the south! We have great food! Ok, I've decided. I'm going to do Shrimp & Grits with Fried Green Tomatoes for Sweet Home Alabama.

For Song of the South, there is little doubt what I will be making for dessert. I think it's best to quote it directly:

"Song, song of the south.

Sweet potato pie and I shut my mouth.

Gone, gone with the wind.

There aint nobody looking back again"

I am going to make my all time, 100% favorite dessert. Ever. Sweet Potato Pie! :D Thank you, Alabama (the band), for giving me a reason to indulge.

Awwwwww! :-D NFR

For the record, NFR = not food related :)



Bethany from This Little Piggy Went to Market sent me this awesome award! It's my first one and I appreciate it *so* much! B & me obsess over food on a daily basis, so it especially means a lot to me coming from her :)

So now I have the pleasure of picking my five favorite blogs of purpose! For the record, I would have chosen B's without a shadow of a doubt. She is such a devoted blogger!

1) Elly Says Opa! - I *love* this blog. She is the founder of the blog project Eat to the Beat, where you submit recipes with photos based on your inspiration from a specific song. Unfortunately I missed my last opportunity to be involved, but she's decided to do it again and I will DEFINATELY be jumping on board! (I already have an idea of what I'm going to do...)

2) Culinary Concoctions by Peabody - Her blog always inspires me. It has been around forever, blogging about food before it was cool. Her photographs are beautiful and her recipes are to die for!

3) Buon Appetito! - This lady knows what she's doing! She's one of my fellow Alabama nesties, and a mommy to two beautiful babies. I love her beautiful italian comfort food recipes! As an italian girl myself, I can definately appreciate.

4) A Year in the Kitchen - Her blog project completely fascinates me. Every week (or month?) she has her readers vote on what country's culture she will cook from. One week might be Japanese, while the next could be something like Italian. She's got some cojones in the kitchen, and that's for sure! :)

5) Good Eats n' Sweet Treats - I can only aspire to be an amazing cook like this chica. She is amazing! I always look forward to her blog updates!


Award-winners, here's what you should do:
1. nominate 5 blogs which haven't had this award before
2. each of the blogs must have a purpose
3. the nominated blogs must make a link back to this page
4. the logo from the award must be put on their blog and it must link back to this blog!