Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Oh blogger family, I can't even begin to tell you how much I love a good homemade soup.
At the moment, hubby has caught the bug I had last weekend except of course his has turned into a full blown summer cold. (Those are the worst!)
So since I felt a little guilty about spreading my cooties all over the house, I decided to make him some soup to help him feel better.
This is a recipe that I came up with a while ago and it is still a continuous work in progress.  One thing I've noticed with soups, is that you have to tweak it to your tastes.  Every time I make it, I work to make it even healthier, so here is my easy recipe.  Hope you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
3-4 medium-sized boneless skinless chicken breasts
48 oz. low fat/low sodium (no msg) chicken broth (I love the College Inn Light & Fat Free brand)
2 cups water
8 oz. package of No Yolks egg white noodles
4 medium sized carrots - washed, peeled, & chopped (can also use about a cup of frozen sliced carrots)
1/2 medium onion - chopped
4 stalks celery - washed & chopped
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 bay leaf
1/2 - 1 tsp black pepper (to taste)
1/2 - 1 tsp salt (to taste)
1 clove garlic - minced
1 Tbsp olive oil

Here are some pictures of what went into the soup...

Chicken broth

Chopped onions, celery, and carrots

 Egg noodles

DIRECTIONS

1.  Heat olive oil in large pot.
2. Saute onions until translucent.
3. Add garlic and saute until fragrant (approximately 1-2 minutes)
4. Add onions, celery, and carrots. Stir well.
5. Add chicken broth and water.
6. Bring stock to a rapid boil.  Reduce heat to medium-high and boil vegetables in water for 5 minutes.
7. Add rinsed chicken breasts and bay leaf.  
8. Cover pot with lid and boil for 15 minutes.
9. Remove chicken breasts and chop into bite-sized pieces.
10. Add chicken pieces back to pot.
11. Add Italian Seasoning, salt, and pepper.
12. Add noodles to pot. Boil according to package directions.
13. When noodles are done, taste broth to determine if you need more or less salt & pepper.
14. Enjoy!

*NOTE: One thing I noticed was that as they cooked, my noodles started to absorb the chicken broth! I like my soup to actually be soupy and didn't want this to turn into a chicken noodle stew.  So, I  ended up adding another 2 cups of water to the pot along with a teaspoon of chicken bouillon, and a little more salt and pepper. We both really liked it and ate it for dinner tonight with some whole wheat crackers. Hubby said it tasted great and even asked for seconds! I won't tell him I made it with cholesterol free egg white noodles and boneless skinless chicken breasts! (Shhh, that'll be our secret! LOL)

Sauteed Summer Squash

One of the biggest draws to our new home was that the owner had a small garden out front.  In this garden, she planted tomatoes, collard greens, green beans, squash, and strawberries.  Since we didn't move in until the middle of June, we got a big surprise when we got the keys the day before move in. Apparently, the lawn man that the real estate agent hired to maintain the yard COMPLETELY mowed down the garden I was looking forward to harvesting. I was so ridiculously disappointed.  I even called my mama to tell her that the stupid yard man mowed down my veggies! I mean, who does that? (shaking my head)

We've had quite a few rainy days around here recently, so I wasn't surprised to find that the strawberries bounced back.  They really are quite resilient if you think about it.  We also saw what we thought were weeds growing in the garden now that the vegetable plants were destroyed.  Imagine our surprise when hubby came home from work the other day to say, "Uhh, babe, I think we've got some squash out front."
Huh???  Really???  Let me see!!!

Check it out! In the midst of the weeds growing in what was once a beautiful little garden, we had a squash plant to survive the mower too!  We had 1 medium-sized squash and 1 granddaddy squash out front!  I was so excited, we picked them immediately and I got ready to saute those bad boys up right away.  I'm not sure why I was so excited since I'm not really a squash eater, but hubby is and I will look for ANY REASON to find a new recipe online.  So, off to Google I went to find an easy recipe that I could whip up in a jiffy. :-)
The original recipe that I found can be found here, but you know I didn't follow it exactly, right? It just wouldn't be "Kesha's Kreations" if I did...

So anyway, here is my version with just a few modifications to it. Let me know if you try it and what you think.  Being a non-squash eater, I thought it came out really good (much better than the 1st time I tried to make yellow squash) and the recipe was easy.  You can't beat that with a stick!

INGREDIENTS
2-3 medium sized yellow squash
1/2 cup chopped onions
1.5 Tbsp olive oil
1-2 Tbsp sugar (optional - to taste)
1/4 cup water
salt & pepper

DIRECTIONS
1.  Wash and chop yellow squash.
2.  In medium-sized skillet, heat olive oil on medium-high heat.
3.  Add chopped onions & squash to skillet.
4.  Add sugar, salt and pepper. Stir well.
5.  Add water to skillet. Cover with lid and let steam for approximately 3 minutes.
6.  Remove lid and stir. Allow water to cook off, stirring often.
7.  When water has cooked off, squash should be tender.
8.  Enjoy!

Hubby's Plate...

Baked chicken tenders, northern beans and cornbread and sauteed yellow squash...

(He gave it 2 thumbs up!)

Hope you enjoy!

Easy Peach Cobbler

Ok, I know I've been gone for quite some time now. There has been a lot going on over here at Casa de Burns. Hubby and I have switched adoption agencies. Now that all of our original paperwork has expired and we have to start over, we figured we would go with a local (and smaller) agency in order to get a more personalized experience. We didn't want to be just one of the thousands with something so important as adopting a baby.

We've also moved (again). So on top of work, trying to save, and relocating, I am just now getting my mojo back with the cooking. Yesterday was Independence Day and it was too hot to try grilling since we got up early to go to the gym instead of getting the grill fired up. By the time we got out, it was scorching outside, so I made my BBQ Pulled Pork in the crockpot, thawed out some Hawaiian Rolls (you mean, you don't keep a supply of Hawaiian Rolls in your freezer??? LOL), made some BBQ baked beans, and salad, and there was our 4th of July dinner.  I decided to make a homemade peach cobbler for dessert because I wanted something quick and easy. I also had some fresh peaches in the refrigerator that were just begging to be used, so here we go.  I hope you enjoy...

I was actually quite pleased with how easy it was to make this cobbler. I started off by peeling and chopping 3 fresh peaches.  You can use drained canned peaches or thawed frozen peaches, but I used what I had in the refrigerator. The original recipe makes a big 9 x 13 pan of cobbler but it was just the two of us for the 4th this year so I made a smaller 8 x 8 pan. Feel free to double everything if you need the bigger recipe.

INGREDIENTS
3-4 medium sized fresh peaches (approximately 2 cups)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar (divided into 1/4 cups)
1/2 cup brown sugar (divided into 1/4 cups)
1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp lemon juicde
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla flavoring
pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS
1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2.  Melt butter in 8 x 8 baking dish in oven.
3.  In mixing bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk.  Stir until dry ingredients are moistened.
4.  Pour batter over melted butter. DO NOT STIR!
5.  In a sauce pan, bring remaining 1/2 cup sugar (1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup white sugar), peach slices, and lemon juice to a boil over heat, stirring constantly.
6.  Remove from heat and add vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  Stir well.
7.  Pour peach mixture over batter.  DO NOT STIR!
8.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in crust comes out clean.
9.  Enjoy! Can be served warm or cold and is especially delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped topping on top.

7-Up Biscuits

Oh wow, blogger family, let me tell you about this wonderful recipe that I found on Pinterest! It came from this cool site called Plain Chicken and was simply titled, 7-Up Biscuits. When I first saw the recipe, I remember thinking, soda? in a biscuit???
Hmm, I don't know about that. Then, I read the reviews and it got really good responses and I thought, well, I've never made biscuits before, let me give it a try.

Hmm, heavenly, light, flaky, and buttery biscuits were the results...
The recipe is so ridiculously easy, I'm almost ashamed to post it on here, but you know I will! LOL!
It only calls for 4 ingredients, and I promise you will be pleasantly surprised.
Hubby told me I was working on my grandma status with that one. Try it and let me know what you think, I promise you're gonna love them!


INGREDIENTS
2 cups Bisquick baking mix
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup 7-Up soda
1/4 cup butter - melted

DIRECTIONS
1.  Preheat oven to 450.

2.  Stir sour cream into biscuit mix

3.  Add 7-Up and stir. *Alert: Will make a very soft dough.

4.  Sprinkle a small amount of additional biscuit mix on board or table and pat dough out. 

5.  Melt butter in 9 inch square pan (I used a small round cake pan).  

6.  Place cut biscuits in pan and bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

7.  Serve and enjoy! These also taste really good warmed up the next day!

Kake Kreations by Kesha

Kake Kreations by Kesha

Check out our slideshow of delicious handmade treats that we are currently selling as part of our adoption fundraiser.
Our adoption journey can be found at www.BringingHomeBabyBurns.org.
Feel free to browse around and if you feel inclined, feel free to help us with our journey.

~Thank you and God bless!~

Valentine's Day: You Are Loved

In honor of Valentine's Day and the recent passing of the legendary and beautiful Whitney Houston, I thought I would post one of my favorite songs from the movie, "The Preacher's Wife."

So this is just a little reminder not only for Valentine's Day, but for every day of the year. We need to realize that we are loved and we need to remind those in our lives that they are loved...
Life is too short to spend with regrets.

The last chorus says:

You were loved by someone
Touched by someone
Held by someone
Meant something to someone
Loved somebody
Touched somebody's heart along the way
You can look back and say (mmmm) you did okay
You were loved.

So remember to tell that special one (yeah, mm)
You were loved...
You were loved...
You were loved...

Be blessed, blogger family.

Homemade Potato Latkes

So, while lying in bed being a bum on this wonderful day 3 of my 3-day weekend (thanks, Dr. King!), I had the ridiculous craving for some eggs and potato latkes from Honey's, one of our go-to place for breakfast here in Philly.  Then, I thought, man, I need to wash my hair, finish the laundry, etc etc. and I just didn't feel like starting my day at that exact moment and time. So, you know what I did, right? I hopped on google and started looking for a recipe.  Actually, I looked on Pinterest first (feel free to follow me at KeshaB623 - I know, shameless plug, right?) So anyway, I found a couple of recipes to try.  This is the one I really wanted to try for Oven-Fried Potato Latkes, but I was already hungry and didn't feel like waiting for anything to bake in the oven. I'll probably try that method next time...

Y'all know me, I look for any kind of shortcut that I can find.  Instead of actually rinsing, peeling, and grating 3 large russet potatoes, I looked in the freezer, saw that I had some shredded hash browns, defrosted those puppies, and we were ready to rock and roll.  I didn't take pictures of the actual steps (again, did I mention how hungry I was???) so you'll have to make due with the after pictures.  I'll do better next time.
Hubby just informed me that latkes are a Jewish holiday dish, so hey, I made my first Jewish dish motivated by sheer laziness.  They came out good, so how they started doesn't really bother me all that much as long as they taste great.  Here's the recipe, let me know if you try it and what you think!

INGREDIENTS
Approx 1/2 bag of shredded hash browns - thawed
1 cup onions - chopped
2 large eggs - lightly beaten
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt (optional)
1 tsp black pepper (optional)
cooking oil (approx 1 cup)

DIRECTIONS
1.  If needed, defrost frozen hash browns in microwave until thawed.
2.  Add onions and eggs to hash browns, stir well to incorporate.
3.  Add flour, salt, and pepper.  Stir again.
4.  In large skillet, heat cooking oil until it is about 360 degrees.
5.  Measure out 1/4 cup of potato mixture and place carefully in skillet.  Flatten with back of spoon.
6.  Repeat until there are 4-5 patties in the pan being sure to not crowd the skillet.

7.  Fry the patties for about 4-5 minutes on each side until they are nicely browned.
8.  Remove from skillet and place on paper towels to drain.
9.  Serve and enjoy!

We like ours with sour cream and ketchup but a lot of people eat their potato latkes with apple sauce. 

Either way, enjoy!

 

Breakfast is served! Yumm...

Playing catch up and Fast & Easy Turkey Joes

I know, I know, I have been truly M.I.A. for the past couple of months. Don't think that the kitchen closed down or anything.  The hubby and I have been starting a new endeavor to raise money for our adoption.  We are now making and selling cake pops and cake ball truffles and no I'm not posting any recipes on here. Why give away my secrets so then y'all won't buy any and help us to bring our baby home?
;-)

Mmmm, now don't those look good? Too bad you guys don't have smell-o-vision because they smell & taste as good as they look! [LOL!] Seriously, though if you guys would like to take a look over at our new site, we've got a lot of goodies, homemade crafts, and jewelry for sale. We've come a long way since our beaded bracelet sale although we do still have those on there too.  The new site is available at www.BringingHomeBabyBurns.org.  Check us out and let me know if you'd like to order something.  You'd get some delicious treats to eat and we'd be a few steps closer to bringing our baby home.

Now, on to today's recipe...
I came home from work on Thursday with no clue what I wanted to eat for dinner. Thursdays are my late nights at work so I knew whatever it was it would have to be quick and easy and something involving ground turkey since that's what I had thawed in the refrigerator.  I went to Monique's blog DivasCanCook and found an easy recipe for Sloppy Joes. We had almost all the ingredients in the refrigerator, so that's what we made. Threw some sweet potato tater tots in the oven and dinner was served, quick and easy, just like I like it...

Now Monique's original recipe for her Fast & Easy Sloppy Joes can be found on the link, but you know I had to modify it. Why? Because that's what I do...  Hubby says that I have problems following directions, but I think I'm just creative and like to put my own spin on things. Besides, who knows better than I do what my taste buds like? Right??? LOL!
So here's the recipe, hope you like it. Let me know if you try it!

INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound ground beef - extra lean
1/2 pound ground turkey - extra lean
1/2 cup onions - chopped
1/2 cup bell peppers - chopped
1 clove garlic - minced
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup your favorite BBQ sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp Liquid Smoke
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
8 oz. can tomato sauce

DIRECTIONS
1.  Spray large skillet with cooking spray. Brown ground meat and drain, set aside.
2.  Saute onions & bell peppers in skillet until tender.
3.  Add garlic and saute, stirring frequently until fragrant (approximately 1 minute).
4.  Add meat back to skillet and stir well.
5.  Add all remaining ingredients and stir well to incorporate.
6.  Reduce heat and let simmer for 3-5 more minutes.
7.  Enjoy!