I Am Not A Crafty Person

In fact, doing messy crafts with my children is honestly one of my least favorite things to do.  This is why I love taking them to our local Art and Science Museum so they can craft until their hearts are content.  BUT, if the end result is something useful as opposed to some kind of macaroni picture that is supposed to hang on the fridge, then sometimes I can be persuaded.

Here Was My Motivation

Meg and I found this recipe for Rose Almond Soap and unbelievably, I had almost everything necessary to make it.  I thought “This is something we can actually use,” and I loved the name. So. I was motivated. Life is so much better when Mom is motivated :)

I was on my way to the health food store anyway, so I could easily add Geranium Essential Oil to the list.  I know you are thinking “You had rosewater on hand?”  Well, I bought it probably over 2 years ago when I had some bright idea to make something, then never did.  Seems it sat there forever waiting for this moment.

Ingredients

Rose petals – 2 T

Almonds – 2 T

Soap - 2   4 oz bars (something plain like Ivory or Castille) or 8 oz of soap flakes (which I don’t think exist anymore – I looked and asked and couldn’t find any)

Rose water – 1/2 cup

You can make rosewater by taking 1 firmly  packed cup of rose petals.  Pour 2 cups of boiling water over it.  Cover and let steep until cool.  Drain.

Geranium Essential Oil – 9 drops       Anything would work.  I just like the sound of  ”Geranium.”

Boiling Water – 2/3 cup

Recipe

Put your rose petals on a cookie sheet and dry them. Ours were somewhat dry to begin with, drooping off their stems several weeks after Valentine’s Day.

I dried the yellow ones too, but only used the red for this recipe.

We have a warming rack above our stove so I put them under the heat lamps until they were crisp. You could put them in a dehydrator or in the oven on the lowest setting.

After they crisp up, crush them. The mortar and pestle worked well. But crushing with your fingers is definitely just as good.

Next, the almonds.

I used the coffee bean grinder to grind them up.

And then grate the soap. You can also use a food processor with the grate blade.

Now mix together the soap flakes, crushed rose petals and boiling water in a bowl til smooth.  If the soap starts to solidify, place the bowl over near-boiling water.  Mine did not even come close to solidifying while we were stirring.

Be thrilled that you are finally doing a craft with your precious child that you will get to enjoy!

Add the ground almonds.

And now the rosewater, (I’m thinking you could add plain water if you didn’t want to go to the trouble of getting or making rosewater.)

and the geranium essential oil (or whichever oil your heart desires.)

Mix it up good.

Next is the part you will be very happy your children get to do and not you. Separate the goop into 6 sections and mold each section into a ball.

Lay each ball on wax paper.

Take another sheet of wax paper and flatten them out a bit.

About this much.  Blurry, but I wanted you to see this.

You can also take a cookie cutter and make a shape like Meg did.

Then let them dry out a day or two or three on the counter.  Turn them over and let the underneath side dry too.  They really look different after they dry.

In fact, they kind of match the counter now.

I’ve enjoyed using this soap and it is a great gift.

This recipe came from this book that I found at our last homeschool convention.  It has become one of my favorite books to have in the kitchen.

Have fun with this!  God Bless You!

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You might like one of these posts too.

• Powder Laundry Detergent – Yes, Homemade :)
• Curried Chicken & Rice (leftovers)
• Chicken Pie – Meal #3 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Chicken Noodle Soup – Meal #2 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Sherried Tomato Soup

Powder – Definitely Easier

I gave you a recipe for Liquid Laundry Detergent, about a year ago, but over the last 6 months or so, I have been making this powdered version thanks to various friends (Ladonna & Catherine!)who convinced me it was easier. They were right!  So much easier!

Easy Vs Chemicals In Our Bodies

And please, give me anything to get drudgery work done quickly, but not at the expense of one more chemical IN or ON my body. You know? It is a balancing act, that I think much about.

Heavy Lifting

Honestly though, I do not like lugging those huge heavy jugs of detergent home from the store. I would prefer to buy bars of soap and boxes of borax at various times when I run out. This really is a more pleasant experience all the way around.

The Directions – Just Do It – It Will Make You Happy :)

Here is the soap I use. Kirk’s Castile. I’ve heard that people also use Fels Naptha, Ivory and Zote.  I think I may try Zote next.  It’s quite a bit less expensive.

2 bars soap

4 cups borax

4 cups washing soda

And here are the only other two ingredients. Washing Soda (NOT baking soda) and Borax.

See, here they are on the store shelf. Usually together and easy to pick up.

For the recipe I use, you will grate 2 bars of soap. I always get one of my children to do it.

Sometimes we take turns grating while other things are going on in the kitchen. Hey, I will grate if one of the girls wants to load the dishwasher instead!

And here I have 4 cups of borax and 4 cups of washing soda together.

I like this plastic container on the left to keep the detergent in. It sits on top of the dryer.

So here is the soap, grated in the container it will live in.

Pour in the borax and washing soda.

Stir it up and you are done.

I keep this 1/8 cup measuring spoon in the container. You can literally use 1 Tablespoon on a light load.  I usually use the full 2 T scoop and sometimes 2.

Why All These Pictures?

Why in the world do I use all of these pictures for these posts. I will tell you. I learn visually. I mean, I probably learn 500% better if I see the pictures or a chart, than if someone just tells me something. I think that is why I am terrible at remembering names. Thank goodness my husband is not.

When My Eyes Glaze Over

Sometimes my husband will start telling me about somebody’s aunt’s sister’s husband related to the 2nd cousin’s daughter. Argh! Stop! I can’t take it! The only way I can even begin to comprehend what you are saying is if you will make me a chart, a family tree or something. But, alas, that usually takes too long, so “just give me the gist of the story, hon.” Anyway, that’s why.  And I’m guessing there are a lot of you out there like me.

Again, thanks for your time.   I know it is precious.

God Bless You all!

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent – Yes, I’m Serious.
• Rose Almond Soap – Make Your Own
• Curried Chicken & Rice (leftovers)
• Chicken Pie – Meal #3 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Chicken Noodle Soup – Meal #2 of 3 from 1 Chicken

I am now attempting to see how fast I can put a post together with this new software I found called Blogo. So we are off and running!

This dish is another great leftover dish to use that remaining chicken you have from the wonderful Roast Chicken you made the other night :)

Start With The Rice

While it is cooking, oh about 20 minutes for white rice (I like basmati,) and maybe 45-50 minutes for brown rice, which is what we have here, you will make the Curried Chicken.

Brown rice is my definite favorite. It makes me feel like I’m doing something good and healthy.  And I need as much of that as absolutely possible, because you can bet I love my Dark Chocolate with Mint 3 Musketeers bar!  Yes, I do. I admit it.

Cooked Brown Rice

If you don’t own a rice cooker, I semi-implore you to go get one. You can live without one. That is for sure. And if you are doing serious budget work, then don’t get it, but if you can fit it in, this is another of my favorite kitchen tools.

Why I Like Rice Cookers

I can put all the ingredients in several hours ahead of time. Rice, water, olive oil, salt. Then just let it sit there, all afternoon if necessary, and when I’m ready, all I have to do is flip that little switch and perfect rice is on the way.  All by itself. Amazing. I think I got this at StuffMart.

Groan.  Fuzzy photo.

Now on with the Curry. Saute some onions and celery. I think this was 1 onion and maybe 4-5 stalks of celery sauteed in butter or coconut oil.

Get your milk out.

And just splash some in there. Maybe a cup or so.

And now for the curry. I like a lot, so make sure you have more than just a teaspoon on hand.

Gosh, I think I probably put at least 3 tablespoons in. After a bit you can taste and add more curry or more milk depending on your tolerance for spice.

Now stir it up and add some salt and pepper to taste.  Mmmm.  That is starting to look good!

And now, I know you saved that good chicken broth from the bottom of your pan when you made that Roast Chicken. And put it in a jar. Right? Ok, next time. Just use some bouillon or canned broth if you don’t have this. I sure don’t mean to make you feel bad. Just joking around :)

So after you have skimmed that fat off the top and thrown it away, take a few tablespoons of this gelled up broth and stir it in.

Add your leftover chicken.

Add some chopped vegies of any sort. I have broccoli and cauliflower because it was going to go bad if I didn’t use it, but usually I use frozen vegetables.

This dish definitely needs more color and I just happened to have the cooked carrots from the Roast Chicken, so we will add those too.

They were stored in the fridge with the chicken.  Ok.  They are not gross or anything :)

And there you have it. You really want it a little soupy so you can pour the curry sauce over the rice.

Enjoy ladies. Another very easy dish. I have reheated this in my cast iron pan twice this week for lunch.

Let’s see.  That took 1 hour and 7 minutes.  Probably a record.  But that doesn’t mean much.  This was one of the easier topics.

And by the way, I have been on a recipe rampage lately.  Promise I will get to some other topics soon, but you know how it is.  Gotta just go with the flow.

Love you guys for reading these ramblings!

Godspeed!

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Rose Almond Soap – Make Your Own
• Powder Laundry Detergent – Yes, Homemade :)
• Chicken Pie – Meal #3 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Chicken Noodle Soup – Meal #2 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Sherried Tomato Soup

And finally, the 3rd installment, in “3 Meals with 1 Chicken.”  Here is my recipe for Chicken Pie.  Of all 3 dishes, this may be my favorite  because it is such comfort food.

Here are the ingredients you will need:

• Leftover Chicken Noodle Soup
• Butter
• Flour
• Milk
• Oil (I like to use coconut oil)
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Any frozen vegies you happen to have.

I had quite a bit of leftover soup and I was making this recipe for 11 children on a Saturday evening and for 5 adults and 4 children for the next day’s Sunday lunch.

I made 2 large pyrex pans. I am going to give you the approximate amounts for what I made.  If I were to cut this in half, I would simply cut the dough recipe in half, but leave the rest about the same.  You really cannot mess this up.

Chicken Pie Filling

Start by melting a stick of butter in a stock pot.

After it is completely melted, stir in about 3/4-1 cup of flour.

It may get pasty pretty fast, so be ready to add the milk.  1-1 1/2 cups.  Or just add a little at a time.

Now just add a little flour or a little milk as needed.  Your goal is to have it end up looking like this. Not too liquidy.  More on the pasty side.  This is going to thicken your chicken soup.

Stir in your chicken soup mixture.

It helps to have a Professional Stirrer.  This is my best friend Jennifer.  7 of her 8 children (Abigail is too young) and my 4 children will be eating this Chicken Pie tonight.  Check out her website. My hubby is cooking up some kind of surprise for the adults.  Mmmm.

Add some salt and pepper to taste.

Now just pull out whatever frozen vegies you happen to have and throw them in.  I’m glad I had peas and corn because I really like those in Chicken Pie.  A little ice on the peas.  Hey, no big deal.

Stir some more.

And taste.  Jen is also the Professional Taster for the evening.

If you feel your mixture is not thick enough, like in this photo below,

pour it back in your pot (like we did) and add some cornstarch (we added about a cup) and let it cook on about medium.  As it cooks, it will thicken.  If you don’t have cornstarch, mix up some flour and water or milk into a paste and stir that in.  If you don’t mix the flour and milk into a paste, you will have clumps.  And, heaven forbid,  we cannot have clumps.

Let that just sit and simmer on low for a bit while you make your dough for the top.

Dough

This dough recipe comes from one of my two absolute favorite cookbooks.  The MOMYS cookbook.  That stands for Mothers Of Many Young Siblings.  I’m using the recipe on page 479 for Quick Biscuits by Jackie King.

• 6-8 cups flour
• 3 T baking powder
• 1 T salt
• 3/4 cup oil (we use coconut)
• 3 cups milk

Get out your mixer and your dough hook.

Start with 6 cups flour and 3 T of baking powder.  I say 6-8 cups in the ingredient list because it depends on how course your flour is.  I’m grinding our flour before I use it and fresh ground flour tends to be finer, so I tend to need more flour.   But read on.  You will just adjust to how it looks.

Add 1 T salt.

This is melted coconut oil.

Below you can see it hardened.  Looks a bit like crisco from a distance, but it is the opposite in terms of health benefits.

Hopefully I remember to set the jar of coconut oil on this cup warmer ($1 at the thrift store) before I start cooking and it is all nice and melted when I’m ready to use it.  I can’t remember where I got this idea, but thank you whoever you are!

I love it because I keep this jar of hardened oil handy for other things, like frying an egg, but then I can just pop it on the warmer if I need a larger amount for a recipe.

Mix 3 cups of milk and 3/4 cup of liquified oil into a measuring cup or bowl.

Pour it into your flour mixture and start mixing.  My Kitchen Aid mixer says never mix dough on a higher speed than 2.  It will damage your mixer.  I stuck a note on it to remind me of that.

This still needs a little more flour.  As you mix your dough, you may need to add more flour.  A little at a time.  You do not want this like bread dough that totally cleans the sides of the pan when it is correctly mixed up.  This is biscuit dough.  Biscuit dough remains a little wetter.  A little stickier.  Just a bit.

While your dough is mixing, pour your chicken filling into the pans.  Yum.  It’s looking good already.

Spread out some flour on your counter.  You are about to roll out the dough.

This is about the consistency of dough that you want.  Still has a little stickiness in it.  Think about how commercial biscuit dough is a little sticky.

Roll it out, oh maybe to about 1/3 inch thick.

For 15 years I carried around a beautiful stone rolling pin that I NEVER used.  Just wasn’t into cooking at that time.  In a decluttering fit, I got rid of it.  That is one of the few things I wish I hadn’t gotten rid of.

I use a pint size mason jar with the small opening to cut out the dough circles.  But anything will work.

Now gather this leftover dough into a ball again, roll it out, and make more circles.

Use leftover dough pieces to fill in around the circles.  Each serving will get a circle, plus some of the extra small dough pieces.  Now put it in the oven and bake at 425 degrees for 10-20 minutes.

All done!  Let’s eat!

Ahhh.  Food, friends and family.  Life doesn’t get much better.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Chicken Noodle Soup – Meal #2 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Roast Chicken – Meal #1 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Rose Almond Soap – Make Your Own
• Powder Laundry Detergent – Yes, Homemade :)
• Curried Chicken & Rice (leftovers)

Ok.  We are ready to make the second meal in the Trilogy Of The Chicken.

Here is all you need:

• Chicken
• Chicken Stock
• Butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped or minced
• 4-5 carrots, chopped
• 4-5 stalks of celery, chopped
• Frozen Egg Noodles
• Salt and Pepper (Lots!)  Just buy that healthy Himalayan Salt and you won’t feel bad about salting your food.

If you look closely you can see that my chicken stock is labeled “Whey.”  Nice.

After you get this going on the stove, please make this Soda Bread to go with it.  It is sooooo easy and good with this dish.

This first step (butter and onion) is a secret my friend Jen gave me.  Ever since she let me in on it, I have done it.  It’s simple, but really adds to the flavor.

Melt one stick of butter in your large stock pot.

We are about to saute our onion, but I want to show you how to peel it easily.  I just saw this on the Food Network last time we were watching TV in a hotel.  Cut both ends off.

Then slice into one side just about as far as I did in the picture below. About an inch.

Oh darn.  Look at that fingernail polish on my thumb.  Meg, 8, gave me a manicure and I keep forgetting to take that off.

Then just peel that outer layer off.  So simple.

Ok, so saute your onion.  Chopped, minced.  Whatever works.

Then get your jar of broth that was leftover in the bottom of the pan after you took your roast chicken out.  Go back to the Roast Chicken post to see how we got all of our broth for this dish.

I had about a pint.  It has gelled up by now and has a layer of fat on top.

I like to scoop off the fat with a spoon and not use it.  It makes it a bit too greasy for me.  Especially with the butter at the beginning of the dish.

Now you just have the good stuff.

Dump this into your pan and watch it melt in.

After it is liquified, add the chicken.

Add the carrots and celery.

Add  Salt and Pepper to taste.  I like a lot for this dish.

Remember the other broth that you made from the chicken bones. (Again, check out that post on the Roast Chicken to see how to do that.)  I added both of these quart jars to my pot plus about another 4 cups of water.  It seemed thick so I wanted to stretch it a little farther.

Of course you can also use just regular chicken bouillon in water according to the directions or canned chicken broth instead of this.

Now just let that cook/simmer for a while.  Maybe on medium low.  Maybe 30 minutes or an hour.

And lastly, add 2 bags of frozen egg noodles that you will find in the frozen food section usually near the frozen vegies at the store.  (Mine were 16 ounces – just add whatever amount you think looks good.)

Let that cook maybe another 15 minutes or so and you are ready to serve.

Yum!!!  Add that bread and you have a great meal!

PS.  If you don’t want to do the Roast Chicken before this meal.  Just take your frozen chicken.  Dump it in a stock pot for a couple of hours covered with water.  Maybe on medium.  And let it cook.  Then take it out and debone it.  You might need to add water here and there if it cooks off (evaporates) too much.   SAVE all that broth and pour it into a bowl through a sieve.  Then start with the onion and butter and continue as in this post.

Let me know what you think and/or if you have other ideas on your own version.  I will have the Chicken Pie recipe out as soon as I can.

Godspeed Ladies!

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You might like one of these posts too.

• Chicken Pie – Meal #3 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Roast Chicken – Meal #1 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Rose Almond Soap – Make Your Own
• Powder Laundry Detergent – Yes, Homemade :)
• Curried Chicken & Rice (leftovers)

Hello Friends!   I am so excited to tell you about 3 really good meals IN A ROW that we have fairly often at our house.  ”IN A ROW” is key because when I start this process, I know I have dinner planned out for at least 3-5 days depending on leftovers.   I love these meals because:

• they all come from 1 chicken (lately I have purchased some really big chickens),
• they all taste great,
• the soup is just plain healing to the bones,
• AND you really can’t screw them up.

Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Pie.   And yes, it is easy too.

A little of this.  A little of that.

Now don’t start hyperventilating on me.  I know.  I am normally one that likes to have it all written down with the exact measurements.  When my husband starts saying “Oh just add some _____.”  My next questions is ALWAYS “How much?  Just tell me how much?”  But believe me when I say you will be just fine on these recipes.

So Easy

I did not figure out how to make these recipes until an embarrassing number of years of marriage went by (much less my 16 years of single adulthood.  I’m wondering what kinds of food I survived on back then.)  And because of that, I’m guessing there are others of you in the same boat.  I mean I can read any recipe and make it, but I’m talking about having that deep knowing about HOW to do these things.  The way Grandma knew.

Don’t be embarrassed

As I think of my expert cooking friends, I imagine they are thinking “What?  You are kidding me?  You are just now figuring this out?”  Well, a few years ago, but yes, it’s true.  Hey – I had other things on my radar screen.   Yeah, yeah, yeah.

One More Caveat

I have to say that these pictures are just not very pretty.  Actually the whole chicken thing can be kind of gross at times and so I feel I must warn you of impending images that you may not want to see.

Trilogy Of A Chicken

1.  Roast Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots.

From these leftovers you will make:

2.  Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.

From these leftovers you will make:

3.  Homemade Chicken Pie (Yummmm!)

Do those sound good or what!

Here we go:

Roast Chicken With Potatoes and Carrots

We will talk in a moment about why this looks a little strange.

Life doesn’t get much easier than this.  Grab your roasting pan.  I got this cheap thing at Walmart for about $25 probably 8 years ago.  It works just fine.

Unwrap your whole chicken and toss it in the pan.

Frozen.  Yep.  Don’t even have to think about thawing it out.  You don’t need to put anything into the bottom of the pan.  The liquid from the frozen chicken will make broth on it’s own.  See, there it is.

Organic Chickens?

You have probably heard me say we are in serious budget mode these days.  Dave Ramsey style.   I anticipate that will continue after we have paid off our house because it just feels like the right thing to do in terms of being a good steward of the money we have been blessed with, BUT there are a few things that I do like to buy organic and whole chickens are one of them.

If I’m going to the trouble of cooking something that has healing attributes to it, then I want to make it worth my while.  Here is a link called Chicken Soup – Nature’s Best Cold and Flu Remedy? And I’m sure you have heard about the nasty places regular chickens are raised these days, soooooo,  let’s just not talk about that right now.  Ok? Moving on.

Add The Potatoes and Carrots

Rub butter on top of the chicken and salt and pepper it.   Then cut some potatoes in half and throw them in.  I used Yukon Gold here, but any will do.  Peel and cut some carrots in thirds and throw them in.  Put in as many as will fit in your pan.   I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture before it went into the oven, but don’t worry.  It will be ok.  That’s it guys!  Put the lid on.

Cooking Time

This time I put it in the oven at 325 degrees and it cooked about 4-5 hours.  But you could cook it longer at a lower temp or quicker at a higher temp.

I cut into this before I got a picture, but read below to see why it looks kind of weird.

Ok, This Really IS Embarrassing

I pulled the roasting pan out of the oven and as I’m starting to cut it, I’m thinking “Where the heck is the meat on this thing.  Good grief, this is an 8 lb chicken.”  And then as I dug around for a while I realized I put the chicken in upside down!  Now doesn’t that makes for a delightful picture of a beautifully cooked roast chicken for my blog.  Oh well, I’m shooting it anyway.

Matt said, “Yeah I think you did that last time too.”  I mutter “Yeah, I think you’re right.  I did.” as I try to figure out how I could’ve done that.  Twice.  It looked right when it was frozen.  Hmmm.  Very strange.  Oh well.   So I turned it over and it is not pretty.  In fact, not pretty at all.

Oh Well.  Onward and upward.  Start cuttin’ and servin’.

This might be my husband’s favorite meal.

The chicken is always very moist.  Everytime I use chicken breasts, they are always dry.  I’m sure there is some great recipe out there, but it hasn’t arrived into my “please make this dinner easy and good” repertoire.

And Now For Your After Dinner Duties To Prep For Meal #2

Chicken Noodle Soup

What you do during the cleanup of this dinner is important for your next meals.  You can throw everything in the fridge and do this tomorrow or you can do it now.

First debone the chicken.

This really grosses me out and I hate to do it.  So I have a great answer to this problem.  If you have children, find the one that loves to get dirty, play in the mud, fingerpaint, just basically make a mess with everything he or she does.

Yes all children are like that to a certain extent, but I know deep down you are thinking of one particular child, just like I am.  That would be my 2nd daughter Meg.  She is now our master deboner.

Ok, sweetie, let’s take your coat off so you can really get into it.

Put all the good pieces in one bowl and all the gross stuff in another bowl.

Really piece through that whole chicken and get all the meat.  Not the skin or fat.  Just the good stuff.  Don’t throw away the gross stuff though, because you are going to use it.  I know.  Just do what I say and you will be happy.  (Hmmm, I think I say that to my children a lot.)

Next, put a sieve over a bowl and pour the liquid gold, I mean the juice from the bottom of the roasting pan into it.

Dump that chicken stuff in the sieve into your “gross chicken parts” bowl.  Then pour the broth that is in the bowl into a glass jar with a lid and put it in the fridge.  You will use it for the next recipe – the soup.

That is a quart jar, so I got about a pint of broth.  The fat rises to the top very quickly.  When we make the soup we will spoon that off the top.

You might want to label this jar, because I just hate it when I look at unlabeled jars and wonder what the heck they are.  Permanent marker on the lid works for me.

Then, take the gross stuff in that bowl and dump it into a big pot.

Cover it with water.

Put the lid on and just let it sit on your stove overnight.  Tomorrow you will let it simmer for a few hours to use in the soup.  If you want to do that now though, go ahead.

After the simmering, before bed, just put your sieve over a bowl again, dump the mixture in your pot into the sieve.

Throw out that nasty stuff and bottle your new, homemade, healthy-as-all-get-out, FREE chicken broth.

Oh and as long as we are talking about gross chicken parts,

I went to great pains to take a picture of something really disgusting.  Want to see it?  Sorry.  I’m just kind of like that.  Check this out.  It’s almost enough to make me want to be a vegetarian, but not quite.  I guess it would be great for science class.  I mean what the heck is all that stuff.  Ok, I don’t want to know.

You are now ready to make tomorrow’s delicious Chicken Noodle Soup.  I highly recommend you also make this recipe for Homemade Soda Bread to go with it.  Very easy recipe.  Mix a very few ingredients together in a bowl with a spoon, dump it into the bread pan and bake for an hour.

God bless you all and let me know what you think!

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Chicken Pie – Meal #3 of 3 from 1 Chicken
• Chicken Noodle Soup – Meal #2 of 3 from 1 Chicken

Oh my goodness.  I just made this soup tonight for the first time and it is delicious.

I got The Pioneer Woman cookbook as a gift last month and have been having a great time making some of her recipes.

Honestly, you could just go to her site and find this recipe, but since your are here, I’ll just tell ya about it.

I’m excited because it was so easy (and I’m all about easy, healthy and yummy) AND I just happened to have all the ingredients on hand.  Most of these things are pantry staples, with a few extras that you can change up, so this is really a breeze for anyone.

Ingredients:

1 medium white or yellow onion, diced

6 T butter (3/4 stick)

2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes (or 1 large)

1 46 oz bottle or can tomato juice

3-6 T sugar (I like sucanat – unrefined sugar)

1-2 T chicken base or 3 bouillon cubes

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup sherry (PW says its optional.  Of course she is right, but I’m telling you, this MAKES the dish!)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/4 cup chopped basil

These are PW’s ingredients.  I made some changes.

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large pot.

Dice the onion and cook until it is translucent.

Dump in the diced tomatoes and stir til combined.

Add the tomato juice and stir.

PW says she used organic because she wants people to think “she is cool because she uses organic.” She’s funny.

Add 3-6 T of sugar.  PW used 6 and I also used 6 and I say 6 is the perfect amount!  My tablespoons were even bordering on heaping.

Add 1-2 T chicken base.  PW said she used 3 once and it was too much.  So I used 2 and again, I think that was the perfect amount.

An aside here.  I really like a brand called “Better Than Bouillon.”  It is healthier, but sometimes, in fact a lot of the time, it is a financial issue.

I want this house paid off so we “owe no man anything” so we can be free from the bondage of debt.   So….I buy the cheap stuff.

And then I  think about the verse in the Bible that says believers “will drink poison and not be hurt.” (Mark 16:18)  And, hey, I’m good to go!

Ok, moving on.  Add lots of freshly ground black pepper.  No amount here.  Just guess.  I like alot.

Stir the soup to combine and then heat almost to a boil.  Then turn off the heat.

Add 1 cup of Sherry.  YUM!

And now, 1 1/2 cups heavy cream.  I only had 1/2 cup of cream, so I added a cup of whole raw milk to that.

Then I wanted it to be a little creamier, so I suctioned off the cream off the top of my raw milk and added it.  Maybe another 1/2 cup.  It would have been just fine without that last 1/2 cup of cream so don’t worry about that.

I did not have parsley, but I did have dried spinach from our garden last year that I’d been saving “for such a time as this.”

And my basil was also dried.  I still used her same measurements even though my herbs were dried.

Serve it up with some good homemade bread and you will be in heaven.  I sure was.

That reminds me, I have another good, easy bread recipe I will give you soon.

Happy Kitchens and God Bless You!

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This is going to be a very quick post about what I just did.  I’ve been wanting to make homemade vanilla for at least a year or more and just haven’t gotten around to it.

I’ve had one vanilla bean sitting in my cabinet waiting to become something new.  A few months ago, I finally got husband to get a bottle of vodka for this purpose.  I have a few quiet moments.  And at the perfect time, I remembered all of this.   So… finally all of the key elements are in synchronicity.

Here it is:

1 Vanilla Bean

4 oz of Vodka

1 small glass jar

Put the vanilla bean in the jar.  Add the vodka.  Let it sit for 8 weeks.

Write the date on it so you don’t forget.

Then when it is half-used, fill it up with Vodka again to stretch it.  Four ounces of vanilla is alot!  How wonderful not to have to buy those tiny bottles again for a ridiculous price.

So…have any of you done this yet?  I’d love to hear how it went.

God Bless and Have a Merry Christmas!

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You might like one of these posts too.

• Rose Almond Soap – Make Your Own
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• Curried Chicken & Rice (leftovers)
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• Chicken Noodle Soup – Meal #2 of 3 from 1 Chicken

Finally!

I feel delinquent for not getting this incredibly good and easy bread recipe to you. My daughter or I make this bread ALL THE TIME.  I gave you the Beer Bread recipe here.  It is also very quick and good, but I like the soda bread better for a regular bread you can have all the time with just about anything. Beer bread can tend slightly to the sweet side.

Soda Bread

This is perfect to add to any dinner and it’s really good to have with soup. Many, many nights in the fall, winter and spring we will have some kind of crockpot soup and this bread.

Stir it up.  Throw it in.  Bake less than an hour.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar (we like sucanat – unrefined sugar)

1 tsp salt

2 cups buttermilk (We never have this so instead we substitute with 2 cups milk + 2 T lemon juice)

2 t baking soda

I can’t remember why I have this in a labeled jar.  I either bought it bulk through my food coop or I stole some from the box in the laundry room.

Directions:

Mix the first 3 ingredients in one bowl.

In another bowl mix the milk, lemon juice and baking soda.

Here are your two bowls of ingredients.

By the way, we are using raw milk straight from the cow.  In the food coop buying club that I belong to, we buy milk from a dairy farmer every week.  Best milk I’ve ever tasted.  I was on soy milk for 15 years, but got converted about 6-7 years ago after lots of research.  Homogenized and pasteurized milk is just not good for you and is the reason many people are lactose intolerant.  But raw milk has solved that issue for lots of people.   Google and research!  And yes, you want a farmer with a good reputation for cleanliness.  Here is a picture of picking up our milk at a friend’s house.

Ok, moving on.

Now mix the 2 bowls into 1.

Grease your bread pan.

Pour in mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Oops.  Don’t want to confuse you.  The recipe I am giving you is for 1 loaf,  not 2 as you see in the picture below.

Best served warm with butter.  Mmmmm.

That’s it people.  It doesn’t get easier! And this will happen….

Your family will love you SOOO MUCH as they, very often I hope, smell fresh bread cooking.

And then they will tell all their friends.

And then everyone will think you are amazing.

And really, you are because any mom who makes homemade bread is amazing.

And years from now your children will say, “I had a perfect childhood.  There was always the smell of fresh baked bread.”

And your husband will casually mention to his friends what he had for dinner and their eyes will widen.

And you will just sit and smile with great satisfaction, knowing you had an easy secret from which you got a lot of milage.

Make This!

Put The Ingredients On Your Shopping List If You Don’t Have Them!

Don’t Put This Off!

I Promise This Will Become A Staple For You!

Godspeed!

The Girl

For Easy Printing

Soda Bread

This is soda bread. It is perfect to add to any dinner and it’s really good to have with soup. Many, many nights in the fall, winter and spring we will have some kind of crockpot soup and this bread.

Stir It Up, Throw It In, and Bake Less Than An Hour

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar (we like sucanat – unrefined sugar)

1 tsp salt

2 cups buttermilk (We never have this so instead we substitute with 2 cups milk + 2 T lemon juice)

2 t baking soda

Directions:

Mix the first 3 ingredients in one bowl.

In another bowl mix the milk, lemon juice and baking soda.

Now mix the 2 bowls into 1.

Grease your bread pan.

Pour in mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Best served warm with butter.  Mmmmm.

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Beer Bread. The Way To A Man’s Heart!
• Rose Almond Soap – Make Your Own
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• Curried Chicken & Rice (leftovers)
• Chicken Pie – Meal #3 of 3 from 1 Chicken

I love, love, love the crockpot.  It is one of the best tools to help achieve a more stress-free life.  If for some strange reason you haven’t gotten one yet, I URGE you to hop on over to to your favorite Stuff-Mart and get one.  And I mean NOW!  They are a ton of bang for your buck.

We’ve made this dessert for several very nice dinners.  It is easy (my middle name).  It is beautiful.  And it is delicious.  We made it for my husband’s last birthday AND we just made it for Dr. J. Rufus Fears when he came for dinner before his recent history lecture.  He is a bit of a celebrity in our house.  You would think our daughters were making dinner for a president or a rock star.

Anyway, here it is.  These recipe instructions will serve 6.  In my photos I have doubled it so we can have leftovers.

INGREDIENTS:

8 slices bread, cubed

4 eggs

2 cups milk

1/4 cu sugar

1/4 cu melted butter

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 cu raisins

We use these dried cherries, instead of raisins, that I get from Braums and love it that way!

SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

That’s my bulk sucanat back there.  Unrefined sugar.  It is healthy (as sugar goes) and I buy it bulk from my food coop so it’s a great price.  I now use it for everything instead of regular sugar or brown sugar and it works great.  My husband even puts it in his coffee and he is usually a hard one to switch over to the healthier version of something.

2 T butter

2 T flour

1 cu water

3/4 cu sugar

1 t. vanilla

Place bread cubes in grease crockpot.

Hmmm.  I’m going to have to work a little harder to get those specks of food off the edges of the crockpot for these photo sessions.  Maybe I need a food stylist.  Oh!  A job for one of the babes!

Beat together eggs and milk.

Not sure you really need a photo of cracking eggs, but I sure like pictures and those look like my 8 year old’s hands which are just so cute!

Into the eggs, stir sugar, butter, dried fruit and cinnamon.  Pour over bread and stir.

Cover and cook on High 1 hour.  Reduce heat to Low and cook 3-4 hours.

Here is the “Before” close-up.

And now ….. the “After” shot.  Yummy.  Wonder if I should go make this right now?

SAUCE

Make the sauce just before pudding is done baking.  (I make is whenever it’s convenient an hour or so before dinner, then leave it on the stove in a covered saucepan and just heat it back up quickly as I’m dishing out the pudding.)

Begin by melting butter in saucepan.  Stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually add water, sugar and vanilla.  Bring to boil.  cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes, or until thickened.

Serve sauce over warm bread pudding.

For easy printing:

Ingredients:

8 slices bread, cubed

4 eggs

2 cups milk

1/4 cu sugar

1/4 cu melted butter

1/2 cu raisins (we used dried cherries that I got from Braums and love it that way!)

1/2 t. cinnamon

SAUCE

2 T butter

2 T flour

1 cu water

3/4 cu sugar

1 t. vanilla

Place bread cubes in grease crockpot.

Beat together eggs and milk.  Stir in sugar, butter, dried fruit and cinnamon.  Pour over bread and stir.

Cover and cook on High 1 hour.  Reduce heat to Low and cook 3-4 hours.

Make sauce just before pudding is done baking.  (I make is whenever it’s convenient, an hour or so before dinner, then leave it on the stove in a covered saucepan and just heat it back up quickly as I’m dishing out the pudding.)

Begin by melting butter in saucepan.  Stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually add water, sugar and vanilla.  Bring to boil.  cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes, or until thickened.

Serve sauce over warm bread pudding.

That’s it.  Hope you love it!

And check out this other Mommy Blog.  She has links on this page for lots of other Mommies who have blogs with their favorite crockpot recipes.

God Bless Your Kitchen’s Productivity Ladies!

Tweet This Post

You might like one of these posts too.

• Rose Almond Soap – Make Your Own
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• Chicken Noodle Soup – Meal #2 of 3 from 1 Chicken