Chicken Soup

We almost always have chicken soup around here in the colder months. This soup has a lot going for it. It makes an easy, economical, delicious, and nutritious lunch. Add a slice of sourdough bread smothered with grass fed butter and you'll be in heaven! The key good chicken soup is simplicity - that, and homemade stock. Feel free to add some noodles or rice if you must, but it doesn't need anything else, in my opinion! I never make it the same way twice, so the following "recipe" is just a guideline.

Ingredients

1 quart homemade chicken stock (I like to use stock that's somewhat concentrated for extra flavor)
Leftovers meat picked from one roasted chicken (For us, this usually equates to half the meat from a 3-4 pound bird)
A few carrots, sliced
1 small or medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped small
Salt, to taste (I use a small palm full of coarsely ground Celtic Sea Salt - don't worry, salt is not bad for you!)
1 tbsp Thyme

Directions

I put all of the ingredients in a pot and simmer them all morning. It will be perfect by lunchtime!

Roast Chicken & Veggies

I roast a chicken for dinner once a week for two reasons. One, because it's economical. For under ten dollars we have enough chicken for two dinners. (Bonus: from the bones I can make nutritious stock that just can't be bought in a store, which I use literally every day.) Two, because it's EASY. Roast chicken night means I'm not spending a significant portion of my afternoon in the kitchen preparing dinner. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy cooking, but it's always nice to have a break. And while he following instructions don't make it SEEM easy, once you get he hang of it, it's a piece of cake.

It's important to buy quality chicken. I don't recommend going to the store and buying just any old chicken, however pastured chickens from the farmer's market cost upwards of twenty dollars for a three pound bird, so it's not economically feasible on a weekly basis. I usually compromise and buy Mary's chickens from Whole Foods. At $2.99 a pound, they're easier on my already stretched food budget (and occasionally they go on sale for .99 a pound and I can stock up!). Mary's chickens are rated 3 on the 5 step animal rating Standards. Not ideal, but better than Foster Farms.

Roasting a chicken is super easy, but I have a few mom tips to share with you to ensure that your bird turns out nice and juicy. First of all, you don't need a roasting pan, but it's helpful to have a roasting rack. Racks aren't terribly expensive and take up less storage space in your ktchen than a roasting pan. (I'm all about keeping unessesary items out of my kitchen!) I use it with a large casserole dish and it works just fine. Second of all, roasting a chicken takes a little plannng ahead, so make sure you start the process early enough or you'll be eating at midnight!

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
A few dabs of pastured butter (we use Kerrygold)
A few cloves of garlic, peeled and cut into pieces
Sea salt (I use Celtic sea salt)
Pepper (I like Trader Joe's lemon pepper that comes in a grinder)
Lemon or orange (optional)
Vegetables for roasting (potatoes, carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, etc)

Directions

1. Take your chicken out of the fridge about two hours before you're going to cook it. (Save the neck and gizzards for your stock, or for yor pets!) place it on the rack breast side up. Ideally you want it to be room temperature before you put it in the oven. I take it out after lunch. I don't wash the chicken because if there are any germs on it they will be killed during cooking, and I don't want to splash germs all over the sink and countertops.

2. Pull up the skin of the chicken and shove plenty of butter underneath, along with the garlic. If you want nice, crispy skin (and who doesn't?!) melt some butter and brush it all over. Season with sea salt and peper. I like to apply lemon pepper generously. If citrus is in season, you can cut up an orange or a lemon and stick the pieces in the cavity along with some cloves of garlic. Chop up the veggies and arrange them underneath the chicken. They will roast in the juices while the chicken cooks.

3. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. You want the oven nice and hot because you're going to crisp up the skin first so it holds in the juices. Put the chicken and veggies in the oven for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, I like to turn the chicken over so the juices soak into the breast meat (or you can turn it over later). I shove a heavy duty wooden spoon into the cavity and use tongs to spin it around. Put the dish back in the oven and turn the temperature down to 325 degrees. You want to cook your chicken the rest of the way slowly. I always set the timer for another hour for an average size bird.

4. When the timer goes off, put a meat thermometer in the thigh making sure it's not touching a bone. If the thigh is 175, the breast will be done. If it's not done, put it back in the oven and check the temperature occassionally. Once you become experienced you'll be able to determine doneness by the loseness of the joints when you wiggle the drumstick. Don't overcook your chicken, it will be dry!

5. Take the chicken out of the oven, cover it with a foil tent, and let it rest at least twenty minutes before you even think about cutting into it! Check your veggies at this point. If they're not fully cooked, put them back in the oven at 400 degreees while your bird rests. If they are fully cooked, turn the oven off and put the veggies back in to stay warm until dinner.

6. It's time to carve! If you want your family to love you even more than they already do, serve with corn bread or biscuits. (you can bake either of these things while your chicken is resting.). These are treats at our house, but they sure do hit the spot with roast chicken and veggies!

Mom Tip

* Whenever you chop up vegetables (except for potatoes) save the scraps in a container in the freezer. You'll use these when you make your stock and you won't have to use up perfectly good vegetables. I save carrot skins and ends, onion skins, celery parts, etc. all week long and make stock once a week.

* Put the citrus pieces down your garbage disposal after cooking the bird to freshen up your drain.

* After dinner, while the carcass is still warm, is the best time to havest the remaining meat off of your bird. If you refrigerate the carcass to do it later it's much more difficult. I usually get another two cups of meat that I then use in a recipe later in the week, or for chicken sandwiches throughout the week. Once the carcass is down to the bones, you can start your stock or put the bones in the freezer to make your stock at another time.

Chicken Parmesan

It's taken awhile, but I finally fine-tuned this recipe to our utter satisfaction! We no longer need to go to a restaurant in order to be satisfied by Chicken Parmesan!

Ingredients

1/3 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/4 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
1 Tbsp Parsley
1/2 Tsp Basil
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Egg, Beaten
2 Chicken Breasts, cut in half
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 Jar Pasta Sauce
2 Tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 Cup Shredded Mozzarella

Directions

1. Heat the pasta sauce and balsamic vinegar on low heat on the stove.

2. Hammer the chicken breasts flat (that's the fun part:). Pat them very, very dry.

3. Heat an iron skillet to medium-high. In the meantime, preheat the broiler in the oven.

4. Combine 2 Tbsp Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley, basil, and salt in a shallow dish. Place the beaten egg in a second shallow dish. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg, then press into the breadcrumb mixture.

5. Melt the coconut oil in the skillet. Place the chicken in the oil and cook for three minutes on each side until done.

6. Pour the pasta sauce in the skillet over the chicken. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and the mozzarella. Place skillet in the oven and broil until the cheese melts and browns. Remember to watch it closely!

Serve over spaghetti noodles and spoon on extra sauce.

Best Chicken Tacos Ever

Tonight I made the tastiest chicken tacos I've ever had... I thought I should write down how I did it so I don't forget! I'm pretty sure the ingredient that made these particular tacos so delicious was the homemade chicken stock from the batch I made a few weeks ago. It was the thickest, most gelatinous chicken stock I've ever made... yum! We could taste it in the chicken, it was so flavorful!

I can't recommend store bought chicken stock because the quality is sub-par to homemade. Also, they all contain MSG (even the ones at Whole Foods!). MSG masquerades as all kinds of other ingredients, so you have to be careful. (A quick google search of "MSG ingredients list" will help you out.) Personally, MSG gives me headaches!

Anyway, here's how it went down...

Ingredients

1 Whole Chicken
1 Jalapeno Pepper
1/2 Red Onion, chopped
Coconut Oil
1 Cup Homemade Chicken Stock
Seasoning (a mixture of cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, onion powder, & garlic powder)

Directions

1. Boil a whole chicken for an hour and a half and let it cool on the counter for an hour or two. Take the meat off the bones and gently shredded it with your fingers.

2. Saute a chopped jalapeno pepper and half a chopped red onion in an iron skillet using coconut oil. Then add the chicken, some seasoning, and the homemade chicken stock. Heat it up until the water evaporates off.

Enjoy with black beans, mexican rice, "homemade" tortillas (a la Trader Joe's;) and all the trimmings!

Soy-Ginger Wings

This is a cheap meal. Whenever I see wings on sale at Whole Foods I stock up. I can get two pounds for under five bucks. Not too shabby!

I adapted this recipe from one I found in Parents magazine. I switched the grapeseed oil out in favor of coconut, which has tremendous health benefits. The recipe originally called for 3 pounds of wings, but 2 is enough for our family right now (someday I'm sure we'll need more!). I also added the sesame seeds.

Serve with some teriyaki flavored asparagus, some rice, and some tropical fruit like mango or grilled pineapple... YUM!

Ingredients

2 lbs Chicken Wings, room temperature

2 Tbsp Coconut Oil

Salt and Pepper

Sesame Seeds

For the soy-ginger glaze, combine:

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp Sesame Oil

2 Tbsp Rice-Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp Fresh Ginger, grated

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 450. Put the chicken wings in a large roasting pan, drizzle with the coconut oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Toss to coat and spread wings in a single layer, meaty side down.

2. Put the pan in the oven and immediately turn oven down to 375. Roast, undisturbed, until the bottom of the pan is coated with fat and the wings are beginning to brown, about 15 minutes (or until they're not sticking to the pan).

3. Take the pan out of the oven and toss the wings with the soy-ginger glaze. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Arrange the wings with the meaty side up and return the pan to the oven until they are nicely browned, about 10 more minutes.

4. Raise the oven temperature to 450 and continue to cook until wings are crisp all over, about ten more minutes. Transfer the wings to a serving dish and pour the pan drippings over the top.

Mom Tip

If your coconut oil is solid, just stick it somewhere warm for a few seconds until it's liquid.

Loose Meat Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches

These are good any time of year for a quick, filling meal.

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded
1 1/2 Cups Ketchup
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 Onion, chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
8 Buns

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients together in the crock pot. Set on low for 8-10 hours.

2. Serve on buns.

Fajitas

We heart fajitas!

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts or 12 oz of Steak, cut into strips

6 Flour Tortillas

1 Medium Bell Pepper, cut into strips

1 Medium Onion, sliced

1 Medium Tomato, chopped

1 Clove Garlic, minced

1 Tbsp Lime Juice

Seasoning Ingredients

1 1/2 Tsp Ground Cumin

1/2 Tsp Oregano

1/4 Tsp Salt

1/4 Tsp Ground Red Pepper

1/4 Tsp Ground Black Pepper

1/8 Tsp Garlic Powder

1/8 Tsp Onion Powder

Directions

1. Place meat in a bowl and sprinkle the seasoning over the top. Chill for at least half an hour.

2. Heat an iron skillet to medium-high and add some oil. Add the peppers, garlic, and onions and cook for about three minutes. They should still be slightly crisp. Remove mixture from the skillet.

3. Add more oil to the skillet and put the meat in. Cook through. Add the onion mixture back into the skillet, as well as the tomatoes. Cook and stir until heated through, about one minute. Add the lime juice and stir.

*Serve in warm tortillas with black beans, Mexican rice, avocado, sour cream, and salsa.

Mom Tips

I do all the prep work for this meal during the day so I can just throw it together at dinner time. I slice and chop the veggies, and cut the meat and add the spices to it. It comes together really quickly. Then later, while I'm cooking on the oven, I wrap some tortillas in some foil and heat them in the oven on about 300 degrees until I'm done.

You can also make this recipe with steak. Use about 12 ounces. I like to order our beef from Hearst Ranch because it's grass-fed. You can always find great coupon codes and free shipping, and the beef is excellent. Once you order for the first time, they start sending you great deals on free meat. They have fajita packs, which means I don't have to slice the beef myself!

Macaroni & Cheese with Chicken & Broccoli

I'm a mac & cheese freak. I was raised on boxes of bright yellow Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. It was also, sadly, my staple in college. Legend has it that Nana would secretly buy boxes of generic (and less expensive) mac & cheese, set an old, empty Kraft box on the counter, and try to pass off the generic as the real thing. She didn't get away with it.

Now that we're all older and wiser, chemically laden boxes of Kraft are a thing of the past. But if I'm being completely honest, sometimes it still calls my name when I pass by the Pastaroni/Minute Rice/Kraft Mac & Cheese aisle.... What can I say? Old habits die hard!

So anyway, one day I was reeeeeally craving some mac & cheese, but Dad doesn't like mac & cheese (blasphemous!), so I went hunting for a recipe that might satisfy us both. What resulted is the recipe below. Even though Sister likes all of the ingredients separately, she won't even touch this - she doesn't do casseroles. The rest of us love it! It's pretty time-consuming, so I usually make a giant batch of it for dinner on a night when Sister isn't home and freeze some portions for Dad to take to school for his lunches. It freezes beautifully. It also makes a great dish to take when visiting a new mother. It's never had anything but rave reviews - not counting sister!

Ingredients

1 Pound Chicken Breasts, sauteed then cubed smallish
2 Tsp Olive Oil
2 Heads Broccoli, steamed for 3-5 minutes
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp Flour
2 1/4 Cups Whole Milk (or 2 cups cream)
1 1/2 Cups Grated Fontina Cheese (or Farmer's cheese)
2 Cups Grated Cheddar Cheese
Salt
Pepper
1 Pound Macaroni, cooked
1/3 Seasoned Bread Crumbs

Directions

1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually mix in milk. Bring to a boil while stirring. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly.

2. Add both cheeses (save 1/2 cup of cheddar for top) and stir until sauce is smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Mix sauce with pasta, chicken and broccoli.

4. Add the mixture to two casserole dishes. Top with seasoned breadcrumbs and 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese. Cook in 350 degree oven for 20 or 30 minutes.

Mom Tips

This recipe is very forgiving, so if you have more or less than is called for of chicken, broccoli, or pasta, it will still work. Truth be told, mine is never exactly the same twice.

Only chumps buy bread crumbs! I always throw bread heels in the freezer and when I have a bunch I throw them in the food processor to make my own. You can add seasoning to it to make "seasoned" breadcrumbs.

Trader Joe's has a very affordable New Zealand grass-fed cheddar cheese that's $5 a pound. It comes in organic grass-fed as well, but it is $8 a pound.

Basil Chicken over Angel Hair

I don't really follow measurements for this recipe, I just throw it together. The ingredients below are estimates, and you can make it your own by varying the amounts of the ingredients or trying out different spices. You can make it vegetarian by leaving out the chicken - just as delicious! Dad likes a lot of onions and I like a lot of garlic, so ours is usually heavy on those two ingredients. The secret to this dish is tossing it with a splash of balsamic vinegar at the end - heavenly!

Ingredients

1 8 Oz Package Angel Hair Pasta

Olive Oil

1 Small Onion, chopped

3 Cloves Garlic

2 Large Tomatoes, chopped

2-3 Chicken Breasts, cubed and cooked

1 Handful Fresh Basil, chopped

1 Pinch Salt

1 Pinch Crushed Red Peppers

1 Splash Balsamic Vinegar

Shredded Parmesan

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet on medium-high, add oil. Saute the onions and garlic. Stir in tomatoes, chicken, basil, salt, and crushed red peppers. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture is hot.

2. While mixture is simmering, prepare angel hair.

3. Add mixture to pasta. Toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

Okay, don't eat this one if you're trying to watch what you eat but it's freakin' delicious! This is our family's favorite casserole, and the ONLY casserole that sister will touch with a ten-foot pole, including macaroni and cheese, if you can believe that!

Nana found this one in a magazine years ago and it really only comes out of hiding when Mom isn't going to be home for dinner (dad can't do anything in the kitchen past "put this in the oven on so-and-so temp for so-and-so length of time). I've tried my best to make it healthier. I try to make myself feel better by serving it with lots and lots of veggies - broccoli goes great with this.

Please pardon my filthy stove.

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded (you can cube it, if you're feeling lazy)
2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup (Whole Foods carries a couple of organic brands, but they can be hard to find. I plan on learning how to make it myself very soon. It's next on my list.)
1 Pint Sour Cream
1/2 Jar Poppy Seeds
Enough crushed "Golden Round" crackers (like Ritz) to cover the top with a thin layer (you should be able to find an organic version in most grocery stores)

Directions

1. Mix the chicken, soup, sour cream, and poppy seeds together and spread in a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle the crackers on top.

2. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until the sides start to bubble.

Mom Tip

*If you freeze this, don't put the crackers on top until it's ready to cook or they'll be soggy.