Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Egg Noodles*

2 Chicken Breasts, shredded

Celery, chopped

Carrots, chopped

2 Tbsp. Flour**

4 Tbsp. Butter

1/2 c. Half and Half

Chicken Bouillon***

Ok, there are a lot of ways you could do this, so you'll just have to adapt depending on how you like your soup. I did it in the crock pot, but I don't think that's really necessary. I'm sure you could do it on the stove and it would be about the same.

1) Shred chicken (this is why I liked the crock pot, it makes this part a lot easier)

2) Cook the celery and carrots in the butter over medium heat until vegetables are soft; add the flour and half and half. Mix in with chicken.

3) Boil noodles and drain about 1/4 of the water (so there isn't any water sitting above the noodles)

4) Pour noodles and water into chicken/veggie mixture.

5) Add 4-6 Chicken Bouillon

*I used Ronzoni Smart Taste (in purple bag)-- just FYI for nutrition information

**Our soup was REALLY thick-- Chris said he liked it because it reminded him of pot pie, but if you don't want your soup to be a semi-solid, use less flour. 1 heaping Tbsp. would probably be perfect.

***If you'd rather, I'm sure you could drain the noodles completely and just use chicken broth instead.

Nutrition Information: 99 calories, 6 grams fat, 1 g fiber

Serving size is a little more than a cup.

Perfect Homemade Biscuits

We make these every sunday morning. They aren't quite Bojangles, but they're pretty darn close.

makes 7 large biscuits or about a dozen small biscuits

2 C. flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

6 Tbsp. butter (best if frozen and then shredded, like cheese)

2 Tbsp. shortening

1 C. buttermilk

1. cut butter and shortening into dry ingredients, until it looks crumbly.

2. make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk.

3. gently mix with a spoon (NOT your kitchenaid!!) until all is moist-- it will look lumpy.

4. turn onto gently floured surface. using floured hands, pat down until about 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick.

5. cut out with a biscuit cutter (or whatever, as long as it has sharp edges)-- don't twist or turn.

6. Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes!

Crazy Cake

This one was always popular at any Epps gathering...

3 C. Flour
2 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Cocoa
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Soda
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Tbsp. Vinegar
3/4 C. Vegetable Oil
2 C. Cold Water

1. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and soda
2. Pour into greased 8x10 pan
3. Mix liquids in a bowl
4. Pour into dry ingredients
5. Stir until lumps come out

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Frosting:

1/2 C. Margarine
4 Tbsp. Cocoa
5 Tbsp. Milk
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 lb. Powdered Sugar

1. Bring to a boil and remove from heat
2. Add sugar
3. Poke holes in cake and pour frosting right into the cake

Blueberry Bread

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups sugar
2 cups blueberries
4 eggs well beaten
1/4 cup oil
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Make a deep well in the center. Combine remaining ingredients and pour into well. Stir just enough to dampen all ingredients. Pour into 2 loaf pan (sprayed with pam). Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour (or recipe makes 24 muffins. Cook 30 minutes.)

Calzones

Ashton should be so proud that I am contributing. Tried this one for the first time last night and EVERYONE really liked it, which is unusual around our house.

DOUGH:
1 pkg. active dry yeast
2 - 2 1/2 cups of flour
3/4 cup warm water
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

FILLING:
1 cup part skim Ricotta cheese
4 oz. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 oz. cooked ham
2 tsp. oregano leaves
salt and pepper to taste

For dough, combine yeast and 1 cup flour in a small mixer bowl. Combine water, olive oil, sugar and salt. Add to yeast mixture; beat at low speed of electric mixer until just combined. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed; scrape bowl occasionally.

Stir in as much remaining flour as you can. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6-8 minutes total). Place in a greased bowl. Cover; let rise in a warm place until nearly double, 45 - 60 minutes. Punch down.

Combine the filling ingredients.

Divide dough into sixths. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion to an 8" round. Divide filling among the six rounds; place filling on half of each circle. Moisten edges with water; fold dough over to form a half circle. Seal and crimp edges. Prick tops.

Place calzones on sheets and brush tops with milk.

Bake in 400 - 450 degree oven 10 -12 minutes or until calzones are golden brown. Let stand five minutes before serving.

Since this was my first time making this and because I was in a hurry (as always) I just threw all of the dough ingredients in my kitchen aid, mixed it till it was a stiff but elastic like dough and then left if alone for about an hour. I didn't read the directions well and when I make bread I'm use to letting it rise again so I rolled out the rounds and left them alone until I was ready to fill and cook them (probably another hour) We added pineapple to the ingredients and served them with spaghetti sauce on top. I made some with salami as the meat also. You could add anything that sounds good to you. I also doubled the recipe but only made 8 rounds so they were HUGE, but it worked for our family. Good luck, let me know if anyone tries this recipe and if you liked it. Brenda

Spinach in my Lasagna!

Spinach has really become one of my favorite ingredients. It really adds a significant amount of fiber and folic acid and tastes great. I typically buy it fresh at a farmers market near by, but frozen always works too. I don't have a measured amount that I use in these recipes, but I usually fill up one of the bags they keep in the produce section at the grocery and use half a bag per recipe.

-ready to bake lasagna noodles

-ground italian turkey sausage 

-1 can diced tomatoes

-20 oz tomato sauce

-ricotta cheese

-1 egg

-16 oz spinach (more or less)

-2 cups mozzarella cheese

-1 cup cheddar cheese

1. Cook sausage. Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Let simmer on medium heat while you prepare other ingredients.

2. Sautee spinach in chicken broth. Let simmer on medium heat.

3. Mix egg and ricotta cheese. Mix in 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. I also like to add either oregano, pizza seasoning, or italian seasoning.

4. When spinach has been cooked down, drain any remaining broth and mix the spinach into the ricotta cheese mixture.

5. Layer the sauce mixture, pasta, ricotta cheese mixture, and cheddar and mozzarella cheese.

6. Bake, covered, for 35 minutes at 375.

Mac and Cheese

-1 package of elbow macaroni (I think most packages are 18-24 oz.)

-1/2 cup mozerella cheese

-2 cups cheddar cheese

-1 cup milk

-1/2 medium red onion (optional)

-1/4 cup bread crumbs (optional)

-minced garlic (optional)

-cooking spray (optional)

1. Cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain.

2. Add milk and cheeses. Mix until cheese has melted.

3. (optional) Heat bread crumbs, chopped red onion, and a few sprays of non-stick cooking spray over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Once the bread crumbs have browned, mix the mixture into the pasta.

Serve and enjoy!