Cabbie’s Cooking

It cold and rainy here in middle Tennessee. I’m recovering from some type of respiratory ailment, and RT is only a couple weeks away from his battle with a more aggressive respiratory bug. Last weekend I made chili. This weekend is made for a big pot of chicken soup. Following my new resolution, I will photograph as I go. However, as I was chopping the onions, peppers and celery, I figured I might as well make meatloaf at the same time - since I’d bought several packages of lean ground beef yesterday for that specific purpose. Chopping the vegetables is the most labor-intensive part of cooking these dishes. By the time I’m finished, I’ll have at least five meals in the freezer for later on, in addition to tonight’s soup and tomorrow’s mealoaf. The recipe for the meatloaf will follow this post.

Homemade Chicken Soup

Cabbie’s Homemade Chicken Soup

1 pkg chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, approx. 1 lb.)
1 pkg. chicken thighs (boneless, skinless, approx. 1 lb.)
salt, pepper, poultlry seasoning - to taste
1 large onion, finely diced
1/2 cup finely diced bell peppers (any comibination of red, yellow, green)
2 stalks celery, finely diced
3 carrots, grated or diced
3 tablespoons diced parsley
3 tablespoons corn starch
a few drops of yellow food coloring

Put two quarts of water in a large stock pot and set on high heat. Add the diced onion, bell peppers, celery, carrots and parsley. Add salt, pepper and poultry seasoning, to taste (approx. 1 Tablespoon each).

Add the chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer until chicken is cooked through.

Add chicken to the pot of boiling veggies

Remove the chicken with tongs and place on a plate to cool. Once the chicken is cool, chop it finely and add it back into the pot.

In a small bowl mix the corn starch with 1/2 cup water. Stir until dissolved and add to the soup mixture. Add the yellow food coloring and stir well. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

Simmer for 30 minutes and ENJOY!

If the soup is too thick, you can add chicken stock. You can include other vegetables, as desired - corn, beans, peas, tomatoes. You can also add some noodles or rice.

I made this Sunday evening, and we’re still eating leftovers. It’s great! This is my own recipe, but it’s pretty standard. It takes only about 15 minutes to get the dish going with the majority of those fifteen minutes being spent on dicing the onion and pappers. Otherwise, there’s very little work involved, and RT swears it’s the best chili he’s ever tasted. He’s pre-diabetic, too, and his blood sugar doesn’t elevate at all after eating this. It’s a great Weight Watchers meal, too.

Carol’s Easy Homemade Chili
1 pound lean ground beef
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1/2 cup diced bell pepper (any combination of green, yellow, red)
4 can diced tomatoes
3 cans navy beans (or kidney beans - I just prefer the milder navy beans)
salt and pepper to taste
2 T chili powder (more or less, to taste)

Place the olive oil into a large saucepan, add the ground beef and brown it. Add the diced onions and peppers. Cook until onions and peppers are cooked through. Drain the beans and rinse. (You don’t HAVE to drain the beans but I think the chili is better if you do.) Dump the diced tomatoes and beans into the pot and bring to a boil. Add salt, pepper and chili powder. You can add a little water at a time to get the right consistency. Simmer for about and hour, and it’s ready to eat. Leftovers can be refrigerated or frozen for later. I generally put some in small containers to take to work for easy lunches.

By the way, these measurements are not written in stone. I’ve used more or less of each ingredient, and it still works out well. So don’t worry about getting exact amounts. If you really like tomato-y chily, add an extra can of tomatoes. If you don’t like tomatoes, then add tomatoe sauce instead of diced tomatoes. You can use chopped chicken instead of ground beef. You can use black beans, kidney beans - any beans that you particularly enjoy.

I have just found a new favorite recipe. I found it at The Anchoress, and she found it at Cast Sugar. I made it for breakfast this morning. I cut the recipe in half since it’s just RT and me. It was wonderful! And we still half the pan to re-heat for tomorrow morning’s breakfast.

Until I read about it at The Anchoress, I’d never even heard of baked oatmeal. However, the idea immediately intrigued me because RT makes oatmeal almost every morning. We have both been very diligent about our “lifestyle change” of healthy eating and exercise.

When I made baked oatmeal this morning, I grated half an apple, and put in a handful of dried cranberries and a handful of chopped walnuts. The resulting dish was warm, healthful - a wonderful breakfast for a chilly morning. Here’s the recipe:

BAKED OATMEAL

2 1/4 c. quick cooking oats (or 2 3/4 c. old-fashioned oats)
2/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 c. raisins or other dried fruit (I also grated a fresh apple into the mixture)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 1/3 c. skim milk
4 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Milk, yogurt, sugar, and/or fruit (optional; for topping)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine oats, sugar, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and salt. Mix well. In a medium bowl, combine milk, egg whites, oil and vanilla and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well blended.

Pour into the baking dish. Bake at 350 F for 55-60 minutes or until center is set and firm to the touch. Cool slightly.

Serve topped with milk or sugar or yogurt and fruit, if desired. Store leftover oatmeal tightly covered in the refrigerator.

It only took a few minutes to mix this up and get it in the oven. I’m already planning the next time the grandgirls spend the night. I’ll get up early and get this in the oven. I’ll probably leave out the walnuts and cranberries for them - and just concentrate on the apples and cinnamon. They’ll love it!