QUICK CHICKEN SOUP

Life is pretty easy around the old homestead these days.  We're retired...just watching grandchildren grow up!  So, we don't put a lot of effort into big meals anymore, except for special occasions.

That's what brought about this quick-n-easy chicken soup.

Okay, so the photo isn't up to my usual standards!

Judy was tired of everything, so soup was the only thing she thought she could stomach last week.  She found some canned chicken chunks, a can of mixed vegetables, a can of hominy, some kidney beans, an onion, and a big container of chicken broth.  That's about it...except for some additional seasoning to taste!

Throw it all together in a big deep pan and let'er simmer for a couple of hours. 

Serve it with your favorite cracker, or like we did, some tasty cornbread!  Yummy!

It's no fuss, one pan, and lots of comfort food!

A TAKE ON YATSOBI!

Yep, Yatosbi, Yakisobi, or some call it Yakasobi!  What ever!

We didn't know it was called either until I wanted to make sure of the ingredients on the Internet and discovered the recipe.

Well, ours came out of a local Baptist church recipe book, and it was simply called "Beef and Cabbage"!

Yatosbi has a couple more ingredients that didn't make it into ours, and, I'm tellin' you, it's still delicious.  Don't sound delicious at first glance, but, try it, you'll like it, and want more!

Here's the traditional Yatosbi dish ingredients that we left out:

6 slices bacon, cooked and torn into bite size pieces (reserve 2 tbls bacon fat)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium red onion, diced (about 1 1/4 cup)
2-4 tablespoons light soy sauce
light soy sauce, to taste
crushed red pepper flakes (about 1/2 to 1 tsp) (optional)

It sounds good too, so you might won't to try it, especially since it has BACON...I probably will soon!

However, here's one I found on the net similar to ours, AFTER having made it from the church recipe:

Beef & Cabbage

1 lb ground beef

1 head shredded cabbage*

2 packages ramen noodles, beef flavor=crushed

3 shredded carrots

4 c. water

Brown beef and drain grease. Add remaining ingredients, including seasoning packets from soup. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes. Season to taste. *I {original net recipe maker} used 1/2 head. You can also use slaw mix, rather than shredding the cabbage yourself.

Leave the lid off a few minutes for excess liquid to evaporate.

Judy did it exactly like that, except she did add on chopped onion, and I think it made a difference!

The picture does nothing to make you want to try it, but the taste is wonderful!  

So, it's a another quick meal that even I could have made, and it does satisfy the palate!

MESSING WITH "FLAVOR BOOST"

My wife was feeling poorly this afternoon, and we know now that she probably has strep throat!  Anyway, someone had to cook, and it was obviously going to be me!

We usually keep frozen chicken tenderloins in the freezer, so the protein was a given.  We had also been snacking on carrot, squash, and turnip slices for the last week, so the vegetables were also chosen for me!

I fried the chicken in olive oil, letting one side heat up and then flipping it so the thawed and oiled side would hold the  sprinkles of cayenne pepper, sea-salt, and black pepper seasonings.  I then rolled each over and season the opposite side and continue frying.

When the chicken is tender enough to break into bite size pieces using the spatula, pour in the vegetables you've already chopped into stripes and pieces, and add a teaspoon of minced garlic.

When the vegetables are done to your liking (I like mine crisp) add in the Swanson's Chicken Flavor Boost.  I only used one for this recipe, but I may add two the next time.

The Flavor Boost packets are a great way to quickly add flavor to a dish where a lot of liquid is not needed.  It's basically chicken bullion with special seasons, so it works perfectly when you're in a hurry.

If you wanted, you could add a side of rice, but we enjoyed it just right out of the skillet with a cold glass of milk!

See ya next time!

JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOUR CUPBOARD IS BARE

Haven't posted much lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been eating!  Both of us, my wife and I, have been out lots of times and have fixed some great things to eat at home, but tonight was a little scary.

Yep, we thought we didn't have anything good in the house to eat, but, man, were we surprised!

Judy had put some pintos in a pot last night to soak overnight, but she wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do with them...chili or just with cornbread?  Since we didn't have any ground beef, chili was out, so cornbread was a definite!

However, after she picked around in the freeze she found that we had some chicken tenders, so that with some BBQ sauce seemed to be calling her name...and mine!

I mixed up the cornbread while the chicken cooked in BBQ sauce in the oven, and I occasionally stirred the beans that had been cooking most of the day Saturday.

Judy discovered some potatoes in a plastic bag beneath a banana, an apple, and a couple of onions in a wooden bowl we keep on the counter next to the coffee pot.  

Eureka!  We had the makings of quite a supper!

She pealed and sliced up the small potatoes and fried them to a golden brown, while I cut up the onion, and finished the cornbread mixture by adding an egg and some milk.  Some where a long the way, might have been after I poured some scotch over ice...I don't know, I added some shredded cheddar cheese and some diced jalapenos!

I poured the bread into a hot iron skillet just after the cooking oil began to smoke and, walla, we were off!

Judy finished the potatoes and reheating the pintos just as the timer signaled the bread was ready.

Man, I'm tellin' ya...this all came together wonderfully, and I'd much rather have been at my table tonight than in any restaurant in the country!  It was delicious and I hated it when my plate was clean...so good I can still taste it! 

So, the morel of  this story is...keep looking, there's more in your cupboard than you might think!