Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

One of my "resolutions" is to cook at least one dinner from scratch every week (we are also adding in one vegetarian meal per week, and it doesn't count as my homemade meal). We eat a lot of processed foods around hear, mainly because they are fast, cheap and easy. But I decided with a little pre-planning Homemade doesn't have to be expensive! And with my brand new crock pot, it doesn't have to take a lot of time. So, with expensive and slow out of the way, all I have to do is find easy recipes and actually cook them!

I found the recipe here.
Ingredients
2 large chicken breast, frozen (I used 3, because that's how I separate my Zaycon chicken)
8 slices center cut bacon, chopped (not in stockpile, so I left out)
3 medium potatoes, cubed (I used about 2 dozen little potatoes that came with a Bountiful Basket before Christmas!)
1 pepper (allergic to peppers, so didn't add them)
1 can corn (with water)
1 can cut green beans (with water)
1 cup finely cut chives (allergic to chives, so didn't add them)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (not in stockpile, so I left out)
12 oz. egg noodles (used whole wheat heart healthy pasta instead)
1 teaspoon basil (I put in 1 TBS, because all the spice from the pepper and chives is gone)
1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper (I put in 1 TBS)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons salt (we don't add salt unless we are baking)
64 oz. water (I used 1 carton Chicken Stock, and then filled the rest of the crock pot with water)
6 chopped carrots (not in original recipe)

Directions
Place frozen chicken in the bottom of the crock pot.  Add potatoes, and then rest of veggies.

Add spices, chicken stock and water

Cook in crock pot on high for 4.5 hours, then add noodles.  Since I used whole wheat noodles, I cooked them separately and threw them in at the end.  But, if using egg noodles, add them to the crock pot and cook for 45-60 minutes more.

The finished product!

White Chicken Chili (SO FANTASTIC, FAST, and YUMMY!)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken (about 1.5 Chicken Breasts)
2 (15 ounce) cans great northern beans or 2 (15 ounce) cans navy beans
1 (15 ounce) can hominy or 1 (15 ounce) can white corn (I'm a huge fan, so I put in 2 cans of hominy)
1 (1 1/4 ounce) envelope taco seasoning
1 (4 1/2 ounce) can of chopped green chilies (I'm allergic, so we leave these out!)
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth
1/2 cup sour cream
chopped green onion (optional)
monterey jack cheese (optional)

Directions:
I double the recipe, and I have a medium round slow cooker.  It fits just barely.  In my large rectangular one, it could be tripled!

• Place chicken (I throw it in frozen) in a 4 quart slow cooker.
• Top with drained beans and drained hominy.
• In a medium bowl, combine taco seasoning, chiles, condensed soup, and chicken broth. Pour over top of ingredients in the crock pot. (if I'm in a hurry I just throw this all on top and stir after about an hour or so)
• Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. (I can do this in 4 hours with frozen chicken on high, but it's better if you take the time to cook it on low)
• Before serving, stir gently to break up chicken, then stir in the sour cream (I just top individual bowls, it doesn't need it for flavor, it's delish without it!).
• Serve topped with green onions and jack cheese, if desired.

A Labor Of Love!!

I recently was picked to host a Discover You CAN House Party.  It was so much fun!  We didn't have a lot of people, but we did make some yummy strawberry jam!!
I've been excited about this "Labor of Love" for a while.  We have been doing Bountiful Baskets for several weeks now, and recently there have been a lot of peppers, onions etc.  And I'm insanely allergic to all peppers and onions.  Just touching peppers gives me a migraine.  So, I purchased the "Mexican" pack with this past week's Bountiful Basket to make a yummy treat for my Non Allergic husband :)

  It contained all kinds of stuff I had never seen, so after identifying it all, I got started.

 7 cups Tomatoes
3 cloves Garlic
1/4 cup Cilantro
1 cup Green Onions
2 Cups cucumbers

 1 Tbsp Marjoram
1/2 Cup Vinegar

1/2 Cup Jalapeno Peppers
1/2 Cup Anaheim Peppers

 2 cups Banana Peppers

 A Few Sweet Baby Bell Peppers for color

  Stir it all up

 Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes

 Fill jars, leaving 1/2 in at top, cover with lid and band, and tighten. 
Place in water bath for 20 minutes (water bath=boiling water, at least 1" above rim of jars)

 First three jars, done and cooling
They have to sit for 12 hours! :(  

My poor hubby!

 All 5 jars of salsa!!  Woo hoo!