chicken noodle soup

A friend of mine just had a baby and has been having some medical issues. One of the things she has had to do is have a liquid diet, so I brought her some soup. 

One problem. 

I HATE brothy soups! My soups need substance. 

I checked out one of my SIL blogs and found this little gem. I didn't have a few ingredients, so I made do with what I had. This recipe is the one I made with my little tweaks. 

Lime Chicken Noodle Soup

9 cups water

9 chicken bouillon cubes

1 can cream of chicken soup

3 cooked, diced chicken breasts

1 tsp onion powder

3 large carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp thyme

2 TBSP parsley

1 TBSP lime juice

1 box of Rotini noodles, cooked

Combine water and cubes in large pot and dissolve. Stir in soup. Add chicken, onion, carrot, celery, and seasonings. Cook noodles according to package directions. In the meantime, simmer until carrots are still tender and add noodles. Serve.

My SIL is crazy talented in EVERYTHING she touches. I would add a link to her blog, but she's private. So, instead, here is a link to her etsy shop: A Bit of String. It is AMAZING!!

recipes: cake brownies & freezer jam

I found this beauty, thanks to Pinterest, from eHow.com. They're not bad for coming from a cake mix. TIP: do not let them sit overnight. The leftovers aren't that great. And even better, you have an excuse to eat the entire pan!

Cake Mix Brownies

1 stick butter

Cake Mix

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 TBSP water

1 cup chopped nuts

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

3. Pour mixture in a greased 9x13 baking pan.

4. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a dry crust forms on top.

IMPORTANT: Follow this last step! I tried to wait until the inserted toothpick came out clean and it made the brownies kind of hard. 

Enjoy!

***

I love the simplicity of freezer jam. Our favorites are strawberry and raspberry freezer jam! This recipe comes from Betty Crocker's Bridal Edition Cookbook.

Strawberry Freezer Jam
4 cups strawberries, cut in half
4 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
1 pkg powdered fruit pectin

1. Mix strawberries and sugar in a blender. (I like my jam smooth, with ZERO chunks.)
2. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.
3. Mix water and pectin in saucepan. Stir constantly. Boil and stir for 1 minute.
4. Pour pectin mixture into strawberry mixture.
5. Stir constantly for 3 minutes.
6. Immediately pour mixture into freezer containers, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
7. Clean up any spills on container.
8. Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.
9. Store in freezer up to 6 months or fridge up to 3 weeks.

My kids love this stuff on pancakes and waffles and their PB&J sandwiches.