Soup!

So some of you have commented and emailed me, asking for the soup recipe, and I'm happy to pass on the yumminess! We just had some leftover soup for lunch and it was GOOD.

I have to give all the credit to my mom, since it's her recipe. I'm so blessed to have grown up with such a great cook/baker and me and my sisters all treasure her recipes. This one is just the perfect pick-me-up on a cold day, or on a day when you're under the weather, or when you're in need of some comfort food after you've had a bad day or gotten some bad news (which we ALL are very familiar with, are we not?). And the best part about this comfort food is that it's healthy!

As with any of my recipes, I will warn you ahead of time I am just writing this from memory, so it will come off pretty informal. If you have any questions, just email me!

Chicken Noodle Soup with Dumplings

Ingredients
One whole chicken (sometimes called a "fryer," not a big roaster chicken)
2 large cans chicken broth (I got low sodium)
One small box chicken broth (this is in case you need a little more than the two cans, or in case you want to add more broth to leftovers. And the box is good because since you won't use it all, it's easier to save leftover in your fridge)
One small onion or 1/2 large onion, chopped
3 or 4 stalks celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
Dry basil, salt, pepper, thyme (I didn't have thyme, so I used Bell Seasoning), parsley
3 or 4 carrots, chopped (I chop them in circles)
1/2 cup to 1 cup noodles (I used low-carb, high fiber rotini.. and 1/2 cup may not sound like a lot of noodles, but it is when it's done)

Dumpling ingredients
*this is not my mom's recipe. She uses Bisquick, which I cannot due to my diet, so I just found this on the internet. But it worked well! You can use any dumpling recipe you may have.
2 cups flour (I used white wheat, of course)
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup milk

Directions
Put uncooked chicken in big pot and cover with both cans of chicken broth (I used about a 1/4 of the box as well, and it came out perfect). Add chopped onion, celery and garlic, as well as basil, thyme, salt and pepper (I didn't measure, just added a few shakes) and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover. Let simmer (on low, but make sure it's moving, as my mom says) for one to two hours (the way my mom explained it to me, if you're in a rush, you can remove the chicken after one hour, but it's better to let it go a little longer. Too long, though, isn't good either, so I checked it periodically after an hour. You don't want it to be falling off the bone too much. I think I let it go an hour and a half).

Remove chicken and let cool. Add chopped carrots and noodles and bring to a boil again, letting it boil for about ten minutes (the noodles will cook again when the dumplings are added, so you don't have to let it go too long - my noodles basically disintegrated by the end, which is still yummy!). In the meantime, cut up the chicken (you won't need it all - you can use remaining chicken in another recipe!). After the noodles and carrots have cooked, take the soup off of the burner and add chicken back in. Try the broth and add more seasoning to taste. At this point, if you're not eating it right away, you can cover it and let it sit until you're ready to make the dumplings, or you can move right on to them...

Dumpling Directions
Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter (that's been kept at room temperature or use soft margarine). Stir milk lightly into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon and adjust amounts to make sure that you have a moist dumpling dough.

Now, my mom suggests adding a little dry parsley right before the dumplings, so that they take on the little green specks and look super good.

You can make big dumplings, like the size of biscuits, or you can make smaller ones, using about a tablespoon of dough at a time. I made the smaller ones so there'd be more of them. Drop them into the soup, as many as will fit (don't worry about them keeping their shape, they will somehow form into individual dumplings while they're cooking).

Bring soup to a boil once again, and reduce to a simmer (make sure it's still lighly boiling though, I screwed this up and had to cook the dumplings twice because I turned the heat too low!). Once simmering, cook for ten minutes uncovered and then ten minutes covered (like I said, I messed this up so you might have to play with the time. It will be obvious if they're still doughy), but be careful not to burn the soup on the bottom (also - the online recipe called for cooking just ten minutes covered, so you could try that method too). Test the dumplings by cutting into one and checking if it is raw in the middle. Once done, remove from heat and serve!

The dumplings kind of spread all throughout the soup and make it seem creamy. It's so yummy! And the best part is it is low G.I. (as long as the dumplings are whole wheat) and it's good for you. I hope you like it as much as we do!