Chicken Soup Recipe

When I see vegetables on sale/clearanced out as they are ripe and ready to eat, I grab them. I grated up about 5 or 6 zucchini and 6 or 7 summer squash, sliced up orange bell peppers and organic carrots. Then I froze each little sandwich baggie (each containing a pepper, a squash or a cup or two of carrots) and put them in a larger freezer baggie.

It saves time since they're chopped and ready to go. It saves money because I got all of it for practically nothing! I think the zucchini and squash were less than $1 total.

Anyways, so I wanted to make a chicken soup this week for the cooler weather and so I pulled out my frozen veggies and some chicken breasts and made it! It was delicious. Here is my recipe.

Boil raw chicken breasts in a saucepan with a few cups of water. After it reaches a boil you can turn down the water and cover the chicken to let it simmer until it is cooked through. When the chicken is done, cut up the chicken into bite sized chunks and put them, along with the "broth" into a big soup pot. Then I added more broth from a carton. I ended up using about 1/2 the container but you can add more or less depending on how thick you like your soup. Imagine Free Range Chicken Broth
is my favorite chicken broth and it's safe for Lucy. Add 1 cup chopped carrots (mine weren't even peeled!), 2 C grated summer squash, 2 small onions, 1 bell pepper and spices. Let it simmer for several hours.

I started the chicken around noon, started the soup around 1pm and served it at 6pm. It was so good.

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Chicken Soup

2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 small onions (or 1 large) diced
1 C sliced carrots
1 bell pepper, diced
2 C summer squash, grated
1/2 carton of chicken broth (GF/DF) I like Imagine Free Range Chicken Broth
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dill
salt & pepper to taste

Bring chicken to boil in a pot with 3-4 cups of water in it. Turn down the heat and cover.

When chicken is cooked through, chop it into bite-sized pieces. Add vegetables, water that chicken was cooked in, along with chicken broth and spices to a soup pot. Simmer for several hours.

Serve with brown rice in the soup or on the side, or GF/DF bread.

Chicken Tacos

Another great meal option is chicken tacos. We had them because Maddy has dance from 3:30-4:30 and it becomes difficult to cook a nice meal. We had such an insane day on Thursday that I didn't even think about dinner until 2:00 and pulled three chicken breasts out of the deep freeze, threw them in the crock pot with a 16 oz jar of salsa, another jar-full of water, a fresh bell pepper chopped from the garden (red) and a jalapeno pepper from the garden as well. My slow cooker is super hot so it was done in 4 hours on high and I just shredded the meat and left the lid off for the last 30 minutes or so to thicken it up a bit. Then I used a slotted spoon to scoop out the meat onto corn tortillas, topped with cheese (for those who can have it), shredded lettuce, tomatoes, etc. Lucy actually enjoyed them, for being "spicy" with peppers.


Here's what you need:

corn tortillas
3 chicken breasts frozen (about 2 pounds)
16 oz jar salsa (whatever heat level you like)
water (to cover chicken halfway)
jalapeno pepper
bell pepper (I used red)
shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, chopped onions
shredded cheese (optional, or you could use the dairy free cheese)
sour cream or plain yogurt (dairy free options as well)

Place frozen chicken breasts in slow cooker, cover with peppers (jalapeno & bell). Add salsa. Add enough water to cover chicken half way. Place on high for 5 hours. Shred chicken meat. Remove lid and leave on for another 30 minutes. Serve chicken/veggies on corn tortillas and top with additional veggies, more salsa, sour cream, cheese, etc. Enjoy!

A full family meal

My baby ate pot roast tonight. Not just any pot roast, but Pioneer Woman's pot roast. I have her cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl and I have to say it's awesome!

Here is the post online with the step by step instructions. I did make some changes, but only because I didn't have all of the ingredients.

I'm sure there is GF/DF/allergen-free beef stock, and because all special foods are expensive - it would cost a pretty penny, but I just used water, and you know what? It was awesome!

As well as the fresh herbs, which you could use I"m sure, but I used a few sprinkles of dry herbs and it was excellent. Wayyyy better than my usual dry onion soup mix and veggies in the crock pot. I served it with boiled potatoes. Lucy LOVED it. She was eating as much meat as me! Now my almost-3-year-old was another story, but ehhh she was tired after a long day at school...

Can't wait for the leftovers tomorrow night!! Mmmm....here's a picture of what I put away just to make you salivate!!

GF/DF Apple crisp

After picking 14 pounds of apples this weekend, I'm looking for things to do with all these apples (besides eating them of course!) This gluten free and dairy free dessert will be one you should enjoy at some point this fall!

First I peeled and quartered apples (I only used 4 but they were super huge!!) Then I took each quarter, cut it in half, and thinly sliced each half. I did enough apples to get 8 cups. While chopping I made sure to put a little lemon juice on the apples to keep them from getting brown while I was working.


Then I added 1/4 C white sugar and 2 Tbsp cinnamon. Stirred it up until the apples were evenly coated. Spray a 9x13 glass dish with safe cooking spray and fill it with the apple mixture.


In a different bowl (or I rinsed out the apple one after transferring it) mix together 2 C old fashioned oats (I don't use specifically GF ones since Lucy isn't severely allergic to wheat like she is with peanuts & milk but use what is best for your situation) with 1/3 C margarine (we use this), 1/2 C brown sugar, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp vanilla. I like to mix it with my hands to get the margarine all crumbly!


Spread the oat mixture evenly over the apples. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.


Enjoy!!

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Apple Crisp:

8 C apples
lemon juice
1/4 C white sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
2 C old fashioned oats
1/3 C margarine
1/2 C brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel and chop apples into bite sized slices. Squeeze some lemon juice over apples to coat them. Stir in sugar and cinnamon. Place apple mixture in a greased 9x13 pan.

Mix cinnamon, oats, margarine, brown sugar, vanilla & salt in a separate bowl. Crumble over the apple mixture.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy!