Crock Pot Pulled Chicken & Honey Whole Wheat Buns.

I LOVE this chicken recipe. It is so delicious, so simple, so quick (for a crock pot recipe), and did I mention, SO DELICIOUS!! I didn't modify the recipe at all, (well, other than halve it, as I don't need to feed 8-10 people...) so I'm going to send you to the original site for the recipe. Stay tuned for the buns recipe though!!

The buns are delicious in and of themselves. I've used this recipe for burger buns, hot dog buns, simple rolls, and now for this.

Honey Whole Wheat Rolls, originally from Celecia Stoup of Hobart, Oklahoma

Ingredients:

2 packages active dry yeast (or 1/2 oz total, or 4 1/2 t. total)

1 c. warm water

1/4 c. butter or margarine, melted (I used butter)

1/4 c. honey

1 egg

3/4 c. whole wheat flour (I've been using rye flour, as I'm out of whole wheat and want to use up the rye)

1/2 c. old-fashioned oats

1 t. salt

2 1/4 - 2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

Additional melted butter or margarine (opt.)

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in the water. Stir in the butter, honey, egg, whole wheat flour, oats, salt, and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour; beat until smooth. Add enough all-purpose flour to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Shape into 15 rolls, (or whatever shape you need...I can get about 10 hot dog buns...) Place on a greased sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with butter. Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup.

I love making this soup. It's delicious, simple, and extremely comforting on a cold day, or when you're feeling a bit under the weather. My method takes a bit of time, but it's not extremely labor intensive, and you can take shortcuts at any point to make it even easier. Due to the nature of this recipe, there are no exact proportions. You can make a large batch, as I usually do, or simply use less and make enough for a single meal. The amounts I do list will be for a rather large batch intended to have extra for freezing. Adjust as needed, and enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts (or thighs) 3-4 for a large batch (or leftover cooked chicken, if you've got it)

butter

garlic (optional)

celery, with tops

carrots (save peelings!)

onion (save root and peeling!)

half recipe of homemade noodles (Recipe here) or egg noodles

chicken broth, about 8-12 cups for a large batch

oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, bay leaves, or any herbs you like and have on hand. Fresh works best, dried will work too.

water

Directions:

I will note extra steps in italics. Please note, extra step=extra flavor, but it is not necessary.

If you are using leftover cooked chicken, skip this step. Chop chicken into small, bite-size pieces. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté two whole cloves of garlic in butter until brown. Discard (or eat the cloves, they're delicious). Pan-fry chicken till cooked through. Set aside.

In a large stock-pot, (or sauce pan if you're making a smaller batch,) pour 8-12 cups chicken broth or water, and add carrot peelings (not the carrots themselves) onion peelings and root, (not the actual onion), celery tops (not the stalks) and any herbs you care to use. I particularly like rosemary, bay, and parsley, but whatever sounds good to you will most likely work. Let the pot simmer for at least an hour, covered. Strain the broth when you are ready to add your final ingredients. Return to pot. Alternately, you can simply skip this step and add your final ingredients to the plain chicken broth. I highly recommend the former instructions, though, as they'll take this above and beyond delicious. :)

While the broth is simmering, chop your carrots, celery and onion to bite size pieces, or minced, if you like. Also prepare a half batch of your noodles now.  Add your chicken, carrots, celery and onion to the broth, and simmer until vegetables are tender. Add noodles slowly, especially if using homemade noodles, so they don't stick to each other. Let simmer until noodles are cooked through (they'll swell a bit) and then remove from heat. Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

Nutella Fudge.

I love fudge. I don't make it too often, mind you, or I'd be terribly rotund, but every once in awhile it's a nice treat. I love this recipe in particular, because it's simple. No candy thermometer required, only five ingredients (with an optional sixth). Rather quick to pull together as well, if you don't count the cooling time, (you don't have to if you don't mind rather warm fudge, but it is a lot easier to eat when it's cool). What's more, you can change the flavor to suit your tastes. The original recipe calls for peanut butter rather than Nutella, and you can change the baking chips used to any flavor you like. You could actually make chocolate-free fudge if you so desired. (Not that you should, as, well, chocolate is amazing.) Whatever your tastes, you'll find this fudge will suit them. Enjoy!

 

Nutella Fudge, from Anyone Can Cook! (Originally called Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fudge)

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 1/3 cups Nutella (or creamy/crunchy peanut butter, or something like)

1 7 oz. jar Marshmallow creme

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate pieces

1/2 coarsely chopped peanuts (optional, and I always skip these, as I prefer smooth fudge. Any nut will do though)

Note: Please, PLEASE measure all your ingredients out before you begin. Everything moves very quickly at the end of the recipe and you need to be able to dump things into your pan quickly.

Directions:

Line an 8 in. square pan with foil, leaving the foil to extend over the pans edges. Butter the foil, and set the pan aside.

In a 2-quart saucepan, combine sugar and evaporated milk. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until sugar mixture boils. Reduce heat to medium, continue cooking for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. 

Immediately stir in peanut butter or nutella, chocolate pieces, and marshmallow creme. Stir until the chocolate melts and ingredients are well combined. (Stirring will become difficult, hang in there!) Quickly spread fudge evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts, if desired.

Cover and chill for 2 to 3 hours, or until firm. When firm, remove fudge from pan, using the overlapping foil to lift fudge. Place on a cutting board, cut fudge into squares. Store, covered, in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Onion Sandwich.

This is not for the faint of heart. This is not a pretty dish, nor does it smell like, well, anything other than onions. No, this is not a sandwich for everyone. 

However. If you are one of those people, the people whose steaks are incomplete without sautéed onions, whose burgers are sadly lacking when not topped with this versatile vegetable, whose salads must have a bit of oniony crunch to them, well, let me say you and I are kindred spirits. And so, dear friends, I would like to share this with you.

The onion sandwich. It is beautiful in its simplicity, in its humble adornment. Bread, a touch of butter, and one whole sautéed onion. I like to toss in some greek seasoning as well, but you can season however you like. There's no real recipe to this, but the longer you sauté the onions, the sweeter they'll be. I'm not all that fond of blackened onions, but many people like to let them sauté that long, as it sweetens the onion greatly. Make this to taste, but if you are an onion lover like me, you won't be disappointed.

Enjoy!

Rice Pudding.

This recipe is so delicious, and for a made from scratch pudding, about as easy as you can get. I love raisins in this, but you don't necessarily have to use them. The original recipe calls for whole milk, but I used 1% with no problems. Also, as I'm out of lemon zest, and lemons, for that matter, I used a bit of orange zest in its place, and you know, I think I like it better! Whatever you choose, you won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

The Best Rice Pudding, Scaled for 2 servings, from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:

1 cup Water
½ cup Long Grain Rice
⅛ tsp Salt
1 Tablespoons Butter
¼ tsp Lemon Zest (or Orange Zest)
2 cups Whole Milk (or whatever's in your fridge)
¼ cup Sugar
¼ Vanilla Bean, split open (I used a splash of vanilla extract)
½ cup Golden Raisins (I used a mix of red and golden raisins)

Directions:

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Stir in lemon zest, salt and long grain rice and return to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer the rice, covered, until all of the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Once rice is cooked, place it in a bowl and rise out pan. Add 2 cups of milk, butter, sugar and vanilla bean to the pan. Bring to a low boil, stirring often so the milk doesn’t burn. Add the cooked rice and raisins to the hot milk. Stir often, until the milk cooks down and the rice is creamy, about 20 minutes. Place in a large bowl or serving dishes to cool. Serve cold or at room temperature.