Most of the week has looked like this:
Chicken & Dumplings
Seriously, I'm not sure why my parents never made this delicious dish. It's what I usually get when I go to Cracker Barrel (though I think my version was much, much better). My grandmother grew up in Arkansas. My mom lived there for 3 years and my aunt for 17. I've never had anyone in my family make it. Weird. I was reading that it was time consuming and blah, blah, blah. I didn't want to spend forever making it. So I did what every smart women does. I made it in my crock pot. I loosely followed the crock pot lady's recipe. By loosely I mean I didn't measure anything and left out the mushrooms cause we didn't have any.
The chicken & veggies in the crock pot. I didn't have enough mixed veggies, so I added extra peas, corn & green beans that were just hanging out in the freezer. I need to buy more mixed veggies though...it's a great way to sneak in veggies that The Man doesn't normally eat, like green beans and Lima beans.
We were also out of cream of mushroom soup. We buy it at Costco and somehow forgot to buy more on our last trip. Oh well. I made a white sauce instead with the crock pot lady's instructions.
Then I didn't have any biscuit mix or refrigerated biscuits so I made my own. I mixed up some baking soda biscuits and plopped them on top. When I lived in China, my roommate Amy would make these when we wanted biscuits. I still use and love my Wycliffe International Cookbook. It has a little bit of everything. This book is a MUST for any missionary or anyone living overseas. It has recipes for things that we buy in the US (marshmallows, pancake syrup) plus great ideas for substitutions for ingredients. Anyway, here's what it looked like in my crockpot right before we dug in:
It was super yummy. I have permission to make this again!
It was the perfect meal on a cold, rainy day. It didn't end there either. I was in a baking mood so I whipped up some apple crisp. I threw in about 1 cup of frozen wild blackberries.
Thankfully The Man is making dinner tonight so I don't have to figure it out. YAY for a night off from cooking!
What's your favorite dish to make for dinner?
I used to get in the same kinda rut too. About 3 years ago I decided I was gonna get one of those dry erase calendars and start planning out dinners for 2 weeks ahead. I'm really bad about over spending in groceries so this helped me a ton, and I didn't have to worry about what I was gonna make for dinner. I just fill mine out before I go grocery shopping for the next 2 weeks before payday and that way Ive got everything I need. I still get stuck for stuff but then I just crack open my naked chef (Jamie Oliver) or Rachael Ray cook books LOL! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm in a rut too. I plan out about 8 meals before I do the grocery shopping. Since my husband was going out of town for 2 nights this week, we were at the end of the list and I still haven't made a new one. I just don't FEEL like it, and sometimes I feel like not putting in the effort. But I know that's unhealthy.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I attempted chicken and dumplings once when he was deployed. I used a recipe from some "Award Winning slow cooker recipes" (you know those small little spiral books that you sometimes see at the grocery checkout). It was AWFUL. The "dumplings" burned, and it didn't taste good at all. I don't know who gave it an award, but they shouldn't have. I'll have to try the recipe you gave because I'm southern and need to figure this mess out.
Come to think of it, I made this right around the time I discovered my dislike for cream of mushroom, so I might just try a cream of chicken. That may have had something to do with me hating the recipe.
Yum Yum YUm!!! Especially to your fantastic add in on the Apple Crisp, gonna have to try that! Have you thought about trying to plan out your meals a week in advance, then you only have to rack your brain for one day and not every day =)
ReplyDeleteOh, wow! That looks good! I usually only make chicken and dumplings when G is deployed. He doesn't like it, but I may just have to try this!
ReplyDeleteOur go to is lemon pepper chicken, rice, and green beans. I LOVE a heavy hand with the lemon pepper shaker. It's super yummy! :)
Since P is deployed, my current favorite dinner is fish sticks, lol! He is not a fan so I rarely get to eat them when he's home so for the next several months I am eating them A LOT :-D
ReplyDeleteThat looks good! I tried a chicken and dumplings in the crock pot and it was inedible! Seriously! We had to quickly make something else. I have not idea what when wrong, I think I followed the recipe.
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