Creamy Chicken Soup and Pillow-Soft Dinner Rolls

I saw these recipes on my friend Vanessa's blog and immediately my mouth started watering. They were very tasty! So here are the recipes:

Creamy Chicken Soup

2 cans of chicken

4 c. chicken broth

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

5 carrots, peeled and cut into thick slices

4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups evaporated fat-free milk (I used skim milk that I had heated over low heat for about 20 minutes.... seems a waste of money to buy that stuff, and a website I found suggested evaporating your own milk. The soup was still delicious, so I guess it worked!)

1 can corn (drained)

salt and ground black pepper

Bring the chicken and broth to a boil in a soup pot. Decrease the heat and simmer. Remove the chicken from the broth.

Add the onion, carrots, and potatoes to the simmering broth. Cover and return to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon and cook for 1 minute until the mixture is smooth and bubbly. Stir in the milk and cook for 2 minutes until the mixture is smooth and slightly thickened.

Add the white sauce and chicken pieces to the soup pot. Stir and bring to a gentle boil over medium high heat. Immediately decrease the heat to simmer, add the corn, salt and pepper to taste, and cook just until corn is heated through. Serve immediately or keep warm but do not boil!!

Pillow-Soft Dinner Rolls

4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)

2 cups warm milk (110-115 degrees)

6 Tbsp. shortening

2 eggs

1/4 c. sugar

1-1/2 tsp. salt

7-7 1/2 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, shortening, eggs, sugar, salt and 3 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes (dough will be sticky). 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. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 24 pieces. Shape each into a roll. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.

Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks.

Chili Pasta Bake

I know, I know... this recipe is nothing like the gourmet-caliber recipes you all have been posting, but it made for a yummy dinner tonight for us! I'll tell you what we did differently before giving you the recipe. We pretty much only cook with whole wheat pasta, so we used whole wheat rotini instead of penne. We also thought 2 cups of cheese was a TON, so we just sprinkled some on top until it looked good. We also didn't put in as much beef or onion, but that's because we're poor, not because it wouldn't have been yummy. Oh, and we didn't drain the green chilies. Those are pretty much Isaac's favorite flavor for Mexican food, so it seemed silly to drain all that yummy flavor out. And (wow, I never noticed how much we modify recipes) we didn't put in the whole 2 T. chili powder. It was more like 1 1/2 T. We wanted it to be flavorful, not HOT. So, again.... not gourmet, but yummy. There is an online version of this recipe that also calls for a can of corn and a can of black beans, but I didn't see that version until we had already eaten it! Sorry I forgot to take a picture; I'll try to remember that for next time.

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 32 minutes
Servings: 6

10 oz. penne pasta
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can (7 oz.) diced green chilies, drained
1 cup salsa
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.
2. Cook meat and onion in large skilet; drain. Add chili powder, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa and chilies. Cook 5 minutes.
3. Toss pasta and sauce. Spoon into 13x9-inch bakingdish. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Delicious Strawberry Cake

This is a really yummy cake that Jordan and I made...twice this week. Yup. Twice. Try it and you won't regret it!!!

Cake:

• 1 1/4 cups sliced strawberries
• 10 ounce all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 cups)
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/4 teaspoon red food coloring
• Cooking spray

Frosting:

• 1/3 cup (3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier (you can also use orange juice or I just used a little milk and added vanilla instead. so we had a vanilla frosting)
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 12 whole strawberries (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. To prepare cake, place sliced strawberries in a food processor; process until smooth.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Place granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in egg whites. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Add pureed strawberries and food coloring; beat just until blended.

4. Divide batter between 2 (8-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

5. To prepare frosting, place cream cheese, 1/3 cup butter, and liqueur in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, and beat just until blended.

6. Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1/2 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Cut 1 whole strawberry into thin slices, cutting to, but not through, the stem end. Fan strawberry on top of cake just before serving, if desired. Cut remaining 11 strawberries in half. Garnish cake with strawberry halves, if desired.