~Chicken N Dumplings in the Spring~

Hey everyone! MommyBee here (who else?) Anyways, as you've probably noticed, it's been quite a while since my last post. And that's because I've been super-duper busy! With G having been out of town it's been pretty hectic---- M had a dentist appt (that's a whole other matter), I had to get my car in the shop to get it fixed from when that girl backed into me (another matter), had to visit the periodontist for a consult, M started a new dance class (now she's doing Acro, Ballet, and Tap), had to go check out A's new school, plus all the usual housework, school, bills, etc. Needless to say, I haven't had much time to even think about blogging. With that being said, here I am (finally) ---- And yes, G is back! (finally) So let's get to heart of the matter here. Yesterday G had all four of his wisdom teeth pulled out :o! I know, I know - yes, he's all right (taking it a lot better than I expected in fact) Anywho, for those of you that have went through this awful procedure, you know it's nearly impossible to eat anything in the few days following the extractions. Only soft foods are tolerable. It is because of this that tonight, I made Chicken N Dumplings in the Spring. For those of you that don't know --- I am a soup/stew NUT! In the winter time I could stay in my PJ's on the couch with a good book (or a good TV show) and eat nothing but soup all winter long. I love it! I love the simplicity, I love that you can throw practically whatever you want in it, I love that you can throw it all in a pot in the moring and not worry about it until dinner time, I love soup (what's not to love?) So anyway, back to the point, Chicken N Dumpling in the Spring time. Now obviously, with the kids, school, housework, running, and an incompacitated G, it goes without saying that these were no ordinary Chicken N Dumplings ---- No, these were Cheating Chicken N Dumplings. Let me explain, Cheating Chicken N Dumplings taste exactly like the Non-Cheating Chicken N Dumplings only they take about a third of the time to cook as regular Chicken N Dumplings. So, being the lovely person that I am, I am going to share with you how to Cheat your own Chicken N Dumplings (for when your too busy to make the real ones). Here goes...

Cheating Chicken N Dumplings
You will need:
-1 Stick Butter
-1 Tablespoon Garlic (minced)
-2 large cans Chicken Broth (49.5oz each)
-1 already cooked Rotisserie Chicken (mine weighed about 2lbs)
-1 Tablespoon Oregano
-1 Tablespoon Basil
-1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
-1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Salt
-2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup
-1 Box Jiffy Baking Mix
-2/3 Cup Milk

(In the Picture we are missing the Milk and Cream of Chicken Soup)

Now, in a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add in the minced garlic (you can use more than a tablespoon if you prefer). Saute the garlic for about 1 minute or until it is nice and tender. Then, add in both the cans of chicken broth and the cans of cream of chicken soup. Stir. Once those are mixed, you can add all of the spices (oregano, basil, garlic powder, and garlic salt). Place the lid on the pot and simmer. Now it's time to attack the bird. Get all of the meat off the bird that you can (white and dark). ~For extra flavor I usually throw in the leg bones and the larger peices of skin into the pot with the broth (don't worry we'll get all of it out before we even add the dumplings) ~ As you pull the meat off the bones, you don't need to chop it with a knife, just use your fingers, but shred it as best you can (it doesn't have to be perfect).

Once you have all the chicken shredded, you can set it aside and start on the dumplings. Now, I like the Jiffy mix, but you can certainly use whatever mix you prefer. The recipe on the back of the box makes 'drop dumplings'. Now, if your anything like me or G, we don't really care to much for drop dumplings (it's just something about the little balls of gooey dough that doesn't sit well with us) Soooooo, I have created a solution. Make the dumplings as the box directs, but instead of just balling up the dough and dropping it into the boiling broth.... roll it out (genius right?) Now, it can get a bit tricky because the dough is really sticky (ha). So all you need to do is have a couple of cups of flour on hand. Sprinkle some flour over the counter top and dump out the dough. You'll need to pretty much coat the ball of dough with flour (and maybe your rolling pin to) because otherwise, when you try to roll it out, all of the dough will stick to your rolling pin. You want to roll the dough thin, but not tooooo thin (if it's to thin, the dumplings will get soggy instead of firm). You want them about 1/8 of an inch thick. Then, when your ready, cut the dumplings into neat little squares with your pizza cutter (who'd of thunk it?)

Now, your practically finished! First, you need to fish out the bones and peices of skin out of the broth. This is best done with a small, hand held strainer (like this one from OXO) or a slotted spoon. Once you've fished all the yucky stuff out, your free to dump in the chicken that you shredded earlier. At this point, you're going to want to bring your broth to a boil. Once it's boiling, you can add the dumplings one at a time. G took this picture of me unexpectantly dropping in the dumplings to our soup ...

Once all the dumplings are in, turn the soup down to low or simmer, cover, and let them cook for about 8-10 minutes (you don't cook these as long as drop dumplings). ~The dumplings are done when some of them begin to settle down to the bottom instead of floating on top of the broth.~ And then, VOILA ~~~~~ You have cheated your way through Chicken N Dumplings!

Looks yummy right?! Well, it is yummy! And the best part is, what once would've taken you an entire day to cook, only takes about an hour! (your welcome) ;) Well, I suppose that's about it for now, take care fellow bloggers!!
xoxoMommyBeexoxo