Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup with Matzo Balls (partial slow cooker recipe)

One of my favorite comfort foods is matzo ball soup. My version of this soup uses homemade chicken stock and pre-cooked roasted chicken and is essentially chicken noodle soup with matzo balls. This is an easy way to use leftover roasted chicken or turkey from holiday meals.

Ingredients for chicken stock: 
Use bones either from a roasted chicken or raw whole chicken (include neck, gizzard, skin, wings)
1/2 large sweet onion
2-3 garlic cloves
1 carrot cut into 3 pieces
1 celery cut into 3 pieces
3 whole peppercorns
1-2 bay leaves
kosher salt to taste
thyme (fresh if available or sprinkle dry thyme)
dash of dry parsley (again fresh if available)
Water

Place first 10 items in a crockpot (I have a 5 qt crockpot). Cover everything with water and cook on low for 24 hours. Your house will smell amazing! The final product should look like this:



Add 1/2 of the broth to a dutch oven and freeze the rest for future recipes. Next, let's make the soup!

Ingredients:
Homemade chicken stock
1 cup carrots
1 cup celery
bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
Egg noodles (I prefer kluski egg noodles)
dried dill to taste
roasted pre-cooked chicken
matzo balls (I purchase boxed matzo ball mix)

Directions: 
Prepare matzo ball according to directions on the box. Keep in a separate pan. Bring homemade chicken stock to a boil. Add carrots, celery, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Allow to cook for 5-10 minutes. Add egg noodles, chicken, and dill. Cook according to the directions on the noodle package. Serve by ladling the soup into bowls and adding 2-3 matzo balls. Do not mix the balls and soup or the balls will absorb all of the liquid in the soup. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

This is adapted from Paula Dean's Pot Roast recipe. Hopefully, I will eventually be able to add pictures. We have done this as a freezer meal plenty of times, as well! 

Ingredients
1 3-4 lb beef chuck roast
1-2 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp veg oil
1 cup onion wedges
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 can cream of mushroom (I have been using Pacific brand organic cream of mushroom)
1 can beef broth (no MSG and low salt)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 yukon gold potatoes cut into chunks

Season roast with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet on medium high heat. Sear entire roast. Add onion, garlic, bay leaves, cream of mushroom, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and potatoes in slow cooker. Place roast on top of mixture in slow cooker. Cook the roast 8 hours on low.

Note: I have frozen the seared roast and soup mixture as a freezer meal in a gallon bag (do not add potatoes). Scott will take the freezer meal out, thaw it, add potatoes and cook on low for 8 hours - easy! 

Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice

An easy to medium difficulty slow cooker recipe that is tasty and makes a lot of servings. This is adapted from the Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice Cooking Light recipe. This recipe is easily in our monthly rotation.

Ingredients: 
3 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup dried red beans (small red beans available in the latin food section of most supermarkets)
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp ground red pepper - if you prefer less spicy reduce to 1/4 tsp or omit
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 smoked ham hock/ham shank

1/2 package andouille sausage, sliced (I use andouille chicken sausage from Costco)

cooked long grain rice
1/4 cup chopped green onions

Soak beans overnight. Place first 13 ingredients in an electric slow cooker. Cover with lid, cook on high for 5 hours or low for 8 hours. Add andouille sausage and cook for another 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Serve over rice and sprinkle with green onions.

Optional approach: Add andouille sausage at the beginning of the slow cooker session. The sausage flavor will blend with the rest of the sauce and become more flavorless and bland... I prefer adding it in 30 minutes before serving.

Salmon Salad

Here is a simple salad easy for a weeknight meal or something for the weekend.

Ingredients

Salmon portions (1-2)

Lemon pepper seasoning (with garlic)

Salad mix - arugula and spring mix

Sweet onion, sliced

Cucumbers, sliced

Balsamic vinaigrette - I prefer Ken's Steakhouse 

Directions: Sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning over the salmon. Broil in an oven for 12 minutes or until salmon flakes. Prepare salad by arranging salad, onion and cucumber on a plate. Cover with salad dressing. Arrange salmon on top. Enjoy!

Table of Contents

Main Dishes:

Almond Chicken

Asian Meatballs
Baked Chicken and Rice Recipe
Baked Crispy Chicken
BBQ Chicken Pizza
BBQ Ribs
Chicken Enchiladas 
Chicken Lo Mein
Chicken Makhani
Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Teriyaki 
Chicken Tikki Masala
Chicken Tofu Wontons

Herb Chicken and Wild Rice

Lemon Garlic Chicken
Malaysian Curry

Mango Chicken and Rice
Orange Beef Stir Fry

Oven Baked Mac & Cheese
Oven Fried Chicken
Singapore Curried Chicken Noodles
Spanish Chicken and Rice

Thai Panang Curry
Thai Red Curry
Thai Yellow Curry

Fish Recipes: 
Asian Inspired Tilapia
Garlic Butter Orange Roughy
Hickory Encrusted Salmon
Lemon Pepper Tilapia

Lemon Herb Sea Bass
Salmon Salad
Soba Peanut Noodles with Salmon
Soy Ginger Glazed Salmon

Vegetarian Recipes:
Tumeric Tofu
Veggie Quesadillas 

Slow Cooker Recipes:
13 Bean Soup
Rosemary fennel pork tenderloin

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Soups:
Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo
Chicken Wild Rice Soup 

Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ham and Bean Soup
Moroccan Chicken Stew
Peasant Soup
Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup
White Chicken Chili
13 Bean Soup

Sides: 
BBQ Baked Beans
Corn Salad
Chicken and Queso

Baked Goods: 
Banana Bread

Banana Muffins
Blonde Brownies
Carrot Cake
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Cinnamon Rolls
Honey Oat Bread
Nancy's Cornbread

No bake chocolate oatmeal cookies
Peanut butter baked oatmeal
Pumpkin Muffins
Skillet Cornbread
Sweet Dinner Rolls

Spice Mixtures:
Magic Dust

Baked Chicken and TJ Batsmati Rice Medley

My mom used to make this for us growing up and I would always ask for it. I adapted the recipe by using TJ's rice medley and chicken stock. 

Ingredients: 
Chicken Thighs or drumsticks (skinned) 4-5 depending on size
Montreal steak seasoning
1/2 a large sweet onion - sliced
Pats of butter
2 3/4 cups Chicken broth or stock
1 1/2 cups Trader Joes Batsmati Rice Medley

Here are the ingredients - so simple!

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a dutch oven or pampered chef deep dish baker. Add 1 1/2 cups batsmati rice medley to the bottom of the baker. Pour chicken broth over rice medley. Add 1-2 pats of butter to the rice mixture and sprinkle with steak seasoning. Place chicken thighs/drumsticks over rice mixture. Sprinkle with more steak seasoning. Add sliced onions then 4 pats of butter (see picture below). Cover baker and cook for 1 hr or until chicken is cooked thoroughly. You MUST cover the dish or the rice will not cook properly. Enjoy!

The finished product - liquid absorbed and chicken fully cooked! 

Cinnamon Rolls

This recipe combines using http://allrecipes.com/recipe/vanilla-spice-bread/ and Cooking light's triple play recipe. 

Ingredients for bread: 
1 1/4 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup light brown sugar
dash of molasses
2 Tbsp white sugar
1/8 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp ground coriander
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Cinnamon roll filling: 
2 Tbsp melted butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon (sometimes I add more)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze: 
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla (sometimes I add more, but I like vanilla :))




Directions: Place items in the bread machine in the order specified by your manufacturer. Select dough cycle. Once the dough cycle is finished, roll the dough into a 9 x 13 inch rectangle. Brush the dough with 2-3 Tbsp butter (as needed). Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over melted butter (leave room to seal the roll). Sprinkle walnuts. Beginning with a long side, roll up dough, jelly roll fashion, pinch seam to seal. Cut into 3/4 inch slides and place on a jelly roll pan (I use my large pampered chef baking stone). Cover and allow to raise in a dark draft free place for 1 hr or until the the rolls have doubled in size (I place them in my small oven on warm cycle). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 15-20 min or until the rolls are golden brown. Allow to cool then glaze.