Chicken and Dumplings

This dinner was so yummy and it is great if your kids don't like to "see" veggies! I chopped up the celery, onion and mushrooms very tiny! You could add carrots or peppers or really any veggies you wanted to in and chop them up tiny and the kids might never know! I gave you the recipe below as I prepared it, the original had several differences, I added the mushrooms, potatoes, herbs and doubled the chicken soup and dumplings. Those chefs at Top Chef would criticize my "presentation" I am sure, but I'd bet they'd love the flavor anyway!

Chicken
2 (10.75 ounce) cans reduced fat cream of chicken soup
1 (14.5 ounce) can low-fat, low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
8 oz. chopped mushrooms
2 cups cubed or chopped potatoes
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
3 sprigs oregano leaves, finely chopped
1 sprig rosemary leaves, finely chopped
ground black pepper to taste

Dumplings
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1-2 sprigs oregano leaves, finely chopped

In a skillet heat oil over medium high heat, add in chicken, celery, onion, and mushrooms. Saute until chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile, in a large pot combine chicken soup, stock and milk. Add in oregano, rosemary, and pepper. Add in chicken mixture and potatoes. Cover and simmer over low heat 30-40 minutes, stirring occaisionally. In a small bowl mix together flour, baking powder and salt and oregano. Mix milk and oil separately and add to dry ingredients. Stir just until combined. Mixture will be wet and sticky! Drop tablespoonfulls of dumpling mixture on top of the chicken mixture. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through, without peeking.

Makes 6 servings as prepared
Recipe adapted from Chicken and Dumplings III on allrecipes.com

Quick Chicken Cacciatore

Tonight's dinner came together so quickly and it was such a yummy homemade spaghetti sauce! I ended up adding some oregano in with the basil at the end because I had it to use from my Italian pack. I am getting another Italian pack tomorrow so my hubby is very excited about more mushrooms!

1 cup all-purpose flour
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4 oz each)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 head cauliflower, cut into pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1 can (14.5 oz) Italian-seasoned petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil and oreganoleaves
12 oz cooked spaghetti noodles

Coat chicken in flour, heat oil in 12 in. skillet over medium-high heat 3 minutes. Add chicken, cook 2-3 minutes on each side.(chicken will not be fully cooked) Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm. Combine tomato paste, broth, garlic, cornstarch, salt and pepper and mix. Combine mushrooms and cauliflower in skillet Cook and stir 3-4 minutues. Add broth mixture and tomatoes; bring to a simmer. Stir in herbs and add chicken back to skillet. Cover and simmer 5-7 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and sauce is thickened. Serve over spaghetti noodles.

yeild:6 servings, calories per serving: 480