Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup

With the weather getting colder, there's nothing like a pot of soup on the stove to make you feel all warm and fuzzy (inside and out.) I've been playing around with this recipe for a while now and think I've finally tweaked it enough that it's just the way I like it. My sweet hubby says it's perfect and so I've decided it's time to post it.

I'm going to be trying it "Vegetarian" style next time around -- white beans instead of chicken and low-sodium vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. I might also add some escarole at the end instead of spinach. And actually, I'm not sure if I'll keep the orzo or not since it might be a bit much with the beans. Maybe I'll try it once with beans and once with orzo and see which we like better ... hmmm. Lots of potential variations here!

Anyway, without further ado ...

Homemade Chicken Vegetable Soup

2 – 3 boneless and skinless Chicken breasts (cut into bite-size pieces)
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
4 stalks Celery, sliced on diagonal
1 medium Onion, roughly chopped
4 Carrots, cut in thin slices
1 package sliced Mushrooms, chopped
1 Tablespoon Parsley Flakes
1 teaspoon dried Thyme
1 teaspoon dried Rosemary
½ teaspoon freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 cup Orzo (wheat preferred)
64 ounces Chicken Broth (low-sodium, fat free)

Heat olive oil (or use spray oil) in sauté pan and add chicken, cooking until no longer pink. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place celery, onions, carrots, and mushrooms into a large pot. Add just enough broth to cover. Cover and cook over medium heat until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the remaining broth, spices, and balsamic vinegar. Bring to a boil and add orzo. Cook until pasta is tender and then stir in chicken. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is heated through.

Serves 6

Notes: I often add a handful of chopped spinach at the end when adding the chicken. Will probably need to add more broth to leftover soup as pasta soaks up the moisture.

My Mom's Stuffing

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and it's going to be a little different for us this year. Instead of hosting and doing the cooking as I have for the past 30 years, I'll be traveling to New York to spend the day with my daughter and mother-in-law (and to visit with my mom who's in a nursing home.) I won't be doing the cooking this year -- I'm leaving that to Wegmans.

While I'm so happy that despite moving to Massachusetts we are still able to be with family on special days, there is one thing I'm really going to miss -- my mom's turkey stuffing. She made it for as long as I can remember and when I took over the cooking duties many years ago, there was never a question as to what kind of stuffing to make.

I still remember mom telling me that she got the recipe from her good friend, Ruthie Kern, when she was a young bride. The recipe was attributed to Ruthie's Great-Grandma Colgrove and mom told me that while we use regular store bought saltines in it these days, back then they actually made the crackers to put in the stuffing.

I thought that since I won't be making this tomorrow, I should at least share the recipe. (I did buy a turkey today to put in the freezer and was thinking maybe I would make this for Christmas Eve ... so all is not lost!) And my son mentioned to me last week that his wife now makes this stuffing as does her mother and all her aunts ... long live Grandma Colgrove!

Mom's Turkey Stuffing

Single batch (enough for small turkey):

1 loaf fresh Bread
1 stack Saltine Crackers
1 medium Onion
2 cups Milk
2 sticks Margarine
Sage
2 Eggs

Double Batch (enough for large turkey):

1 ¾ loaves fresh Bread
2 stacks Saltine Crackers
1 large Onion
3 cups Milk
2 ½ sticks Margarine
Sage
3 Eggs

Cube bread and crumble crackers. Chop onion. Mix together in large bowl and set aside. Meanwhile, heat milk and margarine over low heat in saucepan until margarine is melted and milk is hot. Pour over bread mixture and let stand for 5 minutes. Add sage to taste.

Beat the eggs until fluffy and fold in. If too soupy, add more crackers. If too dry, add another egg. Salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff turkey. If baking stuffing separately, place in greased casserole and cover. Bake at 325 for about one hour.

Wordless Wednesday -- Remembering The Cape

From Down In The Dumps To Smiling Again ...

It seems like I've been on an emotional roller coaster since moving in May. I don't know if it's just been such a stressful year (dealing with the decision of whether to accept the transfer offer my husband received, totally cleaning out our house and then packing and moving) and now that we're finally here and somewhat settled I feel like I can finally exhale ... or what? Whatever the case, suffice it to say I find myself up and down a lot these days.

We've had a lot of company recently and while I love spending time with our friends and family, it can be a little stressful. I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds that when guests are visiting there is a need to be "on" all the time. And that means when the company leaves I'm not only sad to see them go, I'm exhausted. This time it's taken me almost a week to recover!

Anyway, after spending a couple days moping around I feel like I'm bouncing back. I'm diving into a few new projects and interests and I'm excited to be busy.

First -- I just picked up a book from the library that I've been dying to read. It's called Stay and it's written by Allie Larkin who hails from Rochester, New York (my hometown!) I'm told the book has many references to local landmarks (such as my beloved Wegmans) so I'm anticipating some snuggle time by the fire as I devour it.


Second -- I have a new crochet project that I'm very eager to start. My little William LOVES owls (as does his mommy) and I found this great pattern for an Owl Hat at RAKJ Patterns. I went to Michaels this afternoon and picked up all the yarn I'll need to whip it up. I can't wait to get started on it. I might even make a matching hat for his mommy :) All I need now are some measurements to make sure I'm making the right size.


Third -- I also just picked up Liberty! The American Revolution (it's a PBS Video Series DVD set) that we're really looking forward to watching. We've been doing so much exploring of historical sites here in Massachusetts lately that it's piqued my interest in learning more. We've watched a few documentaries on George Washington and Concord, and now I'm hoping this series will kind of tie it all together for us. Very excited about that! (and especially that I was able to get it through our wonderful library system here and didn't have to buy it!)


Well -- that's it for the moment. I'm looking forward to a fun weekend that will start tomorrow when I meet my friend Kay (we went to college together and happily ended up living in the same neck of the woods after all these years!) for lunch.

Things are looking up.

Wordless Wednesday -- I'm A Big Kid Now!

So Much Company ...

Since we've just moved to Massachusetts, we've had a lot of company who've come to see our new place and help us to explore Boston and all the other sweet spots close to us. We're getting down into Fall now and the beautiful leaves are gone and it's starting to turn cold. Still, we had friends come visit last weekend and family here with us since Thursday.

It's been wonderful -- despite a plumbing problem last Sunday morning that left us with water pouring through our first floor bathroom ceiling and, subsequently, some frayed nerves as we waited for the plumbers to arrive with the builder on Monday morning (at 7:20 a.m. no less!) All is well now -- there are repairs still to be done and it will mean having someone in to re-paint but the pipes were good to go before the next round of guests arrived.

Yesterday we spent another day in Boston and visited Quincy Market again. We love it there and it's always fun to go. We went to Dick's Last Resort for lunch and were properly insulted.



And we watched as workmen started putting up the Christmas decorations.




This included a 70 foot tall tree brought in from Nova Scotia. Fascinating to watch that going up and a worker climbing up the boughs and cutting the ropes that kept it all pulled together -- and then watching them fall into place. We're hoping to go next week for the lighting of the tree (we hear the Celtics and some of the Patriots are going to be there so it might be fun) so I'll hold off with pictures until then.

Today is an early Thanksgiving dinner. I was up early getting the stuffing made and the turkey in the oven. We're planning for an early dinner and then a trip into Natick Mall so William can cruise the aisles at Toys R Us and give Grandma and Grandpa lots of fun ideas for gifts!

I love having friends and family visit ... but I'm looking forward to getting back to eating healthy and spending some time with Dave and the pups. We are hoping to decorate the house a bit (we didn't even put a tree up last year as we were trying to get ready to move) and we'd like to see what festivities are going on around us that we can enjoy.

For now, I'm off to enjoy some time with my sweet grandson ...

Wordless Wednesday -- Durgin Park

Time To Make A Home ...

Since moving to Massachusetts, I've found that I need to be my own best friend. I'm grateful, of course, for my husband and the time we are spending together but most of the time, it's just me here with the pups.

It gets a little lonely.

While I won't get into it now, I kind of like being by myself. I like to put on my favorite music and just putter around. However, I waste a lot of time. I could be accomplishing and doing so much more each day.

Today I realized just how true that statement is. I was invited to have lunch with a few of the wives who also moved to Massachusetts when our husbands were transferred here. We all came about the same time. The difference is that they all moved onto the same street in a nice area about 40 minutes from where we decided to live. So they see each other a lot -- they go for walks every day and have had a lot of fun helping each other plant shrubs, put in lawns, and decorate their houses. You get the idea.

Back to how much time I waste ... Reality hit me right between the eyes when I walked into Sandy's front hallway. I was greeted by a beautifully decorated home (I don't mean just pretty -- this place is Better Homes and Gardens gorgeous.) I hope my jaw didn't make too much noise as it dropped to the floor. I knew Sandy liked to shop and had great taste but ... OH. MY. GOODNESS.

I oohed and ahhhed as I got the tour, all the while thinking about how silly I'd been to be so thrilled just to get blinds up on my windows. I still don't have any curtains up. I have barely hung any pictures. And (head hanging in shame ...) I've lived here six months already!

So OK ... I just pushed aside my thoughts of inadequacy and focused on enjoying the company of the ladies as they arrived to have lunch. We laughed and talked about boxes that we still unpacked (I suspect they were being polite ... I'm quite sure I'm the only one with boxes stacked in the extra closets) and then went for a walk before having dessert.

The first stop was the empty house for sale next door. It was fun to go through it. As it turns out it was the same model as Lori's house. As we continued our walk, Lori offered to show me her place ...

So can I say OH. MY. GOODNESS. again? Lori's place is just as fully decorated, just as ... perfect ... as Sandy's. Different decorating styles and taste but equally as lovely. In both cases all the furniture came from their previous homes yet it fit perfectly in their new places -- if I didn't know better I would have thought each piece was purchased for their new home after arriving here.

Again, back to the topic of wasted time. I'm kicking myself a bit, realizing that part of the reason I perhaps don't feel like Massachusetts is "home" yet is because I haven't really allowed it to be. I haven't fully unpacked. I haven't dared to hang pictures on the walls and get out shopping for new pieces that will complete our home. I've hidden behind the "I'm not really sure what I'd like to do with the place" excuse for much too long. In short, I've been wasting a whole lot of time.

It's time to start changing things around a bit. First I'm going to go through each and every box still unpacked and -- you got it -- unpack!

Next I'm going to go through each room, one at a time and make a plan for what I'd like to do with that room. Time to get some color strips, some fabric swatches, and break out the decorating magazines. Time to look through decorating blogs to get some ideas.

It may take a bit but I'm done feeling like a guest in this house. It's time to move in and make it MY home.

While I probably won't be inviting the ladies for lunch at my place anytime soon, I'm hoping that maybe by spring time I'll have the place looking like a home.

Expect to see a few posts that are asking for suggestions and ideas!

Wordless Wednesday -- Stone Wall at the North Bridge