The easiest chicken & dumplings EVER!

So the weather cooled off this week and by that I mean got below 100 degrees!! I took advantage and made some chicken & dumplings. I don't believe I've ever made them before but I had an idea how to cook them.

The deeper I got into cooking them, the easier they were!! Rotisserie chickens were on sale at Walmart for $2.49 each so I grabbed 2. I used both of them but it was A LOT of chicken. Here's what I did...

• 2 Rotisserie chickens (or you could boil a whole chicken or use chicken breasts but this is supposed to be EASY so...)
• 24 oz. pack of MARY B'S DUMPLINGS (I only used about half but next time I'll use more.)
• 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
• 2 cans of cream of chicken soup
• 32 oz box of chicken broth (or use the broth off of what you have after boiling -- if you boil your chicken!)
• small onion
• handful of frozen mushrooms
• real bacon pieces (or 4-5 strips of bacon - crumbled)

Now you can do this the easy way like I did or you can do it the not as easy way. You can cook your own chicken. You can roll out your own dumplings, make your own soups & broth and fry your bacon. But who has time for that??

• Dice a small onion (or buy the frozen, diced ones), chop frozen or fresh mushrooms and saute them together until they are soft. Add a handful of the bacon pieces or the crumbled bacon you cooked!
• In a large pot, pour in chicken broth and all 4 cans of cream of mushroom/chicken soups and the onion/mushroom/bacon mix. Add a cup of water too. You may need to add more water bc you want it to be a thin liquid. The dumplings are gonna soak up a lot of the water. Let it come to a low boil.
• The dumplings come in long, thin strips & need to stay frozen until you get ready to drop them in the pot. Cut each strip into 4 dumplings & drop them in the mixture one at a time. This is a little time consuming but you need to be quick bc they begin to thaw pretty fast!
• Let the dumplings boil on low/medium for about 30 minutes or so and then add the chicken. Let it cook another 20 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked. They're thin and don't puff up like my mama's HOMEMADE dumplings. ;)

And that's it, friends!! This was so easy!! It takes an hour or so to cook but you're not doing much work in that hour. Make sure to stir occassionaly and add water as needed. Let me know what you think!! It made enough for 6-7 people to eat. Feel free to share. Everyone needs this recipe!!

Be blessed. Stay dry. And pray for South Louisiana. 

Crockpot Chicken

If you know me, then you know I'm late for everything. Posting blogs on time is no exception. Here's the recipe for tonight's crock pot chicken. I found it on Pinterest! Y'all this is so yummy. I do not like "chicken on a bone" but this is by far one of my favorite meals. Saying it's simple is a definite understatement. Here's what you do:

- First, combine spices in a bowl for the rub.

• 3 tsp salt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

- Clean your chicken & remove giblets and neck. Rub spice mixture all over the chicken. You could stop here, put it in a ziplock bag and let it marinate over night. But if you don't have time, then you can totally skip this step. I never marinate it!!

- Slice a large onion & spread it across the bottom of the crockpot. Put the chicken on top of the onions.

- Cook on low for 8 hours. It will literally fall off the bone!

And that's it my friends. That. Is. It. As the chicken slow cooks it makes enough juice for the chicken & for a yummy gravy (super thin) over your rice or potatoes!

Now for your side dishes. I take the veggies (they're on your shopping list), slice them, lay them flat and S&P them. I put them on skewers but you can just pile them in a baking dish if that's easier. Trust me, it's easier!! Bake on 350 for about 20 minutes. You can also sprinkle some fresh grated parmesan cheese on them. Super yum!

- instant rice or potatoes -- just follow the directions on the package. :)
- corn on the cobb -- just boil it in seasoned water (creole seasoning, salt & pepper) as the package directs
- cornbread -- same thing. Make it like the package says!

Such a good dinner. So good. So easy. And super cheap to make!

Be sure to save your leftover chicken for tomorrow's dinner. Go ahead and debone the leftovers and refrigerate them.

Peace out, my friends!

Not so breakfast casserole!!

So, this was a new dish for me; my own version of "Hash brown Casserole". I would definitely NOT call this a breakfast dish and I am truly sorry for that. But on the plus side... it was delicious!! Irelyn didn't like it but I didn't expect her to. James for sure loved it and I liked it too! We will definitely have this again! So here's the scoop :)

- brown the sausage (I did this first thing this morning and stuck it in the fridge.)
- while the sausage is cooking, cook hash brown as directed; S&P to taste and 1T garlic/herb seasoning (I used "Simply Potatoes" w/diced onions already in the bag. These are in the egg/milk section of Walmart.)
- add mushrooms (I also found a really good frozen brand of mushrooms. Check your freezer section for so many options if you're like me and let fresh veggies go bad.)
- add sausage, cream of mushroom soup, rotel and beans; mix well. (I used chili beans and it was so good with them!!)
- spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray & pour in your meat/potato mixture.
- cover with cheese...I mean go cheese crazy on it!
- bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

- while that's cooking, fry up some eggs (1 per person at least). *Optional: you could also scramble your eggs and add them to the meat/potato mixture before baking it.
- when the dish is done baking, lay the eggs on top of the casserole and dig in!!
- you can also dice up some red onion, tomatoes, jalopenos, bell peppers or any other topping you'd like! We used sour cream too!

PS. Sorry there are no pictures or videos. I'm a slacker today. Let me know what your family thinks of this dish!!

Servings: 6
Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes