Soup's On!

I recently made two yummy comfort soups and I thought I'd share the recipes. They are perfect for this time of year when it's cold outside and all you want to do is snuggle up and stay warm.

I made the first soup the day before Thanksgiving so we would have something to eat while at my parent's house prepping food for the Thanksgiving meal.  

Crock-Pot Chicken and Dumplings

[Source: Bubble Crumb via Thrifty Decor Chick]

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons butter

2 cans cream of chicken soup (I didn't have 2 so I used 1 cream of chicken and 1 cream of mushroom)

1 can chicken broth

1 onion diced (I used 1/4 to 1/2)

1 tablespoon dried parsley

4 grands flaky refrigerator biscuits

Put the chicken, butter, cream of chicken, chicken broth, parsley, and onions in the crock-pot and cook on high for 4-6 hours.  As the chicken cooks and gets tender, break it up with spoon or fork.  (I used already cooked and shredded chicken.) Get your biscuits and cut each of them into nine pieces.  You can roll them into balls to ensure they stay together, but it's not necessary.  Stir into chicken mixture and cook for another hour.  If it is too thick, you can thin it down by adding more chicken broth.

I made the second soup for tonight's dinner.  It is just so darn nice to come home from work and have your dinner simmering away ready for you to just make the finishing touches and eat it.

Crock-Pot Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice

[Source: Chef Mommy via Thrifty Decor Chick]

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 package of Rice-a-Roni Long Grain and Wild Rice (with seasoning packet)
1/2 tsp salt (+/- to taste)
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
2 cups half and half

Mix the broth, water, chicken, carrots, celery, and rice with seasoning packet in the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.  Once chicken gets tender (a couple of hours in), break it up into pieces while cooking.  (I used already cooked and shredded chicken.)  At the end of the cooking time, mix the salt, pepper, and flour together in a small bowl.  In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Stir in flour mixture by tablespoons to form a roux.  While the roux is still on the heat, whisk half and half, a little at a time, into the roux until mixed completely and smooth.  Stir the roux mixture into the soup in the crock -pot then let it cook on low for 15 more minutes.

*Side note: The day before I cooked each soup, I cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot rubbed with salt and pepper and stuffed with carrots, onions, celery, garlic, and 2 Tbsp of butter.  I used the meat from the whole chickens in each of the soups and I also saved the broth to use in the recipes.  I did have to supplement with canned broth for the Chicken and Dumplings because it thickened up after adding the dumplings. Cooking whole chickens takes more prep time but it makes the soups so flavorful.  By the way, I used a brand of whole chicken that I've never used before, a free range Rosie Organic Chicken containing no GMO's, hormones or antibiotics.  I just happened to go buy one on Black Friday and it was on sale for $2.99!  I didn't even know that grocery stores did Black Friday.