Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup

This is the second time I have made this recipe....I have yet to take a picture, but this is what my daughter looks like after she eats it...

And that smile is worth me deboning chicken parts which I don't get very excited about.

Ingredients


1 3-1/2- to 4-pound chicken, cut up, or 2 1/2 pounds meaty chicken pieces (I used one package of  Chicken backs and 1 package of Chicken necks)
8 cups water
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 cup chopped carrot (2 medium)
1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
1-1/2 cups dried egg noodles (I actually use a whole bag of egg noodles)
2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley

Directions

1. In a 6- to 8-quart Dutch oven combine chicken, water, onion, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 1-1/2 hours or until chicken is very tender.
2. Remove chicken from broth. When cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones. Discard bones and skin. Cut meat into bite-size pieces; set aside. Discard bay leaf. Skim fat from broth.
3. Bring broth to boiling. Stir in carrot and celery. Simmer, covered, about 5 minutes. Stir in noodles. Simmer, covered, 5 minutes more or until noodles are tender but still firm. Stir in chicken and parsley; heat through.

4. Makes 8 servings (10 1/2 cups)

Great for the winter months and super easy... or else I wouldn't make it.

Have a great Weekend.

Michelle

FRESH the movie....

Are you looking for something to do Saturday night. We are showing this movie at Little Flower Church.

 

The movie starts out with Joel Salatin calling his pigs, PIG PIG PIG, (much like how Chris calls his babies) it is a great movie and it is free.  Here are some more details on the movie FRESH the movie.  It is a great movie, and pretty much is all about how we feel as farmers and consumers.

If you saw Oprah Wednesday, you saw Michael Pollan, another person in the movie

Fresh!  Come check it out.

DETAILS:
January 30th, 7pm
Little Flower Catholic Church
54191 North Ironwood Road, South Bend, IN 46635
The film “FRESH” is about food and food production. It shows the creativity of individuals devoting their lives to producing food differently. There are problems with our food system but what about solutions? FRESH is a vibrant, creative look at efforts underway to renovate the way we grow food and feed ourselves.

The film will be shown in the Parish Center (Upper Parking Lot) on Saturday, January 30, at 7 p.m. and a discussion will follow. A few local food cooperatives will be present sharing their visions as part of the discussion. The film is approximately 90 minutes.

If you need more information, contact Chris or Michelle at familyfarmscoop@gmail.com or 574-340-2648.

Pictures...aren't worth a 1000 memories if you forget to take them...

I am a huge picture taker...in fact I am not in many pictures since I am always the one behind the camera.  After the barn burned, I realized I didn't have any pictures of what the barn looked like before.  So many times I don't realize I never took a picture of something until it is gone.  Or when a loved one passes, I realize that I didn't have that many pictures of them. 

For one of my Christmas presents to farmer Chris I gave him a poster with farm pictures and our logo "Family Farms Cooperative".  We brought it tonight to Purple Porch Coop, one of the places we sell our food (meat and eggs), which was nice to show our customers who hadn't been at the farm yet.  Many of the customers asked about the fire and as we were showing them pictures we realized that we didn't have any of the actual barn...sure now I have them after the fire.  But Chris recalled a time back when my first son was only one and we visited.  This was before we were farmers, but my father in law had his horses there and I believe my brother in law was just starting to farm.

So guess what I had to do when I got home... you guessed it, I had to find the pictures....

And then I remembered I had ridden on a horse before, wow is my memory bad.  Please remember this was back in 2001 (farmer Chris made sure I wrote that), so be nice.  They had made changes to the barn since this picture.  This is me riding with Kyra, farmer Chris holding the horse and my nephew Gid in the back.  Our son Jackson wasn't even one yet, I am pretty sure he is sitting on a hay bale somewhere.

I am more aware of the pictures I take, I don't leave the house often without a camera...I hate the feeling when you lose something and you don't have a picture.  Especially for the kids...

While I was looking for the pictures the kids got to see things they don't remember doing...and then I got asked why I took them to Florida when they were babies, and don't now when they would remember it.  Well some day they will appreciate them...right?

Have a great night...

Michelle

Old Time Beef Stew...

If you know me, you would know it is very out of character for me to cook...but doesn't eating home cooked meals make people feel better.  Well I thought with all that has been going on in our house...a little more home cooking might be nice. 

I had some Stew meat thawed and found a good recipe from Paula Dean...the results...of course, the Farmer loved it, oldest daughter rated it her top 10, which is a huge compliment - so today I make her favorite Pad Thai, the yougest daughter, I am pretty sure she liked it in between her dancing around the table, the boys not so much...but my goal is to please half of us and that definetly happened last night.

Old-Time Beef Stew

Ingredients

2 pounds stew beef
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 or 2 bay leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
5 small red potatos cut in wedges*
Dash ground allspice or ground cloves
3 large carrots, sliced
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

Brown meat in hot oil. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves and garlic clove. Add carrots and celery. Cover and cook 30 to 40 minutes longer. To thicken gravy, remove 2 cups hot liquid. Using a separate bowl, combine 1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth. Mix with a little hot liquid and return mixture to pot. Stir and cook until bubbly.  *I added in five red potatos cut in wedges and added them when I put in the carrots and celery.

Have a great day!

Michelle

Winner Winner Meat Loaf Dinner...

Last night I had the dilemma of having five types of meat thawed and no idea what to cook. Either way what I cooked, someone would not be happy. It was between Taco's, Meat Loaf and Breakfast! I called the person who actually brings home the bacon and asked what he wanted...he is the most important person to keep happy! He said it doesn't matter and then he said Meat Loaf...

Did you hear the moans from my house last night?

The kids always complain about Meat Loaf. Well...they ate it all but one slice.. which made daddy upset because he won’t have any leftovers this week. I take a recipe and use Hamburger and Italian sausage, I think the Sausage makes a big difference and of course I use our meats that you can get from us directly at (Family Farms Cooperative (FFC) or Purple Porch Cooperative (PPC).

So I thought I would share the recipe with you.

Meat Loaf

Ingredients

2 eggs, beaten (FFC or PPC)

3/4 cup milk

2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs or 2 cups soft bread crumbs

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried leaf sage, basil, or oregano, crushed

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 pound lean ground beef (FFC or PPC)

1 pound lean Italian sausage (FFC or PPC) 

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon dry mustard

Directions

1. In a medium bowl combine eggs and milk; stir in bread crumbs, onion, parsley, salt, sage, and pepper. Add ground meat and italian sausage; mix well. Lightly pat mixture into an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan.
2. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until internal temperature registers 160 degrees F. Spoon off fat - not needed if you use our meat. In a bowl combine ketchup, sugar, and mustard; spread over meat. Bake for 10 minutes more. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into eight slices.
3. Makes 8 servings

Its great for this time of year!

Have a wonderful weekend....

Michelle