Soups On ... Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup (WW 6 Points)

With the weather cooler, and me running around crazy I have been using my crockpot a lot more then usual!  I love Emily Bites and she posted a recipe for Creamy Chicken & Wild Rice Soup, I of course adapted it to be in the crockpot to make my life easier!  ONE thing I learned a LONG time ago is put the rice or noodles in the crockpot the last hour.  I was in a rush and didn't do this and got kind of a goopy soup.  It still was tasty but a head slap for not remembering to wait until the end to put the rice in!

Ingredients:

2 cups water

4 cups (32 oz) less sodium fat free chicken broth

1 lb raw boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 (6 oz) box of Long Grain & Wild Rice 

1 cup sliced or diced carrots

1 cup sliced celery

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 stick (8 tablespoons) light butter 

2 cups fat free half and half

Directions:

1. Bring the water and chicken broth to a boil in a large pot or dutch oven. Add the chicken, rice (with seasoning packet), carrots and celery and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and simmer for 25-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through and easy to shred. Remove the cooked chicken breasts to a plate and shred with two forks. Replace the lid and continue to simmer the rest.

2. Mix together the flour, salt and pepper in a bowl until combined. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in flour a spoonful at a time to make a roux. Pour the half and half in a little at a time, stirring continuously with a whisk to allow the roux to combine with the cream. Continue whisking and adding half and half until the mixture is smooth and creamy. 

3. Add the shredded chicken and the cream mixture back into the soup pot and stir to combine. Bring back to a simmer and simmer for 5-10 minutes to allow soup to thicken and flavors to combine. 

ALEXIS NOTES: I used my soy creamer instead of the half and half (what I had on hand). Since I was using the crockpot I threw in a frozen chicken.  Right before I served I put the cooked chicken into my mixer to shred the chicken.  I got Wild Rice from the bulk section at Winco.  I put all my ingredients in the crockpot on low for about 6 hours.  REMEMBER don't put the rice in until about a hour before you serve!!

Give it a try it's on the skinny side but is full of flavor, no one in the house will know!

Enjoy you will love this one!

Something to keep your belly warm in this cold season.

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner ... Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken And Rice

So this is not a pretty looking meal but it sure was a pleaser for the boys!  I found this Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken and Rice recipe on Southern Plate.  It was a super simple recipe to make throw it in the crock pot and go!

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 large onion, chopped (I use Vidalia)
1 -8 ounce box Zatarain's Yellow Rice Mix, cooked according to directions
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 - 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken soup (regular or fat free)1 -15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained

Instructions

Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker. Scatter chopped onion over top. Spoon cream soup over top of that. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. A few minutes before serving, add in cooked rice, corn, and cheese. Stir to combine. Serve hot.

ALEXIS NOTES:   I put the chicken in frozen (because I'm lazy like that). I used the brown rice I buy in bulk instead of the Zatarain's rice.   I put my rice in my rice cooker and right before it was time to serve I added the rice so it didn't get soggy.

Another yummy and quick recipe for a busy night!

What's on your menu tonight?

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

On diet and I can still have Rice and Pasta!

So I’m doing good on my exercise and been eating well and still finding great recipes that feed my need to eat yummy food.  First off I found this Kalyn's Stuffed Cabbage Casserole.  I loved it, the boys thought it was just ok but I’m all that matters right? LOL … My neighbor got the other half since my boys don’t do left overs.

Last yummy on my list was Healthified Mexican Pasta Skillet that the boys of course loved since they are all about the Mexican food.

We have our Tuesday dinner friends coming over so we have Meatball and Spaghetti Soup.  What is on your menu tonight?

Ham & Brownies what could be better?

Our Tuesday dinner friends came over and I whipped this dinner up!  This was a easy casserole that was suppose to be done in the crockpot but I threw it all together and in the oven and the muffins were super easy!

First we started out with a Creamy Ham And Broccoli Casserole, that was a hit even if my rice was a little mushy … lol.

Then we ended with a super easy Yum Yum Brownie Muffins that is made up of TWO yes 2 ingredients.  Now I read the boards and a lot of people thought the points weren’t correct on this recipe but if you only use the 2 ingredients than it is true!  If you add the eggs and oil the box calls for then YES it would change the points but you don’t need that extra stuff.

I hope to have some yummy Christmas Fudges done to post tomorrow.  Hope you all have a wonderful day! 

Are you ready for Christmas?  What’s on the menu tonight?

Not your NORMAL Chicken, Rice & Brownies

As usual we don’t have the same boring meal we have to mix it up and all of these were amazing. NOW the chicken and rice both are low fat, the brownies NOT so much! Thankfully those went to church so we didn’t have them sitting around the house to tempt me .

First off we had a very yummy chicken the recipe called for thighs but I don’t do bones, I know were nutty. So I used it for breast meat and put the sauce as a marinade and let it sit in the fridge for 12 hours then baked it. I’m lazy like that, I LOVE my delay button on the oven and that way I can go to the gym and when we return home it’s done. Asian Glazed Drumsticks by my girl Gina at Skinnytaste.com.

Yummy is all I can say about this Wild Rice, Barley and Asparagus Pilaf. the boys ate it with out the asparagus. Now the recipe has you do the rice and barley in steps on the stove. I did it in my rice cooker that also has a steamer on top! I’m all about the quick and easy here and it turned out perfect!!

And now this is FAR from healthy but as we know portion control is key. The church had a BBQ/Potluck so I whipped up these Oreo Brownies With Buttercream Frosting. I used brownie mix from the bulk section at Winco and used a oreo knock off because I’m cheap … lol.

Now let’s talk about PEOPLE at potlucks! What the heck as soon as I cut them people ran up and then got picky on wanting to get the largest one! Then people grabbed more then ONE before anyone else could get one! Of course the first in line where the people who brought NOTHING! It really irks me when we have maybe 9 dishes and there is 60+ people wanting food. NOW some I understand others have no excuse!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

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Monday Tummy Fillers (Reducing the Belly Roll)

As you all know the theme around here is reduced calories and food that everyone loves.  YES that is a hard thing to do in this house.  I actually got the BEST compliment yesterday I commented on how our food is on the healthy side, Rick said hun your food isn’t healthy … hehe oh yes it is boy you’ve been eating healthy for 3 weeks!  Thank you AGAIN to SkinnyTaste.com for her amazing recipes!

First off was a yummy rice that has Peas, and you who know me know I HATE peas.  Yup it was good and I couldn’t taste the peas .  Enjoy this is to fill you up!  Sicilian Rice Ball Casserole will be sure to be a house pleaser.

And I have to leave you with a Meatball and Spaghetti Soup that was so yummy and everyone loved it.  I had extra meatballs left over that I then made sandwiches with the next night when we got home late running around.  The boys thought it was so cool to have meatballs and spaghetti in a soup .

Happy Monday Everyone, hope you have a wonderful day and may find something yummy hear to make .