Life as I know it... CRAZY!: Oct 16, 2011

I am CRAZY in LOVE with this time of year! Fall has always brought a sense of excitement and anticipation, since I was a young in’. As a child, I loved the crisp fall breeze, the crunch of the beautifully colored leaves under my feet! I adored hayrides, bonfires, roasting marshmallows. I LOVED going to the pumpkin patch as a family, and choosing the PERFECT pumpkin, or two… or… ; ) Our pumpkins would eventually be carved into CRAZY CREATIVE designs~ whether ghoulish or simply cute. There was nothing like seeing our finished pumpkin friend grinning at us, candle lighting up his smile!
I loved pulling out and donning my fall sweaters, and eventually my chosen Halloween costume, for the most festive of evenings for a child!

As an adult, I LOVE the smells, cider, cinnamon, a scented fall candle. I experience CRAZY, IMMENSE pleasure in cooking ‘fall weather’ foods- soups, casseroles, anything pumpkin! I love decorating for the fall, yes with a pumpkin included, and of course my FALL inspired Year Around Christmas Tree!!!! (blog coming) I love being outdoors and seeing the changes along the gulf coast. Even though we do not have the gorgeous foliage changes here, like I did as a child up north, we still have our leaves that do change as well as a
plethora of flowers that are still blooming.

Oh! I am simply inspired, and so in love with this time of year,

that I will be doing quite a bit of blogging for you over the next few months.

For the first in this string of CRAZY FALL BLOGS, I thought I would focus on some of my CRAZY~FALL~ COMFORT, foods that are family and friend approved! : ) There is nothing like cooking a pot of soup that warms you to the bone. Or, how about a crockpot dish that wafts delicious smells that will greet you as soon as you walk in the door! What a wonderful way to be welcomed home! I will also share a few DELISH side dishes, and beverages that I LOVE to prepare during the fall! I will be including pictures, recipes, and instructions. There recipes that I am sharing, while they may have been inspired by another recipe, are all my OWN recipes that have been recreated to fit my families tastes, or my personal tastes, so most recipes, while they may have been inspired, are indeed my own creations. I hope you will enjoy, and I hope you will be adventurous, even if cooking is not your strong point. These are easy recipes, but crowd pleasers, as well as family, fall warming favorites!

And today we begin with an oldie but goody:

“Crazy Delish Chicken Noodle Soup”!

Ingredients:

*1 chicken

*1 onion sliced-divided

*4 stalks of celery, chopped- divided

*1 pkg. of carrot chips or 4 carrots peeled, and chopped- divided

*4 cloves of garlic, minced- divided

*1 tsp Italian seasoning- divided

*1 tsp parsley- divided

*1 tsp garlic salt- divided

*1 tsp black pepper- divided

*2 tsp salt- divided

*4 c reserved chicken stock

*1 large can chicken broth (contains 6 cups)

*1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

*3 cups medium egg noodles

Directions:

Rinse your chicken, and make sure you pull the neck out of the cavity. Place the chicken in a large pot and cover with water.

Add 1/2 of onion, celery, carrots, garlic and 1/2 of all spices.

Bring to a rolling boil.

Turn the temperature down slightly, and allow to boil for 1 hour. Take the pot off the stove, and reserve 3 cups of the chicken stock. Set the chicken aside to cool and discard the remainder of the pot.

Once the chicken is cooled, remove the meat from the chicken.

Pour the chicken broth and reserved chicken broth into your large pot. Add the chicken, the can of Cream of Chicken soup

and the remaining half of all vegetables and spices.

DO NOT add egg noodles yet. Allow the pot to boil, reduce heat and cook for about 30 minutes. Add the egg noodles and allow to cook for 8 more minutes.

Dish your soup up in your favorite bowls, and snuggle up in a warm blanket and be ready to enjoy your Crazy Delish Chicken Soup. I always like to cook some corn muffins to go with the soup~ Yummo! This will warm you up and add a touch of joy to your Fall day!
I hope you will cook and then enjoy!

Bon Appetit!

Living Laughing and LOVING the FALL!