Home-made Chicken Noodle Soup: The Chamelion

Hey all! So most if not all have had a taste of Chicken Noodle soup. For many its been a childhood favourite ever since our mums have made them for us when we're sick. So here's a simple but classic recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup!

You will need:

4 stalks cellery, chopped

2 cups mixed frozen veggies (cuts down on the cutting and these last longer ;D)

1-2 large onion, chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 chicken breast, chunked

2 can condensed chicken broth

4 cans water*

1-2 cups your choice of pasta

1. The flavour base: In the pot, on medium heat, saute garlic and onions with 1 to 2 tbsp oil (I prefer Olive oil myself) until the onion is translucent. Add other veggies and saute about 5 min.

2. The meat!: Add broth and water and chicken pieces ( I like to pouch the chicken so that it stays more tender). Bring to a boil (still on medium heat).

3. Spice rack: My second favourite part of the cooking experience! At this stage you want to start adding your herbs and seasonings. Some good suggestions would be parsley or coriander, bay leaves (if you like a bit of sweetness), some oregano, rosemary, and for those that like things spicy (like me), kick it up with some cayenne pepper, paprika or chili flakes!

I can't tell you how much I put in of these various wonderful herbs and spices but I can say that you should add these to your taste! One of my main cooking philosophies is this: cook to your taste! Make sure you like how it tastes! As for the spicier stuff, if you are trying out cooking spicy things, I would suggest you add a little at a time so that you can monitor the spice level!

Remember how I said that this is really a chamelion? Well here's why! This wonderful recipe can be modified for chicken stew to be served with bread, rice or even pasta (already THREE different dishes!) OR can be put between too flakey crusts for....Chicken Pot Pie!!! Here's how:

For Chicken stew, simply leave out the pasta. And instead of 4 cans of water*, add 3 cans of water. With the last can make it a 3 part milk and 1 part water mix and then add 3 tbsp flour or cornstarch. make sure the flour or cornstarch is well dissolved into the mix. Add this too the soup. It will give it a creamier texture and the flour or cornstarch will obviously thicken the soup. When its thickened to your liking serve with bread or pasta or rice!

TIP: Although many recipes tell you to add the flour or starch right into the dish you are cooking, I have found that this could create lumps. So if you know you will be adding starch or flour or any other thickening agent (TA) to your dish at some point I suggest taking out a bit of the liquid you are cooking while its relatively still cool so that you can add your TA into that and then pour it in to your liquid! It makes a lump-free and happy dish everytime!

For Chicken Pot Pie take the same mixture of Chicken stew and simply fill a pie crust with this mixture! Add the top pie crust and seal the pie. Remember to ventilate by cutting 2 or 3 slits into the top. Put this is a 300˚F oven and bake for 20 to 30 min or until the crust is a golden brown!

So have fun cooking your version of Home-made Chicken Noodle soup...or stew...or pot pie! Either way, have fun and enjoy!

Best BBQ Sauce

The summer season is officially here! So what's summer without a barbeque night?! And I have the best BBQ sauce perfect for all meats!

This recipe requires:

1/4 cup regular BBQ sauce
2 tbsp A1 steak sauce
1 tbsp worschestershire sauce
2 tsbp sesame ginger salad dressing (Newman's Own brand or Rene's Gourmet brand)
1 tbsp honey
1 pinch salt
cracked black pepper
cayenne
five spice
chili flakes

Put the spices in to taste (my family likes things spicier than most so we tend to load it up). Depending on the meat you can also add 1-2tbsp of wine. For red meats like steaks, I like to add red wine or even some port! For chicken I try to stay away from the red wine but port is still a good option. Pork is happy with red wine or port!

So fire up the BBQ and get ready for a wonderful cook off!

Portuguese Style Chicken

Hey all!

So this is the dish my sister and I tag-teamed to cook for Mother's Day! This is the same dish that is famous in Macau, where I visited last summer for a Mission trip!

This recipe calls for:

2.2 kg of chicken, chopped into bit-size pieces
2 Spanish onions, chopped
2 to 3 medium sized potatoes, chunked
3 carrots, chunked

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 orange bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp of flour
2 tbsp of turmeric powder
1 can of thick coconut milk
1 cup of milk, I prefer 2% to give it a smoother texture
2-3 tbsp of marscapone cheese (optional, I used this to give a smoother texture but if you don't like things too thick, feel free to leave it)
4 cups of water
1 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of pepper

1) Mix half of the Turmeric with the chicken. Fry it with the onions in about 2 tbsp of oil ( I prefer Extra Virgin Olive myself) for about 5 mins. Add potatoes and carrots, peppers, water, and salt and pepper!
2) In a pot, put in butter, then turn heat on to medium (so butter won't brown). In a separate small bowl, add a little water to the flour. Add this mix to the butter.
3)Add coconut milk and milk and stir until a thick cream is formed. Add chicken and stir and season to taste. Let the sauce bubble and then cook for 5 min, then turn the heat off.
4) Spoon sauce into an oven proof dish and bake on the highest heat setting. Bake until lightly browned!*

*For step4, I prefer to spoon the sauce onto rice and bake the rice with the sauce together however, you can bake it without the rice as well. This is good with both rice or bread!

This is the basic recipe for Portuguese Style Chicken so remember to make it your own by adding what spices you like with it! Since my family likes things on the more spicy side I added some cayenne, paprika, some five spice and even a bit of dried chili flakes! Again, make this dish to your own taste! Enjoy your Portuguese Chicken feast!

Cooking as caring!

Hello all!

For the past month I've been making dinner for my family! As such I have been able to try many different recipes! So the next few posts will be the recipes I was able to try!

But first, as I reflect back, I realize that caring for my family has been quite natural and actually much easier than I had anticipated. Having been away at university for four years, I have changed much, thus I was really worried that I would find it difficult to get along with my family after being away at university for four years.

Since last year I have been convicted to love others because God first loved us. 1 John 3:16-18 says,
"By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."
However, I had not known what this really meant at first or how I would be able to do so.

Over the course of the year God has shown me that I have a gift of caring. It's really cool how the Lord plans everything out! It amazes me how I seem to be living up to my name! Xenia: Greek for hospitality or hospitable. I have found that I love serving people through caring for them and making care packages and making food for others.

So I've been able to show my family love by cooking and packing lunches and making dinners. Surprisingly I've also been able to help out around the house with chores and even yard work! I never thought I'd actually be ok doing all these things!

So beloved, be encouraged! If you have not found out what gift the Lord has blessed you with, keep seeking Him about it! He calls us to love each other in action and in truth! This love of course is not exclusive to your brothers and sisters in Christ but we should remember to extend it to all! Afterall, "For God so loved the world" (John3:16) right?!

For those who don't know the Lord in this way, know that He loves you. Despite your past or present or whatever else in the future He still loves you for you because you are a beloved child of His. It may seem impossible to some but hey, I encourage you to check it out as much as you can in the Bible before you move on from this :)

Beloved I hope you have found some encouragement and hope from this!