Easy Chicken and Dumplings

Good Tuesday morning!

The Gallery is full of Austin's birthday party pics. I've explained each and every one in detail beneath the photo. I've also included some pics of my FIRST EVER Chicken and Dumplings. I know. It's a shame and disgrace to be born and raised in Alabama and to have NEVER made chicken and dumplings... until now.

RANDOMNESS #1 - I'm planning the Faulkner Five 2011 City Adventure. Right now, I'm looking into visiting New Orleans for a few days in June. Mikie wants to ride the train from Birmingham to New Orleans, which I think sounds very exciting. The kids are agreeable to trying this mode of transportation, too.

As is my custom, I've picked out a variety of interesting activities... some are free and some cost a little money. I'll narrow it down to five free things and four or five "cost" activities before we board the train. (I was a little embarrassed about how many of our activities are based on food... but it is New Orleans.)

Here are some of our options:

1. Try a snowball. This is a New Orleans original cooling method. You go to Plum Street and have a snowball in a pail. The pail is stuffed with ice cream, topped with condensed milk and a cherry. It's a New Orleans' tradition, so we want to try it!

2. I want to go to the Jazz Brunch at The Court of Two Sisters in the French Quarter. While we eat our brunch, a strolling jazz band will serenade us. Lovely.

3. We must have beignets at Cafe Du Monde by Jackson Square. We just must!

4. Ride the riverboat on the Mississippi.

5. Go to the zoo OR the aquarium. (I would love to go to both, but it would be more than Mikie could bear.)

6. Eat homemade pralines at Southern Candy Makers.

7. Walk around Jackson Square and visit the St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo and the Presbytere. (This one is a FREEBIE!)

8. Browse at the French Market. The kids can buy their souvenirs here. (This is a FREEBIE for me and Mikie.)

9. Go on a swamp tour and feed alligators marshmallows. (How cool does this sound? I REALLY want to do this one.)

10. Walk down Pirates Alley which was a famous hangout for pirates back in the day. (I'm not exactly sure where this is. They suggest going at night for a more "spooky" outing, but I'm thinking a day walk would work just as well. Oh, and it's another FREEBIE!)

11. Try chocolate from Blue Frog Chocolates. I'm sorry. I have to go there just for the name alone.

12. Window shop at the Riverwalk. (FREE!)

13. This is my favorite. I have to do some more research to make sure it's family-friendly. I want us to see the Big Easy Rollergirls which is New Orleans' own roller derby team. Roxie has adamantly refused to participate in this activity. I don't understand why. I can SO see her putting on a pair of skates and becoming a Big Easy Rollergirl. I really can. (We'll see.)

14. Enjoy a cupcake at Bee Sweet Cupcakes.

15. Learn the fine art of glass blowing. I love watching glass blowers, and there's even more to this activity. You can take classes in metalwork and silver jewelry making. However, if we just observe, it's a FREEBIE, too!

As always, I have extremely high hopes for this trip. The train trip sounds very appealing to me. To be able to get up and walk around AND go to the bathroom whenever I feel like it (and still arrive at our destination on time) is a 49 year-old woman's dream come true.

But I have to keep in mind the Amelia Island/heatwave/fire sand/NO manatees/NO feral horses/NO sea turtles debacle of 2010. Sometimes things just don't go as you plan, do they?

RANDOMNESS #2 - I made a friend of mine very happy today. She was unaware I didn't get up and cook a full course breakfast for my family in the morning. I don't. I never have. We're a cereal/Pop Tarts/microwave pancakes kind of family. That's how we roll.

We also have cereal for dinner on Sunday nights.

And when I'm hosting something at my home on Sunday afternoons (like Austin's birthday party), I give each kid $4 and tell them to eat off the dollar menu at McDonald's or Arby's after church. If the kitchen is clean and ready for the event, no way are they coming in and leaving crumbs all over the place.

And to make all the moms with young children feel better out there... Whenever I mopped the dining room and kitchen when the kids were small, we ate on the deck at least five or six meals before I let them back in the house. And I'm talking the dead of winter, too. I'd bundle them up and we'd pretend we were Eskimos eating our cereal while wearing mittens, toboggans and zipped-up coats.

Heaven forbid you think I'm perfect!

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

I'm sad to say I have never made chicken and dumplings before. Being a Southern girl, I've eaten my fair share of this dish, but for some unknown reason I let the dumpling intimidate me.

Let's just say, last night I stepped out of the box and gave it a try. And it was a successful try... the best kind!

You will need the following:

2 cans of butter biscuits
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
3 bouillon cubes
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon garlic salt
3 to 4 boneless chicken breasts

1. Boil chicken until done (about 20 minutes).

2. While chicken is boiling, prepare dumplings. Roll out can of biscuits on a work surface sprinkled with flour. Make them as flat as you can and check that they have a light coating of flour. Set aside.

3. When chicken is done, remove from pan and set aside to cool. Save water in the pot that chicken was cooked in. You want the pot 2/3 full.

4. If water has boiled off, add more water (or store-bought chicken broth).

5. Bring to a boil. Add soup, 2 tablespoons butter, 3 bouillon cubes, 1 teaspoon of garlic salt. Stir well.

6. Over medium high heat, begin adding dumplings. Tear them into quarter size pieces and drop in the boiling water.

7. Do NOT over stir. Reduce the heat to medium setting, stirring only occasionally.

8. Add chicken back into the pot, tearing into small pieces.

9. Cook until dumplings are soft (about 30 to 45 minutes).

It worked! I made chicken and dumplings, and they were SO good!

Have a wonderful Tuesday. Wednesday's Wisdom, Seasonal Tradition, pics and Randomness await your perusal first thing in the morning!

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda