What’s Cookin’ in the Parsonage?

What’s better than a home-cooked Sunday dinner? Dinner that’s home-cooked for you in your daughter’s kitchen! We were at Whitney’s house this weekend so I could attend her bridal shower at her church. The folks at Clearview are so gracious and we had a sweet time around the Bread of God’s Word and worship of our great God. We then enjoyed a wonderful meal around Whitney’s kitchen table with her and her fiance’, then the shower with the sweet ladies from her church. It was a special day indeed!

Shes’ good…the meal was ready within minutes of walking in from the morning service! Our growling stomachs loved her preparedness!

Dinner was Chicken Stew – a recipe she’s adapted for the crock pot so it will be ready when church is over. To make this recipe in the crock pot, put it in for 8 hours on low or high for 4 hours. She also adds chicken breasts that are slightly frozen!

It was “deliciousness” in a bowl! She served it with oatmeal rolls, crackers, cheese and salami. Pudding parfaits with chocolate pudding, pound cake cubes and Cool Whip were for those that had room at the end of meal.

The recipe is from Food network and is as follows:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 stalks celery, cut into bite-size pieces
1 carrot, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces
1 small onion, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 chicken breast with ribs (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained (rinsed if not organic)
Serving suggestion: crusty bread

Directions

Heat the oil in a heavy 5 1/2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, and onion. Saute the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme. Add the chicken breasts; press to submerge.
Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered until the chicken is almost cooked through, turning the chicken breasts over and stirring the mixture occasionally, about 25 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken breasts to a work surface and cool for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Add the kidney beans to the pot and simmer until the liquid has reduced into a stew consistency, about 10 minutes.
Discard the skin and bones from the chicken breasts. Shred or cut the chicken into bite- size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew. Bring the stew just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Whitney simplifies the recipe by adding chicken breast fillets, then cubing them after the stew has cooked all the way through.

What’s been cooking in your kitchen recently or have you blessed to be invited out, as I was?

With love,