Creamy chicken and wild rice curry soup

Alright family. Brett's mom gave us this recipe for a chicken and wild rice curry soup. If you like curry, you'll love this. And if you don't like curry that much (like Brett) you will probably still love this.

Creamy chicken and wild rice curry soup

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter (I used coconut oil to make it healthier)
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 - 1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup celery chopped
1/2 sliced carrots
1 pound chicken breasts cubed
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup flour (I used brown rice flour which is healthier)
6 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of cooked wild rice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup slivered almonds (we didn't put this in)
2 cups non-fat half and half (yes it does exist)

Directions
Use 1/4 cup of the butter or coconut oil to sauté all the vegetables and chicken. Out the mushrooms in near the end so they don't over cook. Set that aside. Melt the other 1/4 butter in a skillet to make a white sauce. Add the flour. Gradually add the chicken broth. Add all the spices. Let summer for 5 minutes. Slowly add the half and half. Combine the sauce with the vegetables and chicken and the cooked rice in a soup pan or crockpot. Add almonds at this time. Let summer for an hour or we left ours in the crockpot on low while we were at church. Enjoy the deliciousness!

What we learned
The rice really should be cooked. We realized this after we combined everything with the raw rice. So we added some more broth and cream to the soup and cooked it a little longer. It did come out as more of a stew, but still good. I would recommend cooking it before so it doesn't take as long. I probably also added more vegetables and chicken than the recipe. We like a lot of veggies and meat. We also added some garlic and probably more pepper than it asked for. More flavor. Yum!

Anyway, hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do. Let me know if anyone tries it out!

Meatloaf

I just made a really yummy meatloaf I thought I would share even though I know mom has a good recipe. This one has veggies so it is healthy!

1lb hamburger or turkey burger
any mixture of fresh veggies minced or put in a food processor (I used carrots, onions and celery)
1 box Stove Top stuffing
1 egg
1 cup milk or water
top with mom's special topping

bake at 375* for 45 minutes.

Yummy white chicken chili

Beware this makes a lot so if you aren't making it for a large crowd or for leftovers you might want to cut it in half.

4-6 chicken breasts
large onion
5 cans great northern beans
2 cans white hominy
1 cup salsa
4 cans chicken broth
2 cups water (or just more broth)
1/2 tsp. crushed red peppers
1 can green chilies (optional)
1/2 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
salt to taste
this can be done in a crock pot or you can cook the chicken separately while everything else is in a large pot on the stove. It tastes better if you can cook it on low for a longer time to let the flavors mix together. Serve hot with cheese and sour cream.

Cinnaburst Bread Copycat

I don't know how many of you have been to a Great Harvest Bread before or if you have tried their Cinnaburst bread, but it is the bomb. I love Great Harvest...especially the one in Rexburg. This is the only picture I could find online. The store is so cute, though! There is one here in Liberty Lake and it is all modern and boring.

I have actually made this bread and it is pretty close to the real deal, but not quite. I did find that if the cinnamon chips are at room temperature they will melt when you mix them into the dough. I suggest freezing them before you use them.

Anyway, here is the recipe. (Recipe and photos courtesy of this lady. I just found the recipe on pinterest.)

Great Harvest Cinnaburst Copycat Bread

1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk 

1/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast (1 pack)

1/3 cup oil (I used veggie oil)
1/2 T salt
1 egg
4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cinnamon chips

• In mixer combine yeast, sugar, and warm water and milk; let bubble for about 5 minutes. 
• Add in oil and egg. 
• Slowly add 2 cups flour, mix and then add salt. 
• Add 1/2 cup flour at a time until it comes away from side of bowl. Add the cinnamon chips when it gets close to the right consistency. The dough will be very sticky but the softer the dough the lighter the bread. So use the least amount of flour you can handle. 
• Let rise in mixing bowl for about 30 minutes. 
• Form into loaf (or whatever shape you want).
• Let rise and additional 30 minutes. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. 

 Makes 2 loaves

BBQ Meat Balls

I don't know if this is a holiday recipe or not, but it is good for parties or large family gatherings. You could have it for dinner with some sides too, I suppose. Anyway, this is a recipe I stole from the Muir family. They are delicious! Tyler and I always go to town on them at family gatherings :).

Mix together in bowl:

13 oz canned milk

2 lbs ground beef

2 cups oatmeal

2 eggs

1 cup chopped onions

½ tsp garlic powder

2 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp chili powder

Make into small balls on cookie sheet. (Karen puts the balls really close together  because it is MUCH easier to put the sauce on, and I think they taste better that way.)

Mix in separate bowl:

2 cups ketchup

1 ½ cups brown sugar

2 T liquid smoke

½ tsp garlic powder

½ cup chopped onions

Poor sauce over meatballs.

Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

As for a Christmas memory....

I remember a Christmas soon after we moved to Washington where I found out mom's present stash in her closet. The presents had notes on them saying whose gifts were whose. (I suppose it would be hard to remember with all those girls!) Anyway, after I looked at several gifts I came out and found Kristin in the kitchen. I told her she was getting some kind of barbie for Christmas and she was so mad at me for telling her what she was getting. I remember thinking, why doesn't she want to know? Ha ha! Kids.

For the Holidays....Yams!

So I was thinking we should all post a "Holiday" recipe for the up coming Holidays. Even if it is one we all know a classic Weathers recipe or even if it is a new one we haven't tried, just post something so we can have them on the blog. What is your favorite Holiday recipe? Post it :) And I guess if we are making this a Memories blog too then post a favorite Holiday Memory too!

I thought I'd post a Yam recipe for my Holiday post and then Mom requested my Yams recipe for someone who wanted it (I think some one at work wanted it), she calls it sweet potato pie, I just call it yams, but whatever.

So here is my recipe, given to me by a good friend from Indy.

Sweet Potato Pie/ Holiday Yams:

2-4 large yams- peeled cut and boiled until tender
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup softened or melted butter or margarine
1 tsp of vanilla
1/4 tsp of salt
2 eggs beaten

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1/3-1/2 cup of melted butter drizzled

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Peel, cut up and boil Yams until tender.
In a large bowl add all ingredients (except topping) and blend with a blender or use kitchen-aid to mix together.
Pour into a 9x13 baking dish spread it out evenly.
Mix topping ingredients together in a separate bowl (except the melted butter)
Sprinkle topping evenly across the Yams mixture in the pan and then drizzle the melted butter evenly over the topping.
Bake for 30mins or until bubbling and topping looks crispy.

Suggestions:
instead of melting the butter for the topping I just used softened butter and then "cut" it into the other topping ingredients like the crumbly top for pies, it works the same.  But if you are in a rush and forgot to soften your butter you can always melt it then drizzle it. The recipe called for 1/2 cup of butter for the topping I found that was too much so I lessened it and it's usually somewhere around 1/3 cup maybe but if you like it buttery then 1/2 cup works fine. Oh and Pecans taste the best with this recipe I think, but you may like walnuts better.

You Say Po-tay-to, I Say Po-tah-to

Wendy here.

So I was the one that suggested we call this blog Recipes and Memories.  I know Kristin had wanted to get a recipe blog going for awhile, but I had in my mind a family journal-type blog where we could record memories and eventually print them off in one of those lovely blog books.  So, then I though "Why not combine the two?"  Here's how envision it:  Posts could be just a recipe, just a memory or a combination of both.

Here goes my combo entry:

Potato Salad

Mom's potato salad.  Remember how it involved peeling a ton of potatoes?  I always thought she put waaay too many onions and pickles.  And oh, how I hated the addition of pickle juice.  Even with all those "faults" mom's potato salad has spoiled me.  I have a hard time eating someone else's without thinking something is amiss.  And don't even get me started on store bought potato salad--it tastes like chemicals.  Slimy chemicals!

Mom has her signature potato salad and I have been aiming to develop and become famous for my own version.  (True story: I took this salad to at least three pot lucks this summer alone.)  It's nothing like mom's but I think it's just as tasty in it's own way. 

Before I give you the recipe, I need to apologize for my lack of specificity.  I remember it used to drive my teenaged self to the edge of sanity when Mom would instruct me to add "some" of an ingredient to what we were making for dinner.  "How much is some?" I would demand.  Time has taught me how to know the amount of "some" needed when cooking.  Or maybe it was Mom.

Well, if you need specific measurements, you will just have to go ask Betty or Martha.  Here is my unexact recipe for potato salad.

Ingredients:
Some potatoes (I prefer red potatoes, baby ones if they are on sale, but any will do.)
Some Greek yogurt (It depends on how many potatoes you use.)
Some green onions (I prefer green onions, but I've used red and yellow too.)
Some fresh dill
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
1. Cut potatoes into bit sized pieces and boil until tender.
2. Chop onions and dill
3. Drain potatoes.  (I like to spread them out on a cookie sheet and let them cool for a bit before mixing everything.  I think that's just because I can't stand the thought of mixing hot food with yogurt.  If you're in a hurry, you can even put the cookie sheet in the freezer for a bit!)
4.  In a bowl mix together potatoes, onions, dill and yogurt.  (If you want you can add some regular mayo, but I found it tastes just fine without any mayo.)
5.  Salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Chill and enjoy!

It's so simple, but so yummy.  Since it has super healthy Greek yogurt in it, you can rationalize eating as much of it as you like!