Soup's On!

All that talk of soup (or rather no soup!) in yesterday's post, combined with my lovely friend Kim's post on a delicious soup recipe she made up this week...well, when it came time to cook dinner this evening, soup was the only choice! I used Kim's yummy recipe as a starting off point & tweaked it a bit for our family. And now I'm copying her idea to share my "made it up myself" recipe on my blog! Thanks, Kim!!
(Okay, now I'm sad that I didn't think to take a picture, but we had the normal chaos this afternoon while I was preparing dinner & then some added drama when Darcy bit her tongue while eating a piece of celery...it bled & bled...for at least a good 30 minutes while she was applying pressure with a washcloth...I was beginning to think we were going to need to go to the Urgent Care, but it finally stopped. Praise God!)
Anyway, back to the soup...the house smelled SO wonderful all afternoon as it was simmering & it tasted fantastic! I love to make soups & this one is definitely now in my top 3! Jeff & the kids gobbled it up & there was lots of laughter & merriment around the table (instead of complaints about the food) always a sign of a great meal!
So here is what I did...I'm sorry if some of the measurements are vague!

2 carrots & 2 stalks of celery, thinly chopped
*Saute the carrots & celery in a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large stock pot for several minutes
*Pour in 32 ounces of Chicken Broth AND 32 ounces of water, bring to a boil
*While the broth soup is coming to a boil, de-bone & cut-up half of a Costco rotisserie chicken
(Side Note: Have I ever told y'all how much I LOVE the $5.00 rotisserie chickens from Costco? I buy one on every trip. They are such a good size that I can get at least 2 meals from one chicken. They are great for casseroles, soups, enchiladas, chicken salad & more...anything that calls for precooked chicken. Love them!)
Anyway, back to the soup, again...
*Throw the chopped chicken into the broth. Stir in a little fresh ground black pepper & a small palm-full of poultry seasoning.
*Add in 1-2 pounds of frozen mixed vegetables
*Stir everything & simmer for an hour or so
*Add in one can of cream of celery soup & 2 soup cans of water, stir to combine
Now the soup was smelling heavenly & I think would have been a delicious chicken vegetable soup in its own right, but I have always wanted to try my hand at dumplings...the easy kind made from flour tortillas, SO...
*About 20-30 minutes or so before serving, cut about 6-8 flour tortillas into 1 or 2 inch strips.
*Place the tortilla pieces into the pot (they will cover the surface) & gently stir them around & "dunk" them a little to make sure all are in the liquid. Let them simmer on low for about 20 minutes. The tortillas will get nice & puffy & yummy!
*Pour in 1-2 cups of milk & stir, let the soup simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
*Remove from heat & enjoy!!! Bon Appetit!
Hearty, healthy, yummy...and a really easy way to enjoy home-made chicken & dumplings!
I'm already looking forward to a cool fall day when I can make this again...and next time I'll take a picture!
What are you cooking up this fall?