Chicken and Dumplings

Today was a snow day.  No school for the kids.  I worked from home.  My husband went to work and thankfully made it there and back without incident.  This cold snow was the perfect weather for some comfort food.  This is the only picture I took..and it's not even a good one!  The recipe is easy.  It's something I don't remember my mom making so I pretty much just faked my way through it.  I am sure there are others who make it differently or even better but my family must have liked it because the pot is empty.  Here's my quick and easy recipe:

 

1 lb. Ground Chicken

2 C. Chopped Carrots

1 Chopped Onion

1 T. Minced Garlic

1 (26 oz) can Cream of Chicken Soup

Water

1 Batch of Biscuits

 

Brown ground chicken along with carrots, onion and garlic in a large stock pot.  Add condensed soup and a full can and a half of water.  Mix your biscuits.  If you don't want to use my recipe then use your favorite, or open some canned biscuits.  Roll your biscuit dough into a log and cut nickle sized pieces off and drop into boiling chicken mixture.  Let the dumplings cook for 4 or 5 minutes and you are done.  Dinner is quick and easy!

Toffee Bars

I need to go grocery shopping.  The kids open the cabinets and I can count on hearing "There's nothing to eat"  The reality is as long as I still have things I can cook for dinner I am not very motivated to go shopping.  The girls are out at church activities tonight.  You can bet that they will be hungry when they get home so I decided to try a new recipe from my old Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.  It's not bad.  If the girls like it I would make it again.  The nice thing is from start to finish this took 45 minutes.  That's something I do like!  It has a few steps but none of them are very hard.

 

 

First combine 1/2 C. Butter or Margarine, 1/2 C. Sugar,

1/4 tsp. Salt and 1 C. Flour

Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 pan

Bake at 350 * for about 10 minutes

Honestly I didn't time the crust. 

When my toffee layer was done I took it out.

For the Toffee - in a heavy sauce pan combine 1 can (14 oz) Sweetened Condensed milk and 2 T. Butter or margarine.  Stir constantly.  Bring to the point of bubbling and cook for 5 minutes.  I started out with a spatula but found that a whisk worked better for this process.  Once 5 minutes is up it will be thick and smooth.  Stir in 2 tsp. Vanilla

I used an offset spatula and spread the toffee mix over the crust

Put back into the oven and bake 350* for 15 minutes

While it is baking make your frosting.  Now I didn't think the recipe looked like enough frosting so I doubled it.  In hind sight I would have had enough but hey...I am not going to complain about too much chocolaty frosting.  I will give you the recipe for a single batch. 

Combine 1 square unsweetened chocolate with 2 T. Butter or Margarine in a heavy sauce pan.  Stir occasionally until melted together.  Add 1 tsp. Vanilla, 1 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar and 1 T. Hot water.  Mix well.

Take the finished toffee out of the oven and spread

the chocolate frosting on top

Immediately cut into bars.  I actually took a bar out while it was still hot with no problem.  These are soft on the bottom with the crust, chewy in the center getting more firm as it cools and chocolaty on the top.  All in all I would say not a bad treat for the girls when they get home!