The Winter Season is in full swing here in Hawaii. Now, don’t get me wrong – no snow here… but it’s much colder now a days then it normally is, especially with the Winter Vortex going through the States. And, with Flu and cold season lurking (it’s made its way to my house a few times already), a nice hot soup is perfect for healing our souls. Homemade chicken soup is a staple in our family and we have it at least once a month normally and a few times a month during the colder season so it was perfect to make with all the rain and storms we’ve had the last few days.
To make my chicken soup is a family recipe so I’m not going to get into all the details about it. I did not use Chicken Stock or broth to create it and the soup base itself is thanks to the chicken, water, vegetables and herbs. While cooking the chicken (I used thighs this time around instead of breast meat), I added my vegetables, seasoning and let it simmer to perfection. Once the chicken was cooked and the veggies were almost at the tenderness that I like it, I add in the dumplings so it can cook.
So here is where I share a little of my secrets…
I use Pillsbury Croissant Rolls (dough) for my dumplings. I love to use the butter biscuits, but I use what I have on hand and this particular meal I used the croissants (thanks to an awesome sale at Costco – lol). Now – this is super easy so don’t even fret about it. Open up the Pillsbury Croissant rolls, you can either unroll them or leave them rolled up and slice them into small sections (which is what I did). When they are all sliced up, they almost look like a cinnamon roll (each piece does). Now take each piece and drop it into your pot making sure that there is enough room for them to sink into your broth. Cover and simmer for about 8-10 minutes and that’s it. You can tell when the dumplings are done when they rise to the top and when they are no longer doughy. Yummy in your tummy on a chilly evening – perfect for snow days.
I’m sure there are many ways to create dumplings, but being a busy mom – this is easy, fast and hearty for my family of 5. You can even decide to use can chicken soup in the can if you want to make it easier, but we do our soups from scratch in our house. The choices are up to you. You can also use a chicken soup recipe and drop these guys into a crock pot as well – yummers! The tips and recipe to the dumplings (besides what I stated) can also be found on the Pillsbury website along with many more ways to utilize the croissant and butter biscuits.
Wishing you warm nights – Happy Eating!
