Chicken Noodle soup & biscuits.

We are going though a bit of miserable weather here the past few days...cold, windy and rainy. We had an extremely warm March, so we are making up for it now, i guess. So on that note, i decided to whip p some comfort food for Sunday dinner. That, and because we are all feeling miserable because our favorite Hockey team lost last night :-(

So since they are quick and easy, and can be re-heated to serve warm, the tea biscuits came first. This recipe originally came out of one of those old community cook books, my mom seems to have one for every town from here to Timbuktu. This is the recipe she always used, served with home made beans, soup, potato scallop or stews.

2 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

3 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

4 Tbsp shortening

1 cup milk

Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening. Add milk and mix well. Turn onto floured board, knead a little and roll out. Cut into 24 biscuits. Bake at 400 F for 15 to 20 minutes.

My homemade chicken noodle soup is a recipe i made up. From November 2007 until March 2008, i lived in a small apartment with a very tight budget, i lived off of 50$ a month for groceries. So, i shopped mostly in the bulk store, or the 'price chopped for quick sale' shelf. I would use 1 chicken breast for 2 meals, cooking one half and chopping the other up for soup or a stir fry. Pastas, dried soup mixes, baking supplies all came from the Bulk Barn. And I made up a lot of recipes!

For 2 or 3 servings of my soup, i fill my pot with water and bring it to a boil. (Sometimes i use chicken stock, but today i forgot to take it out of the freezer). At the Bulk Barn, they sell chicken soup stock powder, so to my boiling water, i add about 1 and a half heaping Tablespoons of this (the recipe on the bin states 4 Tbsp to 1 Liter of water), and then i add my secret ingredient, 1 tsp of brown sugar.

I boil this while i chop the veggies. Today i used a large potato, 1/2 a large carrot, and a small piece of onion, all chopped into small cubes. Throw it all into the boiling water and let cook until it is about 1/2 done, then throw in about a handful of pasta per person (i usually use Veggie spirals)

I cook all this together until the pasta is almost done, then i put in about 1/4 cup frozen peas and the (precooked) chicken. It only takes a few minutes for the peas to cook, and i am ready to serve with my tea biscuits. The left over biscuits can go into the freezer, makes great strawberry shortcake, or even served for breakfast with an egg. the soup can go into the fridge for lunch tomorrow, or into the freezer for next week!

Serve together, with jam or butter on the biscuits. Makes a nice comforting meal, and it only took 35 minutes to make!!

Enjoy!