Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

2 chicken breasts
3 carrots
2 celery stalks
½ onion chopped
Nature's Seasons seasoning blend
¼ cup butter
2 Tbsp. flour
3 cans chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 cups egg noodles (or homemade egg noodles, recipe below)
½ cup cream*
Salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken breasts in crock-pot and season with salt and pepper.  Cook on high for 3 - 5 hours (chicken can be frozen, just needs to be cooked longer).  Remove from crock-pot and shred.

Peel and chop carrots, celery and onion.  Generously sprinkle with Nature's Seasonings and sauté in butter until soft, but still firm. Add flour. Cook, stirring until golden brown. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring chicken broth to a boil; add bay leaf, and egg noodles. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add vegetables, shredded chicken and cream; simmer for 15 more minutes.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Remove bay leaf before serving.

*can use half and half or evaporated milk, just isn't as creamy, obviously.

Homemade Egg Noodles

1 egg, beaten
½ tsp. salt
2 Tbs. milk
1 cup flour (white or whole wheat)

Mix all ingredients together, divide into balls, coat with flour and roll out thin (or use a pasta roller). Use a pizza cutter to cut into small strips and pull apart.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these for my older brother's birthday party last night and they were a HUGE hit!  It makes a large batch, which was a really good thing.  My husband even deemed them "extraordinary."  I found the recipe on allrecipes.com.  It was rated 4 1/2 stars and had been rated 7,128 times, so I figured it must be good...and it is!  As a side note, I always bake my cookies for a minute or two under what the recipe says to ensure truly soft cookies.  Enjoy!

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 12 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 40 Minutes Servings: 72

"Here's an Allrecipes classic and much-loved chocolate chip cookie recipe that uses instant pudding mix in the batter."

INGREDIENTS:

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 cups butter, softened 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant vanilla

pudding mix 4 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 4 cups semisweet chocolate chips 2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
2.	In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3.	Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown.

Easy, Delicious Fruit Salad

Ingredients

• 1 (29 ounce) cans peach slices, undrained
• 1 (20 ounce) cans pineapple chunks, undrained
• 1 (3 1/8 ounce) boxes dry vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 lb strawberries, stemmed and quartered
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1/2 pint blueberries
• 1 bunch grapes (I used green)
  (Supplement with whatever fruit you like/have on hand. I prefer to leave out the blueberries and add oranges instead. I also added apple chunks.)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine peach juice, pineapple juice, and vanilla pudding mix.
2. Mix well until pudding is dissolved.
3. Pour desired amount of pudding sauce over fruit and stir.
4. Chill.