Chicken and Dumplings

The weather has turned chilly here, calling for a good pot of soup.  This is a favorite at our house. Think of this recipe as a guide and make your soup the way you like it!

Chicken and Dumplings
For the Soup:
In a large pot, boil 1 chicken with a whole stalk of celery for 1hour.  Remove chicken and celery from the pot.  Add water to the pot to make about 10 cups. (just estimate this)

Add to the boiling water:
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 1/2 c. chopped carrots
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. frozen peas
1 c. frozen corn
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt
salt and pepper
shred chicken and return meat to the pot

Cook this until the vegetables start to soften, remembering that the soup will cook for about 15 min. after you add the dumplings.  Now is the time to season the soup any way you like, adding more herbs, bouillon, salt and pepper. When it is yummy, add the dumplings.

Dumplings:
1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. milk
3 Tbsp. melted butter
Drop dumplings by teaspoonfuls into hot soup, cook for about 15 min.

Notes:  you can use baking powder biscuit dough for dumplings too.  You can add 1/2 tsp. dried herbs to the dumplings or 1/4 c. shredded cheese (with the dry ingredients).  I usually shred about 1/2 of the chicken back into the pot and reserve the rest for a casserole.

Jenny