Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

I based my soup off of this recipe from allrecipes.com.

2/3 cup uncooked wild rice
2 cups water
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups turkey broth
1/3 cup shredded carrot (I cut my carrots in pieces instead of shredding it; I also used more than 1/3 cup--about 3-4 carrots chopped)
2 cups chopped cooked turkey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste (I used regular salt)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
1/4 cup chopped slivered almonds (I did not have any slivered almonds, so I omitted these)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (I also did not have lemon juice, so I skipped this, too)
3/4 cup half-and-half cream (I used evaporated milk instead)

Directions

1. Bring the wild rice and water to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender but not mushy, 40 to 45 minutes. Drain off any excess liquid, fluff the rice with a fork, and cook uncovered 5 minutes more. Set the cooked rice aside.
2. Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion and celery until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour, and cook until it turns a pale yellowish-brown color, 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually whisk in the turkey stock until no lumps of flour remain. Stir in the carrot. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook, whisking constantly, until the stock is thick and smooth and the carrot is tender, about 2 more minutes.
3. Stir in the wild rice, turkey, salt, pepper, and almonds. Return to a simmer, and cook 2 more minutes to heat the ingredients. Stir in the lemon juice and half-and-half; bring the soup almost to a boil, and serve hot.

Brown Sugar Chicken

This recipe is from the Year of Slow Cooking blog via orgjunkie. No picture because my camera was full and I didn't want to take time to empty it before we ate.

12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or 6 boneless, skinless breast halves (I used thighs)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda (I used root beer)
2/3 cup vinegar
3 cloves smashed and chopped garlic (I used garlic powder as I didn't have any fresh in the house)
2 T. soy sauce
1 tsp. ground black pepper

The Directions.

Place the chicken into crockpot. Cover with the brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the root beer.

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The chicken is done when it is cooked through and has reached desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.

Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth. (I used brown rice, and also served broccoli.)

Chicken and Rice

This recipe originally came from my mom. Quick, easy and tasty!

3 chicken bouillon cubes
2 3/4 cups boiling water
1 cup uncooked rice
2/3 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup celery (I usually don't add celery)
4-6 chicken pieces
1 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Dissolve bouillon cubes in boiling water and pour into 9 x 13 pan. Add rice, carrots and celery, evenly spreading mixture. Sprinkle chicken with marjoram, salt and pepper; place in single layer on top of rice mixture. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until chicken and rice are tender.