Soup Week 2011

Quick & Creamy Chicken Stew

This is a recipe i found on Kraft Foods. It is simple, quick, and normally i have all the ingredients on hand or at least enough similar that i can whip this up any time. I have even made a simplified version in the Dutch Oven while camping. So this recipe is amazing and flexible :) 

Let me explain i am posting the recipe with ALL the alterations too! meaning you will have options the first ingredients listed are the original and all the following are my changes.

Quick & Creamy Chicken Stew

3/4 lb. new potatoes (about 8), or regular russet potatoes, quartered,
2 Tbsp.  water
1 Tbsp. oil
1 lb.  boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces, or home canned chicken to speed up the process
1 can (10-3/4 oz.)cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup Light Zesty Italian Dressing (it is best to have this, but if not make sure you season with ms. dash           and some other favorites, cause if you don't trust me it will be a little bland)
2 cups frozen peas and carrots, or canned if that is what you have! and the frozen mixed veggies are my fav! (like in the picture)
1/2 cup  Sour Cream


put potatoes in microwaveable dish. Add water; cover with lid. Microwave on HIGH 7 min. or until potatoes are tender (new potatoes cook much quicker than russet). Meanwhile, heat oil in large saucepan on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 7 min. or until evenly browned, stirring occasionally. (if using canned chicken you can shorten this heat time or just skip it all together)
add potatoes, soup, dressing and frozen vegetables to saucepan. Bring to boil; cover. Simmer on medium-low heat 3 min. or until chicken is done and vegetables are heated through.
stir in sour cream if it isn't creamy enough add a little milk; cook 1 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.


The following instructions were just the amounts i used for our family. I dont normally measure so this was a first time actually measuring and not just taking the list of ingredients and added it all to MY likes!

If you take these potatoes i used 4 1/2 C. and cook them in the microwave then it will make the process quicker. I used to doubt this theory so this last time i used my stove and even with my brand new convection stainless steel amazing stove i really do think the microwave is quicker and feels less maintenance. 

3 1/2 C. of frozen veggies notice i used the mixed (carrots, peas, corn, and green beans)

Add 2 cans of cream of chicken soup. If you use canned chicken (we love it to have canned chicken at our house cause you can make things in .5 minutes with little thought, it is great. It makes it so when i work full time and then run errands i can still cook something i like when we finally get home) use 1 pint and drain it off  before adding it to the yummy mix.

Let cook for 5-10 minutes and then serve. 

When i made this in the dutch oven i was camping with a bunch of guys and i hijacked their menu!! I knew i wouldn't have a lot of time to cook or even be at the meeting house cabin much so i had to figure out how to make this SUPER EASY! While we were camping it might have been 20 degrees or colder out and we were in a cabin. Yes you can think that isn't real camping, but let me explain this cabin..... uninsulated walls, 1 big room designed for a meeting room, 1 wood stove, NO charcoal broquets to cook with only the wood stove or a hot plate, 8 ft tables on the ground in the balcony to sleep on just to raise you up a little of the floor, bathroom...there was a porta-potty but it took so much work to get to it and you had to fully redress in your winter gear then making it near impossible to use the bathroom. meaning the squatting in the snow method was the easiest way. So can i call it camping now???

Oh ya i should say it was tons of fun and i can't wait to go again when we finally get a new snow machine or a 4 wheeler. our snow machine might or might not have caught fire on this trip!

The way i did the cooking was...

canned veggies (peas and carrots)

canned potatoes

cream of chicken soup

zesty italian dressing (brought the amount i neeeded)

our canned chicken

because everything was canned i just dumped and set on the wood stove until it boiled and then we ate!

I’m Linking up to these Awesome Blogs!

Makin’ You Crave Monday {Mrs. Happy Homemaker}

Mouthwatering Mondays {A Southern Fairytale}

http://www.craftyconfessions.com/