creamy chicken noodle soup & southwestern eggrolls

It's soup weather again. I'm not big on recipes that use cream of anything soup, but this is Lynn's favorite. The recipe has been around for awhile, but we think this version is the best (and simplest to make).

CREAMY CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

2 tsp. chicken granules or 2 boullion cubes
2 cans chicken broth
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 c. chopped onion (sometimes I use the dehydrated ones from the cannery)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup milk
4 tsp. butter
1/4 cup flour (I use whole wheat)
2 cups cooked chicken, diced (2 pieces)
2-2 1/2 cups cooked thin egg noodles (I use whole wheat)
pepper

Cook chicken. Boil egg noodles. In large pot, dissolve chicken granules in one cup of boiling water. Add chicken broth, carrots, celery and onions to liquid and boil until tender. In a separate bowl, whisk cream of chicken soup and milk until smooth and add to broth and vegetables. Melt butter and stir in flour. Add to soup mixture. Add chicken and noodles. Pepper to taste.

*I got lazy when I last made this and added the butter and flour straight into the broth and vegetable. We actually liked it better because it wasn't as thick as usual.

I got this next recipe from a KSL Studio 5 segment. It's not something I'd usually make because it has a lot of ingredients. (Simple recipes for me include not too many ingredients.) These are worth the time--they are yummy!--and the recipe makes a lot. We had enough left for another meal. I always ask Lynn to rate new recipes and he gave this a nine out of ten.

SOUTHWESTERN EGG ROLLS

2 chicken breasts, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, minced
2 T. green onion, minced
1/4 cup white onion, minced (I used my dehydrated ones from the cannery again.)
1 can corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup spinach, sliced very thin (I actually used my dehydrated spinach. It was great.)
1 small can green chiles
1/2 T. fresh parsley (I used dried)
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
dash cayenne pepper (missed this ingredient. oops!)
1 cup monterey jack or cheddar cheese, shredded (I used a mix of both because it's what I had in my freezer.)
tortillas

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except chicken. Transfer to saute pan and heat until warm. Add cheese and mix well. Spoon 1/2 cup of mixture inside warmed tortillas. Fold in each end and then sides so filling cannot escape. Place rolls in a panini grill or George Foreman grill and cook until cheese in melted and tortilla is crisp. (The recipe also says you can using a regular saute pan, just put something heavy on top to flatten and grill.) Serve with avocado ranch dipping sauce.

AVOCADO RANCH DIPPING SAUCE

1 cup ranch dressing
1 avocado, mashed (I used two. I love avocado!)
1 tsp minced onion
salt and pepper
lime juice

Blend ingredients in blender until smooth.
(*Note: This made a lot of sauce. Next time I'll cut the recipe in half.)

These are our favorite tortillas (if your family will eat whole wheat). They have a real nutty flavor and make great quesadillas too.

I usually heat tortillas by wrapping them in a wet paper towel and sticking them in the microwave for 30 seconds or so. Works great. This time I heated them in our George Foreman Grill--much simpler! I also sprayed the rolls with Pam before grilling them so they were crispier.