Cooking Thursday: Chicken and Dumplings & some Happy October Fall Finds

 

Hello my Peeps~

Happy October!! 👻🍁🎃🧡

The best month of them all in my opinion. Since Autumn is my favorite season - In my humble opinion, I don't think it gets any better than the northwoods in October. Folks come from all over to travel up our north shore along Lake Superior because it's just so beautiful.😍  

I love the beautiful trees, the weather, soft sweaters, cozy hot drinks, long walks, geese honking, the smell of woodsmoke outside, first evenings in front of the fireplace, heartier meals, fun movies, curling up under a fuzzy blanket, and all the magic that October brings. 

Right now it's sunny and in the 60's and the trees and bay are all shimmering in the breeze. A little pile of leaves is already forming under one of the trees. 

And here are a few pics from our walk a few nights ago:

And it's so fun to see kiddos get excited that it's the month of this:

And since we're talking about Autumn cozy I thought I would share this yummy comforting chicken and dumplings I made the other night. 

I found the recipe in a 50+ Best Soups magazine from a few years ago. I have made a few really good soups from it and I always jot down my notes about them after I make them so I know how I want to tweak for next time. 

I followed the recipe except I didn't have dried rosemary - so I used fresh I still had from my garden. And besides salt and pepper...I seasoned everything with a bit of garlic powder and onion powder. I let my slow cook a little longer than 5 hours because I wanted the potatoes even softer (I think I cut them a little too big). So I layered the veggies, then put the seasoned chicken thigh pieces on top. Poured the broth mixture over all and let it cook.

This is how it looked when it was ready for me to add the dumplings and I added in 1/2 c. of frozen peas I had thawed a little:

 I didn't have bisquick mix so I made my own by sifting 1 cup of flour into a bowl and adding in 1&1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt. I then took 1 Tbsp of butter and blended that into the flour mixture with my pastry blender until it was all blended in. I did add some seasoning to the mixture too (some garlic & onion powder and a little Italian seasoning). And then mixed in some milk. 

Then I dropped the dumplings by rounded tablespoons onto the hot broth:

I covered them and let them cook about 1/2 hour until they were soft and pillowy and a toothpick pushed in the center came out clean.

Here is the recipe. Such perfect comforting Fall food!! I definitely recommend it and Matt & I both said we'd definitely have it again. 

I don't have an exciting craft update this week. I have progressed more on my second embroidery project - but I thought I would wait until I have more done before I show an update again. And I have started the cute diamond art coasters (see prior Thursday post) - but again, I want to wait until more are complete. So instead I thought I'd show you a few other fun items I found for Fall at Trader Joe's that I had shipped to our home (through amazon - since our closest TJ's is 3 hours away):

You already saw my absolute favorite - this pumpkin spice bark

But I also got this harvest pasta sauce that came highly rated. It's made with pumpkin and butternut squash. I think I'm going to add meatballs or ground beef or turkey that I saute with onion and zucchini and then have it over pasta. 

And I have to say these little pumpkin spice yogurt covered shortbread cookies are really good too! Counting every calorie when I indulge but they are very worth it. Great with a mug of tea!

How is October beginning where you are? Are there any fun activities or foods you're looking forward to? Or maybe something new you plan to try? 

Love the time we share here together always my Friends. Have a great weekend! 

xoxo