Curry Chicken Noodle Soup with Lentils and Bulgur

Soup is great for cold winter nights, and this particular Curry Chicken Noodle Soup with Lentils and Bulgur is just great to warm up your family's hearts at the dining table.   It's easy and a good way to extend a can of ordinary chicken soup into a meal.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 can of Progresso Lite Chicken Noodle Soup
1/4  to 1/3 Cup French green lentils, rinsed
1/2 Cup Bulgur prepared in hot boiling water already, and set aside
1 to 2 Cans of water
1/8 tsp to 1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp to 1 tsp curry powder

Add the soup into a quart size pot, add 1 to 2 cans of water.   Add French green lentils and bulgur into the soup.  Add cumin and curry powder.  Bring to boil and turn to simmer.   Cook until lentils are done.   Stir from time to time.  Adjust liquid level as needed enough to cook the lentils till done.    Approximately 30 min. cooking time depending on your stove.
No need to add salt.

Serve with homebaked bread.

Cherry Empanada and Arancini and Guacamole

Snack Attack!?  during the football game....  but my commitment is to use whatever I have in the kitchen.... So, I came up with Cherry Empanada made with Flour Tortilla and canned Cherry Pie filling.     Deep fry it.   Coat them with Ceylon Cinnamon and sugar mixture.    Oh, yes!  it is delicious.      It is one of my recipe that I prepared for my children for easy snack.     It's my turn to treat myself.

 And yes! those frozen Suppli al Telefono that I prepared a month ago for the just in case... snack.   I defrosted them, dipped in beaten egg and coated them with the bread crumbs.     Voila, another satisfying snacks.

 And while at it, why not cut 1 or 2 flour tortilla into strips and deep fry them?  Make my own chips.   Mash those Avocado, add some lime juice, finely chopped onions, cilantro.    Uh, huh... it is good.

 

Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Breast with Dijon and Candied Oranges

Testing what else can I make with the existing ingredients I find in my kitchen.

Cooking it slowly with all the wonderful flavorful ingredients produced moist tasty chicken.     I was very satisfied with the tangy sweet taste infused by the sun-dried tomatoes and candied oranges.   Dijon mustard under the skin, added a coat to protect from the moisture loss for the 45 minutes that I was cooking this single chicken breast.   45 minutes?!  sounds crazy, but yep, it was cooking gently to it's perfection.    I packed it as my lunch for the next day.     That was really  a good lunch.

Rice Chex French Toast Coming Right Up!

This is a concoction of a hungry guy in a hurry.     A day old Sourdough bread slices dipped in beaten eggs and milk.    Then coated with Rice Chex and cooked in fry pan with butter.
Serve with your favorite syrup.
  

 Anyway you look at it - just eat it!  it is crunchy delicious!

Polly's Tabbouleh

 Why do I call some of the menu with "Polly's"?   because I added extra ingredients that are not normally added in the type of recipes.    This Tabbouleh included Japanese FUYU KAKI (persimmon) and navel oranges.    Anything that I can find in my kitchen.     I think it turned out very good.     I never thought of eating the curly parsley other than using them as garnish, but the lemon juice, garlic, onions, and olive oil dressing really brought out the gentle flavor of parsley.    Cilantro, Bulger, KAKI, and oranges made it a filling colorful dish.

 Enjoy with a slice of homebaked Ciabatta bread toasted in olive oil.