Gourmet Potato Soup, Chicken Nuggets and Applesauce

Today I posted on Facebook that I had canned applesauce and then was going to make potato soup and homemade chicken nuggets. I then got a few requests for my recipes and thought it easiest to just share them here.

First is the Gourmet Potato Soup and may I say it is FABULOUS! This is the first time I made it and it is delicious!

2 c. diced potatoes                                            8 oz. Sour Cream
1/2 c. diced celery                                            2 T. chives
1/2c. diced onion                                              2 T. Flour
1 c. water                                                          1/2 c. Shredded Cheddar
1/2 c. Chicken Broth                                         1/2 c. Bacon bits
1 c. Milk                                                           Salt to taste
1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream

Combine potatoes, celery, onion, water, chicken broth, and salt in a large saucepan. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add 1/2 c. milk and 1/2 c. heavy cream. In a medium bowl, blend remaining cream, sour cream, chives and flour. Gradualy pour in remaining milk. Pour some hot mixture to bowl to slowly raise temperature. When mixed, pour bowl into hot mixture and cook until thickened. Serve with cheddar and bacon bits sprinkled on top.

I'd recommend that if you are making this for your family, you should probably make a double batch.

Recently I was at my friend Dori's house and she made me and my children homemade chicken nuggets and they were so delicious! I had to try to make them myself. I'd say that this is a work in progress. Sorry, I don't have exact measurements so I'll just tell you what I did.

Boneless Skinless Chicken
Butter
Corn Flakes

Trim fat off of chicken and cut into pieces.
Dip in butter and then coat in crushed cornflakes. Put in greased 9x13 pans. I then baked them for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

They didn't turn out as delicious as when Dori made them, but they were still pretty good. I think I cooked them a little too long, my chicken ended up a little dry. Next time I will either lower the temperature or adjust the time.

Next on to my applesauce. Once again, I don't really have an exact recipe but I will share what I did.

First, you enlist all the help that you can. We had our own little applesauce sweatshop going on. Brad happened to be home today too, so he got suckered into helping for a little while.

I like to mix my apples. I used half bushel of Ida Red Apples and full bushel of Fuji. Fuji is really sweet  and Ida Red's are more tart, but really you can make any combination that you want. I like my sauce sweet so that I don't have to add sugar.

You can go to any farm stand to get your apples, but I recommend VanDerGriend's Red Barn in Lansing because my Brother-in-law owns it. Ask for Scott, he'll hook you up!

Next, invest in buying some sort of machine to make your life easier or find someone you know that has one and become good friends with her so she'll let you borrow it. My aunt has this magnificent machine that hooks onto my Kitchen Aid Mixer! This is the second year I've used it and I love it!

I quarter my apples and cook them in a large electric skillet with a little water until they are soft. Then I simply put them through my machine and add cinnamon to taste.

In years past I put it into plastic containers and froze it. This year I just don't have enough room in my freezer, so I canned it. Just transfer your sauce to jars, put the lids on and then you have to process them.

To process, I put them in the oven (thanks to my sister Nikki for this suggestion!) at 320 degrees for 20 minutes. Take them out of the oven and you will soon hear your lids popping. Once they've popped you know they are done.

Hope this helps everyone who was asking. Enjoy!!!!