Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Best Day Off EVER


I had Wednesday off of school for Veterans' Day.  I was torn between wanting to hang out with friends and wanting to be productive.  This is always my dilemma.

Luckily for me, one of my favorite friends in the world, Natalie Dayton, knows me all too well, and she called with this proposition: "I want to hang out with you on your day off, but I know how you like to be productive...so why don't we get together and make a bunch of meals to freeze and use when we are busy and stressed?"  JACK POT!  Do I have amazing friends, or what?!

Natalie is an awesome cook, and she had read my rant earlier in the week about my inability to cook, so she picked three of her "easy meals" and taught me how to make them.  I went home with tupperwares and foil pans full of food.  I was one happy girl.

The best part of the day was being with my friends.  (Laney came too.)  Let's just say that giggling and chatting makes cooking a whole lot funner!  (Yes, I know that's not a real word.)

One of the recipes that we made is Natalie's divine chicken and wild rice soup.  I am obsessed with it. So before I stuck it in the freezer, I saved some in a little tupperware, just for me.  And all day at school today, I kept thinking about that delicious soup awaiting me at home for dinner.  The thought got me through the day.  When I got home at 7:00 p.m., I was definitely ready to chow.

The problem was...the tupperware was EMPTY in the sink.

Oh man, Ryan better be glad he wasn't at home.  I take my food very seriously, and I was beyond livid. I stomped around the house for ten minutes, thought about going to get myself some Wendys to punish him (no idea how that correlates), and ended up eating a bowl of lame Frosted Mini-Wheats instead.  Grrrrrrrrr.

So when I heard Ry walking in from his tennis match, before I even saw him, I shouted, "You are in big trouble, Mister!"

I felt kinda bad for yelling at him when he then pulled out a yellow rose that he had purchased for me.  He claims that this uncharacteristically romantic act was intended to be thoughtful, not propitiatory; but I think he knew that he would be in deep water for eating all of my precious Natalie Dayton soup.

Fortunately for him, we have a big tupperware in the freezer...just waiting to be thawed out next week!

Here's the recipe for anyone who wants it.  It is so yummy!  Just be sure to hide it well if you don't want it to be devoured by sneaky husbands.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

4 chicken breast halves or equivalent amount of tenders
1 box Long Grain and Wild Rice mix (Near East Brand is best, but Uncle Ben's is easier to find.)
2 cans chicken broth
4 cups milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
Salt and pepper

-Sprinkle the chicken with 1/2 of the poultry seasoning and salt.  Cook it in a tiny bit of olive oil over medium heat.  Cover to avoid drying out.
-At the same time, cook the rice according to the directions on the box.
-In a large pot, melt butter. Add chopped carrots and celery and pepper to taste, and sauté for about 10 minutes until tender. Add flour, cornstarch and the rest of the poultry seasoning, and whisk together quickly. 
-Add stock and milk, whisking quickly as you pour.   Cook over medium-low heat stirring often.
-When the chicken and rice are finished, cut chicken into bite-size pieces and add both to the soup. 


Thanks, Natalie, for a great day!  

13 comments:

  1. Man, that soup was delicious! Husbands just have a way of eating leftovers in the fridge. If I had known how bad you were looking forward to it, I would have gladly left it alone. From now on, you'll have to mark such untouchable foods in the fridge with labels like "drop dead ya mangy ol coot," or "touch this - and die." Funny post - I love life with you!

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  2. HA! oh my goodness Rachel, you and I are ridiculously alike. I would have reacted the exact same way. Soo funny!

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  3. What a wonderful friend!! Such a cool idea.

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  4. Did Ryan really just say "you mangy old coot?" I love him. You better believe I would be furious too. I look forward to my meals for days!

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  5. classic.

    also, the word "dethawed" messed me up for a second. i thought it was detha-wed. i was wondering what that meant!

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  6. That is so funny, I would have killed him too! Why does food have so much control over us?

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  7. You are so funny about your food! But I would have been livid as well. Just wait until you're pregnant. The summer I was pregnant with Callum I burst into hysterical sobs because Logan had eaten the last tapioca pudding cup. He had to walk to the store to get me another one. :)

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  8. I am glad I could be part of your best day off ever. My question is this: why didn't you put enough soup in the fridge for both of you? Didn't you expect that he would be hungry too?

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  9. Well, in my defense, I left him LOTS of other delicious snacks, such as leftover sloppy joes and chili. He ate EVERYTHING in the fridge!

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  10. Remember how the reason that the soup is so dang good is because it has a STICK of butter in it! It really is good though. I think I may try it without the butter...I will let you know if it is a success.

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  11. I love that you are so productive and wish I could have joined you both!

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  12. What a cool friend Natalie is! I want to try that soup. You guys are too fun. By the way, I'm working on compiling a bunch of recipes and will share them with you if you'd like. :) Some of them are marked EASY for a reason!

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  13. If you post this on our blog just say 4 chicken breasts (or 2...which is it?), cooked and take out the poultry seasoning and the chicken cooking directions. That way lazy chefs like myself can boil and shred just like with other recipes. Way easier!

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