My Go-to Winter Fruit Salad

I cannot take credit for the deliciousness that is this recipe, only for the pretty photos that I took of what is now my go-to potluck dish for winter parties. Sadly pomegranate season is of very short duration, otherwise this would be my go-to dish year-round. I found this recipe for a Winter Fruit Salad and it is just too good not to share. It is very simple and very healthy. It calls for the following:

2 Pink Lady Apples, cored and diced

2 Pears, cored and diced

4-6 Mandarin Oranges, peeled and separated (This is my modification and I think it tastes better this way, the original recipe called for 2 large oranges) 

Seeds from 1 Pomegranate 

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1 T Honey

Mint (The original recipe calls for the mint as a garnish but I think the mint adds a nice kick to the salad and tastes great so I say why not add more and incorporate it, not just use it as a garnish.) 

Mix it all together and enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

My sister gave me this recipe a few years ago (she gives me a lot of great recipes) and it is so easy and yummy that I rarely look elsewhere when I am in the mood for Chicken Noodle Soup. It is the Chicken Noodle Soup recipe that her in-laws swear by. The recipe calls for homemade noodles and they are worth the effort when I make them, but when I am feeling lazy I just throw in a package of egg-noodles from the store and it still tastes great!

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup 

(Recipe by Amy Watkins)

Makes 8-10 generous servings

Ingredients:
8 cups chicken broth or bouillon
1-2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 cup milk (Use whatever variety from skim to half-n-half, depends on how creamy you want it.)
1 cup quartered, thinly sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion (or onion soup mix)
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 dried Italian seasoning (and whatever else you want to taste - sometimes I use dill)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Combine everything in pot (except for the milk) over medium heat and cook until vegetables are tender crisp. Add noodles and cook until almost done. In a cup whisk together 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup flour and stir into the soup. Boil gently for 3 minutes. Stir in 2 T butter.

Homemade Noodles for Chicken Noodle Soup 

(Recipe by Amy Watkins)

Ingredients:
1 tsp salt

2 cups flour

3 eggs

1 T vegetable oil

2-4 T cold water

Place flour and salt in a large bowl; make a well in the center and put eggs and oil in it. Gradually stir flour in from edges adding water 1 T at a time, until flour is moistened enough to form a ball; knead on floured surface until smooth. Let rest 10 minutes. Roll out very thin (they swell when cooked) let dry for about 2 hours. I roll the dough out very thin and put it on a cookie sheet then cut with a pizza cutter to desired width before I leave them to dry. They don't need to be covered or separated or anything to dry. When you're ready just take them off the cookie sheet with a spatula and throw them in the pot. In a pinch I don't even let them dry all the way, but they can stick together a little more.) This recipe makes tons of noodles. Add as many as you would like to the soup.