Comforting Creamy Chicken and Noodles

In my continuing quest for comfort last week from not feeling well, I was also feeling very nostalgic.  I have no idea why this dish came to me, but I vividly remembered my mom buying us this canned chicken and creamy noodle dish and for the life of me I cannot remember if it was from Campbell's or Hormel, or some other company... does anyone out there remember this?  It came in the size of a can of soup and was probably the prequel to what is now Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. At any rate, I reinvented it for one of our dinners this past week.

I also love, love this nostalgic sign that I found at a vintage store when we moved here.  It hangs in our dining area and this is my moto whenever someone expresses their feelings in my dinner menu decision.

Speaking of menus we have a very busy weekend.  I have already sent my husband off to his golf tournament after making him blueberry muffins, hash browns, turkey breakfast sausage and cheesy scrambled eggs...yeah, wife of the year award again!  Lots of baking to get accomplished the next couple days for upcoming Easter festivities.

I need to get out of my pajamas at some point this morning (or not) and start a little house cleaning, since my husband took on that role the past couple weekends with me being gone at volleyball tournaments.

Of course The Masters will be watched, unfortunately without my boyfriend Phil, but the pimento cheese spread still needs to be prepped today for tomorrow's lunch.

Getting the Easter care package ready for our grand babies to send out and need to have the girls pack for their upcoming out of town tournament.  I'm exhausted already.....

Creamy Chicken and Noodles

2 cans Campbells Cream of Chicken Soup
1 pint (2 cups) heavy cream
1 roasted chicken (homemade or from your deli), meat removed and shredded
1/2 - 3/4 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (depending on your taste)
1 bag of regular size egg noodles, cooked per package directions
salt and pepper to taste

Remove all meat from the cooked, roasted chicken and shred to bite size pieces, set aside.

In large sauce/soup pan, heat both cans of Cream of Chicken soup to a soft boil, until heated.  Add the heavy cream and parmesean cheese, until a smooth, creamy consistency.  Add the shredded chicken and let heat through at medium heat setting (approximatley 20 minutes).  Season with salt and pepper, to your taste.

While chicken is heating in the sauce, make egg noodles according to directions and drain.
Serve creamy chicken over hot noodles.

** Makes excellent work day lunch leftovers.

Hungarian Goulash and Heartthrob #JakeRyan

I am a girl of the 80's.  My high school years were in the 80's and it was truly I think the best of times.  Great movies, great music and you cannot forget the really great big hair (and shoulder pads of course).

It was a time when teenagers actually talked on the phone and had conversations.  There was no Twittering, texting, tagging in photos or hash-tagging.  I'm embarrassed to say that I am still not completely clear on the whole # (hash-tagging) thing. Nonetheless, I am working my way through it with two teenagers.

I was happy to see last weekend was an 80's movie marathon, complete with Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles.  I learned that neither one of my girls had never seen either of these movies...how sad is that?

It was my duty as their mother - you cannot go your whole life without seeing these two classics.  It was just us girls home and we snuggled in with our pajamas and I got to relive the 80's all over again...and Jake Ryan.

What girl from that decade could forget the infamous Jake Ryan from Sixteen Candles.  Every girl dreamed of meeting someone like Jake for their 16th birthday and having a prince charming sweep them off their feet (with his red Porsche).

Our 80's hunk, Jake Ryan.

My work here was done - girls loved the movies and Jake Ryan.

In feeling nostalgic this weekend, I was craving my sister-in-law Cathy's family recipe of Hungarian Goulash. Just to show how old this recipe is, she sent it to me on a fax machine in 1998 before our kids were born, before e-mail and way before tweeting.

Hungarian Goulash
Courtesy of Cathy

2 pounds top sirloin, cut into 1" - 2" chunks
1 white onion, chopped in 1/4" chunks
1 whole orange pepper, cut in 1/2" chunks
1 whole yellow pepper, cut in 1/2" chunks
olive oil
salt to taste
flour to coat
2 cans beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes in juice
1/2 cup red wine (optional)
1 small can tomato paste
Hungarian Paprika

In crockpot pour in beef broth, diced tomatoes in juice, red wine and tomato paste - stir well.

In a skillet add olive oil, simmer the onions and peppers until soft.  Remove from skillet and add to the sauce in crockpot.

In same skillet that vegetables were cooked, add the sirloin (dusted in flour first).  Brown meat and season with salt and pepper.  Do not cook meat all the way through, just get a nice crust on it, as it will continue cooking all day in crock pot.

Add the browned meat to the crockpot and mix into the sauce.  Add enough paprika so the stew turns reddish.

Cook in crockpot on low for 8-10 hours.  The longer it cooks, the better it is.

I served it over cooked egg noodles, coated in a little sour cream.  You can also serve the goulash over dumplings, spaetzle, gnocchi or mashed potatoes.

A toast to Jake with Vina Temprana