Chicken N Dumplings

Chicken n' Dumplins is one of those very standard southern dishes. I've always been a little leary of making true dumplings but it actually was pretty easy...a little messy. Normally when I make chicken n dumplings I use Sandra Lee's recipe from the Food Network and use canned buttermilk bisquits as the dumplings. Even though there is nothing wrong with that (they are actually quite tasty) I wanted to make it a little bit healthier. I had some left over chicken from an earlier dish this week...sauteed some carrots, celery, garlic, and onion in a little olive oil...added chicken stock (I had homemade stock on hand from cooking the chicken but store bought is fine too), made the dumplings, dropped them in the pot and let them cook for 15 min...dinner is served! You don't need to add any cream to thicken the sauce b/c the dumplings are tossed in flour and thickens it for you.

All in all it was an easy, inexpensive, and healthy meal. I would imagine that the total cost for a family of 4 was under $5!!!! Can you believe that?!? I purchased 6 chicken breasts on sale for $8...I used only 1.5 breasts for this dish and with the homemade stock, 1 carrot stick, 1 celery stick, and the flour/milk for the dumplings...super cheap!

Ingredients
2-3 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 carrot stick, diced
1 celery stick, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 quarts of chicken stock
2 cups flour
2 T butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk (to cut calories use lowfat milk...I did and they tasted great)

Saute vegetables in 1 T olive oil over medium heat until soft (5 min). Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Meanwhile in medium bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt together. Add butter and use 2 knives or pastry cutter to cut butter into flour (want the mixture to look crumbly). Add milk and mix until dough forms. On a well floured board/counter roll dough into 1/4 inch. Cut dough into 2x2 squares...it doesn't have to be exact just cut into little bites. Toss individual pieces in flour so it doesn't stick. Drop each dumpling into boiling chicken stock and stir. Let cook for about 15 min and add shredded chicken. Cook long enough to heat up chicken. TASTE (always taste to adjust seasoning). Add salt and pepper if needed. ENJOY!!!