Comfort Food

What do you think of as comfort food?  For me it's Chicken and Dumplings, or Chicken Ducklings as my niece would say.  This is my favorite time of year...the cooler temperatures, the wonderful smells of pumpkin candles burning, and we can't forget...soup.  Even though this isn't really a soup, it has all the same great qualities that I think of when I think of a big ole pot of comfort food!  Just like the title says, this really is an easy simple recipe.  The original recipe is from Taste of Home but I have modified it a bit to add a bit more veggies.
 

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

 

3 celery ribs, chopped
3 large carrots, sliced
1 large onions, diced
3 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth (or 6 cups)
3 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1-2/3 cups reduced-fat biscuit/baking mix
2/3 cup 1% milk

In a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray, saute onions, celery and carrots
for 5 minutes. Stir in the broth, chicken, poultry seasoning and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to a gentle simmer.

For dumplings, combine biscuit mix and milk. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto simmering broth. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a dumpling comes out clean (do not lift cover while simmering). Yield: 6 servings, 7 PP per serving.

I also got several butternut squashes from a friend's garden that I needed to do something with so I decided to bake a couple to eat mashed like potatoes and diced up the rest to freeze for later use.  Here's how I did it.

 

 First, I cut the top off two squash, sliced in half and baked in oven at 400 degrees for about 1 hour. 

 

This is what it looked like when it came out of the oven.

Then, I scooped out the flesh, added about 1 tablespoon I can't believe it's not butter, salt and pepper and stirred until combined.

I also diced 4 more squash, placed on cookie sheet and placed in the freezer.  When they are completely frozen I will put them in large freezer ziploc storage bag.  You should see my hands, they are orange, but it will be so worth it!