Chicken and Dumpling Soup

~~~~Soup~~~~

****Seasonings****
*1 (4 pound) whole chicken
*6-8 cups of water or chicken broth
*3 teaspoons (cubes) chicken bouillon
*1 pinch poultry seasoning
*1 pinch dried thyme
*1 dash garlic powder
*1 pinch dried sage
*1 teaspoon salt
*1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
****Vegetables****
*1 onion, chopped
*1 1/2 cups chopped celery
*1 cup chopped carrots
*1 potatoes, cubed
*1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
*1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

**In a large pot over medium heat, combine the chicken, water, bouillon, poultry seasoning, thyme, garlic powder, sage, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer until chicken is done. (Never boil chicken when cooking, it will get hard and dry. Simmering it will keep it moist and tender).

**Remove chicken, debone and take of skin, chop meat and return to pot.

**Add the onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, green bell pepper and tomatoes, cover pot and allow to simmer for one hour, or until vegetables are tender.

~~~~Dumplings~~~~

*1 cup flour
*2 teaspoons baking powder
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*1/2 cup milk
*2 tablespoons vegetable oil

**Put dry ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. Put liquid ingredients together in a separate bowl and mix. Mix dry and liquid ingredients together just until moist. Drop by spoonfuls onto soup. Cover, let simmer (not boil) for 12 -15 minutes. You may uncover for last few minutes. DO NOT STIR!

NOTE:
**If desired add a teaspoon of basil to the chicken when it is cooking.

**I was in a hurry to make this for dinner this morning and didn't have time to simmer the chicken. So I thawed the chicken, deboned it, cut it into bite sized pieces and sauteed it in a little bit of oil. Then I added the water and the seasonings. I chopped the onion, celery and carrots up and sauteed them in oil before adding them and the other veggies to the soup. I didn't have any green bell peppers, but if I did I would use more then a 1/4 of a cup and more tomatoes as well, probably one medium sized bell pepper and one medium tomato (around one cup).

**I changed this recipe to my liking, to see the original recipe click here.

**Pinch:A small amount of dry ingredient, generally around 1/16 of a teaspoon. It's about as much as can be held between the tip of the thumb and the forefinger.

**Dash:Less than an 1/8 of a teaspoon.

**Saute:To cook quickly in a pan on top of the stove until the food is browned. Sauteeing is often done in a small, shallow pan called a saute pan.

**For more Cooking and Food terms click here.