Chicken & Dumplings

Thorne/Norton Chicken & Dumplings

Chicken:
2 chicken breasts (~1.5-lb)
salt, pepper
2 tsp. chicken bouillon

Dumplings:
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 tablespoons shortening
3/4 c. milk

Optional:
1/2 c. peas
1/2 c. corn

Cook chicken in 2 quarts of water with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. When chicken is cooked through, remove from water.


Add 2 tsp chicken bouillon to the hot water; cover and set aside.


Cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces and set aside.

Dumplings: Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until it resembles coarse meal.



Add milk using fork to mix until moistened. (At this point, bring the chicken broth back up to a boil.)


Lightly flour a clean surface and pat dough to ~ 1/2-inch thickness. Cut dough into 1-in by 1/2-in strips.


Drop into boiling broth. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 8-10 minutes of until desired consistency, stirring occasionally.


Stir in chicken and vegetables. Increase heat; simmer about 10 minutes.


Serve hot with rolls and a salad.

Wombat Books

If you know me, you know that I like wombats. What is a wombat, you say? It's a marsupial that lives in Australia that vaguely resembles a small bear. But it pretty much acts like a mole or other pesky, earth-moving creature because it digs huge burrows. I can't exactly remember how I learned of them or even why I started to like them, but I do. I even wrote and presented an informational speech about them in high school. When a foreign exchange student from Australia lived with my roommates and I for a semester in college, she gave us each a stuffed animal ---- I got a stuffed wombat!

That being said, there aren't many books about wombats. Heck, I don't think you can even go see them in a zoo around here. Anyways, I did get a wombat book for Christmas last year from Zach: Wombat Divine by Mem Fox. It's about a group of Australian animals who audition for a Christmas program. Wombat is rejected for all the parts except one... I'll leave you to find out on your own.



I searched on Amazon and found that there are more wombat books out there, mostly by Australian authors but they do exist and a co-worker was kind enough to purchase one for me as a gift! The newest addition to my wombat book collection is : Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French. It's a day in the life of a wombat who gets new neighbors: humans. He demands carrots and digs holes in flower gardens but it's all told in short little entries from his point of view. Too cute!