Craft Porn Volume 2

I needed an idea for dinner tonight, so I decided to raid my Aunt’s Pinterest board. Aunt Shirley is our family’s own little Martha Stewart so I knew that she would have some great ideas on there.  I was not disapointed.

When I came across “Cracker Barrel Chicken and Dumplings,” I didn’t have to look any further. Growing up in Southern West Virginia, chicken and dumplings was a staple and has always been at the top of my favorite foods list. What better meal to serve my family on a chilly January evening?

As I scanned the recipe, my eyes went to this photo of ingredients immediately.

Ummm, I needed to roast a chicken and also make dumpling dough?

Ugh. Dilemma! My heart was set on chicken and dumplings but this was WAY too much work. WTF is the number for Cracker Barrel? I rummaged around my cabinets for ingredients to throw something together. This is what I came up with. Busy lady chicken and dumplings.

Chicken broth, chicken gravy, some shredded chicken and a couple of cans of biscuits. Stop judging me for using generic products. I threw the chicken, broth, gravy and salt and pepper into the Crock Pot in the morning. When I got home from work, I took the biscuit dough, rolled it out and cut it into flat, rectangle dumpling noodles with a pizza cutter. I dropped those into the boiling soup and waited 30 minutes for them to cook properly. When it was ready to serve, I spooned it into bowls and ground some fresh pepper over it to make it look fancy. Success! Just like being at the Cracker Barrel. All that’s missing is that little golf tee intelligence test on the table.  Pinterest example is on the left, mine is on the right in the Chinet bowl.

Pros:

1.  So easy a caveman could do it.

2.  You might already have the ingredients (who am I kidding, I am the only jackass who keeps cans of   biscuits on hand).

3.  It’s really, really good.

4.  It is only 250 calories. 300 if you really go for it.

Cons:

1.  Not a damn thing.

Because I am an angel and my BFFFFF Mark (important attorney) has been wrapped up in a trial for days, I did a little “Meals on Wheels” mission and drove some chicken and dumplings over for his lovely family to enjoy.  I hate it when Mark is busy at trial because he is completely unavailable to listen to me pratter on about diet and exercise, rap music and ridiculous status updates from mutual Facebook friends.

Mark and his wife Jenny are the biggest foodies on the planet.  I hate that word.  They have the Food Network on at their house all of time.  They have fancy tools to hand cut french fries and cook with things like Kosher salt.  I don't cook for them often because it is pointless and none of the ghetto recipes I am whipping up in my kitchen are going to impress them.  Following are their reviews of the chicken and dumplings:

Mark:  Very good and hearty!
Jenny:  The chicken and dumplings was the ultimate comfort food!  Just needed a little more seasoning...salt!  Or maybe I'm just a salt head!

See what I mean about the Kosher salt?

So maybe you’re not busy, maybe you’re just lazy. Or you don’t know how to roast a chicken. Either way, this recipe is for you. I wish there was a whole cookbook of recipes like this. There probably is. If you know about one, tell me about it.

I’m still going to make the gummy bears. I just needed to make dinner for my family and this was a way to kill two birds with one stone. If you have a pin you would like me to try, email it to me here.