Bounty of Fall Stew

Autumn is a wonderful season when leaves transform, temperatures cool, and we gather the abundance offered. Visiting the Farmer's Market is essential to experience the difference.

Recipe Results: due to differences in ingredients, regional pricing, cooking equipment, individual skills, and other factores, I can not guarantee that your results will be the same as mine. You use my recipes at your own risk.

Chicken Stew with Fresh Vegetables (4).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken breast ($ 9.00)

1 Jalapeno pepper sliced, (seeded for less spicy stew) ($ 0.20)

1/2 medium onion, cut in chunks ($ 0.50)

2 small potatoes, peeled, diced in chunks ($ 0.80)

1 medium carrot or 2-3 small ones, sliced ($ 0.60)

3 cloves of garlic, diced (can use powder) ($ 0.50)

1 small broccoli floret, cleaned and cut in pieces ($ 1.50)

8 oz noodles (preferred type) ($ 1.10)

8 cups of water

Seasoning:

1/2 to 1 TB of salt

1 TB of curry

1/2 tsp of either red pepper or paprika

Black pepper to taste

Steps:

Prepare all vegetables as indicated in ingredients list.

Fill a 5 quart cooking pot with 8 cups of water.

Add chicken, add all ingredients and add all seasonings don't add noodles yet.

Cook for 1 1/2 hours (if you prefer the chicken to be softer, cook an additional 15 min.)

"Al Dente" vegetables add about 45 minutes after adding meat.

Take chicken out of the pot, add noodles and cook 8-10 minutes. (Package will indicate.)

While the noodles are cooking, cut chicken in bite-size chunks.

When noodles are done, add chicken to the pot.

Total cost of the meal components $14.20. Seasonings are not included because they can be used for multiple dishes.

For those crunchy lovers in the family who refuse to eat stews, I would serve noodles and meat without broth and cut up fresh veggies.

In this recipes, I've used chicken breast. The cost of the chicken breast can be lowered using chicken thighs. Any left over chicken meat makes a tasty topping for a salad.