wls friendly chicken and dumpling receipe

For those of us watching our weight, It's taken from the Hungry Girl website.
Southern Comfort

Sure, a bowl of Grandma's chicken & dumplings tastes good, but the hefty amounts of fat and calories are less than comforting. SURPRISE! Our version is thick, chunky, and super-satisfying, with dumplings so good, they'll bring a tear to your eye. Try it!

... Ingredients:
Stew
3 large stalks celery, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp. chopped garlic
Two 14-oz. cans (about 3 1/2 cups) fat-free chicken broth
12 oz. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breasts
3 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 dried bay leaf
One 10.75-oz. can 98% fat-free cream of chicken condensed soup
2 cups frozen peas

Dumplings
1 1/2 cups Bisquick Heart Smart baking mix
2/3 cup fat-free milk
1/8 tsp. each salt and black pepper

Directions:
To make the stew, bring a very large pot sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Add celery, carrots, onion, and garlic. Stirring often, coo****il veggies have slightly softened, 6 - 8 minutes.

To the pot, add chicken broth, chicken breasts, mushrooms, thyme, and pepper. Add bay leaf and 2 cups of water. Stir well.

Cover pot and bring contents to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and let simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove chicken and transfer to a large bowl. Re-cover the pot, and let contents continue to simmer.

Once cool enough to handle, shred chicken with two forks -- one to hold the chicken in place and the other to scrape across the meat and shred it.

Add shredded chicken to the pot, along with condensed soup and frozen peas. Stir thoroughly and raise heat to medium low; return stew to a simmer.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine dumpling ingredients. Gently mix just until a soft dough forms; don't overmix.

Once stew is simmering, add dough in heaping tablespoons to form about 16 individual dumplings; add the dough slowly and evenly so dumplings don't stick together. Coo****il dumplings are firm, 10 - 12 minutes, gently turning them over about halfway through cook time.

Remove bay leaf, and serve it up!

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 1/8th of recipe (about 1 1/2 cups stew with 2 dumplings)
Calories: 215
Fat: 3g
Sodium: 845mg
Carbs: 30g
Fiber: 4g
Sugars: 7.5g
Protein: 16.5g

PointsPlus® value 5*

HG Tip! Store leftover stew and dumplings separately to prevent soggy dumplings.




Chicken and Dumplings, Average

Down in the Dumplings...

Here's the thing about comfort food -- yes, it makes you feel good when you eat it; but more often than not, the feel-good meal comes with a nutritional price tag that no one feels great about. Homemade chicken 'n dumplings is a dish that's delicious and fun to make (dropping dollops of dough into soup = a good time for everyone), but most recipes are far from HG-friendly. Fatty cuts of chicken, heavy cream, butter, too many dense dumplings... It all adds up pretty quickly. Some of the recipes we've seen don't even have many veggies -- for shame! And restaurant versions are just as offensive. Our recipe fixes all the problems. Not only does it include LOTS of vegetables, but our version also has tons of lean chicken and a lightened-up-yet-rich-tasting base, thanks to 98% fat-free cream of chicken condensed soup. And those dumplings? SO tasty and SO fluffy, you'll think a bunch of delicious clouds floated down and sat on top of your stew. So relax; we've got this. Isn't that comforting?

Serving Size: 1 portion
Calories: 503
Fat: 22g
Sodium: 1,351mg
Carbs: 37g
Fiber: 1.5g
Sugars: 5g
Protein: 34g

PointsPlus® value 13*See More LikeUnlike · · Share · 10 hours ago near Lancaster

 sounds yummy whi**** didn't have so much sodium though.

I'm wondering how it could be fine tweek to get the sodium down.  Wish I knew a good dietician to check it out. Wait-I think I just answered my own question.  One of the bariatric surgeons at my center is into  cooking for the bariatric patients.  I should give him a copy of the receipe.  Maybe the chicken broth should be fat free and low sodium.  I'll have to check it out.  Thanks for bringing up  the point.

Hi!

You can make your own chicken broth in order to make this soup or any other dish that calls for chicken broth.  Instead of boiling the raw chicken in store brought broth, place it in tap water with a chunck of onion, garlic (raw or powdered), salt to your taste, pepper, bay leaf and parsley.  Let it boil, skim it, let it cool, place of the freezer or fridge for a while until the fat hardens on top, get rid of as much fat as you want and it is ready!!!  You can use chicken with bones in for better flavor and do this every time you need chicken so you always have some stock ready to go. 
You can use diferent herbs to season, like mint, cilantro, and sometimes add vegetables to it.  You don't have to always add vegetables, depends of the recipe you will make.  This way YOU control the sodium and the taste is much better.
I hope this helps.

Peace and good.

Unfortunately, "creamy" calls for starch.

Canned fat free creamed soups also contain starch and other fancy stuff I personally want to avoid.

on homemade chicken soup, though.


tee

Yep, I avoid the empty carbs.

Sounds like a really good idea.  I didn't think of that.  It would definitely help.

This sounds delicious! This good Southern girl loves chicken & dumplings, and I'll definitely save this recipe. Thanks!

I was borne and raised at the Jersey Shore and this sounded awesome to me.