Triple Play Cajun Chicken Soup

Progress is progress. I will have a full cedar fence tomorrow. Woohoo. My pups can play outside again. I do have a roof now, but still nothing done on the inside. Nothing except moving everything out into the pod so workmen have room to do it all right. The city has been giving me fits about that. Frustration is putting it mildly. When did our free nation become a place where it is illegal to have both a trash dumpster to discard of storm debris and a pod to store belongings away from the damaged house? It is ridiculous how the greedy fingers of bureaucracy are everywhere! I am tempted to get on my soap box now, but I will save that for a letter to the editor. Let's just say they are ready to fine me for having storm debris, then fine me for having a dumpster to clean it all up, yet neither the neighborhood inspector nor city hall could read me the law. I should have gone to law school like my mom wanted me to!

Tonight's dinner was actually home made. We aren't getting many of those these days. I had made Cajun Chicken in my crockpot and had plenty of leftovers, making it prime for a new Triple Play recipe. The second meal used just the chicken thighs and was sent to lunch along with salads. This last meal finished up the remaining chicken and the baked cabbage from the original dish. It, like many of my Triple Play meals, is a delicious soup. Because the main ingredients are already baked, it goes together really fast if you use canned or dried veggies like I did tonight. I don't have too much fresh produce while the house is under construction because I never know when I will have access to the kitchen. Although it is pretty stripped bare, I can still manage a few simple meals. This certainly is simple, but really tasty. Home made tastes so good.

If you don't have leftovers, you can always start from scratch.

Cajun Chicken Soup


4 Cajun spiced chicken thighs, cooked and diced or shredded
1/4-1/2 head cooked cabbage
1 can dice tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
1/2 cup dehydrated zucchini or 1 fresh diced zucchini
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp Cajun Spice blend (if starting with fresh chicken add 1 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup heavy cream


If not using pre-cooked chicken, bake or poach chicken. Cube or shred meat. Combine all ingredients except for cream in a 3 quart pan. Simmer until vegetables are soft. Stir in cream. Adjust seasonings and serve.


The cream makes such a wonderful addition to this soup. It is spicy and creamy all at once. I used dehydrated zucchini, which I like to keep on hand in the winter months to add to last minute soups like this. Even though I usually save soup for cool weather, we are in the 80's this week in October. While I wish it was a little cooler--my house is still always hotter than the outside temps--I love the ease of a throw it all in a pot kinda soup, and I adore leftovers. I can't believe so many turn their noses up at leftovers. They personally make me quite happy, and I love feeling resourceful.

My oldest son's new job is going well, and we moved him to Arkansas this weekend. It seems to be a great job God has blessed him with. Sadly, the move was a little complicate. Things usually are in the Marshall family. Things just seem to happen to us. While we were there, our old truck, Papa's truck, started spewing oil all over the place. We made it to a dealership for repair, but had to leave it there. So glad we all fit  into a station wagon my mom brought. Thankful to make it home, we then got the news that my brand new accountant boy fell ill after we left. He thinks it might be food poisoning from the symptoms. Bet you can guess what those are. So his first night in his new apartment was spent--well, in the bathroom. Good thing he had put his bed together before it hit. Poor guy. The mom in me wants to be there to nurse him, but I can't do it. His girl friend is checking in on him and bringing him medicine at least. I think he is sure his new boss will be disappointed. Sick on the 4th day of work? We Marshalls are no excuse kind of workers, but it is hard to tough it out through a stomach bug. Hopefully we will have better news on him soon. At least my youngest is doing better, and I got a chance to visit my middle boy while we were there. Andrew is working in their college town, so both brothers and the girlfriend are nearby. I hear I may have college guests next weekend coming into town for the state fair, so that might be interesting. Who knows how much of a house I will have by then?