Skinny Chicken Pot Pie Soup

I’m not much of a recipe sharer.  Shoot, I’m not even much of a cook.  But I figured that since I’ve made this soup twice since coming home 3 weeks ago, it’s worth sharing.  John and I really like to make our own version of chicken pot pie, so when I found this recipe on Pinterest, I knew it was worth a try. 

It’s cold and rainy today, plus I’m feeling a bit under the weather, so I decided chicken pot pie soup was just what the doctor ordered.  It’s easy to make, it’s filling, and it’s oh so yummy.  Even though it’s made with skim milk and no heavy cream, this soup is rich and creamy and guilt free!  I made a few changes to the original recipe (found here) to adapt it my taste and use things that I regularly keep in my pantry.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups broth (reserved from boiling chicken)  
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 cups skim milk
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 8 oz sliced mushrooms 
• 1 container Knorr Homestyle chicken stock concentrate or 2 chicken bouillon cubes.
• 10 oz frozen classic mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn)
• 1 large potato cut into bite size pieces 
• 2 large or 3 small chicken breasts, cooked & cut into small pieces (or 1 pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from your grocery store deli)
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp cornstarch

Directions:

Boil chicken until cooked through and reserve 2 cups of the broth.  Add broth, milk, and chicken stock to a large pot and bring to a slow boil.  Stir often to prevent milk from scorching.  Add mushrooms, vegetables, onion, and celery to pot and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes until vegetables are cooked.  Add potatoes and cook until soft (about 10 minutes).  Wisk together 1/2 cup water with cornstarch.  Add chicken and cornstarch mixture to soup.  Salt and pepper to taste, and stir until soup thickens.

Serve with a fresh baguette and enjoy!

Oktoberfest!

A couple of years ago, John and I took a trip to Stuttgart and Munich, Germany for their spring beer festivals.  Ever since, we’ve dreamed of going to Oktoberfest.  Now, that dream has become a reality, and what a whirlwind day it was!

Here on base we have something called the Information, Tickets, & Travel office, called ITT for short.  Every year ITT offers express trips to Munich each of the 3 weekends of Oktoberfest.  For a very reasonable fee, they provide buses that take us from Aviano to the fairgrounds in Munich for one very long day trip.

John and I woke up around 1:00 am on Saturday, October 6 to catch the 1:45 bus to Munich.  We might have slightly over prepped a little with plenty of pillows and blankets to get the best sleep possible on the bus.  We drove through the night and stopped around 7 am for breakfast.  I have no idea where we were, somewhere near the Austria/Germany line, but the views we gorgeous!

A couple more hours on the bus, and we were there!  At the entrance to the grounds stands the Bavaria Statue with a large grassy hill on either side.  By the end of the day, this hill would be filled with people trying, some not so successfully, to sleep off the day’s beer.

  We walked through the fairgrounds, passing the beer tents, pretzel venders, and amusement rides.

It was only 9:30 in the morning, but the fairgrounds were filling up FAST!  All 6 of the Munich breweries are represented at Oktoberfest and each brewery has their own tent.  We were determined to hit the Hofbrauhaus tent.

See all those people?!?!  This was still only about 9:30-10:00 in the morning!  By the end of the day, this place was PACKED. 

Once we made it to the Hofbrauhaus tent, we had to get in line.  Little did we know this was going to be a theme for the day Even still, we were pretty excited to be there, hunting down beer at 10 am.  Hey, it’s 5:00 somewhere, right?  Well,at Oktoberfest, it always 5:00.

Unfortunately, wee never made it inside the tent.  After about 30 minutes, one of the security guards came to the head of line and announce that the tent would be closed for the next 3 hours!  Boo.  The crowd was growing by leaps and bounds, and neither of us enjoy being bumped into at every turn, so wee decided to ditch the fairgrounds and head into the center of Munich.  We might not be able to get into the HB tent, but we weren’t going to let that get in our way to fun.  We decided we’d to the actual Hofbrauhaus downtown. 

We took the U-bahn from the fairgrounds to Marienplatz in the heart of the pedestrian area of Munich.  We got there in time to see the puppets in the clocktower of the new town hall.

Maybe we were naive, but we were surprised to see how packed Munich was even outside of the fairgrounds.  It was wonderful.  Oktoberfest is celebrated all over the city.  The building were festively adorned with fall flowers and city flags. 

After walking around and enjoying Munich for a bit, we finally made our way to the Hofbrauhaus downtown.  As soon as we got there, we were immediately glad we made the decision to leave the fairground and head into town.  It was definitely still packed inside, but the wait to get in was only a few minutes long, and since there were only 2 of us, it was easy to find a seat.

We ended up sitting in the upstairs hall which was a real treat for John.  John loves Germany history, especially surrounding the two world wars, and the Hofbrauhaus is chock full of history, especially the large festival hall on the 3rd floor.  Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it:

In 1919, the Munich Communist government set up headquarters in the famous beer hall, and in 1920 Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists held their first meeting in the Festsaal, the Festival Room, on the third floor.

The hall is beautiful, and festive, and so. much. fun!  By this time, not only were we craving some serious beer, but we were also getting really hungry.  Good thing we were in the right place.  We grabbed a couple of English menus and got to work figuring out what we were having. 

We each ordered our liter of beer.  John had his favorite, the Hofbrau Dunkel, and I decided to try the Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier.

 

We decided to each pick something off the menu for lunch and share the 2 dishes.  John ordered a pork dish with gravy and a potato dumpling, while I ordered the Munich brats and sauerkraut.  Both were very tasty!

And just in case you were wondering what it’s like to put a liter of beer up to your face, well here you go.

After lunch, we decided to pick up some souvenirs and head back to the fairgrounds.   By far, one of my favorite things about Oktoberfest was the clothing!  Young and old, it didn’t matter, everyone was dressed the part.  The men wore their lederhosen and the women their dirndls. 

Remember the Bavarian Statue I mentioned earlier?  Remember the hill?  Well, by mid afternoon, things were looking a bit different.

 

John and I were so tired by this point, so we decided to find us a spot on the hill.  Look at all the people here!

Our bus picked us up around 9:30 and by 4am we were back home, where our bed was calling our names. We have black out shades on our house, so we slept until 11am without even knowing the sun had come up. Delightful.

We had a lot of fun on our day trip to Oktoberfest, and are so glad we went. Because it was so crowded, we think if we have the opportunity to go next year, that we’d like to go during the week and stay a couple of nights in town. We also learned that in order to get in one of the beer tents or beer gardens not only do you need to get there early, but you need to get in line immediately. If you wait until later, you’ll never get it. We were disappointed that we didn’t get into a tent, but that just gives us something to look forward to for the next time. We certainly wouldn’t change how we spent the day.

Two Months

It’s hard to believe 2 months have passed since we moved from Charleston to Aviano.  So much has happened since arriving in Italy.  It’s definitely been an adventure!

When we arrived, our car was here waiting for us.  It took us a few days to be able to pick it up; we had to attend a vehicle safety briefing, apply for our AFI (Allied Forces Italy) drivers license, and finalize our vehicle registration.  And nothing around here is done quickly, or in a day.  Thankfully, by Monday, we had our car. 

Our excitement however was short lived, and we learned firsthand, how difficult it is when your American spec car breaks down around here.  3 days after picking up Rolla, her starter died.  We had someone call the local Toyota dealer about getting the part.  With import fees and what I’m certain is what I call the “American tax” the cost would have been around 700 Euros which is equivalent to about $900.  JUST. FOR. THE. STARTER.  No dice. 

We decided to save $800 and just order it ourselves.  That was definitely our first lesson in how hard some things can be around here.  We couldn’t believe how much more expensive it would have been to order the part locally.

We were thankful that it was a simple, easy fix and that nothing major was wrong with Rolla.  We since learned that A LOT of people have trouble with their cars right after they come off the boat, so what we experienced was just par for the course!

Not all of our excitement has been bad.  We’ve had some fun taking day trips and exploring our new home.

Shortly after we arrived, some new friends invited us to visit Lake Barcis with them.  Lake Barcis is nestled in the middle of the mountains about 30 minutes away from the base. The water is gorgeous turquoise blue color, and there is a nice path around the lake with picnic tables and wonderful views!

The little town around the lake is so cute.  It was something out of a storybook.  I have a feeling that we are going to see a lot of little storybook towns in the next 3 years!

At the end of September, we went to the Italian/American Friendship Festival in Maniago.  Maniago is one of the many small towns near the base where Americans stationed at Aviano Air Base live.  Unfortunately, you can’t see it in the picture below, but Italian and American fire fighters were standing underneath the flags during a 9/11 tribute.

There were tents with free food and wine, and Italian and American flags hung from the windows and balconies surrounding the square.

  It’s been an interesting ride so far.  We’ve definitely had our share of ups and downs, but I would mostly say ups.  We’ve had fun trying new dishes, and have already established our favorite restaurants.  We’ve tried to branch out from the norm and try some unusual (for us) stuff on our pizza like this potato and salami pizza.

Truth?  It was TASTY!  I was certainly skeptical, but John insisted that his airmen kept talking about how good it was.  Another surprising hit was a local appetizer, prosciutto and melon.  Savory and sweet, this dish is SO good!

  I promise, these pictures do not lie.  All we do is eat!  Ha ha!  We have a cafe within walking distance to our house, and it has become our Sunday afternoon routine to walk down there with the dogs for gelato.  I love how dog friendly Italy is!  The dogs certainly love the outing, especially since I often break apart and share my cone with them!

We still have so much to learn and experience, and our Italian consists mostly of “Ciao!” and hand gestures, but we are thankful for this adventure and the challenges it brings!

The Search for an Italian Casa is OVER!

When I last left off I had shown you a beautiful new construction that we absolutely loved, but was too far away.  Even now, thinking back to the land owners, I really hope they’ve found renters, because they were so sweet and very accommodating.  That place is an absolute dream!

But speaking of dreams, this next house was something out of a fairy tale and located in a little town called Budoia, which is about 10 minutes from the air base. 

I know from the picture is doesn’t look like much, but those balconies were SOLID and so gorgeous up close.  And those stone walls.  It was like walking into a storybook, only it has running water, electricity, and DSL connections.

 

On the first floor, however, things were a little less magical.  There was no real living space here.  To give you an idea, I was standing in the far corner of the room when I took this picture and this is all I could manage to get in the shot. You see the kitchen in the background as well.  That’s all of it.  One wall which consists most of a stove and a sink.  There was 3 feet max of counter space.  We could work with that of course, but the lack of living space downstairs was kind of a killer.

The balcony off of the master bedroom on the second floor, nearly made me forget the problems wee had going on downstairs.  Not to mention the bathroom was ENORMOUS.  Large enough to fit our washer and dryer if we wanted.  It had 2 separate pedistal sinks (because there is no such thing as a 6 foot double vanity around these parts), a shower, and a separate tub.  Oh and there was a towel warmer too.  Yum.

We determined the living space in this house would have to be on the 3rd floor.  Which was almost alright by me because look at those ceilings!  Centuries old wood beams that could charm the pants off the surliest of beasts.  Not to mention, the second balcony was up here.  But then we figured, that it’d be kind of weird to welcome guests to our home and then, after dinner, lead them to the 3 floor like prisoners in an old castle.  No escape.  I still dream about those stone walls and centuries old wood.  If only there was a way to expand the first floor by 10 feet in one direction.  Then, we’d be in business.

We toured this über modern number in a town called Polcenigo.

From the outside it doesn’t look much different form the last house.  Double balconies off the 2nd and 3rd floors, square and flat, but then there’s that weird white almost-circular handrail that tells you there’s  more than meets the eye here.  And boy is there!

An American from Alabama purchased this house a few years back and complete modernized and renovated it from the ground up.

The crazy handrails from the outside were carried through to the inside.  All the way to the third floor.  And as you can see the floors and ceilings were all concrete.  Now let’s talk about the ECHO.  We would have to invest a small fortune in rugs to keep the echo down in that place.  Plus, let’s be honest, John and I are not cool enough to love modern architecture.  And from what the real estate agent was telling us, the owner hired a big name (though she didn’t know the name) architect for the renovations.  I do enjoy modern architecture, but I don’t want to live in modern architecture.  That place just felt cold, and wrong, and more of an 80s style “modern.”  And don’t ask me what those holes in the ceiling are for, because I have no clue.  They were on both the first and second floors, and had no pattern to them.

I did really like the 3rd floor, however.  I’m sure it had nothing to do with the wood floors and white washed beams that were original to the old farm house. 

There were some really nice amenities to the house that had us scratching our heads wondering if we could make this work.  For one, all of the floors were heated which is the most energy efficient ways to heat your house in the winter time here.  Secondly, each of the bedrooms had it’s own thermostat. So you could completely shut off heat or air to any room you’re not using.  Also the kitchen was nice and “American” with plenty of cabinet space and a dishwasher.  And lastly, there was a bubbly tub outside.  Yep, just like you’d see back home.  But in the end, we didn’t like the drive (tiny one-way roads with 2-way traffic) and we jut didn’t like the feel.

It was a long journey to finding our house.  We visited a house in Aviano that had so many rooms in the basement, the landlord couldn’t tell us what they were used for (we decided one would be a racquetball court and the other would be for ballroom dancing), another house in Roveredo in Piano in which we discovered plates of rat poison (at which point we promptly said our goodbyes to the man showing us the property), and a really nice house in Polcenigo with more scary, tiny roads (come visit and you’ll see what I’m talking about).  Finally, though, we hit the jackpot!

This is a screen shot from Google maps of the house we will be renting for the next 3 years.  I was way too enamored with the house to remember to take pictures while we were walking through it, so you will have to wait until we move in and get settled to get a tour.  We are so excited to have found this house and can’t wait to move in.  It’s taking a little longer than we like because the current tenant doesn’t move out for a few days still, and then the landlord has to come in and inspect it and paint.  In the end, it will be so worth the wait!  It has many of the things on our wish list of sorts.  I can’t wait to get in and get settled and take you on a tour of our Italian casa.

In Search of an Italian Casa

We’ve had many people tell us, oh we looked at about 10 houses and ended up choosing the first house we saw.  That sounds easy.  We can totally do that!  Right.  Well they clearly weren’t moving to Italy at the end of PCS season (meaning all the good one’s had already been snagged) nor were they moving to Italy in the month of August.  What does August have to with anything?  I’m glad you asked.

In Italy, August is vacation, or as they call it, holiday, month in Italy.  Only, the Italians don’t spend a week at the beach or Euro-Disney.  No, no.  They “holiday” for an. entire. month.  It’s so serious that GAS STATIONS close for the month of August.  That one floored me.  Not all of them close.  The bigger ones stayed open, but many of the little stations were closed all month long.

Well, as you can imagine, gas station owners aren’t the only people on holiday.  Many landlords are too.  It was not uncommon for John or I to make a phone call to see a house and be met with, “I’m sorry.  I’m on holiday.  Would you like to see it on the 27th?”  Given that we started our search on the 10th, that was not going to work.  Thankfully, with much help from our sponsor and his wife, we were able to find a few houses to view.  And when I say a few, I mean 21.  Yes, it took 21 houses to find “the one.” 

Don’t panic, I’m not going to make you sit here and read through each and every house we saw.  But I’ve got some highlights.  Let’s get started, shall we?

The first place we saw was a cute town house in the town of San Quirino.  Just walking through the front gate, through the little garden to the front door, we were busting with excitement.  This is it.  We’re are actually looking at houses in Italy!  The photo below is one I stole from the online listing because I didn’t have my wits about me enough to take a picture of my own.

This townhouse was great.  The kitchen was very “American” in that it has an American size refrigerator, plenty of cabinet space, and a dishwasher.  Apparently, dishwashers are rare in these parts.  Look at that ceiling!  If you look closely, just behind the light fixture is a set of pull-down stairs that lead to a loft that overlooks the adjacent living room.  At little bizzare, but kind of cute.  Definitely not the weirdest thing we’d see by far.

One of the “selling points” the agent, Sergio, was eager to point out was the jetted tub.  Apparently, when trying to get Americans to rent your house, you install a jetted tub.  We actually saw quite a few of these.  Sadly, none of them had any bearing on our decision.

This townhouse was much larger than it looked from the street.  There were 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms on the main level.  But what we didn’t know going into the showing was that this house also had a full basement with 2 more bedrooms and another bathroom.  On top of that it also had another FULL kitchen and den with it’s own fireplace.  Sorry, Moms, we didn’t end up getting this place even though it came complete with the mother of all mother-in-law suites.

We were so excited about this place.  Like, ready to sign the lease on the spot, excited.  And then Segio dropped a bomb.  No dogs.  What?!  He knew going into the showing we had dogs.  We had already designated a room for Randy.  Why on earth did this guy just show us this amazing house if he knew we couldn’t have our dogs?  Apparently, he had some problems with American tenants before leaving their dogs at home alone, rotting in their own filth, while they traveled Europe having a grand time.  And he had the photos to show us.  STUPID Americans ruin everything! 

There was a glimmer of hope though.  Sergio had a house available just down the road that was dog friendly.  Knowing we had nothing to lose and a little time before our next scheduled showing, we followed him out to it.  Let’s just say, his idea of “dog friendly” properties and my idea of “dog friendly” properties don’t exactly align. 

All of the light fixtures in the San Quirino townhouse were made of Murano glass.  All of the fixtures in the “dog friendly” house were, well you can see, not quite up to par.  As a matter of fact, nothing about that house was up to par, including the big as Biscuit spider lurking around in the basement.  So we parted ways with Sergio and continued our hunt.

Another house we checked out was this cute-from-outside farm house in Aviano.

And that’s where the fun ends.  For starters, here’s the kitchen:

Note the lack of a refrigerator.  We probably wasted a good 5 minutes trying to figure out where we’d put a refrigerator when we realized it was a moot point.  Partly because we had to duck to get through the doors to the bedrooms and then could barely stand up straight, and partly because we knew there was no way we were living in a house where the refrigerator was anywhere other than the kitchen.

I apologize for the super blurry picture, but at this point I was laughing too hard.  You can’t really tell it in the photo, but John’s head is less than an inch from the ceiling.   The ceiling in the upstairs bathroom and the guestroom was even lower.  And the bathroom downstairs?  Oh, it was outside.  Next please!

  We looked at a new construction near a town called Cordenons.  This place was gorgeous and the perfect size for us, and it was dogs friendly.  We were super careful about triple checking that before seeing the house after our San Quirino experience.  Look at all of that gorgeous wood!  Be still my heart.

Look at all of that gorgeous wood! Be still my heart.

Do you see that ceiling and the brick floors and walls?!  I loved, loved, loved this house.  It had the only en-suite master bath that we saw.  Pay no attention to the lonely bulb hanging from the ceiling.  The house wasn’t completely finished when we walked through.   Even though this house was great and we totally loved it, we totally hated the drive to the base.  It was much longer than what we wanted and we were willing to sacrifice some of the nicer amenities to keep the commute short.

If you’re wondering about the other couple in the picture, they are our wonderful sponsors.  They went to most of our showings with us to help us know what to look for in an Italian house.  They were able to point out the things that you take for granted in the States, but rarely see in Italian homes (like a dishwasher, or a dryer hookup).  We have been so thankful to have them here to help us through this process!

Here’s where we’re going to break for now.  I’ve still got a few more houses up my sleeves, but you’ll have to wait for another day! Don’t worry though; I’m not planning to blog about every house we visit.  But after seeing 21,  we have quite a few highlights!