Chicken and Dumplings

For Christmas Eve this year, we started a new tradition: we made my mom's chicken and dumplings. Mom never wrote down the recipe, so I had to experiment and draw as much as I could from memory. Growing up, I remember this being one of my favorite dinners!

Ingredients:

- whole chicken (you could buy it already cut up if you like)

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 cup chopped celery (about 3 ribs)

- 2 cups chopped carrots (I use the little baby carrots)

- 2 cups frozen green peas

- 2 1/4 cups Bisquick

- about 2/3 cup milk

Wash and pat chicken dry. Cut up chicken. Into large stockpot, bring 8 cups water, chicken, and 1 tsp salt to boiling. Reduce heat to simmer (medium), cover, and cook for 1 hour. If you like onions, you could cut up a small onion and simmer it with the chicken (I don't do this).

Remove chicken from pot, debone, and cut up meat into bite size chunks. Meanwhile add celery, carrots, and peas to pot (keep it on medium and let the veggies cook while you debone chicken). Add chicken back into pot and bring to boil.

To prepare dumplings, measure 2 1/4 cups Bisquick into mixing bowl. Stir together Bisquick and 2/3 cups of milk - you can add extra milk until dough is about the same consistancy as raw biscuit dough (I almost always have to add extra milk). Drop by tablespoon into your boiling pot of chicken and vegetables. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Cover pot and cook 10 more minutes.

Enjoy!