Chicken & Dumplings

This is a makeover of Cracker Barrel's Chicken & Dumplings. My aunt had created the original recipe which called for 1.75 lb chicken and whole milk. It was always one of my families favorite dinners that I made once in a while on special Sundays. Recently, I decided to try a healthier version of it with lower calories, cholesterol & sodium to see if it would pass the ""family test"". It did! They couldn't tell the difference. The healthy version of this recipe went down 76 calories, 31mg cholosterol & 1104 mg of sodium per serving.

On a side note, I know some people who use prepackaged biscuit dough to make their dumplings to make it easier but I don't like the taste of the perservatives because it makes the whole recipe taste like it came out of can. There is nothing like homemade!

2 quarts of water
1.75 lbs of skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1.5 tsp salt substitute
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 med onion sliced
1 clove garlic, peeled & quartered
1 bay leaf
5 parsley leaves
1 tsp coarsly ground pepper
1 lemon wedge juice

Dumplings:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1.25 tsp salt substitute
1 cup of non-fat milk

Bring water to boil in a large pot. Add chicken, 1 tsp of salt sub, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf & parsley. Reduce to simmer and cook chicken uncovered for 2 hrs. Liquid will reduce by 1/3. Remove chicken and set aside to cool. Strain stock to remove vegies & scum. Reserve 6 cups of pure stock back in pot. Add pepper, .5 tsp of salt sub & juice from lemon wedge. Reheat over med heat until simmering.

Dumplings: combine flour, baking powder, salt sub & milk in medium bowl. Stir until smooth and let dough rise for 5-10 min. I tear small bits of dough & flatten into mini-pancake form and drop in simmering stock. Use all dough. Dumplings will swell and then slowly shink as they partially dissolve into a white gravy. Simmer 20-30 minutes until thick, stirring almost constantly. Tear cooled chicken into large pieces (so it looks like it came from a whole chicken) and drop into pot. Simmer another 5-10 minutes and serve. Makes approximately 6 2-cup servings.