30 Minute Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:
2-3 cups cooked, chopped chicken
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 celery rib, chopped
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 T. butter
1/2 tsp. dried, chopped rosemary
3 cans condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (fine to use reduced fat soup for all or part)
3 3/4 cups water
2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup shortening
7 oz milk
1/2 tsp. dried, chopped parsley
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

     In a large Dutch oven, saute onion, celery, and garlic in the butter.  When vegetables are soft, add in canned soup, water, carrots, and rosemary.  Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat to simmer.
   While soup mixture is simmering, put self-rising flour into a mixing bowl.  Add shortening and using two knives (or a pastry cutter) cut the shortening into the flour until the shortening pieces are pea-sized.  Add parsley and pepper.  Add the milk and stir just until moistened.  Knead the dough ten times. (Too much kneading will make the dough tough). (You can skip this step and use canned biscuits  that you tear in half but I REALLLY like the homemade ones much better).
     Drop dough into boiling soup mixture with a spoon. (You will have about 20-24 dumplings).  Cover the Dutch oven with a lid (DO NOT REMOVE IT!) and allow the dumplings to cookover low heat for 15 minutes.  DO NOT Stir dumplings during cooking or after the 15 minute cooking period.
    Place about 1/3 cup chicken in a bowl then gently ladle soup and 3-4 dumplings over the top.  Serves 6-10.