Chicken Pot Pie - The Unhealthy Redo

1 pound chicken breasts

1 stick butter

1 and 1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots (mixed), thawed

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 cup peeled, diced potato

1 small onion

1/2 cup flour

1/2 - 1 cup chicken broth (or water mixed with one teaspoon Jamison's soup stock, chicken flavored)

1 cup half and half

salt and pepper

store-bought pie crusts (top and bottom crust)

1. Brown chicken in butter until chicken is cooked through. Set chicken aside.

2. Place vegetables and onion in butter and chicken drippings. Cook until potato and onion soften.

3. Add flour, stir into vegetables. Add half and half and 1/2 cup chicken broth. Stir until desired thickness. Add more broth if necessary.

4. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Pour into bottom crust and cover with top crust.

6. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Check 20 minutes in to make sure edges are not too brown.

Chicken Pot Pie

The original recipe for this pot pie is from Real Simple magazine and can be found here:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/chicken-vegetable-pot-pie-00000000008065/index.html

Here's the way I made it:

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Jamison's soup base, chicken flavored
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 bag of frozen carrots and peas
• 1/2 bag of frozen corn
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/2 cups 1 percent milk
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 9-inch store-bought piecrust, thawed if frozen

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Cook the chicken in a pot of simmering water until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes; let cool, then chop.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and soup base and cook, stirring, until onions begin to soften, 6 to 8 minutes (do not let them darken). Add frozen vegetables and continue cooking until they begin to thaw. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
3. Add the milk and simmer until the sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the chicken and seasonings. Transfer to a shallow 1½- to 2-quart baking dish.
4. Lay the crust on top, pressing to seal. Cut several vents in the crust. Place the pot pie on a baking sheet and bake until bubbling and the crust is golden, 30 to 35 minutes.

This was pretty good, but I've got some ideas for improvement and another pot pie recipe that I want to try.

Cornbread Stuffing

It will soon be time for all the tasty foods of the holidays. This is David's mom's stuffing recipe.

Corn Bread
2 cups flour
6 teaspoons baking powder
1 and a half teaspoons salt
2 cups cornmeal
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup cooking oil

Heat oven to 425. Grease a 9x13 baking pan. Mix dry ingredients. Beat eggs just enough to blend yolks and whites. Stir milk and oil into eggs. Add dry ingredients and stir to blend thoroughly. Pour into greased pan and bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Stuffing
Prepared cornbread
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1 can chicken broth
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sage
Milk, enough to make mixture mushy
Salt and Pepper to taste

Crumble the cornbread into a large mixing bowl. Add the onion and celery and mix. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into 9x13 or larger baking dish. Bake at 325 for an hour.

Local Apples

Chicken Enchiladas

4 cups chicken, cooked in Rotel and shredded (I cooked it in the crockpot)

7 ounce can green chilies

12 ounce can green chili sauce, divided

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon Jamison soup base, chicken flavored (or one bullion cube)

2 cups Monterey jack cheese

12 flour tortillas

Sauté onion and garlic in a bit of oil until onions are soft. Add cooked chicken, green chilies, 1/4 cup chili sauce, salt, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Heat through.

Place 1/2 cup chili sauce and 1/2 cup of whipping cream in bottom of 9x13 pan.

Heat 1 and 1/2 cups whipping cream and soup base in saucepan. Dip tortillas into whipping cream then fill with chicken mixture. Place in prepared pan.

Top with remaining whipping cream/soup base and chili sauce.

Cover with cheese and bake uncovered for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Taco Meat

4-5 pounds ground beef

2 15 ounce cans tomato sauce

2 onions, chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon cumin

1 and 1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon crushed red chilies

1/2 tablespoon black pepper

Brown ground beef with onions and garlic. Drain. Add remaining spices and stir thoroughly. Add tomato sauce and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Great for a crowd, or freeze in quart containers.

Pirate Punch/Sunshine Slush

This is my mom's recipe for a tasty treat called Sunshine Slush. Great for baby and wedding showers, pretty and yellow. With a bit of rum added, it becomes a perfect Pirate Punch for a party.

3 cups water

1 cup sugar

2 ripe bananas

2 (12 ounce) cans pineapple juice (I used a 64 ounce carton in mine)

1 can frozen orange juice

1 can frozen lemonade

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 liter or so club soda (I used ginger ale as that's what I bought by mistake)

Boil water and sugar 3 minutes and let cool. Put part of pineapple juice and bananas in blender and mix. Mix all ingredients together except soda. Freeze. When ready to serve, add soda. Let set at room temperature about 30 minutes until slushy and serve. For Pirate Punch, add rum to taste.

Black Bean Salsa

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 bag frozen corn, thawed

2 large tomatoes

1 red onion

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 avocados, chopped (optional and not in picture)

Combine in large bowl, cover and chill.

Annette's Pizza

My friend and colleague Brian shared this recipe with me, but only after much begging and promising to use it exactly following his directions.

Crust:

1 cup warm water

2 T yeast

2 T honey

1/4 cup olive oil

Dash salt

3 cups flour

Sauce:

1 sm. can tomato paste

1 sm. can tomato sauce

1+ t minced garlic

2 T oregano

1 T basil

1 T parsley

Dash salt

**You'll only be using 3 T of the sauce (yes, really!). Freeze the rest in 3 T portions for future pizzas.

Directions: Mix warm water, honey, and yeast in mixer bowl. Mix well and let stand for 5 minutes.

While waiting, mix sauce and grease large pizza pan. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Add salt and oil to dough mixture. Slowly mix in flour.

Spread dough evenly evenly on large pizza pan. Spread on 3 T of sauce. Cover with toppings and cheese. If you use too many toppings or too much cheese, your pizza will be soggy. The star of this pizza is the yummy crust.

Bake at 500 for 8-10 minutes on lowest rack.

Sloppy Joes

When we returned home from vacation, our friend Patty had left sloppy joe mixture and buns in our fridge for our supper that night. It was so nice to come home to a ready to eat meal! I had saved the Pioneer Woman's sloppy joe recipe, but hadn't gotten around to making them. After eating Patty's delicious joes, I finally tried these and they were delicious as well.

Pioneer Woman's Sloppy Joes

2 T butter

2 and 1/2 pounds ground beef

1/2 large onion, diced

1 whole green bell pepper, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced (I used the ready-to-use minced garlic in a jar. I'm lazy like that.)

1 and 1/2 cup ketchup

1 cup water

2 T brown sugar

2 t chili powder

1 t dry mustard

1/2 t red pepper flakes

Worcestershire sauce to taste

2 T tomato paste (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Kaiser rolls

Butter

Add butter to large skillet. Add ground beef and brown, drain off most of the fat.

Add onions, green pepper, and garlic. Cook until vegetables begin to soften.

Add ketchup, brown sugar, chili powder and pepper, dry mustard, and water. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes.

Butter rolls or buns and brown on griddle or skillet.

I cut the recipe in half the first time, but will make up the whole recipe (or more) next time. It would be nice to have the meat in the freezer waiting to thaw for a cold winter evening.