Tonight I'm digging into the archives and taking out a recipe that we haven't had for about a year... Chicken Pot Pie! I remember it being a hit before and I'm hoping for an encore of rave reviews. We'll see! I love recipes like this because I can assemble it during Joshua's naptime then pop it in the oven when he's awake and I don't have to do any work on it. This is also a good dish to send to someone who might need a meal. All they need to do is pop it in the oven and wait!
Easy Chicken Pot Pie
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 can of peas and carrots (I don't like peas so we just do carrots and sometimes corn)
2 cans of cream of chicken soup (I use the 98% fat free Campbell's)
1/2 cup milk
1 box Pillsbury pie crusts
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
Saute chicken and onions in a skillet with oil or butter until chicken is no longer pink inside (Last night we had a chicken dish and so I cooked extra breasts in the oven to hopefully skip this step, though I will still sautee the onions). Prepare one pie crust in a 9" pie pan (you want this to be a deep pie pan)
Add Chicken and can of vegetables.
Sprinkle cheese on top. Mix soup and milk and pour on top. Top with second pie crust, seal and cut a slit in the top to release steam.
Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown (you really have to watch it, sometimes it takes longer. I also make sure to put a cookie sheet under mine so that if it bubbles over a little that it doesn't drip to the bottom of the oven).
Let stand 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
I'd love to see some of your recipes too! Please feel free to share them in the comments section. If I make them, I'll post them for everyone else to see!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Yummy Funfetti Cookies
One of the more recent cookie recipes that my family likes is for Funfetti cookies. We have loved the funfetti cake for years, but the cookie recipe makes for very festive sugar cookies! It's made from a mix and super easy!
Here's the recipe taken from the Pillsbury website!
INGREDIENTS
1(18.9-oz.) pkg. Pillsbury® Moist Supreme® Funfetti® Cake Mix
1/3cup oil
2eggs
1/2(15.6-oz.) can Pillsbury® Creamy Supreme® Funfetti® Vanilla Frosting
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness.
Bake at 375°F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.
(This part is optional for us, we like the cookies without frosting too!)
Spread frosting over warm cookies. Immediately sprinkle each with candy bits from frosting. Let frosting set before storing. Store in tightly covered container.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm so excited for Christmas!
Blessings to you and yours!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Santa 2010
I know it's a little early to see Santa, I mean, it's not even Thanksgiving yet! But did you really expect the woman who doesn't like to go to restaurants that don't have a call ahead list to wait in a line to see Santa, when we could just go a week earlier and walk right up to him?
Joshua did great. My very friendly (24/7) boy walked right up to him and said, "Hi, SANTA!!" Then he got up onto his lap and took some pictures. The one that we purchased was better than this one but there weren't any with great big smiles. I think he was thinking, "um, who exactly is this Santa guy, and why do we take pictures? He's cool and I'm not freaked but I am a little confused."
How did we ever find the holidays fun before we had kids? They're like a million times more exciting now that I can see all the little priceless reactions on his face!
Joshua did great. My very friendly (24/7) boy walked right up to him and said, "Hi, SANTA!!" Then he got up onto his lap and took some pictures. The one that we purchased was better than this one but there weren't any with great big smiles. I think he was thinking, "um, who exactly is this Santa guy, and why do we take pictures? He's cool and I'm not freaked but I am a little confused."
How did we ever find the holidays fun before we had kids? They're like a million times more exciting now that I can see all the little priceless reactions on his face!
Because Visiting Santa Makes Me Feel Like Baking
These are my very favorite cookies that my Nana makes and after a trip to see Santa with Joshua today, I was in a baking mood. They're very easy to whip together and I made them because I had all the ingredients in the house.
Oatmeal Lace Cookies
Ingredients
1/4 lb butter (1 stick)
1 1/2 cups regular oatmeal
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon flour
Stop right there... you must also have parchment paper. If you don't, you must abort the attempt to make these cookies!!
Directions
Preheat oven to 325
Melt butter and pour over oatmeal. Let stand while you combine other ingredients in separate bowl.
Beat 1 egg, add sugar, baking powder, and flour. Mix well.
Combine both mixtures and mix well together.
Drop very small clumps onto parchment paper (this is key, you must use parchment paper). The clumps should be about the size of a finger tip, I use a 1/4 teaspoon scoop to do it.
Cook for 10-12 minutes.
This makes dozens of tiny, crunchy oatmeal sugar cookies. They take a LONG TIME to scoop, but I think they are worth it. Today I also made bigger cookies with the same mix, I just let them cook longer (I think about 15 minutes). They were good, but there's something about the bite sized crunchy goodness of the little ones.
Enjoy! Leave a comment if you want to share any other yummy goodness, if you made these and like them, or if you just want to say hi!
Oatmeal Lace Cookies
Ingredients
1/4 lb butter (1 stick)
1 1/2 cups regular oatmeal
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon flour
Stop right there... you must also have parchment paper. If you don't, you must abort the attempt to make these cookies!!
Directions
Preheat oven to 325
Melt butter and pour over oatmeal. Let stand while you combine other ingredients in separate bowl.
Beat 1 egg, add sugar, baking powder, and flour. Mix well.
Combine both mixtures and mix well together.
Drop very small clumps onto parchment paper (this is key, you must use parchment paper). The clumps should be about the size of a finger tip, I use a 1/4 teaspoon scoop to do it.
Cook for 10-12 minutes.
This makes dozens of tiny, crunchy oatmeal sugar cookies. They take a LONG TIME to scoop, but I think they are worth it. Today I also made bigger cookies with the same mix, I just let them cook longer (I think about 15 minutes). They were good, but there's something about the bite sized crunchy goodness of the little ones.
Enjoy! Leave a comment if you want to share any other yummy goodness, if you made these and like them, or if you just want to say hi!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
What's For Dinner: Baked Ziti
This is a recipe that is a favorite of ours! I often make this to deliver to people who might need a meal. Most times we can get two nights out of it. :)
Baked Ziti
0.5 (8 ounce) box ziti pasta I use a whole box of ziti
3/4 lb ground beef (optional) or 3/4 lb sausage (optional) I like the sausage or a mixture of both
3 cups marinara sauce (I use a large jar of Prego Three Cheese)
1 3/4 cups ricotta cheese (1 15 oz tub)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I always wind up using closer to 3 cups)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
Prep Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 50 mins
Heat oven to 350°F.
Cook pasta.
In large skillet brown meat (if using) and drain. Add marinara and simmer for 10 minutes.
In a small bowl stir together ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella and seasonings.
Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce and add half of it to a 9x13 baking dish. Then spread the cheese mixture over the pasta.
Add the remaining pasta and top with mozzarella and parmesan.
Cover loosely with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes until hot and bubbly and cheese is golden brown
I serve this with a garden salad and sometimes with some garlic bread.
Baked Ziti
0.5 (8 ounce) box ziti pasta I use a whole box of ziti
3/4 lb ground beef (optional) or 3/4 lb sausage (optional) I like the sausage or a mixture of both
3 cups marinara sauce (I use a large jar of Prego Three Cheese)
1 3/4 cups ricotta cheese (1 15 oz tub)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I always wind up using closer to 3 cups)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
Prep Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 50 mins
Heat oven to 350°F.
Cook pasta.
In large skillet brown meat (if using) and drain. Add marinara and simmer for 10 minutes.
In a small bowl stir together ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella and seasonings.
Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce and add half of it to a 9x13 baking dish. Then spread the cheese mixture over the pasta.
Add the remaining pasta and top with mozzarella and parmesan.
Cover loosely with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes until hot and bubbly and cheese is golden brown
I serve this with a garden salad and sometimes with some garlic bread.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
What's For Dinner
We really need to go grocery shopping, so today I posted the following on Facebook: Michelle Smith is looking for something good for dinner that I can make with boneless chicken breasts and whatever I already have in the house. Ideas?
I got a lot of great responses, one of the first being that I should try oven fried chicken. Debbie gave me an idea of how to make it, but I googled it and here is a recipe that came up on cooks.com
Currently, it's baking in the oven... we'll see how it comes out!
OVEN FRIED CHICKEN
8 boneless skinless thighs (I used 2 large breasts that I cut in half so they would be smaller and possibly bake at the same time as thighs would)
2 tbs paprika
2 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup butter or marg.
Combine all ingredients except chicken and butter. Put butter in 9x13 inch oven baking dish and melt.
Coat chicken with dry mixture and place in pan with melted butter. (I put the pan into the oven, melted the butter, then pulled the pan out and put the chicken in)
Cook at 425 for 20 min. Remove from oven and turn chicken over.
Cook for an additional 20 min at 425.
I'll update later as to whether this was worth printing out and adding to my recipe binder.
The Verdict
So this was ok, but I wouldn't say that it was excellent or worth repeating, especially because Shake and Bake Chicken mix is better and much easier/faster to make! However, this is a great alternative if you're out of the Shake and Bake and want to use things in the house.
It didn't help that the microwave burned the rice pilaf... strange! I put it in for the minimum time and it burned. Let's hope the microwave isn't about to clunk out on me!
I served this dish with chicken flavored couscous and carrots. :)
I got a lot of great responses, one of the first being that I should try oven fried chicken. Debbie gave me an idea of how to make it, but I googled it and here is a recipe that came up on cooks.com
Currently, it's baking in the oven... we'll see how it comes out!
OVEN FRIED CHICKEN
8 boneless skinless thighs (I used 2 large breasts that I cut in half so they would be smaller and possibly bake at the same time as thighs would)
2 tbs paprika
2 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup butter or marg.
Combine all ingredients except chicken and butter. Put butter in 9x13 inch oven baking dish and melt.
Coat chicken with dry mixture and place in pan with melted butter. (I put the pan into the oven, melted the butter, then pulled the pan out and put the chicken in)
Cook at 425 for 20 min. Remove from oven and turn chicken over.
Cook for an additional 20 min at 425.
I'll update later as to whether this was worth printing out and adding to my recipe binder.
The Verdict
So this was ok, but I wouldn't say that it was excellent or worth repeating, especially because Shake and Bake Chicken mix is better and much easier/faster to make! However, this is a great alternative if you're out of the Shake and Bake and want to use things in the house.
It didn't help that the microwave burned the rice pilaf... strange! I put it in for the minimum time and it burned. Let's hope the microwave isn't about to clunk out on me!
I served this dish with chicken flavored couscous and carrots. :)
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