Chicken Pot Pie

My 16-year old cousin, Brittany, made this a few months ago when we went to visit her and her family. She got the recipe from one of those recipe cards you get in the mail asking you to join. It might have been Grandma's Kitchen. It was very good. My son liked it too. I had her text me the recipe the other evening so tonight we made it. It came out so delicious.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 T butter, divided

1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste

1/2 tsp of dried thyme leaves

1 (16 oz) thawed package of frozen veggies (I didn't thaw, just simmered more)

1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/3 cup of dried white wine (I used chicken broth)

1 refrigerated pie crust

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into 1-inch pieces. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt 1 T butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; sprinkle with thyme and salt. Cook and stir until no longer pink.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in vegetables, soup and wine; simmer about 5 minutes or until veggies are a little tender.

3. While soup mixture is simmering, unwrap 1 pie crust. Using a small cookie cutter, or a knife, make several decorative cut outs form pie crust to allow steam to escape. (or not so decorative).

4. Remove chicken mixture from heat and pour into a 9 inch pie plate. Top with pie crust. Melt remaining 1 T of butter. Brush the butter over the pie crust.

5. Bake pie 12 minutes. Turn oven to broil; broil pie 4-5 inches from heat for 2 minutes or until crust is golden brown and chicken mixture is bubbly. (Keep an eye on it.)

6. Serve immediately.

This looks good in the pot...over mashed potatoes!

Before being buttered.

I think it came out nice!

Italian Baked Pork Chops

This recipe is from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade, September/October 2010 issue. I actually made this last week. I liked it, but my son did not. It's just he is not the biggest fan of pork chops. I did make one with just BBQ sauce on it and he ate that.

Italian Baked Pork Chops

Ingredients:

1 T Dijon mustard

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

4 pork center loin chops (6 oz each)

salt and pepper

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together mustard, oil and Italian seasoning. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper; then, brush both sides of chops with mustard mixture. Press Parmesan into both sides of chops.

3. Place chops on prepared baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or until just cooked through.

Crunchy Chicken-Cheese Bake

I have no idea where I got this recipe from. I haven't made it in years. My husband used to love it, so it's been 8 years or so since I made it! It's really easy and delicious. My son kept saying how good it is. We decided next time to double the toppings. There just wasn't enough soup and cheese for the rice...and dipping bread...

Ingredients:

8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (used a package of 3)

4 sliced Swiss or American cheese, each cut in half (I used Swiss)

1 can (10-3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup

8 thin tomato slices (omitted)

2 T butter, melted

1/2 cup Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing

Hot cooked rice

Directions:

In 3 quart oblong baking dish, place chicken. Top with cheese. Stir soup and spread over cheese, top with tomato. Combine butter and stuffing; sprinkle over tomato.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until chicken is done.

Serve over rice.

Pizza Loaf

I found this recipe in the new Taste of Home cookbook I received - Grand Prize Winners. I was dying to try it and I'm glad I did. It was so delicious! My son loved it.

I used different "toppings" in mine. I added pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, black olives, pepper rings, ham, and sausage.

Ingredients:

1 loaf (1 lb) frozen bread dough, thawed

2 eggs, separated

1 T grated Parmesan cheese

1 T olive oil

1 tsp minced fresh parsley

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

8 oz. sliced pepperoni

2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 can (4 oz) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

1/4 to 1/2 cup pickled pepper rings

1 medium green pepper, diced

1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced ripe olives

1 can (15 oz) pizza sauce

Directions:

1. On a greased baking sheet, roll out dough into a 15 inch x 10 inch rectangle. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks, Parmesan cheese, oil, parsley, oregano, garlic powder and pepper. Brush over the dough.

2. Sprinkle the remaining ingredients - except the pizza sauce. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with the long side, pinch seam to seal and tuck ends under.

3. Place seam side down; brush with egg whites. Do not let rise. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Warm the pizza sauce; serve with sliced loaf.

Yield: 10-12 slices

Have the Cake: Big Soft Pretzels

This month's Have the Cake is soft pretzels. Thanks, Rena, for choosing this for our theme! I have not made soft pretzels in my teens! I love to eat pretzels. I was originally going to do a copy cat of Auntie Ann's pretzels. My I found this one in my recipes that I wanted to try. I used to get the recipe cards from Grandma's Kitchens and this was one of them. It looked simple and I had all the stuff. I made these yesterday.

It was super simple. I didn't really enjoy rolling the dough out. The recipe called to make 30. They must be very thin pretzels. I made my thick....I got 9! These came out sooooo delicious! I will make these again and again.

Ingredients:

1 envelope dry yeast

1 1/2 cups war mater (110-115 degrees)

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 large egg, beaten

1 T coarse salt

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl. Sift flour, sugar and salt into yeast mixture and mix well.

2. Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap. Let stand for 10 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 45o degrees. Grease baking sheets.

4. Divide dough into equal portions. Roll each portion into an 18-inch rope. Loop into pretzel shapes. Arrange on prepared baking sheets.

5. Brush the pretzels with beaten egg. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake until golden 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately or store cooled pretzels in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Chorizo Frittata

I found this recipe in the September/October 2010 Cooking With Paula Deen magazine. I don't usually cook with chorizo and now I remember why...greasy! I made it for myself since Jimmy does not eat eggs. So, I have breakfast for tomorrow!

This tasted great. I think hashbrowns would taste great in it as would regular breakfast sausage.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

3 oz chopped chorizo sausage

1/2 cup chopped tomato (I omitted)

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup whole milk (I used 1%)

1/4 tsp salt

2 T chopped fresh cilantro, divided (I omitted)

1/2 cup Mexican cheese blend (I used a little more)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small ovenproof skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add sausage, and saute until browned, 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomato.

2. In a small bowl, combine eggs, milk and salt. Pour over sausage and tomato. Reduce heat to medium, stir in 1 1/2 t cilantro. Cook until eggs set in center, about 3-4 minutes.

3. Sprinkle eggs with cheese and place skillet in oven. Bake until cheese melts, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 T cilantro. Cut inot wedges, and serve immediately.

Serves: 2

MSC Club: Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

This is my first entry for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. What a great month to enter! The recipe was on page 104 of the Martha Stewart Cupcake book. These were so delicious! I made these Thursday. We actually did not have anywhere to go, which was nice. It's been crazy since school started....marching band, scouts. My son is now Freshman class Vice President! We have two new people at work.

These were easy to make and very yummy! I just had to wait til the next day to try them. Since I did not have enough muffin tins, I halved the recipe.

Ingredients:

42 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, such as Oreos. 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped

2 lbs cream cheese, room temp

1 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temp, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

Pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat over to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

Divide batter evenly among cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate (in tins) at least 4 hours (or overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

My Girl, Paula: Pineapple Upside-Down Biscuits

Last week's My Girl Paula was bread. I almost forgot to do it! Tonight, I actually did not have any where to go (Miracle!) so I made a meatloaf for dinner and baked! This recipe is from the Lady & Sons II cookbook. The recipe was super easy to make and DELICIOUS! You really must try it!

Ingredients:

One 10-inch can crushed pineapple, drained, juice reserved

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature

10 maraschino cherries

One 12-oz package refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10 count)

Directions:

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Grease 10 cups of a muffin tin.

Combine the pineapple, sugar, and butter, and mix well. Divide the pineapple mixture evenly among the muffin cups. Place a cherry in the center of each muffin cup. Place one biscuit in each cup on top of sugar and pineapple mixture. Spoon 1 tsp pineapple juice over each biscuit.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden. Cool for 2 minutes. Invert the pan onto a plate to release the biscuits. Serve warm.

Tangy Garlic Wings

This recipe is out of the newest Paula Deen magazine, September/October 2010. It looked really good and thought it would be perfect for Labor Day since I am having issues with my grill.

It had a good taste, but Jimmy and I decided it could've been spicier and crispier.

Ingredients:

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T Dijon mustard

2 T chili powder

1 tsp garlic salt

2 dashes hot sauce

4 1/2 lbs chicken wings

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine ketchup, butter, vinegar, mustard, chili powder, garlic salt and hot sauce. Add wings, tossing to coat; chill for 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove chicken, reserving marinade, and place on prepared baking sheets in a single layer. Brush with wings with marinade.

Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Discard any remaining marinade.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Cinnamon Cream

I found this recipe in the Paula Deen Best Dishes 2009 magazine. I had all the ingredients..so why not! I made it Monday for breakfast. It was really easy to make. The pancakes were awesome! But, I could have done without the cinnamon cream. Just didn't do it for me!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3 T sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup whole milk

2 large eggs, separated

3 T butter, melted

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate morsels

4 T butter, divided

Cinnamon Cream (recipe follows)

Directions:

Preheat griddle to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a small bowl, combine milk, egg yolks, and 3 T melted butter; add to flour mixture, whisking until smooth.

In a small bowl, beat egg whites at medium high speed with an electric mixer until stiff. Gently fold into batter. Fold in chocolate morsels.

Melt 2 T butter on hot griddle. Ladle about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto hot griddle. Cook pancakes for 2-3 minutes, or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look dry. Turn, and cook other sides. Repeat procedure with remaining 2 T butter and remaining batter.

Serve with maple syrup and cinnamon cream.

Cinnamon Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, beat cream at medium high speed with an electric mixture until thickened. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar and cinnamon, beating until stiff peaks form. Cover and chill.

Chili Mac

This recipe is from the September/October 2010 Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine. My son agreed that it looked like one to make. It was super easy for a weeknight and tasted good. It says 4 servings, but I think it was more like 6. I had a ton left over. It needed some liquid added to it when re-heating. But, otherwise, we liked it alot.

Ingredients:

2 (14-oz) boxes mac and cheese dinner

1/2 cup water

1 lb ground chuck

2 T chili mix

Directions:

1. In a large heavy-bottomed pot, prepare macaroni according to package directions. Stir in 1/2 cup water; remove from heat. Cover and keep warm.

2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef, stirring occasionally until browned and crumbly. Drain well and return to skillet.

3. Stir in chili mix and macaroni mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes or until heated through and bubbly.