Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Okay.
Mason absolutely LOVES chicken pot pie. I have always been a little nervous to make my own because it seemed just a little too involved. Like too much work and it could flop!

I came across this recipe on ZipList from The Country Cook and thought, "You know what? I AM A WIFE! I have to give this a shot!"

Lets just say... Mason loves me more.
The recipe is not hard at all! A little time consuming, but if you have the time and plan ahead a little, its totally worth it! Promise!

Ingredients:
- 1-2 sheets of frozen puff pastry
- 2 large chicken breasts
- olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2/3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
- 2 cups frozen peas and carrots
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp water

First: Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Drizzle olive oil over the tops of the chicken and sprinkle salt and pepper. Let cook in the oven for 45 minutes, turning over once in the middle. (You can also skip this part all together if you buy pre-cooked chicken!)

Second: After putting the chicken in the oven, take out the pastry puff from the freezer to give it time to defrost. Once the chicken is done cooking, allow time for it to cool and then cut into bite size pieces.

Third: In a large saucepan, melt butter and flour together. The consistency will end up being similar to peanut butter. Slowly add in milk and chicken stock (keep stirring, it will be lumpy), and then add in garlic and onion. If you need to, using a whisk at this point helps break up any lumps. Turn up the heat until the mixture is boiling.
-I found it helpful to have all my ingredients ready before I started making the filling-

Fourth: Once the mixture has reached a boil, turn down the heat to low and mix in the peas and carrots and chicken. Give it a few good stirs and a taste test to see if you need any extra seasoning. (I needed a little more salt and pepper). Fill your bowls/ramekins with the filling and place on a baking sheet.
-If your anything like me, and had no idea what a "ramekin" was... here is a picture :)

Fifth: Preheat your oven to 350F degrees. Throw a little flour on your baking surface and open up the puff pastry. Using a rolling pin, smooth out the puff pastry just a tad until there are no seams and your have a little more pastry to work with. Place a ramekin/bowl you are using for the filling on the pastry as a guide and cut around the bowl leaving 1/2 inch extra, that way there will be enough pastry to hang over the sides.

Sixth: In a small bowl, mix together egg and 1 tbsp of water. This will be the egg wash that will make your puff pastry look professional :) Dip your fingers in the wash and run them around the edges of the ramekin/bowls. This will help the pastry stick to the top of your bowl! Now, place the puff pastry on the top of the bowls and press the edges down around the sides. Using a brush, lightly coat the top of the pastry with the egg wash. Load these puppies in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are light brown and perfect!

This recipe makes six servings if you are using 10oz ramekins. I ended up using bigger bowls and it made 4 servings. If you are cooking for two, the filling can be frozen and used again later!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and here's to fall baking!!

Make Yourself Some Homemade BBQ Rub!

I found this recipe in a Southern Living Mag and loved it! The recipe is super easy and I found the jars at Home Goods for really cheap, printed the labels and tied them on with twine! It made for a fun craft that you can use for any BBQ!

     

Yeah... had a little difficulty with this one

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp plus 2 tsp smoked paprika

- 2 Tbsp sugar

- 2 tsp garlic powder

- 2 tsp freshly ground pepper -------------->

- 1 tsp dry mustard

- 1 tsp ground cumin

- 1 tsp ground ginger

First: mix all the ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to a month! Easy as that!

Download "Smokey-Sweet BBQ Rub" labels Here 

Enjoy!

Recipe Thursday: Raspberry-Almond Shortbread Cookies

I found this recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens Issue "100 Best Cookies." They are a lot of fun to make and taste AMAZING! 

Ingredients:
-1 cup butter, softened
-2/3 cup granulated sugar
-1/2 teaspoon almond extract
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1/2 cup seedless red raspberry jam
-coarse sugar
-1 cup powdered sugar
-2 to 3 teaspoons water
-1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract



First: In a medium bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Beat until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in remaining flour. Cover; chill 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.  (I chilled the dough for over an hour and it made it a little hard to work with, so I would keep it under an hour).

Second: Preheat oven to 350 F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Using your thumb, press an indentation into the center of each ball. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of the jam into each indentation. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake about 10 minutes or until edges are light brown. Cool on cookie sheets for 1 minute. Transfer to wire racks; cool. (I didn't sprinkle with coarse sugar because I didn't have any and they turned out plenty sweet).

Third: Meanwhile, for icing, in a medium bowl combine powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of water, and the 1 1/2 teaspoons of almond extract. Add enough of the remaining water to make drizzling consistency. Drizzle cookies with icing. Makes about 36 cookies. (I put the icing in a small ziplock bag and cut a small hole in the corner and drizzled icing that way. It still made a mess, but not as much as it could have!)

Just as a fun treat, I found this Free Printable and wanted to pass it along! Enjoy!

Crumb Topped Banana Muffins

If you are looking for a good banana muffin recipe this is the best I have found! I made them last week and couldn't stop eating them...

and now they are gone!

I found the recipe on www.food.com

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teas. baking powder
- 1 teas. baking soda
- 1/2 teas. salt
- 3 large ripe bananas
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/3 cup melted butter

Topping:
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/8 teas. cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon cold butter
- 1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)


First: Set oven for 375 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt) in a large bowl and set aside.

Second: Mash bananas in a blender to make them extra mushy and mix with sugar, egg and melted butter.

Third: Mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture until just moistened. Fill muffin cups 3/4 the ways full.

Fourth: Combine the ingredients for the topping. Cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients and when well mixed, crumble on top of muffins. Bake for 20 min and then let cool for 10 min.

Enjoy!

stained-glass sugar cookies

These cookies are really fun to make! I got the recipe from "Everyday Food" issue 88 (this months issue). 

Ingredients:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- finely crushed hard candy (such as lifesavers or Jolly Ranchers)

First: in a medium bowl mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt). Set aside. In a large bowl beat together butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla and then gradually add the flour mixture. Form dough into two round disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Second: preheat over to 350. Working with one disk at a time, roll out dough on floured parchment paper (I have never done this before, but it really helps prevent the dough from sticking!). With a christmas cookie cutter, cut out dough in desired shapes and place on parchment lined cookie sheets about 1 inch apart. Take a smaller shaped cookie cutter and cut out the middle of each cookie.*

Third: bake for about 7-9 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are pale and set. Pull the cookies out of the oven and fill middle cutouts with crushed candy. Place back in the oven and cook for about 3-4 more minutes, or until the middle candy is melted and the cookie edges are browning.

Fourth: Let cookies cool before taking off parchment paper. Then take lots of great pictures with them because they are impressive and enjoy!

*Michael's has a cookie cutter set that actually has the center cutout attached to the bigger cookie cutter to make the cookie shape all in one step! It make the whole process a lot easier.

To be completely honest with you, the recipe takes a lot of time and attention. It is the perfect recipe if you are in the mood for christmas baking and have ample amount of time, but if you are in a hurry... do not even attempt this puppy. Also, my husband informed me that this sugar cookie base recipe is the best homemade sugar cookie he has had!

Spicy Gingerbread Men

Too early for gingerbread men? I think not!

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup margarine, softened

- 1/2 cup molasses 

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 1 egg yolk

- 2 cups flour

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon ground cloves

- 1 teaspoon ginger

First: In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg yolk.

Second: In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Blend flour mixture into molasses mixture until smooth. Cover and chill dough for at least an hour.

Third: Preheat over to 350 degrees. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick and using cookie cutters, cut dough into desired shapes. 

Fourth: Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes. You can either sprinkle powdered sugar over cookies once cooled or frost with icing. 

I don't remember where I found this recipe, but I happened upon it last year and it made it to my cookbook! Hope you enjoy!

Homemade Corn Chowder

There is some rain in the forecast and this is the perfect recipe to warm some bellies!

Ingredients:

- 5-6 ears of corn (or you can substitute with 2-3 cans of corn)

- 2-3 medium Yukon potatoes, chopped

- 1 small onion, chopped

- 1 carrot, chopped

- 1 stick of celery, chopped

- 3-4 pieces of turkey bacon, cooked and chopped

- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth

- 1 1/2 cups almond milk (or reg. milk)

- 1/4 cup butter

- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme (leaves only)

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- Pepper to taste

- 1/2 teaspoon Tumeric

- A few tablespoons of flour

First: start by turning on your crock-pot to low and pouring in the chicken broth. Next, peel and chop the veggies and the potatoes and put in the crock-pot. 

Second: If you are going to use fresh corn, strip the corn of the husk and all that hairy stuff and slice the corn off the cob. Hold the corn up and using a large knife, cut the corn off (as if you were cutting it off the cob for a child or someone with braces). Mix the corn in the with rest of the veggies in the crock-pot. 

Third: Cook the turkey bacon in a skillet and let cool. Break it into small pieces and add to the crock-pot with the rest of the ingredients, except the flour (milk, butter and seasonings). Let simmer for a few hours. 

Fourth: As it comes close to serving time, if the texture is not as thick as you would like, add a few tablespoons of flour as needed until you get the right thickness. Then serve!

You can tell this is my recipe by the lack of intelligent instructions. But really, you can make this recipe exactly as you like it with trying different spices and additives. I got most of my ideas by looking at different recipes online to see how others made it and I combined the ingredients I liked! Have fun!

R.I.P. Cupcakes

Just in time for Halloween! I got this recipe out of the Betty Crocker Magazine "Best Halloween Recipes 2011." I just changed a few things. If your in the mood to bake something spooky, they are perfect (and they aren't very hard to make either).


Ingredients:
- 1 box Duncan Hines Devil's food cake mix
- Water, vegetable oil and the eggs used for the cake
- 2 honey graham crackers, crushed
- 2 chocolate graham crackers, crushed
- 1 container of creamy white frosting
- 12 Milano sandwich cookies, cut in half
- A tube of ready-made chocolate frosting or homemade brown-colored frosting

First: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place a halloween themed cupcake liner in each of the 24 muffin tins. Make the cake as directed on the box for 24 cupcakes. Let the cupcakes cool completely* before starting to decorate.

Second: Ice all the cupcakes with the vanilla frosting and set aside. In a large ziplock bag, crush the graham crackers (both kinds together) using a rolling pin and set aside.

Third: Take each Milano cookie and cut in half crosswise. Using the frosting, pipe onto the cookies different halloween sayings such as "R.I.P", "BOO", or tombstone dates "1811", "1790", etc. After decorating all the cookies, place in the freezer for a few minutes to help set.

Fourth: Now you are ready to assemble! Place the flat side of the "tombstone cookie" into the back of the cupcake and push down until the cookie stays in place by itself. Take as handful of the crushed graham mixture and sprinkle in front of the tombstone to look like grave dirt.

And now you have a very spooky cupcake!

*If you know you are going to make then ahead of time, you can actually made the cupcakes the night before and then decorate them the day you need them. It saves a lot of time!

Chewy Caramel Mystery Cookies

These cookies are way delicious! My dad and Mason both agreed they are worth the extra effort! I got this recipe from an "Everyday Food" magazine.

Ingredients:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup caramels (about 20), halved
- 1 cup roughly chopped candy bars (such as Mr. Goodbar, Kit Kat, etc.)
- 3/4 cup small chocolate candies (such as mini M&Ms)

First: preheat over to 350 with racks in upper and middle thirds. Chop up all the candy bars and set aside.

Second: in a medium bowl mix flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer,  mix butter and sugar on high until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture in small additions until well combined. Fold in caramels and candy bars.

Third: Using an ice-cream scooper, drop dough 2 inches apart on parchment-lined* baking sheets. Bake 6 minutes. Remove from oven; immediately press small chocolate candies into cookies, the rotate sheets and bake until golden brown around the edges and set in the centers, about 6 more minutes.

Fourth: Transfer cookies to wire racks by taking the whole sheet of parchment off the cookie sheet and laying it on the cookies rack. Enjoy!


*make sure you get baking parchment paper and not wax paper... have I made that mistake before? ...yeah maybe.

Pumpkin Spice Bread with Maple Glaze

This is a collaboration of many different recipes that I have found online (mostly from a "Kitchen la Boheme" blog and Martha Stuart) and I think it is just right!

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 15oz can of organic pumpkin
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice

Glaze Ingredients:
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/3 cup maple syrup


First: Pre-heat over to 375 degrees. Butter and flour 2 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 loaf pans. In a medium bowl mix together flour, salt, baking powder and all the spices and set aside.

Second: In a large bowl whisk together sugars, pumpkin, melted butter and eggs. Mix in the flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Third: Divide batter between the two loaf pans and bake for approximately 50 minutes.* Let cool for 10 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to completely cool.

Fourth: Mix together all ingredients for the glaze. Using a fork, drizzle the glaze over pumpkin loaf in lines (back and forth) until loaf is covered.

 *Watch the loaf closely toward the end of the 50 minutes. Each oven is different and it may need a little more or less time. Its much better to leave it a little undercooked and let it finish cooking in the hot pan while it is cooling, than to over cook it.

White Witch Mix

This recipe is a Betty Crocker/Pillsbury mix with a little Dyer thrown in there. It has a lot of room for creativity and I am pretty sure a few candy corns would make it even better!

Ingredients:
- A bag of white chocolate chips
- 3 cups Corn Chex cereal
- 3 cups Rice Chex cereal
- 3 cups Wheat Chex cereal
- 2 cups salted dry-roasted peanuts
- 2 cups small pretzel twists
- 2 cups mini marshmallows
- 1 bag of peanut-butter filled M&Ms
- Whatever else you think would be tasty


First: In a large bowl, mix cereals, peanuts, pretzels, marshmallows and M&Ms. Set aside.

Second: In a medium bowl, microwave white chocolate chips on high for 1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until chocolate is melted and smooth.

Third: Quickly pour white chocolate over the cereal mixture and gently mix using a rubber spatula until evenly coated. (I found it was easier to mix this by putting an equally large bowl over the bowl with the cereal and just shaking it all up!)

Fourth: Spread the cereal mixture on waxed paper to cool. Break into chunks once cool.

This recipe is super fun to put into little gifts bags and give to people (as the recipe makes enough to last you about 3 years)

Cinnamon Apple Crisp

Here is a recipe by Betty Crocker for Cinnamon Apple Crisp

Intro the fall baking extravaganza! 

Ingredients:

- 4 baking apples chopped/slices
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

- 1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled

- 1 teaspoon baking powder

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- 3/4 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

- 1 egg

- Ice cream (this ingredient is not optional)

First: heat oven to 350.

Second: Peel, core, and slice or chop all apples and arrange in an ungreased 8x8x2 square dish.

Third: Mix remaining ingredients (except ice cream) in a medium bowl until crumbly and sprinkle over apples. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until apples are soft.

Fourth: Serve warm with ice cream!


My husband doesn't like baked apples but scarfed down a helping of the dessert with a "mmm this is so good"... so that has to be worth somethin!

This recipe is open for variation and if you visit the link below, you will find about a hundred different apple crisp recipes to choose from. Enjoy!

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/cinnamon-apple-crisp