Chicken Pot Pie

This is SO GOOD.
This takes over an hour to make.
This has a peppery spice that is amazing (who knew chicken pot pie's would be so amazing with a spice added to the creaminess?!)
The filling in this is VERY thick, no liquidy.

Ingredients:
Filling:

    * 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
    * 1/3 medium-size yellow onion, chopped
    * 2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
    * 3 cloves garlic, minced
    * 1 red bell pepper, diced (Store didn't have any so I didn't use one)
    * 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced (I didn't use any)
    * 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
    * Salt and pepper
    * 4 Chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
    * 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into thin pieces
    * 1-2 celery stalks, diced
    * 1 (8-ounce) package frozen peas (optional)
    * Any vegetables you like in your pot pies...

Sauce:

    * 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
    * 1 cup all-purpose flour
    * 2 1/2 cups chicken stock       
    * 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
    * Dash of hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco
    * Salt and pepper

Crust:

    * 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter
    * 3 cups all-purpose flour
    * 1 Pkg chilled cream cheese
    * 1 teaspoon salt
    * 1 large egg

Directions:

* To Make The Filling: Melt the butter in a large sauté pan set over medium heat. Add the onion and potato; sauté for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms and sauté about 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the crushed red pepper and add salt and pepper to taste.

* Cook the vegetables you want to use by boiling them all on the stove in a pot of water, or put them in the microwave to cook them.

* Stir the vegetables and chicken into the vegetable mixture. Set the filling aside.



* To Make The Sauce: Melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the flour and whisk until smooth/crumbly. Whisk in the chicken stock and cook the sauce over medium heat until it thickens to the consistency of a thick cream soup. Add the cream, hot pepper sauce, and salt and white pepper to taste.

* Pour the cream sauce over the chicken filling and stir to combine.

* Fill small baking bowl to the top with the pot pie mixture.

* To Make The Crust: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the butter and flour until crumbly. Add the cream cheese.  Continue pulsing just until the dough forms a ball.

* Set the dough on a flat surface dusted with flour. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Measure the diameter of the pot pie bowl and cut out dough round that is 1 1/2 inches larger in diameter. Whisk the egg in a small bowl. Lay the dough round on top of the pot pie, making sure the dough hangs evenly over bowl. Brush the dough lightly with the beaten egg. Bake the pie for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately.

Apple Crisp

By far the best we've ever had!  It is FULL of flavors; sweet, tangy, crunchy top, super soft insides...YUM!  Looks like a ton of ingredients, but there really is only a few...same ingredients are used in the topping as is used in the filling.

Ingredients:
Topping:
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 stick of butter cut into about 16 pieces

Filling:
4 cups peeled chopped apples (about 2 sweet apples and 2 sour apples (gala and granny smith)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup white sugar
3 TBSP flour
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 375

*Topping:  Place the oats, flour, brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, and nuts in a medium bowl and mix.  Add the butter and stir well.

*Set topping mixture aside

*Filling:  Mix the apples with the lemon juice in a bowl.  Add the sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Mix well.

*Pour apple mixture into a shallow baking dish and shake gently to let the fruit settle.

*Spread the topping evenly over the fruit and press down gently.

*Bake for 40-50 mins until the topping is golden brown and filling is bubbling

Mini Meat Muffins

So Kraft (whom I got this recipe from back in college...) called these "mini meatloaves."  This annoys me though.  They taste NOTHING like meatloaf, and so many people will see the word meatloaf and skip the recipe all together.  So, these are officially mini meat muffins from now on.  If you go to kraft.com and type in mini meatloaves, they also have a Mexican and an Italian version.  This...is the best...it is the bbq flavor.  Nick LOVES them!!!

 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 box stovetop stuffing mix

1 cup water

1/2 Tbsp garlic powder

1 cup bbq sauce

1 cup shredded cheese

Directions:

*Set stove to 375*F

*Mix stuffing, beef, water, and garlic powder.

*Spray 12 count muffin tin with cooking spray.  Pour the meat mixture into the muffin spots.  

*Make an indention in the center of each meat muffin using a spoon.  Now pour the bbq sauce into the indentions.

*Cook the meat muffins for 30 minutes.

*Take muffins out of the oven and sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Cook for another 5 minutes until the cheese has melted.

(NOTE:  We always serve ours with mashed potatoes and a veggie).

Chicken Chili

So easy (and its actually really good for you too).  I got this recipe from www.skinnytaste.com.  I served it with jiffy rolls (50 cents a box and 20 minutes to make, yup, this goes in the book as one of the easiest recipes ever!)

Ingredients:
1/2 onion, chopped
1 16-oz can black beans (rinsed)
1 16-oz can kidney beans (rinsed)
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
10 oz package frozen corn kernels
2 cans of rotel
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tbsp chili powder
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Directions:
*Combine all ingredients in the crock pot and mix them all up.

*Cook on high for 4-5 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in.

Cake Mix Cookies

Here is another awesome recipe from my friend Katie.  I have made these a few times now, and they are gone within a day or two.  My husband and son go CRAZY for these.

Ingredients:
2 boxes of cake mix
2 eggs
2/3 cups melted butter
¼ cup water

Directions:
*Mix all ingredients together and drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 8-10 minutes.

"My favorite cookies are funfetti cake mix with funfetti icing on the top of cooled cookies or yellow cake mix with 1 package of chocolate chips mixed into batter." -Katie

I have only made the funfetti ones.  I bought pink strawberry icing for the tops, but the cookies seriously are gone before I have time to ice them.  Yes, they are that good!

Everything Cookies

Found this recipe on a blog...but I don't remember who's.  I did change it though!  So this is my version of some bloggers recipe...

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups pretzel M&Ms OR 1 cup of another kind of M&M's

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

* Cream together butter and brown sugar. Beat in eggs, peanut butter and vanilla.

* Add flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Stir in chocolate chips and pretzel M&Ms.

* Roll into small balls  and place onto greased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly because they do not flatten much while cooking. (If you make the balls more than about a tablespoon or so the insides won't cook right!  Don't make them too big!)

* Bake for 13 minutes.

Taco Pizza

A couple weeks ago I found a taco pizza recipe online that sounded good.  I copied it to my recipe file online like usual but forgot to write it onto my my actual recipe cards.  While at the grocery store the other day I remembered saving it and wanting to make it but I completely forgot what ingredients were in it other than meat, cheese, and the dough package!  So I grabbed what I thought would be good and tonight I created my own taco pizza.  It was exactly what I was craving,  :)

 

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 Pizza dough (by crescent roll/cinnamon rolls at the grocery store)

3/4 Package taco seasoning

1 can refried beans

2 cups shredded cheese

1/2 cup salsa

Add ons you like:

lettuce

tomatoes

green peppers

jalapeno's

avocado

salsa

sour cream

black olives

Directions:

*Preheat oven according to your pizza dough package (mine was Pillsbury, and it was set for 425*F)

*Cook your ground beef on the stove with 3/4 package of taco seasoning in the meat.  You can use more or less taco seasoning if you want.

*Unroll your pizza sheet and roll it out onto a greased baking pan.  It will stretch out as big as you want, just keep working at it!

*This is the annoying step.  UGH.  The dough is so soft and sticky, so trying to spread the can of refried beans is a little tricky.  I put my beans in a bowl and stirred them up to soften them.  Then I took a spatula and "painted" the beans onto the dough.  Leave an edge for your "crust".

*Once you have "painted" your beans onto your crust, pour your meat mixture on top.  

*Put your cheese on top of your meat.

*Bake for the amount of time on your dough package (mine was 13-17 minutes for multiple toppings.  I did 15 and it was perfect).

*While your pizza is cooking, chop any vegetables you want on top.  We put lettuce, green peppers, and tomatoes.

*Once your pizza is cooked, layer a thin layer of salsa on top.  Now put all the toppings you want on it.  Delicious!!!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

 

Ingredients:

3-4 pound pork shoulder or butt

1 20 oz can of root beer

4 Cups barbecue sauce

Rolls or buns for the sandwiches

Directions:

*Spray a crock pot with cooking spray.

*Put your root beer and barbecue sauce into the crock pot and mix well.  Add pork

*Cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4-5.

*Pull pork out of crock pot and place onto a plate.  Take two forks and shred up the meat.

*Pour some of the sauce that is in the crock pot over the shredded/pulled pork.

*Put pulled pork onto sandwich buns.  Nick says to add coleslaw (this is how we eat it here in Texas...Yup, we put our coleslaw onto our sandwiches.  Delicious!  See coleslaw recipe for instructions...)

Acorn Squash

I don't know about you, but I LOVE squash!!!  Acorn squash is so easy to make as a side dish, but some people have no idea how to cook it.  If you don't, here is the easiest way to do it and its Absolutely Delicious!!!

 

Ingredients:

1 acorn squash (any size)

2 Tbsp's butter

1/2 Cup brown sugar

Directions:

*Cut the acorn squash in half (from top to bottom so you have two mirror image pieces).

*Put one tablespoon of butter in each half, and 1/4 cup of brown sugar on top of the butter

*Put the pieces into a square baking dish.

*Cook squash at 400* in oven for one hour.

*To eat it, simply use a spoon to scrape out the squash.  You don't want to eat the green outer shell.  Yummy!

Creamy Coleslaw

After trying out a few coleslaw mixes, I found this one.  I doubt I will ever look for another one because this one is SO good!  Nick isn't a huge fan of coleslaw...but he began to like it after living in Austin and having it on his bbq sandwiches.  He said this one was good which means it has to be for him to like it  ;)

 

Ingredients:

1 (16 oz) package of coleslaw mix
2 Tbsp. minced onion
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup mayonaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:
*Mix all ingredients together except for the coleslaw.

 

*Once mixed well, add the slaw mix.  Chill for a few hours.  The longer it sits the better it tastes!

(NOTE:  The taste once it is first mixed is not good.  It truly has to sit for a minimum of 2 hours.  We prefer it on the second day.  So when I need this for dinner, I make it early in the morning.  Its so easy to do...truly only takes about five minutes to make).

Banana Bread

I am happy to say that I can stop looking for banana bread recipes.  Last night I tried a new recipe and it is going to be the one I use from now on.  Yes, its that good!

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 1/2 Cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of walnuts or pecans

Directions:
*In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.

*Add eggs, sugar, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla to bananas.  Mix well.

*Add flour, baking soda, and salt.  Mix just until combined.  Do not overmix.

*Fold in your nuts. 

*Pour batter in metal loaf pan coated with cooking spray.

*Bake in preheated (350) for one hour.

(This recipe came from a blog I came across online)

Spinach Lasagna (Meatless)

This is another Kraft recipe.  They are so easy, I love them!  My husband came home last night and I had just pulled this out of the oven and he looked at my son and said "Have I ever told you how much I love spinach lasagna?"  I had to ask him if he was being sarcastic or is he really did love it.  His answer?  He really does love it  :)  (Happy wife moment...)

 

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 (16 oz) container of cottage cheese
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 jars spaghetti sauce (Kraft calls for 1, but I always need 2)
9 cooked lasagna noodles

Directions:
*Heat oven to 350*F

*Mix eggs in a large bowl.  Now add the cottage cheese, spinach, 2 cups of your mozzarella, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, and the rest of the bottle of spaghetti sauce to the eggs.  Mix well.

*Lay 2 paper towels on your counter.  Now pull 3 of your cooked lasagna noodles out of the water and lay them on the paper towels.  Take another paper towel and wipe them off.  (This is a Krista step, not a Kraft one.  It makes your lasagna less watery at the end).

*Layer 1 - 1 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of your sprayed with cooking spray 13x9 pan.  Put enough spaghetti sauce to put a thin layer on the bottom.

*On top of the spaghetti sauce, layer 3 noodles to cover the bottom on the dish.  Now put half of your spinach mixture on top of the noodles.  Spread out the spinach mixture so that it is an even layer.

*Now put 3 more noodles on top, with the rest of the spinach mixture.  Spread out the mixture.

*Put your last layer of noodles on top of the spinach mixture.  Pour as much of the second bottle of spaghetti sauce on top of the noodles as you would like.  Put the remaining shredded cheese, and then the remaining Parmesan cheese on top.

*Bake uncovered in your oven for 45 minutes. 

Chex Muddy Buddies

I got this recipe from...you guessed it...the Chex cereal box!

Super close-up!

Ingredients:
8 Cups Chex Cereal (Any type, I prefer corn flavored)
1 Cup Semi-sweet Chocolate chips
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup butter
1 - 1 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

 Directions:
 *In a microwave safe bowl, put the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter.  Melt in microwave (about 1-2 mins)  (Be careful not to burn it...stir halfway through)

*In a large bowl, measure out the Chex.

*Pour peanut butter mixture over the chex and stir well.

*Pour the powdered sugar on top of the cereal and mix well.

*Pour the chex onto waxed paper and let cool.

*Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Kris Kringle Cookies

I know its not Christmas, but I had a picture of these that I took and figured I would post it before I forgot!

 

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup  granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2   eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2-1/4 cups  flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp.  salt
2 pkg. (6 squares each) BAKER'S White Chocolate, chopped
2 cups  chopped PLANTERS Pecans, toasted
2 cups dried cranberries

Directions:
*Heat oven to 375ºF.

*Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in chocolate, nuts and cranberries.

*Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, 1-1/2 inches apart, onto baking sheets.

*Bake 9 to 11 min. or until lightly browned. Put cookies on wire racks after allowing them to cool for 3 minutes on the baking sheets.  Cool completely.

Strawberry Napoleons

This recipe is from the Pepperidge Farm recipe collection.  I have put my own twist on it though...this is my copy, not the original recipe 

Ingredients:
1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed
1 package (about 3 ounces) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
1 cup milk
1 container of cool whip
1 1/4 cups sliced strawberries


Directions:
*Heat oven to 400*F

*The pastry sheets come in the frozen section by the cool whip and frozen berries at the grocery store.

*In the pastry box are two packages, you only need one.  Open one of them up and let it thaw for about 40 mins (good to do right before you eat dinner, or are waiting for dinner to be finished).  Once the pastry is thawed, open it up (it has been folded over twice).  So now you have a big sheet.  Where the folds were, cut the pastry on these lines.  You will now have 3 long strips of the pastry.

*Cute each of the 3 strips into either 3 squares.

*Put each piece onto a baking sheet.  Place the baking sheet with pieces into your pre-heated oven.  Bake for 13-15 minutes.  Be careful, they burn easily.  You only want them golden brown.  Remove them from the oven and place each piece onto a baking sheet to fully cool.

*Now, split each of your either 9 pastry pieces into two.  So you will now have either 18 pieces.

*In a bowl, mix the pudding mix with only 1 cup of mix.  Follow the rest of the instructions on the package for it however.  Once it is made, stir in the cool whip container.  Mix it well.

*Pour a dab of pudding mixture onto 4 pieces of pastry.  Layer some strawberries.  Put another pastry on.  Layer more pudding and strawberries.  Place the last layer of pastry on top.

Really, really easy to make.  Takes a little bit of time, but its simple once you have read the instructions and know  what you are doing.

Crockpot Mexican Chicken

From one of my good friends Katie!

Same pot, two different pictures.  Sorry...I'm not a great photographer.  Food tastes better than the pictures look, I promise!

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (thawed)
2 cans of beans (black, ranch style, pinto or kidney)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can rotel

Directions:
*Spray crockpot with cooking spray.  Mix all ingredients in the crockpot.  

*Cook in a crockpot on high 4 hours or low 6-8 hours.

*Shred chicken and serve with shredded cheese and sour cream in tortillas or on tortilla chips.

(The chicken shreds so easily once its cooked!  2 forks and it falls apart!  Really tasty!  I served ours on tortillas.  I used one can of rinsed off/drained black beans, and one can of chili beans still in most of the sauce.)

Shepherds Pie

My moms recipe.  I grew up on this one!

Ingredients:
3-4 medium/large potatoes
1 lb ground beef
1 bag frozen vegetables of your choice (all corn, mixed veggies, etc...)
1 can of creamed corn
1 brown gravy sauce packet

Directions:
*Boil potatoes until cooked

*Brown meat on stove while potatoes are cooking

*Cook frozen veggies.  Mix them with the cream corn, and cook in a bowl for a few mins until all are warm.

*Once the potatoes are cooked, mash them.

*Put the meat on the bottom of a round of square baking dish.  Pour all the vegetable mixture on top of the meat.  Now, put all the potatoes on top of the vegetables.  Flatten out the top of the potatoes.  You can sprinkle some cheese on it too if you would like.

*Put in the oven at 350 until the cheese melts (about 5 mins).  If you don't put cheese on top you can cook it for up to 30 mins in the oven so the flavors mix together, its your choice.

*Cook gravy packet as directed on its package on the stove.

*Serve the dish onto your plate and pour gravy on top.

(Nick likes gravy on his, I eat mine without.  Its so easy, a very British dish!)

Snow Ice Cream

Down here in Texas we don't often get snow, but when we do...we make snow ice cream!

Ingredients:
1 big gallon pot of snow
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups milk (or chocolate milk if you want choc ice cream)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and eat immediately

And YES...it really does taste like ice cream!  Its delicious and fun to make!!!

Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

Thank You Paula Dean!  This recipe was easy, but it does have a ton of ingredients.  It really did have a neat cheeseburger taste.  My husband, who isn't a typical meatloaf lover, said this was definitely a "keeper" recipe!  I changed it up slightly and have added my recipe instead of hers...

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 (8-ounce) package sharp Cheddar, grated (or a 2 cup pre-grated bag)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup bread crumbs, toasted
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/3 cup ketchup (plus more to squirt on top...)
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 (3-ounce) can French fried onions

Directions:
*First cook your bacon.  I do mine in the microwave for this recipe because it takes more of the grease out and the bacon is super crispy.  Put 4 paper towels on the bottom of a microwave safe plate, line the bacon strips up next to one another, cover with another paper towel.  Cook in your microwave for 8-10 mins until cooked.  Cool for a minute or two, then crumble them in a bowl.  SO EASY!

*In a large bowl, mix top 9 ingredients (ground beef, bacon, cheese, eggs, bread crumbs, mayo, Worcestershire, salt, pepper).  I ran out of bread crumbs so I toasted two slices of bread to make them toast, then used my cheese grater to make crumbs.  Worked perfect if you don't usually have something like bread crumbs in your pantry.

*In a small bowl stir the ketchup and mustard (I used dijon).  Pour about 1/4 cup of it into the meat mixture.  Mix well.

*Spray a meatloaf pan with cooking spray.  Pour the meat mixture into pan and press it down.

*Add more ketchup to the small remaining mixture (add as much as you like because this is what goes on top of your meatloaf.  I you want a lot of it make a larger amount).  I think I put about 1/2 a cup on top of mine.  I wanted to tone down the mustard flavor.

*Pre-heat your oven to 350*F and then cook meatloaf for 45 minutes.

*Take meatloaf out of oven, top with french's fried onions, then put it back into the oven to bake another 10 minutes.

Lasagna Roll-Ups

I do believe this recipe came from Kraftrecipes.com

 

Ingredients:

1 egg, beaten
1 (15 oz) pkg ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded cheese
1 TBSP italian seasoning (if you have it!)
1-1.5 jars of spaghetti sauce (I always need more than 1 jar)
12-15 cooked lasagna noodles
1/4 cup parmesean cheese

Directions:
*Heat oven to 375

*Spray 13x9 baking dish with baking spray, then pour 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce onto the bottom of dish.

*Mix first 4 ingredients together.  Add 1 cup or so of the spaghetti sauce to this mixture.

*Spread about 1/2 a cup of the mixture onto a lasagna noodle.  Roll the noodle up (it will look like a spiral).  Place the noodle, seam side down, in a 13x9 baking dish

*Do this to the remaining noodles.

*Top the lasagna roll-ups with the remaining spaghetti sauce and then shake the parmesan cheese on top.  Cover with aluminum foil.

*Bake 45 mins, uncovering the last 10 mins.