Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Recipe adapted from: http://www.thekitchn.com/

Ingredients:

6 chicken breasts

5 cups chicken stock

2 chicken bouillon cubes

8 Tbls. (1 stick) butter

2 large yellow onions chopped

3/4 c. flour

1/4 c. heavy cream

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

6-8 medium carrots, sliced

2-3 large baking potatoes diced

10 oz. frozen peas

1 package puff pastry thawed

1 egg (slightly beaten, for use on cooking day)

12 pot pie pans (I got disposable ones from the grocery store that worked great)

Bake chicken seasoned with salt and pepper in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until done in center.  Dice and set aside.

In a small bowl, heat chicken stock and add bullion cubes.  Set aside.

In a large pot, melt butter and saute onions until soft (about 5-10 minutes).  Add flour and cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring continuously.

Add hot stock and stir until flour bits have completely dissolved.  Add heavy cream, garlic, carrots, potatoes, peas, and chicken and set aside to cool.

Once cooled slightly, divide chicken and vegetable mixture into 12 pot pie pans.  Roll out puff pastry dough and cut circles to top each pot pie.

If freezer cooking, freeze at this point.  Follow directions below to cook.

Brush each pot pie with egg wash and cut slits in top for venting.  Bake pot pies uncovered, on a cookie sheet to prevent spills from bubbling over, at 375 degrees for 60-90 minutes (depending on if cooking from frozen or fresh).

Makes 12 pot pies.

Food for thought:

The most recent time I made these, I put dough in the bottom of the pans as well before adding the chicken mixture.  We all loved the crust so much we wanted more of it.  I haven't baked any from this batch yet so I will let you know if it works. 

Stuffed Shells with Italian Sausage

Another great recipe for serving to guests; it looks nice and is easy to make.  And, it is great for freezer cooking!  I tend to do a double batch simply because I really like it.  When I do that, we have four pans of stuffed shells - one for right then, and three for the coming weeks. 

Stuffed Shells with Italian Sausage

Adapted from: http://www.myrecipes.com/

Ingredients:
1 lb. jumbo shells
1 12 oz. container cottage cheese
1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese
1 cup (4 oz.) asiago cheese, shredded
3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbls. fresh chives
2 Tbls. fresh parsley
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt/pepper to taste
1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of liquid
4 cups marinara sauce (I like Newman's Own brand)
1 lb. Italian sausage, browned
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Cook shells according to package directions, adding a dash of olive oil to the water to prevent the shells from sticking.  Rinse the shells well and set them out on wax paper to dry.

Combine ricotta cheese and cottage cheese in a food processor or blend and combine until smooth.  Add the asiago cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, chives, garlic, spinach, and salt/pepper.

Fill each shell with the cheese mixture.  Top with marinara sauce combined with browned Italian sausage.  Finish with mozzarella cheese on top. 

If freezer cooking, freeze now. 

To serve, bake at 375 degrees covered for approximately 70 minutes, uncovering in the last 5 minutes allowing top to brown a little.

Homemade Pizza

Easy Homemade Pizza Dough

Recipe from: Sarah Brass

Ingredients:

5 1/3 cup unbleached mult-purpose flour

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. yeast

2 Tbls. sugar

2 cups + 2 Tbls. room temperature water

2 Tbls. olive oil

Combine and mix all ingredients for 1 minute until well blended.

Let rest 5 minutes to fully hydrate the flour.

Mix 2-3 minutes more until dough texture is between tacky and sticky. (I usually mix by hand at this point)

Fold once forward and once backward.

Divide into 2 large pizzas or 5 individual pizzas. Store dough in baggie lightly misted with cooking spray in fridge up to 4 days or freezer up to 3 months.

Allow to thaw and come to room temperature before rolling out.

Bake with toppings on at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

Combine and mix all ingredients for 1 minute until well blended.
Let rest 5 minutes to fully hydrate the flour.

Mix 2-3 minutes more until dough texture is between tacky and sticky. (I usually mix by hand for this step.)

Fold once forward and once backward.

Divide into 2 large pizzas or 5 individual pizzas. Store dough in baggie lightly misted with
cooking spray in fridge up to 4 days or freezer up to 3 months.

Allow to thaw and come to room temperature before rolling out.

Bake with toppings on at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

Food for Thought:

This recipe is great for not only pizza but calzones or stromboli.  We did a great chicken calzone with artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, garlic, and mozzarella the other night.  We also love the basic pepperoni and green pepper pizza. 

Freezer Cooking - Why and How I do it...

With my two year old deciding he didn't need to nap anymore and a highly active 1 year old, I needed to find ways to create short cuts in cooking and yet not just put pre-packaged and highly preserved meals on the table.  I just don't like eating food like that...  So, I did a little research and stumbled upon the http://www.onceamonthmom.com/ website, dedicated to once a month cooking.  And, my new lifestyle began!

The concept behind once a month cooking is to plan your menu and do all of your meal prep work on one day and then keep it all in the freezer until you use it later in the month.  It has changed the way I cook and the way my family eats!  We are eating a better variety of meals, ones that are healthy with organic and whole food ingredients, and I am spending a TON less time in the kitchen each day getting our meals ready. 

How does it work, you say? Here is how it looks for me...

Each month, I typically set aside 2 hours for menu planning - looking up new recipes I want to try, locating my recipes that are tried and true, planning the order of meals so we don't, for example, have all soups one week and all Asian food the next, and then writing out an extensive grocery list.  I then do a big shopping day at Sam's Club, Costco, Super Target, and Cub.  Sometimes that comes in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed or sometimes it is on a day I know my in-laws will babysit.

With all the ingredients on hand, I tackle the cooking.  The first time I did it with the kids safely tucked away at my in-laws' house, I cooked for about 6 hours, and got 15 meals completely prepared and in the freezer.  The second month, I cooked for about 8 hours and got 24 meals in the freezer.  The next two times I did this, I didn't have the luxury of a solid day of cooking without the kids at home so did 3-5 meals a day during nap time for a week and then had everything in the freezer for the rest of the month. 

Some of the meals are prep only on cooking day, meaning I toss all the raw ingredients into ziploc baggies and label them with cooking instructions and throw them in the freezer.  Some are minimal prep - meaning I have to brown meat or cook noodles and assemble.  Thirdly, (and I usually try to limit the number of these kinds of recipes) are the meals that involve cooking thoroughly and then freezing in their cooked state to reheat on eating day.  For those, I like to try to double the recipes since I am going to go through all the work of cooking it. 

Many of the meals make enough food for a family of six.  We are currently feeding about 3 1/2 people so for us many recipes can be split.  By doing this, I feel like we waste a lot less food not throwing out uneaten leftovers later in the week. 

Because I am doing the grocery shopping in bulk, I have been able to maintain a budget of about $10 per meal.  It saves us money, time, and stress every day!  And, I love it! I have done four months of this now and couldn't imagine going back!

I am currently working on the menu for February.  Our menu hangs right on the fridge and I mark on the menu where fresh ingredients need to be bought that week (i.e. lettuce, tomato, and avocado for tacos, fresh bread for french dip sandwiches, etc.).  I try to plan 4-5 meals per week knowing that weekends are always different as far as meals go and we need to have at least one night of leftovers so as to not waste food.  I'm definitely not rigid in my meal plan and do rearrange as my mood hits but generally stick to what I have planned for each night.  Here is what I think February's menu will look like:

		February Menu
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
		Orange Apricot Pork Chops*	Chicken Tortilla Soup**	Hearty Beef Stew
Kung Pao Chicken	Rotel Tacos**	Italian Meatballs and Spaghetti	Chicken Noodle Soup*	Chicken Pot Pie
Basil Chicken and Spinach Ravioli	Taco Soup**	Shepherd's Pie	Sloppy Joe's**	Stuffed Shells
Chicken  Caccatori*	Jack Hilger Stew*	Black Bean Corn Quesadillas	Asian Pork Tenderloin and Asian Carrots**	BBQ Chicken Pizza
Asian Peanut Chicken Stirfry*	Black Bean Burritos*	Chicken Pot Pie

* food swap group meal
**needs additional fresh ingredients:
      Tortilla Soup - sour cream
      Rotel Tacos - lettuce, tomatoes, avocado
      Taco Soup - sour cream
      Sloppy Joes - buns
      Asain Pork Tenderloin - green onions

Hope this is helpful for all you aspiring freezer cookers out there!!! 

Good for You (if you can believe it) Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

This recipe is one of my two year old's favorites... though he tends to pick through and eat all the chocolate chips first and then ask for another muffin - my kind of guy!



Good for You (if you  can believe it) Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Adapted from a recipe on: www.fortheloveoffood.net

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 T. flax seed meal mixed with 3 T. warm water

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

1/4 cup pureed veggie (carrots, sweet potato, or pumpkin)

1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt (preferably low fat, Greek yogurt)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large, very ripe bananas

1 cup dark chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, white sugar and brown sugar until well combined.

In another bowl, mix the flax seed meal, oil, pureed veggie, yogurt, vanilla and mushed bananas until mixed thoroughly.

Slowly combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients without over mixing. Add the chocolate chips and fold them into the batter.

Pour batter into muffin papers 3/4 full. 

If freezing, place muffin pan in freezer for 2 hours and then pop muffins into Ziploc baggies for cooking later.  Keep frozen until ready to cook.  Place in a muffin pan and follow directions below adding 5-10 minutes of cooking time.

If serving immediately, bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.

Healthy, yet Tasty, Pumpkin Muffins

Healthy, yet Tasty, Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:

3 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 15 oz. cans pumpkin
2/3 cups cooking oil
4 Tbls. flax seed meal combined with 12 Tbs. warm water
1 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. allspice
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Topping:
1 Tbls. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Combine flour and baking powder in a small bowl. 

In a large bowl combine remainder of ingredients (except topping) and mix thoroughly.  Add the flour mixture and combine until just mixed.

Fill muffin papers approximately 3/4 full.  Mix remaining 1 Tbls. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon and sprinkle over the muffins.  (If freezer cooking, place muffin tin in freezer for approximately 2 hours and then put muffins in bags.  Follow baking instructions below.)

If baking immediately, bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.

If from frozen, keep muffins frozen until ready to bake.  Place frozen muffin batter in a muffin pan, and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.

Makes 32 muffins.

Food for Thought:
Another easy way to make this recipe a bit healthier for your unsuspecting children (and husbands) is to substitute pureed cooked vegetables (or even easier baby food veggies, preferably carrots, sweet potato, or squash), or applesauce for half of the cooking oil in the recipe.  They are still just as moist and flavorful with fewer fat calories and another dose of veggies or fruits for you. 

Cheesy Basil Stuffed Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes

Unfortunately, this picture is from before the chicken was cooked - we were so excited to eat it, that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.  Perhaps I will remember next time!

Cheesy Basil Stuffed Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes

Originally cooked by: www.letsdishrecipes.blogspot.com

Ingredients:
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4-1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 Tbls. heavy cream
1 Tbls. lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 Tbls. mayonnaise
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 Tbls. olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes

In a medium bowl, combine shredded cheese, 2-4 Tbls. basil (depending on your preference), heavy cream, lemon juice, 2 cloves garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.

Cut a pocket in the chicken breast and stuff filling inside.  Use a toothpick to hold opening closed.

Place in baking dish with a small amount of olive oil on the bottom.  Spread mayonnaise on top of each chicken breast.  In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, remaining garlic and basil, and 1 Tbls. olive oil.  Press breading on to the top of each chicken breast.

If freezer cooking, cover with foil and freeze at this point.  To finish cooking, following directions below.

Mix cherry tomatoes with remaining 1 Tbls. olive oil.  Spread around baking dish.

Bake chicken at 425 until crumbs are golden brown and chicken is cooked through (about 25-35 minutes).
Garnish with fresh chopped basil.

Food for thought: 
This is one of those meals that is great for entertaining!  It looks beautiful, tastes amazing and is relatively easy to throw together ahead of time!  We served it with spinach and cheese ravioli on the side and everyone in the house liked it - not an easy feat with a picky 2 year old in the house!

Whole Wheat Pancakes Even My Husband Can Love!!!

I am always trying to figure out ways to sneak healthy ingredients into our meals.  (I had definitely been inspired by The Sneaky Chef who has great recipes and tricks to making meals packed with good ingredients).  Both my little guys love pancakes but I just wanted to try to make them packed full of things good for them but still tasty.  Today's pancakes were a success!  Both my sons and their dad loved them.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients:

3 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
3 Tbls. flaxseed meal combined with 9 Tbls. warm water
3 3/4 c. buttermilk
3/4 c. sugar
3 heaping tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. cooking oil
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. vanilla
additional milk (whole milk worked well), as needed to thin batter out.

Combine ingredients in a large bowl and using a whisk, mix well.

Heat griddle until water just sizzles upon dropping on.

Scoop batter onto griddle in 1/4-1/3 size scoops.

Flip pancake when bubbles are rising in the middle.

Continue cooking on the other side until lightly golden. 

Makes about 30 mid-sized pancakes.

Food for Thought:
These would be great with blueberries or chocolate chips in them as well.   It is also easy to freeze the extra pancakes by separating each pancake with wax paper and placing them in a baggie.  Then, we just take one or two out for breakfast and either pop them in the toaster or microwave them for about 30 seconds.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken breast

1 15 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
1 10 oz. can enchilada sauce

1 medium onion, chopped
1 small can chopped green chili peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 14.5 oz. can chicken broth
1-2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 10 oz. package frozen corn

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Optional Ingredients:

tortilla chips

sour cream

shredded cheese

If freezer cooking, place all ingredients except water in Ziploc baggie and freeze.  The chicken does not need to be cooked ahead of time. Then, following cooking instructions below.

Place all ingredients, including the 2 cups water not in freezer bag in a slow cooker.  Cook on low 6-8 hours or 3-4 hours on high.  Shred chicken and return it to soup.

Top with tortilla chips, sour cream, and/or shredded cheese.

Food for Thought:

This recipe is great as it is.  So delicious and the chicken stays very tender.  I tend to add more cumin, as it is one of my favorites!  This would also be good with some chopped zucchini or yellow squash added in for additional vegetables. 

Slow Cooked Thai Pulled Pork

Slow Cooked Thai Pulled Pork

Originally cooked by http://www.letsdishrecipes.blogspot.com/

Ingredients:
2 lb. pork loin
1 cup teriyaki sauce
4 Tbls. rice vinegar
2 tsp. chili sauce
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
2 cups snow peas
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts
Cooked rice or rice noodles

If freezer cooking, place all items from the pork through the garlic in one Ziploc bag and the bell peppers and snow peas in a separate bag and freeze.  Thaw pork, keeping vegetables frozen, and follow the directions below.

Place pork and marinade ingredients into a slow cooker on low for 3-4 hours.  Keep vegetables frozen until ready to use.  Shred the pork. 

Before returning the pork to the remaining sauce, whisk 2/3 cup peanut butter into the sauce.  Add the shredded pork back in as well as the vegetables.  Cook an additional 30 minutes to one hour.

Serve over rice or rice noodles, garnished with roasted peanuts.

Food for thought:
Our family thought this was delicious but could use a little more kick... maybe just another tsp. of chili sauce or served with some siracha sauce.  Also, we preferred the flavor of the snow peas to the peppers so perhaps cut the amount of peppers in half and increase the snow peas by a cup.  The pork in this turns out so tender and delicious!  It has definitely become a new favorite.

Black Bean Empanadas

Black Bean Empanadas

Ingredients:
For the dough:
4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup butter cut into small pieces
1 cup or more cold water
1 large egg lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water (do not beat until ready to bake)

For the filling:
2 cups grated pepper jack cheese
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 10 oz. box spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
10 oz. frozen corn
salt and pepper to taste
cumin to taste

For the dough, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Using your fingers, cute in butter until mixturei s crubly.  Add just enough cold water so dough comes together.

Combine filling ingredients in a large bowl.

Seperate dough into 8 balls.  Roll each ball out on flour into a circle shape.  Add 1/2 to 1 cup of filling to the dough, fold in half and press edges together.  Use the tine of a fork to create edge and cut away excess dough.

If freezer cooking, flash freeze on parchment paper for approximately 2 hours before wrapping in wax paper and putting them in a freezer bag. Then follow directions below.

If serving immediately, beat egg with water and brush over the tops of the empanadas. Bake empanadas on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 40 - 50 minutes until hot and goldent brown. 

Food for thought:
These are great with sour cream, enchilada sauce, salsa, etc. on top.  The empanada filling is easy to change up as well - we have done beef ones with corn and peppers, chicken ones with tomatoes and poblano peppers.  It makes 8 or more empanadas depending on how large you want them and how thinly you roll them so this makes enough for up to three meals for my family.  It's a great one to make and freeze all at the same time!

Meaty Baked Ziti

Meaty Baked Ziti
Ingredients:
1 16 oz. box whole wheat ziti
32 oz. jar tomato basil pasta sauce
16 oz. can tomato sauce
2 cups ricotta cheese
10 oz. frozen spinach, drained and squeezed dry
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 lb. ground turkey
4 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
other Italian seasonings to taste (basil, oregano, garlic, etc.)

Cook pasta according to directions.  Rinse in cold water and set aside.

Combine salt, pepper, garlic, and ground turkey in a pan over medium high heat.  Brown turkey and drain any extra fat.

Combine tomato-basil sauce, ricotta cheese, and spinach with the meat mixture. Mix well.  Add pasta and pour into a 9x13 baking dish.  Top with mozzarella.

If doing freezer cooking, freeze at this point. Thaw and bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes uncovered, until bubbly and top is lightly golden.

If serving immediately, bake at 375 for 15 minutes uncovered until bubbly and top is lightly golden.

Chocolate Mocha Truffle Cookies

Chocolate Mocha Truffle Cookies

1/4 c. butter, cubed
1/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 tsp. instant coffee granules
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg, beaten lightly
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 c. flour
2 Tbls. + 2 tsp. baking cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/3 c. toffee bits
1 ounce dark chocolate, for melting

Melt butter and chocolate chips in small pan on the stove over low heat.  Stir until smooth.
Stir in the coffee granules until dissolved and let cool for 5 minutes.

Transfer to a large mixing bowl.  Add brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; add to the chocolate mixture and stir well.  Stir in the toffee bits.

Drop onto cookie sheet in tablespoon size drops.  (I found a melon baller works really well for this job.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  Cool cookies 1 minute before transferring to a cooling rack.

When completely cool, drizzle with dark chocolate.

Makes 15 cookies.

First course...

I never thought I would become a blogger.  But, after trying to figure out a way to save my recipes and menus on the computer, in online recipe databases, in cookbooks, on scraps of paper tucked away in the cupboard, etc. I knew I needed to come up with a better plan.  I am too much of an organizational freak to go with the current non-system I have for keeping my recipes. 

I love so many different blogs about cooking  (for example: http://www.onceamonthmom.com/ ; http://www.fortheloveofcooking.blogspot.com/; http://www.letsdishrecipes.blogspot.com/ ) and have decided maybe I could do it too.  I love trying new recipes and sharing recipes with my friends and family. 

So, here we go.  I'm not really sure how this whole blogging thing works but I am going to try to figure it out along the way.  Hope you enjoy!