Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe makes two 9" pot pies -enjoy both or freeze one for later !

You'll Need:
2 boxes of the Pillsbury (or like) pie crusts from the dairy section-they each contain one top and bottom crust.
3-4 split whole chicken breasts, skin on
3 tablespoons olive oil
kosher sea salt
fresh black peper
5 cups chicken stock (look for MSG free, and I usually do 4 cups regular and 1 cup bold stock)
12 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 bag frozen peas (about 3 cups)
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups sliced celery
1/2 cup minced fresh parsely leaves
3/4 cup all purpose white flour-don't use wheat
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 egg and 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
4 teaspoons minced garlic-optional

1. Preheat oven to 350. Rub chicken breasts with olive oil, salt, pepper and minced garlic if you have some handy. Bake for 45 minutes or until cooked. Set aside to cool and once cool pull apart into bite size pieces.
2. In deep saute pan or dutch oven saute the onions in the butter until translucent (about 10 min on medium low heat)
3. Heat chicken stock and veggies except peas and parsely in a pot until at a simmer.
4. Add flour to onions and stir for 2 min over low heat
5. Add stock, veggies, peas, parsely, and heavy cream to the onion mixture and stir until thickened.
6. Arrange pie crusts in pie dishes, fill with the cooked filling, and top with the additional crusts making certain to use a fork to seal the edges. Poke a few holes in the top of crust to allow some air flow.
7. Apply egg wash to top of pie, sprinkle sea salt and cracked pepper on top, bake for 1 hour on a baking sheet.

Enjoy!

Shrimp-Spinach-Artichoke Bake

This is my "healthy" version of spinach artichoke dip. It is not as creamy and smooth as the dip version. This is more of a veggie casserole with shrimp. It will satisfy the craving without adding 10lbs-hopefully ;)

20 Frozen or Fresh Jumbo shrimp
1 bag frozen spinach
2 jars of marinated artichoke hearts
1/4 cup half&half
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3 large cloves of garlic
2tablespoons EVOO, butter, or margarine
a pinch of flour

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees
-Heat spinach and drain all of the water from it.
-Remove hard tail from the shrimp
-Chop artichoke hearts into smaller bite size pieces
-Mince garlic and saute in sauce pan with butter until translucent. Whisk in the half&half and flour until slightly thickened.
If you prefer a creamier texture you would want to transfer the spinach and artichokes to a food processor. You could blend until you achieve the desired texture. Instead of the blended texture, I just toss everything into the sauce at low heat until the cheese has melted. Then I transfer to a casserole dish and bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
You could serve as a side dish or as a dip with pita or tortilla chips.

Chedder Crackers

Yummm! These are far from low calorie but they are soooooo good. I like to put them in the baskets with cookies and fudge at the holidays because like fudge, they are to be enjoyed in moderation... or not ;)

Cheddar Crackers

-6 oz or 1.5 cups of EXTRA SHARP or HUNTERS CHOICE Cabot cheese (do not substitute for cheapo cheese like cracker barrel-they will not taste right)
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
-1 teaspoon Frank's hot sauce (or more to taste)
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-1 cup all purpose flour (you could try using wheat but we don't)
-1/4 cup sesame seeds

Directions:
-Heat oven to 400 and spray a baking sheet
-Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix with hands or use your food processor
- Divide the dough in half and roll into two logs that are aprox 1 1/4 inches in diameter
-Roll logs in sesame seeds and wrap in plastic wrap
- Refrigerate logs for at least 30 minutes, then slice into 1/4 in thick slices
-Optional: place fork marks on tops of each cracker
-Place slices on baking tray and bake 10-12 minutes keeping a close eye out so they don't burn.

They are great to use as serving crackers for an appetizer or all alone. Enjoy !

BBQ Meatloaf

I was reading through my blog and CANNOT believe this wasn't the first recipe I posted !! This is by far one of our favorites for the summertime, but it is equally delicious in the winter. I think it would be a great dish for upcoming SuperBowl Sunday.

BBQ Meatloaf

- 1lb Spicy Italian Sausage (you can cut open the links and squeeze out filling)
-1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage
-1 lb lean ground beef

1 Large onion or 2 medium
1 green pepper
2 carrots
2 celery stocks
*on the veggies feel free to use whatever you have on hand, and as much or little as you like

1 bottle Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce
1-2 cups bread crumbs
1-2 eggs
Salt & pepper

Instructions:
-Dice up the veggies and put to side
- Squeeze the sausage out of the casing and into a bowl with the ground beef
-Mix the meats together
-Add Veggies as you like
-Add breadcrumbs, eggs, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of Baby Ray's
-Mix Well
-Form into small 3 in long and 2in thick logs
-Place on BBQ to cook or bake in an oven at 400 for 25-30 minutes

This is great with Corn on the Cobb and summery salads or in smaller portions as an appetizer.
Enjoy!!

Ranch Chicken Nuggets- A meal even a husband can make !

I found this recipe online where it was suggested that it is a fun recipe to teach children to make. I taught my husband and now he has a meal he can easily make and loves to eat.

Ranch Chicken Nuggets:

-Chicken breasts or strips cut into small bite size chunks (whatever size you like)
-Ranch dressing (try the Cajun ranch or ranch mixed with hot sauce for a kick)
-Special K or Corn Flakes
-Parmesan cheese thinly grated
-Flour


Instructions:
- Pour 1-2 cups of cereal into a ziplock bag and smash until they are like panko breadcrumbs.
-Add Parmesan cheese to the cereal mixture and shake up to evenly distribute.
-Pour the cheese/cereal mix into a bowl or dish
-Put flour, and ranch dressing into separate bowls.
- Spray a baking tray with Pam
-take nuggets and dip into flour, then the ranch, then into the cereal/cheese mix and place on the baking tray
-Cook at 375 for 15-25 minutes depending on how large your nuggets are.

You could also flash fry these, but we were going for the healthier route. I like to serve with blanched green beans and almonds.