Momma's Chicken Pot Pie

My mom's chicken pot pie is SO good!  I still remember the first time I made it for Hubbie.... he wasn't liking the idea of a non-traditional chicken pot pie ( a pot pie without a bottom crust AND a top crust), but I won him over and he always goes back for seconds!  Its so warm and such a yummy comfort food!  It freezes well too!  So, here is the recipe!

Pot Pie:
Chicken (I usually eye ball this part... if I have a couple of chicken breasts I'll boil those and shred them)
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
1 can of cream of chicken
1 bag of frozen veggies
Stir all this together and dump into a casserole dish.  Usually a 9x11 is too big.  So something square but pretty deep is good.  I have a round casserole dish that has tall sides and thats what I use for our chicken pot pie.

Topping:
1 cup of flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. salt
1 cup of milk
1 stick of butter, melted
Mix all this together....might be lumpy, so I use a wisk.... and pour over the pot pie mixture.

Bake 425 for 34-40 mins.  :o)  And enjoy!!

Hubbie's Chili

When Hubbie and I first got married, all he ever raved about was his family, or maybe its his Dad's?, chili.  He finally had a chance to make it and it was yummy!  Along the years, Hubbie and I have added our own "special" ingredients to make it "Hubbie's chili" and its still quite yummy!  We do cheat and use a little can called "chili magic".  We really wish we could get away from using that jar, but its just too easy to use it with all the spices and seasonings in it!  Maybe one day I'll be brave enough to try to make it from scratch!  So, here it is.... enjoy!



1 can of Chili Magic, traditional
1 lb of browned, ground beef
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of black beans
a few dashes of cayenne pepper
a few dashes of green tabasco


Follow the directions on the back of the chili magic can (which I believe is brown and drain the ground beef, saute the onions and then add the can of tomatoes and chili magic!  Now...start dumping!  I've done this next part in the slow cooker or on the stove... so either works... basically you just want it to cook and simmer.  So, add the rinsed kidney beans and black beans to the pot.  Stir.  And then add the few dashes of cayenne pepper and tabasco.  Stir and let simmer.  :o)  If its too thick, I'll fill up one of the bean cans or Chili Magic can with water and dump it in the pot.  And thats it!  And its tasty!

New Sloppy Joes

I wasn't raised on a tomato based sloppy joe, so one day when making a menu I asked Hubbie if he'd like to try something new.  So we searched around online and found this recipe.  They were so yummy!   Hubbie did them for us and he did a great job!


Homemade Sloppy Joes  


1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
Small onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. salt (to me, it DOES NOT need more salt! )  
3/4 tsp. pepper
1 tbspoon of Worcestershire sauce   
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 sm. bell pepper, chopped


Brown ground beef.  Drain.  Add onions, bell pepper and add seasoning.  Add tomato sauce rinsing the can with a small amount of water.  Bring to boil, then cut heat down simmer 30 mins.  Serve on hamburger buns.  


And if you're curious, I grew up with this sloppy joe....



Mom's Sloppy Joes

1 lb ground beef
1 can of french onion soup


Brown ground beef.  Drain.  Add soup can.  Simmer until thick.  Serve on hamburger buns.  

Enjoy!

Buggy's Birthday Cupcakes

A year or two ago my parents bought me the book Hello, Cupcake! since I had taken a cake decorating class and enjoyed it.  The book has a lot of cute decorating ideas and recipes.  A few weeks ago we made the chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese icing.  They were SO good!  The kind of good that you have to use all the will power you can to not polish off the plate!  Hubbie took the remainder to work so that we wouldn't be tempted!  For Buggy's birthday, we decided to try out the carrot cake with cream cheese icing!  Also delicious!  This cream cheese doesn't have a "after taste or bite" to it.  I think the butter helps mellow it out.  Whatever the reason, this is  definitely a family favorite!

Carrot Cake 


2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg 

2 large eggs

1 cup of sugar

1/3 cup of lightly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup of oil

1/4 cup of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

1 1/2 cups of grated carrots (about 4) 

1/2 cup of dark raisins

1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

1.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl.

3. In another bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs, brown sugar, sugar, oil and milk until light and thick. 

4. Reduce speed to low and add the flour mixture, beating just until blended.  Stir in vanilla and carrots until well blended (and raisins and walnuts if adding)

5. Bake until golden  and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 22 mins.  Remove and cool.  

Cream Cheese Icing 

1 package of cream cheese (8 oz), softened

1 stick (8 tblspoons) of unsalted butter, softened

1 box of confectioners sugar 

2-3 tablespoons of milk 

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1. Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl.  Beat with a mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 mins.

2. Gradually add the sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk and beat until smooth.  Add vanilla.  And add remaining 1 tablespoon of milk if the mixture is too thick.  

Buggy is what we call our youngest son and I figured bugs made out of candy would be appropriate for his celebration!  Everyone Our oldest sons enjoyed the candy!

The icing and both cake recipes that we've made are SO good!  Once you eat these homemade cakes, you will never be able to go back to a box cake or tub of icing!  I really wish I could "go back" sometimes, because it would make things a lot quicker and easier...... but once you eat one of these YOU DON'T want to go back to any store bought cake!  Delicious!!!

Cheap and Delicious Granola

One day while blog hopping, I came across a blog that offered "e-books" for free.  The books were all about meal planning and special tips to make feeding your family a little easier and lighter on the budget.  I usually pass over these, because most times I don't learn too much new...not to sound like a snob, but unfortunately, you can't get blood from a turnip.  Everything that we can/want to do, we do.  But I did go ahead and sign up for the Minute with Molly Newsletter that promises to give frugal tips, because I wanted the e-book!

The e-book is definitely worth it.  You do have to download it, of course, and print if you want a paper copy, but I have been very impressed with the spreadsheets and recipes.  One of the recipes that I already tried out was the Yummy Homemade Granola on page 32.  Its so delicious!  Not sure of the cost to make a batch.  I made a half of a batch to test it out.  I added raisins and flax seed.  I gotta say, adding flax seed is such a simple way to add a little more fiber in your food.  You can hardly tell its there and when its toasted, as it is in this granola, it adds a great texture!  :o)

Yummy Homemade Granola  

 1 cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
8 cups oatmeal (quick oats)

In a large, 4-quart saucepan, melt the margarine or butter and the brown sugar

together. Stir it up and let it simmer for a few minutes (2-3 minutes). Add the salt and

cinnamon, then the oatmeal. Remove pot from heat and stir until all the oatmeal is

coated. Spread the granola onto 2 cookie sheets (with sides) and bake at 375° for 10

minutes, until golden brown. Cool granola completely on pan, then break up into pieces

and transfer to a container. Add raisins or nuts if desired.

For us, since we only made a half batch, we substituted about a 1/2 cup of the oatmeal for the flax seed.  It turned out dry for some reason.  It was still good and tasted like the kind that you buy at the store, just didn't harder as much as the recipe said it would.  Maybe the flax seed changed that.  I'm sure there is something online about adding flax seed and maybe adding more liquid, but again, it worked fine!  The big kids even asked for some of this!!  

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Check out my main blog today to find a thrifty cookie recipe!  :o)  Go here to check it out!  

Best Ever!

Sometimes you happen across one of those blogs that you could read forever... well.... Like Merchant Ships is one of those and sadly, some blogs don't last forever!  One of the best things I read during Meredith's regular blogging was her cobbler recipe!  Oh my goodness!  This is scrumptious AND quick AND easy!  I'm sure I've posted this before, because this is the 4th summer I've used her delicious recipe!!!  I decided to share it today since I am making this for our 4th of July dessert!

First, toss the berries or chopped fruit with 1/4 cup sugar (if needed).

Preheat the oven to 350 while the fruit releases its juice.

Next, melt one stick butter or margarine in a casserole dish (8 x 10 or 8 x 8).

Simply double this recipe for use in larger baking dishes.

While the butter melts, combine dry ingredients with milk:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2/3 cup milk

Pour batter over the butter. Don't mix!

Spoon fruit over the batter. Don't stir! Bake for 40 minutes at 350.

Serve with ice cream!!!