Easy Chicken Pot Pie

(photo by me)

We had this delicious meal at a friend's house for dinner (Thanks Molly!) We asked her for the recipe and found out it is a simple 30 minute dinner by Kraft. Original recipe here.


1-2/3 cups hot water
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
3 cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) less sodium condensed cream of chicken soup 1 cup milk


In a large bowl, add hot water to stuffing mix and stir just until moistened. Set aside.

Open bag of frozen vegetables and spread evenly in a 9x13 baking dish. Add chicken and mix with vegetables.

In a small bowl, whisk soup and milk together and then pour evenly over chicken mixture. Spread stuffing on top.

Bake at 375F degrees for 30minutes. That's it!

SUPER EASY and quick!

Spinach and Ham Strata

This smells so good while it's baking. We made it for dinner, using up leftover Christmas dinner ham the first time I made it. The sourdough bread is a must to make this recipe really stand out!

1 large loaf fresh sourdough bread, cut into 1" chunks

1 glug of oil (I use canola)

1 pkg (10oz) frozen spinach, thawed and drained very well

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1+ cup ham, cut into small bite size pieces

7 eggs

2 1/2 cups milk

2 handfuls Italian mix shredded cheese (parmesan & mozarella mix)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 shakes of ground nutmeg

In a saute pan, add oil, red bell pepper and onion. Cook until just tender. Add spinach and ham and cook for about 3 minutes on med-high heat. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Then whisk in milk. Set aside.

In another very large bowl, combine bread chunks with the spinach/ham mixture with 1 handful of cheese. Spread mixture into a 9x13 baking dish.

Pour egg mixture evenly ontop of bread/spinach in pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Bake at 350F degrees for 45-55 minutes or until set. YUMMY!

New York Cheesecake

photo by me
Recipe by Kraft

This is a delicious recipe and wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be! I'm definitely going to be making more cheesecakes in the future...which is good for my mouth but not for my waistline!

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (smash in a plastic ziplock for no mess)

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp butter, melted

5 pkg (8oz each) cream cheese, softened (take out of pkg and microwave for a few seconds)

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp flour

1 tbsp vanilla

1 cup sour cream (I use light)

4 eggs

1 can (21oz) cherry pie filling

Mix crumbs, 3 tbsp sugar and butter; press firmly onto bottom of 9 inch springform pan. Bake at 325 F degrees for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, flour and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake at 325 F degrees for 1 hour 5 minutes, or until center is ALMOST set if using a silver springform pan. (Or bake at 300 F for 1 hour 5 minutes if using a dark non stick springform pan). The cake will look really tall in the oven, right when you remove it. It will gradually settle down a few inches while cooling.

Loosen cake from side of pan; cool before removing rim of pan. Refridgerate 4 hours or overnight.

Top with pie filling right before serving. Store leftovers in fridge.

Makes 16 servings.

Christmas Almonds

Nutty delight recipe from Parenting magazine December/January 2004

Goody bag mix-ins by Jennie (moi)

Making these yummy nuts has been our little tradition for the past 4 years! We love to put them into goody bags for Christmas each year. We always have so much fun delivering them to friends and family!

Christmas Almonds
1 package (16oz) whole almonds, raw
Butter (to grease pans)
1 egg white
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp vanilla extract
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread almonds in a single layer in baking pan. Bake 8-10 minutes, until lightly roasted. Remove from oven and cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 300 F degrees.

Generously grease 2 large baking pans with butter. DO NOT use spray, it will taste funky!

In a large bowl, whisk egg white until foamy.

Whisk in sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in almonds; toss until well coated.

Spread half of the nut mixture onto a baking pan, spreading them out in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and stir. (Nuts will be very sticky now but will become crisp as they cool.) Return pan to oven and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes, until nuts are a pale golden brown and appear dry. Remove from oven and let sit for 3-5 minutes.

When nuts begin to harden, quickly loosen them from the pan with a metal spatula and spread onto waxed paper to finish cooling. Separate into individual pieces or small clusters now, otherwise they will be too hard to do later.

Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Makes 5 ½ cups

*To stretch the goodness even further, mix nuts with mini pretzels and M&M’s in a goody bag. Place 2 large handfuls of pretzels, 1 handful nuts, and 1-2 handfuls of M&M’s in a bag. Putting the M&M’s in last will make them fall through the nuts and pretzels so you won’t need to shake your bag to mix them!

We usually double the almond recipe, use 2 bags (16oz) pretzels, and 2 bags (16oz) Holiday colored M&M’s. This will make 20 goody bags!

Crab Puffs

I created this recipe since I love to order crab puffs whenever we go out to Chinese food. They taste just like the restaurant's version to me!

Paired with egg rolls, these are so good.

You won't need to order take out again!

Crab Puffs
16 oz package imitation crab meat chunks
8 oz package Neufchatel cream cheese (1/3 less fat), softened
1 package wonton wrappers
1 egg

In a large bowl, combine soft cream cheese and crab meat. Using an electric mixer, beat together until mixed completely and chunks are smaller.

In a small bowl, whisk one egg with 1 part water. On a dry surface, place 1 wonton. To fill the wonton wrappers, place a spoonful of meat mixture into the center of one wonton. Dip your fingers into egg and smear along the edges of wonton (this helps the egg roll stick together when rolled.) Then take one set of opposite corners and bring to the middle, or close to it. Take one of the remaining corners to the middle and roll toward the flat side. Seal up the wrap, allowing no stuffing to poke through, using more egg mixture on fingers to help it stick together. Fill all wrappers, then start the deep frying process.

In a wok, fill enough oil to deep fry the crab puff. Wait until oil is hot enough before putting crab puff in. (Test by sprinkling a few drop of water, if it POPS, then ready.) You’ll have to monitor the speed of frying so that you don’t burn your crab puffs, and turn down heat as necessary…and watch out not to burn yourself with oil splatter! Fry until golden brown and serve immediately.

For the sauce, combine all ingredients in a pot. Stirring frequently with a whisk, bring to a boil. Cook until it thickens and it’s ready!!

Sweet & Sour Sauce
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs. Corn starch
1/3 cup white vinegar
2 Tbs. Soy sauce
1 cup pineapple juice
2/3 cup Heinz ketchup
½ tsp. Ginger, freshly grated

Black Forest Cake

Recipe from Sage Cafe (McMinnville, OR). I used to work at this little lunch cafe while for a few months while I was home from college in 1999. All of their recipes are delicious. I found their cookbook my mom bought years ago and begged her last year to let me take it home with me. Sadly, the cafe had to close it's doors a few years ago due to the boutique store below them going out of business. The Sage Cafe was located up the stairs from the boutique shop. Luckily for me, the recipes I loved are in my home now.

Cake

1 1/4 cup white flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup melted butter

1 egg

1 tsp vinegar

1/2 tsp vanilla

6 tbsp cocoa powder

In a small bowl, stir buttermilk and baking soda together. In a medium bowl, combine flours, sugars, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. In a large bowl, combine butter, egg, vinegar, and vanilla. Beat until mixed. Add buttermilk. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until fully incorporated.

Grease a 8" cake pan (I used a deep cheesecake spring form 8" round pan). Lightly flour the inside of the pan. Pour cake batter into pan and bake at 350F degrees for 40 minutes at least. I don't remember how long it actually took to completely bake. I kept checking on the cake every 5 minutes or so until it was done. It takes longer when it's so thick. When cake is done, let it cool for 5 minutes before removing the pan.

Let cool completely (a few hours) before frosting.

Chocolate Frosting

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp milk

Mix ingredients together in a large bowl, adding a tiny bit of extra milk if necessary until frosting is smooth and spreadable. Frost only the sides of the cake, leaving the top bare.

Topping

1 can (14 oz) cherry pie filling

Starting at the center of the cake, dollop the pie filling. Spread from center to the sides. You're done! Slice and Enjoy!

Bean and Cheese Crisps

Or Bean Quesadillas These are a staple in our house, especially since we can't eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches due to Rae's allergy. We eat these around 3-4 times a week for lunch. Just recently I've been sneaking in sweet potato puree and it becomes invisible since the cheddar cheese is the same color! Tastes great too.

Ingredients
flour tortillas
refried beans (I use the canned variety without partially hydrogenated substances or lard)
Cheddar cheese
Sweet potato puree

Spread refried beans on half of the tortilla and sweet potato puree on the other half.

Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of puree
Fold in half and toast on a skillet until golden brown and cheese is melted.

Using a pizza cutter, slice into triangle wedges and serve!