Homemade Chicken Potpie - Well Sort of ...

Here is a recipe for one of my favorite foods in the whole world - Chicken Pot Pie.  This recipe also freezes very well.  When I have a freezer cooking day this is always on my list of dishes to make.  Enjoy!

I transfer the mixture to foil pans in order to freeze them

1/4 cup butter
1 tsp. minced garlic
3/4 cup chopped onion, celery, and carrots
1/2 cup flour
3 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
4 cups of chicken broth
1 (15.5) oz. can of peas, drained
1 to 3 cups of cooked chicken (cubed or shredded)
1 package of store brought rolled up pie crust (usually 2 crust come in a pack)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to temperature on pie crust package (usually anywhere between 400 - 420 F depending on the crust you purchase.)

2. In a skillet melt butter and stir in the garlic, onion, celery, and carrot until tender.

3. Mix in flour, sugar, basil, and pepper until absorbed.

4.  Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Continuously stir so you won't get any sticking.

5. Reduce heat and stir in peas and chicken.  Allow to simmer a few minutes.

6. Transfer into a 9 X 13 baking dish.  Cover mixture with pie crust.  Allow crust to go over the edges of your dish.  Make sure for the first few minutes of baking that you put aluminium foil around all the edges of the crust so they don't burn.  After you notice the center of the crust browning take the foil off.  Allow crust to cook completely.

7.  After crust is done then take out and allow to sit and cool.

Freezer Cooking Tip:
I purchase aluminum pans from the dollar store for my freezer cooking.  Transfer mixture to a pan and allow it to completely cool.  Next cover with the pie crust.  Do not cook the pie crust but freeze with the uncooked crust.  Cover with plastic wrap then with aluminum foil.

I place the pie crust on top but do not cook the crust if I am freezing my pies.  Then I wrap with plastic and foil

When ready to take out the freezer you don't have to thaw it out before placing in the oven.  Place in the oven at 350 F.  Then as you see it is pretty much thawed out you can increase the temperature to 400 or 420 to brown and cook the crust.

Picking Strawberries at Adam's Acres - Strawberry Jam Fun

One of my favorite things about spring and early summer is that we get to go and pick strawberries.  My oldest daughter was 3 when we first started picking strawberries and it is really a family tradition we look forward to.   In a world full of television, video games, and all sorts of things grabbing our kids attention and affections its so important to realize that what they will really appreciate and remember as they get older are the fun things you do together like going to the farm each year.

This was our first  year making strawberry jam and it turned out great!  Coupled with our homemade biscuits we have managed to already eat at least 3 jars of jam.  Below is a link to the recipe I used to make my jam.  I did not add any pectin just stirred and stirred until I felt it was thick enough.

Strawberry Jam Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Brother and Sister Smashing Strawberries for Jam

Go to Granola

Here is the basic granola recipe I use.  It is very simple and I add a variety of things to it to change the taste and texture.  We eat it for breakfast with milk, pack it for lunch with yogurt, and eat it for a dessert.

Ingredients:

4 Cups Old-Fashion Oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp of ground cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
In a saucepan mix brown sugar, honey, canola oil, and cinnamon.  Heat to a boil.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.  Allow to sit a few minutes until the extract stops bubbling.  In a separate bowl pour in your 4 cups of oats.  Pour mixture over oats and mix thoroughly. Heat oven to 350 degrees F and take a medium sized baking sheet.  Spread mixture in a thin layer over the baking sheet.  Cook for 6 minutes.  Take out of the oven flip the mixture over with a spatula and cook another 6 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Once completely cool add what you like.  Some things I typically add are:
Raisins
Chocolate Chips
Craisins
Marshmallows
Banana Chips

Also you could add:
Nuts (any variety) - my son is allergic to peanuts so we normally stay away from adding nuts
Sunflower Seeds

Enjoy.  If you have another recipe I would love to see it.

Christa's Hot Cocoa Mix

Thanks to my good friend Christa my kids and I enjoy making this very simple hot cocoa mix.  This is so simple to make even the youngest member of your family can help - just as long as they can hold a spoon :-)

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 cups dry milk powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups cocoa
1 cup non dairy creamer (optional)































Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together.  After done mix in a hot cup of milk (if you left out the dairy creamer which we normally do) or mix in with hot water.

Store in an airtight container.

Mouthwatering Homemade Biscuits

My family loves biscuits.  I usually make a batch at least twice a week and they are gone just as soon as I make them.  Below is a quick and easy recipe you can use that I am sure your family will love.

Ingredients:
2 cups of Hudson Cream Flour (self-rising flour)
about 1/3 cup and 2 tsps of coconut oil (not liquid but put it in the fridge so it gets a little solid but not hard)
2 teaspoons of white granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
3/4 to 1 cup of evaporated milk
2 - 3 tablespoons of canola oil

My daughter is the biscuit expert.  She actually makes biscuits better than I do most of the time :-)

They may not be the prettiest biscuit but they sure are good.

Directions:
1. Blend the coconut oil, sugar, salt, and flour with a hand held pastry blender
2. Add the milk and mix
3. Flour a surface and kneed the dough about 3 to four times
4. Pour the canola oil on the surface of your pan
5. Pinch off about 2 to 3 tablespoons of dough (may be sticky but that's ok)
6. Roll dough around in the canola oil until l all sides are coated
7. Place coated dough on the pan and move on to the next piece to repeat the same process
8. Place biscuits kind of close to each other so sides don't burn.
9. Cook for about 10 minutes at 420 deg F in your oven
10. Enjoy

Creamy Vegetable Noodle Soup

I absolutely love vegetable soup.  Topped off with cheddar cheese and sour cream this recipe is sure to please even your most pickiest eaters.  We eat soup all year round and tend to have vegetable soup early in the week especially if we have had a weekend full of junk food :-)

Enjoy!

1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
4 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 medium onion chopped
1 clove of minced garlic
1 tbsp of olive oil
16 oz of frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup (or more) whole wheat rotini pasta
1 to 2 tsp of chili powder
salt to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions al dente

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent.  Add in chicken broth and cream of chicken soup and bring to a boil.  Once boiling add in the rest of the ingredients.  Cook until vegetables are done or to desired consistency.  Add cooked noodles cook about 3 more minutes and serve warm.

Top off with cheddar cheese and sour cream.  Serve with crackers

Yummy Spinach Breakfast Smoothies

OK I know it may sound yucky but thanks to my very good friend Patricia my family and I are trying to eat healthier.   You see Patricia is taking this nutrition class and I am reaping the benefits of getting all of this healthy insider information for free.   Recently, I discussed with her how it is almost impossible to get my middle daughter to eat vegetables.  It has really been a challenge up until recently.  Patricia simply said why don't you try putting it in a smoothie.  So lo and behold I introduce to you the perfect make-your-4-year-old-eat-veggies breakfast smoothie:

Half a blender full of spinach leaves
2 tablespoons of milled flax seed
1 banana
2 handfuls of blueberries
1/2 can of pineapples with juice or 1/2 pack of strawberries
Some crushed ice
Keifer yogurt (this is optional but I use it for protein)
Some Agave Nectar or Honey

The kids love it and ask for it every morning.  Thanks so much Patricia!

Delicious Minestrone Soup

This soup is so easy to make and I am sure you already have all the ingredients on hand.  Top this off with a bit of cheddar or parmesan cheese and it is absolutely delicious.

1 chopped onion
1 teaspoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
4 cups  chicken broth
1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 ounce) can of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano already added in
3/4 cup of diced baby carrots
1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
some fresh spinach

In a pot saute onion with olive oil until onion is tender.  Add all remaining ingredients (except spinach) and cook until macaroni and vegetables are tender.  Add spinach and cook an additional 5 to 10 minutes.  Enjoy

Easy Kid Friendly Recipe - Flax Seed Pancakes

If given a choice my children would eat pancakes every morning.  With this in mind I at least try to make them as healthy as possible.  This recipe will yield two batches.  Usually I make two batches at a time and freeze the second batch for a "quick" breakfast morning.  Why buy frozen pancakes in the store when you can make your own.

Flax Seed Pancakes - yields about 24 pancakes
3 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
2 cups of soy milk
1 cup of regular milk
6 tablespoons of canola oil
4 tablespoons of ground flax seed

1. Stir all of the ingredients together in a bowl.  Add milk if mixture is too thick.  Batter may be a little lumpy.
2. Pour a small amount of batter on a hot griddle.  If your griddle is not non-stick you may need to slightly grease the surface before adding batter.
3. Cook over medium heat, flipping the pancakes half way through.

Top with Agave Nector or Pure Maple Syrup - don't buy the fake stuff :-)
On occasion I have used Sucanat instead of brown sugar if I have it on hand from the whole foods store.

Enjoy!!!