Di's Chicken Pot Pie/Stew

Di's Chicken Pot Pie

3/4 cup Milk

3 cups Cubed Chicken

2 cups Chicken Broth

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup *do not add water*

1/4 cup Butter

1 cup Carrots

1 cup Potatoes

1/2 to 1 cup Peas*go by how you like it. I use frozen petite peas.*

1/3 cup Flour

1/2 tsp Marjoram

1/2 tsp Dried Sage

1/8 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp Salt

I wanted a chicken pot pie but didn't have the ingredients that the recipe I was looking at called for. So I kinda adapted it to my own. I like to make this as a pie,  my best friend Monica makes this as a stew. The choice is up to you! But regardless of how you make it... please enjoy!

A lot of the ingredients I precook so they are not raw in the pie. 

I cook the chicken in a frying pan then set aside.

Cook 1 cup carrots and 1 cup potatoes. Set aside when done. (I like to use a steamer to cook my veggies.) I do not precook the peas as they will cook in the oven. 

In a sauce pan combine 1/4 cup butter, 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp marjoram. 1/2 tsp dried sage, 3/4 cup Milk, 1 can cream of Chicken soup, 2 cups chicken broth. Cook til it starts to lightly boil. Stir in peas, potatoes, carrots, Chicken, then cook for another minute. If you find it's not think enough for you, you can always add a teaspoon of corn starch as a thickener. 

If having this as a stew then your ready to go! Enjoy! 

If you are having this as a pie... here is a pie crust recipe that I love a lot! 

Butter Pie Crust:

2 2/3 cups all purpose Flour

16 Tbsp (2 sticks) Butter

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Sugar

3 to 6 tbsp Ice Cold Water

Start by cutting the butter into 1/2 inch cubes. Place them in the freezer for 15 mins.

In a food processor combine; Flour, Salt, and Sugar. Pulse to mix, Add Butter and pulse 6-8 times until mixture resembles coarse meal with pea size pieces of butter. Add Water 1 tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture comes together. If you pinch the dough and it holds together it is ready. Remove from machine, roll into a ball and cut in half. I usually put mine in the fridge for about 15 mins then shape it for my pie dish. 

If you are making the Chicken Pot Pie with the Butter Crust, you can cook it at 450 degrees for about 15 mins or until golden brown on crust. Each oven varies so be sure to keep an eye on it! 

Enjoy!! pics to come soon!

BBQ Burgers and Sauce

                      One of my favorite treats to myself is a nice juicy
                       hamburger. The key to this hamburger being so
                       yummy is the bbq sauce. The sauce recipe that
                       I am posting also goes great with ribs.

                                     Hamburger mixture

                                          1 Egg beaten
                                      1/3 cup Quick oats
                                      1/4 tsp. Garlic Salt
                                         1/4 tsp. Pepper
                                            1/8 tsp. Salt
                                  1 1/2 lbs. Hamburger
                                    1/2 cup Bbq Sauce

                   Combine all ingredients and form into patties.
            The best way to cook these are on a grill lined with tinfoil
          as the bbq sauce has a high sugar content and will burn easily.

                                           BBQ Sauce
                                      
                                          1 cup Ketsup
                                 1/2 cup Lt. Brown Sugar
                                      1/3 cup White sugar
                                           1/4 cup Honey
                                        1/4 cup Molasses
                                          2 tsp. Mustard
                             1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
                                           1/4 tsp. Salt
                                   1/4 tsp. Liquid Smoke
                                          1/8 tsp. Pepper

Combine all the BBQ Sauce ingredients together in a medium size saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. Once it starts to bubble, remove it from the heat. This recipe can also be doubled.
 Enjoy!!

Apple Butter

This is an apple butter recipe that I found a couple years back. It is very yummy!!


Apple Butter

4 1/2 lbs tart cooking apples (I use Mac's)cored and quartered
4 cups Apple cider or Apple juice
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice

In a 8-10 quart pot combine apples and cider or juice. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Press through a food mill or sieve until you have 9 1/2 cups. Return to pot. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cook uncovered, over very low heat 1 1/2 hours or till very thick, stirring often.

Ladle into hot, sterilized half pint jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe jar rimes, adjust lids. Process in boiling water canner 5 minutes (make sure the water is bowling before you start to time). Remove jars and cool on racks. Makes 8 half pints.

Puppy Chow

This is a very yummy treat for humans of course!! It kind of looks like puppy chow so that's where the name comes from.

Puppy Chow

6 cups of crispix like cereal
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup peanut butter
12 oz chocolate chips
2 cups powdered sugar

Put chocolate chips and oil in microwave about 2 minutes, until melted. Add peanut better to the chocolate. Mix into cereal until coated. Put confectionary sugar into ziplock bag and add cereal. Shake until covered with sugar. If you have a large mixing bowl you can gently fold in the powdered sugar that way instead of using a ziplock bag. Place in freezer to cool and then enjoy!!

Apple Bread Recipe

A friend had asked me for my Apple Bread recipe. I came here thinking I had blogged it but realized that I hadn't. So I shall fix that problem right now lol.

Apple Bread

1 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt (I kind of watch our salt intake so I only put like a shake of the shaker in it)
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Shredded Apple (I use Mac's and usually put in a little more then a cup.)
1/4 Cup Oil
1 Egg
1/4 tsp Shredded Lemon Peel (Optional)

Grease bottom and sides of Pan.
Combine Flour, Cinnamon, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt, & Nutmeg
In another bowl combine Sugar, Apple, Cooking Oil, Egg & Lemon.
Add dry mix to wet mix.
Stir until moistened.

350 Degrees for 55 minutes give or take depending on your oven.
This will make one Loaf.

I use this same recipe for Zucchini Bread. Just substitute the Shredded Zucchini for Apples. If you really have a sweet tooth throw in some chocolate chips too! Very yummy!

Di's Finger Licking Good Chicken

Monica is always after me to post my recipes so I am finally getting around to it. One night I decided to cook up some chicken. I soon realized that there was no barbaque sauce. I looked around in the fridge at what I had and decided to make my own sweet and tangy sauce.

It was hard to try and figure out precise measurements as I am one of those cooks that do a little of this and a little of that and go by taste. This is about as close to it as I can get with measuring. Depending on the taste you are going for you might want to add a little more brown sugar.

1 Package Chicken Thighs

Combine together:
1 Bottle (16 oz) of Sweet Honey Catalina Salad Dressing (can be found at most walmarts)
1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp White Vinegar


Heat oven to 375 degrees

What I do is to drizzle some sauce on the bottom of the pan. I put down the chicken meat side first then drizzle some sauce over the tops. About 30 minutes after cooking I flip them over and drizzle some more sauce on top of them. About every 10 minutes I will drizzle them again. I do this until the chicken is fully cooked. You can save some sauce for dipping or you can apply it all to the chicken. I usually end up applying about 5 coats of sauce. For me my oven takes about an hour to cook.

I like to serve mine with White Rice...




Enjoy!!

White Sheet Cake

Since most people in my family does not care for straight chocolate, birthday cake can be a challenge. I usually go with marble, but they have asked for new choices. So, I stumbled across this white cake from Martha Stewart, and gave it a whirl!

Here ya go!

18 Tbs (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan and wire rack
4 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising) plus more for the pan
2 Tbs baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 Tbs pure vanilla extract
7 lg egg whites


Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 17 by12 inch baking pan; line bottom with parchment paper, and butter paper. Dust pan with flour, and tap out excess; set aside.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl, and set aside. With electric mixer, cream the butter until it is pale. While still mixing add the sugar in a steady stream; continue beating until light and fluffy, about 3 mins. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, and vanilla and starting and ending with the flour; be careful not to over mix. Set batter aside.

In medium metal bowl or clean bowl with electric mixer, whisk egg whites just until stiff peaks form. Fold a third of egg whites into the batter until combined. Fold in remaining whites in two batches. Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with metal spatula. Bake until cake springs back, about 30 mins. Transfer to a wire rack, let cool 15 mins before unmolding. Invert onto a greased wire rack to prevent top layer from splitting.

While it cools, complete steps again for a second layer.

Enjoy!