Best Chicken Pot Pie

This is oh-so-good, and it happens to be what I'm making for dinner tonight.  I am going to make TWO so that we have leftovers to eat for lunch tomorrow. :) :)

Preheat: 425*
Category: Chicken, pie, PICTURES

2 Unbaked pie crusts (use my double pie crust recipe)
1 lb. Chicken, cooked and cubed
1 c. Carrots, sliced
1 c. Frozen green peas
1/2 c. Celery, sliced
1/3 c. Butter
1/3 c. Flour
1/2 t. Salt
1/4 t. Pepper
1/4 t. Celery seed
1 3/4 c. Chicken broth
2/3 c. Milk

1.  Combine chicken, carrots, peas & celery.  Cover with water and boil for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and drain.  Set aside.

2.  Cook onions in butter; add flour, salt and pepper, celery seed. 

3.  Slowly add chicken broth and milk.  Simmer until thickened.

4.  Place chicken mixture in the bottom of the crust.  Pour the hot liquid over.

5.  Place 2nd pie crust on top and seal edges.  Cut 3 slits on top for steam.  Or like I do, gently fork in a C for Chicken pot pie. :) :)

6.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the insides are bubbly.

7.  Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Yummiest, Most Simple Apple Pie

This recipe turns out EVERY SINGLE TIME!  I love it!  I use my nice knives my SIL bought for me us for Christmas last year and I can get my apples nice and thin.  Plus I slice my slices in half so they fill the pie plate better.  You're gonna love it!

Preheat: 375*
Category: Pie, apples, dessert, PICURES

1 recipe for Double Pie Crust
6 c. Apples, thinly sliced
3/4 c. Sugar
2 T. Flour
1/2 t. Cinnamon
1/8 t. Nutmeg

1.  Line the bottom of a greased pie plate with rolled-out pastry. 

2.  Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.  Add the apples and toss until they're coated.

3.  Dump the apples into the pastry-lined pie plate and pack them in.

4.  Cover the pie with the 2nd pie crust.  Roll the crust up and in, and crimp.  Cut slits on the top of the pie. Or like I do, gently use a fork to make the letter A to show what kind of pie it is!

5.  Bake with edge of pie crust covered with foil and bake at 375* for 25 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes.  Let pie sit for about five minutes before slicing in!  I like my new Pampered Chef pie crust shield--I hated the foil!  What a waste and what a hassle!

Optional: Serve pie with a slice of cheddar cheese on top!  Mmmmm.

Pie Crust

This pie crust is versatile! I have several more crust recipes I have recently copied down and I want to have a pie crust-off to find out which I like, which is easiest to roll, etc.  But this is my tried-and-true crust from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. :)

Preheat: 400*
Category: BHG (Better Homes & Gardens), Crust, Pie, PICTURES

Single Crust:
1 1/4 c. Flour
1/3 c. Shortening
4-5 T. Cold water
Dash Salt

Double Crust:
2 c. Flour
2/3 c. Shortening
6-7 T. Cold water
2 Dashes Salt

1. Cut the shortening and flour together until you get a bowlful of pea-shapes.

2.  Cut in the COLD water one Tablespoon at a time until you have a good, workable crust.  This is something I learned from experience... When you roll the dough into a ball, it has a good marbeling of shortening and it's not really sticky (sticky enough you need to have flour on your hands though!).

3.  Roll out dough to the right diameter.  Tricks? Roll dough into a ball and press with the flat of your hand until it's ready for a rolling pin.  Roll out starting in the center as if rolling out to the numbers of a clock.  Center to 12, center to 1, center to 2, etc., until you've gone in a full circle.  My deep dish pie pan from Pampered Chef needs me to roll out my dough to 12".  Make sure your rolling surface and your flat surface have plenty of flour to keep your dough from sticking!  To transfer dough from the flat surface to the pie plate, roll the flattened dough carefully and loosely onto your rolling pin.  Lay the dough on the side of your pie pan and voilà!  Of course I say voilà but it's never really that easy, is it? :) :)

OR, if you are not putting a top onto the crust,

Cookbook Review: The Six O'Clock Scramble by Aviva Goldfarb

Title: The Six O'Clock Scramble: Quick, Healthy, and Delicious Dinner Recipes for Busy Families
Author: Aviva Goldfarb
Copyright: 2006
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, New York, NY
Pages: 321, including a brief author bio, an index and dozens of yummy-sounding recipes!


One of my favorite things about going to the library is being in a... "culinary" mood and picking out a cookbook.  I put culinary in quotes because that does NOT describe me, nor does it describe my family.  I have a very picky clan and somehow I can't envision them eating something exotic like... couscous and savory vegetable casserole with feta (p. 64).  It's not just that... the price of some of these one-use recipe fillers scares me away.  And with this example, I have to admit I'm not crazy about couscous, but that's beside the point!

That disclaimer of bias aside, I loved looking through Ms. Goldfarb's book. The first thing that caught my attention was that she organized the meals by season.  I'm terrible at cooking for the season!  If spaghetti sounds good in summer, I make it.  I know it's a little heavy for summer, but I can't quite keep my seasons straight when it comes to cooking!  Having recipes sorted for me is quite the revelation!

The next thing I noticed (and liked) is that the recipe titles are sorted by weeks.  Fall has 13 weeks of recipes, and all of them look amazing!  The rest of the seasons have 13 weeks, too, making a year-total of 52 weeks.  A sample week? I thought you'd never ask!

Winter, Week 4
Easy Baked Ziti (it looks good, but I already have a delicious baked ziti recipe)
Pumpkin Black Bean Soup
Mediterranean Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives
Baked Sausage and Egg Casserole
Southwestern Bulgur Pilaf

Here's a week six months later from

Summer, Week 4
Grilled Sausage Kabobs with Summer Vegetables
Lime-Garlic Shrimp with Black Bean and Corn Salad
Rigatoni with Asparagus and Lemon
Celia's Honey Chicken
Japanese Eggplant and Green Beans in Garlic Sauce

Believe it or not, but each of these meals is simple, taking about 30 minutes per dish!

The book wraps up with a few notes and a comprehensive index.  One other worthy note--Ms. Goldfarb fills the book with little sticky-note-like tips.  They're for families of every age, one case in point being the example of puréeing a portion of dinner and freezing it in ice cube trays--then labeling and using thawed out for baby.

All in all, it's a lovely book!  I wish I could have found more recipes suited to my family, but you may be fancier than I am!  The book is available on Amazon.com, both used and new: The Six O'Clock Scramble.  New books are $12.21 (from Amazon) and the least expensive used book is currently $8.99.

Tuna Melts with Sliced Avocado and Tomato

This is something one could easily come up with by themselves, but I like having notecards with these kinds of recipes for those days when my brain is foggy. :)  Thank you to Six O'Clock Scramble for this one!

Preheat: 350*
Category: Sandwich, Tuna

2 6-oz. cans Chunk tuna, drained
1-2 T. Mayonaisse, to taste
1 stalk Celery, finely diced
4 slices Sourdough bread
1 ripe Avocado, peeled and thinly sliced
1 ripe Tomato, thinly sliced
4 slices Muenster cheese

1.  Mix tuna, mayo, celery thoroughly with a fork.

2.  Lightly toast the bread. Spread 1 scoop of tuna on the bread, topping it with slices of avocado, tomato and one thin slice of cheese.

3.  Bake at 350* for about 5 minutes on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Cheese should be melted.

Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken

Six O'Clock Scramble again!  There are million more amazing recipes in here that are just too fancy for my meat'n'potatoes family.  You should check it out!

Preheat: --
Category: Chicken, Grill

5 T. Honey
5 T. Dijon mustard
1 pack (4-5 lbs.) Chicken thighs and drumsticks (about 12 pieces)

1. Mix together honey and mustard.

2.  Place chicken in a large dish with cover. Pour or brush marinade over chicken and coat thoroughly.  Marinate 1-24 hours (the closer to 24 hours, the better in this case!). 

3. Grill the chicken on a preheated grill or broil in a preheated broiler for about 8-10 minutes on each side. (or 5-6 minutes if you are using boneless thighs).  Baste once again with marinade until it's cooked through and slightly browned.

Chicken is supposed to be good warm or cold! :)

Sloppy Joes

Yet another recipe from The Six O'Clock Scramble!

1 lb. Ground beef
1/2 Yellow onion, diced
1 Red bell pepper, finely diced
1 Large carrot, or 5-6 Baby carrots, finely diced
1 can (15 oz.) Tomato sauce
2 T. Worchestershire sauce
2 T. ketchup
1 T. Brown sugar
8 Buns

1. Brown ground beef until almost cooked through; drain excess liquid and add diced vegetables.

2.  Sauté mixture for two minutes and add remaining ingredients.

3.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cover the skillet.  Simmer 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

4. Toast the buns and fill each one with a large (slotted) spoonful of the meat mixture.