Chicken Pot Pie

I love chicken pot pie and in my opinion an ultimate comfort food.  One of my friends in Arizona made this for our family when I had Cameron and now its a family favorite.


Chicken Pot Pie
1 pie crust
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts; boiled and shredded
10 oz. mixed vegetables (frozen)

Preheat oven to 425.  Melt butter, add onions, flour, salt, and pepper.  Add broth and milk, boil one minute, then add chicken and veggies.  Pour into pie crust, and put the top on.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.  Also a good freezer meal!

Caramel Pecan Ice Cream Dessert

This is my new go to dessert. It is pretty amazing. I have made it and not put it all together, but used the crumble as an ice cream topping with Mrs. Richardson's butterscotch caramel. It is amazing. Make sure you freeze it for 2-3 hours before serving or it will be soupy.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c flour
1 c chopped pecans
1 c packed brown sugar
1 c quick cooking oats
1 c butter melted
1 1/2 c caramel ice cream topping
2 quarts vanilla ice cream, softened

In a large bowl combine flour, pecans, brown sugar, oats and butter. Spread in a thin layer on a cookie sheet with sides and bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, stirring occasionally. Cool and press half of mixture in a 9x13 pan. Drizzle half of caramel topping and then spread with ice cream. Top with remaining sauce and crumbs. Cover and freeze. Remove from freezer 10 minutes before serving.

Sesame Pasta Salad

I got this recipe from the lovely Lexi Brown and I love it. I make it a lot, sometimes with chicken for an easy dinner. I love that you can make it ahead and be done with it. I have never used that much spinach, I usually just throw in a couple handful's. The Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce is in the Asian section of the grocery store and sooo good. I use it on everything. Enjoy!

16 oz bowtie pasta

2 cans mandarin oranges

1 cup sliced cashews

2 bags baby spinach

Dressing:

1/3 cup of red wine vinegar

1/3 cup of olive oil

1½ cup Veri Veri Teryaki sauce

2 Tbl white sugar

Blend dressing in the blender. Cook the pasta al dente and rinse with cold water. Put pasta in large ziplock bag and add dressing. Place in fridge and let soak in overnight. Right before eating it, add in the oranges, cashews, and spinach. Serve chilled.

Buttermilk Banana Bread

I made this bread yesterday, and I thought it was really good.

Buttermilk Banana Bread

1/2 c butter, softened
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 c mashed bananas, about 2-3 bananas
4 T buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour your pan. I actually used 3 small loaf pans. This recipe will make enough for one large loaf pan, one med sized loaf pan and one small, 3 small loaf pans, or muffins.

Cream softened butter and sugar. Add eggs, bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Mix well. Combine dry ingredients and add gradually to banana mixture. Just mix till combined. Put in pan(s) of choice.

Bake at 350 for 30-50 min. depending on the size of your pan. The larger the pan the longer you'll cook it. For the 3 small loaf pans I cooked them 30 min. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Take out of the pan and cool on a wire rack.

"Puff" Pancakes

These bring back so many memories for me. I used to love it when Mom would make these for us when we were little. I made them one night for my kids. They were a hit!! My girls loved them and I loved them because they were so easy!!!

Puff Pancakes aka German Pancakes

1/4 c butter
6 eggs
1 1/2 c milk
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 13 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. While oven is heating up melt your butter in the pan (careful it will burn easily.) Mix the remaining ingredients together until smooth. (I use my hand blender.) Pour egg mixture into the pan over the melted butter. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes. Sift powder sugar over the top. Serve with maple syrup, fresh fruit, or I really like jam on mine.

Creamy tomato basil soup

I got this recipe from Lexi and I have made it once a week since then. I love it. I cut down the sugar by about half and add more basil and less cream, but it is great as is.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

1 medium onion finely chopped

1/2 cup butter

3-14.5 ounce cans stewed tomatoes (or fresh)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. basil, or to taste

1 Tbsp. Chicken bullion

2-14.5 ounce cans chicken broth

1 cup whipping cream

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onion, bullion, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer on a low heat until onion is tender. Add tomatoes with juice and heat until warm. Place these ingredients into a blender, blending thoroughly. You’ll probably have to repeat this step 2 or 3 times as it’s not possible to fit it all in the blender. Return mixture to saucepan adding chicken broth and cream or milk. Heat and serve with garnish of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Serves 6-8.

Apricot-Glazed Pork

This is the recipe I made at Mom and Dad's. It is super easy and delicious. I use soy sauce instead of tamari sauce and dried ginger instead of pickled. I use more like a teaspoon. I also tried this without the sesame oil and it is not as good. This recipe is supposed to feed 4, so for Andrea's family, I would double or triple this.

• 1 pound pork tenderloin, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch thick rounds
• Salt
• Ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 1/4 cups apricot preserves
• 1/4 cup tamari sauce
• 1 tablespoon chopped pickled ginger

Season both sides of pork with salt and black pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and sear 2 minutes per side. Add apricot preserves, tamari sauce and ginger and bring to a simmer. Simmer 5 minutes, until pork is cooked through and sauce reduces.