Chicken Pot Pie

I was looking through my food pictures and I found this picture:

I had a really hard time figuring out what it was of. I went to my dinner calendar to figure out what it was. I realized that it was the start to an amazing pot pie. Sorry - no more pictures. I realized that my camera battery died and my kids were so eagar to eat that I didn't get a picture of the finished product. Take my word, it was yummy. My husband doesn't like any kind of por pie. He was out of town for a week and so the kids and I had a kitchen party and had pot pie. I thought that I was going to have left overs for the next night, but the ate it right up. Here is the recipe:
Chicken Pot Pie
2 Sheets Pastry Puff
1 Med. Potato, Cubed
1 Lg. Carrot, Cubed
5 oz. Fresh Broccoli
1 Tbs. Oil
1 Onion, Finely Chopped
1 Red Pepper, Cubed
3 Tbs. Butter
1 Tbs. Flour
1 ½ C. Milk
1 C. Grated Cheddar Cheese
2 Egg Yolks
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Preheat oven to 415. Place oil in a pan. Add onion and red pepper. Cook until soft. Meanwhile, steam remaining veggies. Spray an 8 X 8 pan with cooking spray. Combine veggies. In a saucepan, heat butter until melted. Add flour and stir over low heat until lightly golden. Add milk gradually, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until boils. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat and cool slightly. Add cheese and egg yolks. Stir until combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Combine with veggies and stir. Top with pastry puff. Can mix 1 egg with 1 tsp. poppy seeds and brush over pastry puff. Bake for 30 minutes.
COMMENTS: I use 1 container of Cressant rolls. I lattice them across the top. Omit the egg and the poppy seed. Cook as directed.

A Zucchini Avalanche

I am back at it again. For anyone who has ever grown Zucchini, you know that a family of 6 only needs 1 plant. Well I have several - NOT SURE WHAT I WAS THINKING!!
Everyone seems to have their own zucchini - so who do you give it all to. Everyone, it appears, already knows what to do with it: Leave it on a neighbor's porch in the middle of the night. I haven't tried this yet. We have just tired to use it up, which has been hard since I am the only one that will eat it as a vegetable at dinner. I do have a husband that will eat a few bites to set an example to our kids and I have 1 daughter that just tolerates it. We have to get creative with our uses.
So here are some new recipes:

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
1 ½ C. Shredded Zucchini
2/3 C. Sugar
¼ C. Milk
1 Egg
2 Tbs. Honey
2 Tbs. Oil
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
½ tsp. Ground Cloves
1 1/3 c. Flour
¾ tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Baking Soda
1/8 tsp. Salt
½ C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
½ C. Chocolate Chips
Powdered Sugar, Optional
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Pat shredded zucchini dry with paper towels. In a bowl, combine sugar, milk, egg, oil, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Add the zucchini, milk mixture and chocolate chips to the flour. Stir until moistened. Scrape into loaf pan and bake until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean, 33-45 minutes depending on the oven. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely on a rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar on top, if desired.

My kids LOVED this recipe.





Pineapple Zucchini Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
1 ½ C. Flour
1¼ C. Sugar
½ C. Sweetened Flaked Coconut
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Cinnamon
3 Tbs. Canola Oil 2 Large Eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla
2 C. Grated (unpeeled) Zucchini
1 (20 Oz.) Can Crushed Pineapple In Juice, Drained (reserve In Case You Need It For The Cake Batter Or The Frosting)
FROSTING :
2 Tbs. Butter, Softened 2 C. Powdered Sugar
8 Ounces Low-fat Cream Cheese, Softened (can Use Full-fat Cream Cheese)
2 Tsp. Vanilla
Splash Of Milk Or Pineapple Juice, If Necessary
Preheat oven to 350°. To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine oil, eggs, and vanilla; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated zucchini, and pineapple into flour mixture. Batter will be stiff and dry but keep folding it and it will all come together. If it still seems too dry, just add a little splash of the pineapple juice.
Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for about 33-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs and cake is pulling away from sides of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Add a splash of milk or pineapple juice if necessary. Spread frosting over top of cake. You can garnish with chopped pecans or walnuts, if desired.
NOTES : If your zucchini are huge, scrape the seeds out of the center before you shred it so it’s not too watery. Also, I spread it all out on layers of paper towel to drain it and dry it off a bit. Then I measure out 2 cups. Not sure if this is critical though. Nuts can also be added to the cake batter if desired. This recipe makes a very generous amount of frosting.
And this recipe can be turned into a Carrot Cake just by substituting shredded carrots for the zucchini.

This recipe came from The Tasty Kitchen - The Pioneer Woman's recipe web sight. You should check it out.

Cafe Rio Knock Off

So I have heard of this great Cafe in Utah. I have never been there, but have heard several people talk about it. So for all of you who visit Utah or live there and love this popular cafe - This one is for you!!






LIME-CILANTRO RICE
1 Tbsp. oil
2 c. long grain rice (4 c. water)
½ bunch cilantro, finely chopped
juice of 1 limes
1 tsp. crushed garlic
1 tsp. salt

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add rice, cilantro, and garlic. Saute 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add water, lime juice and salt and bring to boil. Then reduce heat, cover, and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice (about 15 minutes).

“CAFE RIO” PORK
4 lbs. pork roast (I used Pork Shoulder from Costco -- $1.45 lb.!)
1 ½ cups of salsa (I used Pace Picante sauce)
1 can coke (I cooked it down until the coke was syrupy and reduced by half) No Diet!
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt

Place pork in crock-pot and fill it half way up with water. Cook roast on high for 5 hours. Drain off water. Shred pork with forks. Mix together ingredients (salsa, coke, brown sugar) and put on top of pork. Cook an additional 3 hours on high. Leave it on low until ready to serve.

CREAMY TOMATILLA SALAD DRESSING
1 packet hidden valley ranch dressing (not the buttermilk kind)
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. mayo
2 tomatillas (peel off outer leaf/shell)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
¾ bunch fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno, seeded for less spice
juice from 1 lime (about 2 tsp.)
1 tsp. sugar
salt & pepper

Blend all ingredients in the blender. Refrigerate.

To Serve:
For Café Rio Salad – tortilla, then beans (black or pinto), rice, pork, chopped lettuce, and the dressing. Finally, garnish your salad with shredded cheese (or cotija cheese), pico de gallo, & guacamole.
The pork is really good in burritos and tacos. We use the uncooked tortillas that you can find in the refrigerated section at both Walmart (by the Mexican cheeses) and Costco (by the eggs). I just heat up my griddle and cook them on it.

Back to School Recipes

Get kids off to school in the morning with our grab-n-go breakfast recipes and easy ideas for healthy school lunches. Then keep everyone moving with tasty after-school snacks and fast family dinners. Don't forget the classroom treats!
To see recipes go to taste of home at this link:
www.tasteofhome.com/back-to-school-recipes
Here are my Lunch Box Ideas:

Main Lunch Dish-
-Chicken and Craisin Sandwich on a roll (chopped chicken breasts, chopped green onion, mayo, and craisins.)
-Good old P&J Sandwich, cut into squares – kids love this
-Bagel & Cream Cheese w/ or w/o fresh fruit in the middle
-ABC Soup –make a large pot and freeze into individual servings so you just have to thaw and heat
-Homemade Lunchables -Ritz crackers, lunchmeat, cut up cheese (my kids love Salami for this)
-Hot Dog – place warm hot dog in thermos and wrap bun in Ceran wrap.
-Chili Dog – place warm chili and cut up hotdog in themos, top with shredded cheese
-Meat and Cheese Sandwich – My kids like these on hamburger buns for a change
-Honey & Peanut Butter Sandwich
-Chicken Nuggets-Warmed and placed in thermos
-Tuna Fish Sandwich – change up the bread on sandwiches for some variety
-Ramen Noodles-Cooked and placed in thermos
-Nachos – Place nacho cheese in thermos and chips in a lunch bag
-Egg Salad Sandwich
-Two Hard Boiled Eggs
-Pasta Salad
-Muffins –A good muffin is Meal in a Muffin Recipe, it is loaded with healthy stuff
-Pinwheels – Cut crust off a piece of bread and flatten with a rolling pin. Spread cream cheese and place a piece of meat. Rollup and freeze until firm. Cut into slices.
-Tortilla Roll-Up-Place desired ingredients on a tortilla and roll it up – there are many recipes on the internet for these.


Sides or Snack Ideas-
-Yogurt and Fresh Fruit- Save money and buy large containers of yogurt and cut up fresh fruit
-Celery and Peanut Butter
-Fruit Kabobs- I string cut up fruit on a kabob stick (make sure to cut off the pointed end after stringing fruit.)
-Chex Mix – the recipe is on the back of the chex mix box
-Popcorn
-Black Olives
-Graham Crackers with cream cheese spread in the middle
-Cheese Cubes and Grapes
-Homemade Trail Mix – Lots of ideas on the internet

Special Night

We have restarted doing something in our family that I thought that I would share. When I was young and babysitting for a family who had like 6 kids, I remember them talking about a special stay up night. I have remembered it for many years. We started this several years ago, but recently we started again. Once a week there is a special night that a child gets to stay up a half hour longer past the other kids. They love this part - everyone else is in bed and they are up alone with mom or dad - In our case usually mom because dad is often at meetings at night.
The catch is they have to go to bed and not come out when it is another siblings night or they will miss their night. It works great. I do whatever they would like to do in the half hour that they have up. Last week I was creamed several times playing the Wii.
When I had my second child, I really struggled with the guilt that my first child was not going to get my time like before and that my second would never get my time like the first - if that makes sense. Well, now I have 4 and it seems as though after I am finished cleaning up the mess after mess that they make and make meals and clean up some more - that we are out of time. Now we have sports that have started again along with school and homework. There is never enough time in the day. This seems to really help me feel like each child gets me and my undivided attention.

If anyone else has tips that they would like to share, please leave it in the comments area.

Bounce Cleaning Tips

I received this email from a friend and thought that I would pass it along.

Bounce This Along!

The US Postal service sent out a message to all letter carriers to put a sheet of Bounce in their uniform pockets to keep yellow-jackets away.

Use them all the time when playing baseball and soccer. I use it when I am working outside. It really works. The insects just veer around you.

All this time you've just been putting Bounce in the dryer!

1. It will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them. It also repels mice.

2. Spread sheets around foundation areas, or in trailers, or cars that are sitting and it keeps mice from entering your vehicle.

3. It takes the odor out of books and photo albums that don't get opened too often.

4. It repels mosquitoes. Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.

5. Eliminate static electricity from your television (or computer) screen..

6. Since Bounce is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen with a used sheet of Bounce to keep dust from resettling.

7. Dissolve soap scum from shower doors. Clean with a sheet of Bounce.

8. To freshen the air in your home - Place an individual sheet of Bounce in a drawer or hang in the closet.

9. Put Bounce sheet in vacuum cleaner.

10. Prevent thread from tangling. Run a threaded needle through a sheet of Bounce before beginning to sew.

11. Prevent musty suitcases. Place an individual sheet of Bounce inside empty luggage before storing.

12. To freshen the air in your car - Place a sheet of Bounce under the front seat.

13. Clean baked-on foods from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in a pan, fill with water, let sit overnight, and sponge clean. The anti-static agent apparently weakens the bond between the food and the pan...

14. Eliminate odors in wastebaskets. Place a sheet of Bounce at the bottom of the wastebasket.

15. Collect cat hair. Rubbing the area with a sheet of Bounce will magnetically attract all the lose hairs.

16. Eliminate static electricity from Venetian blinds. Wipe the blinds with a sheet of Bounce to prevent dust from resettling.

17. Wipe up sawdust from drilling or sand papering. A used sheet of Bounce will collect sawdust like attack cloth.

18. Eliminate odors in dirty laundry. Place an individual sheet of Bounce at the bottom of a laundry bag or hamper.

19. Deodorize shoes or sneakers. Place a sheet of Bounce in your shoes or sneakers overnight.

20. Golfers put a Bounce sheet in their back pocket to keep the bees away.

21. Put a Bounce sheet in your sleeping bag and tent before folding and storing them. It will keep them smelling fresh.

22. Wet a Bounce sheet, hose down your car, and wipe love-bugs off easily with the wet Bounce.