Beef Pot Pie

I grew up with my mom making chicken pot pie. I always loved it! But, she never made a beef one. I had leftover roast I couldn't shred (not pictured), and wanted it to go to good use. I modified my mom's recipe and used some parts of an allrecipes recipe (Beef Pot Pie III). 

INGREDIENTS:

leftover roast, cubed

salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

1 (14 ounce) can beef broth

3 large carrots, diced

3 potatoes, cubed

1/2 onion diced

1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

1/2 cup stick margarine

1/2 cup flour

1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, pour in beef broth and add carrots, onion, and potatoes. Cook until almost tender; about 15 to 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

optional: Make pie crust. I like Kristi's recipe and have it written below.

2. When the carrots and potatoes are done, transfer to the large mixing bowl with the beef; leaving the broth in the pan. Combine the peas with the carrots, potatoes and beef.

3. In a separate pan, melt butter and add flour to create a roux. Slowly add milk and broth stirring constantly. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat; cook for 5 minutes.

4.    Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Place the beef mixture into the pie crust. Pour the gravy over the top of the mixture, then cover with the pie crust. Bake in a preheated oven until the crust is golden brown; about 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Kristi's Pie Crust

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup butter flavored shortening

7 TBSP ice water

Sift flour and salt. Cut in shortening with a fork until the size of small peas. Sprinkle a tablespoon of water at a time. Toss and fluff with a fork. Use hands and squish into a ball. Roll out on a floured surface until 1/8" thick. Lay over beef mixture and trim edges. 

(With leftover dough--roll out and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar for dessert cookies.)

If you prefer, you could do a biscuit crust. 

1 cup biscuit mix

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

Combine and pour over beef mixture. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. 

Chipotle Tamale Pie

I apologize for my absence lately.  It really is quite easy to get so swamped with life and endeavors that you want to pursue.  Currently, I'm pursuing the development of an App.  Yep, be excited for a really sweet App for both Android and Apple to come your way just before Christmas.

Even with this App excitement I have been baking and cooking.  I can't let my family go hungry.  Last week I made my Chipotle Tamale Pie.  This is a fabulously hearty, delicious, and nutritious meal.  Enjoy!

Chipotle Tamale Pie
From my Diabetic Cooking Cookbook (No, I'm not diabetic, and I'm not sure where I got the cookbook from.  However, there are some good ones in here)

1 lb of ground turkey or ground beef (I use an entire pkg of of the Jennie-O ground turkey so I believe that is 20oz)
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups of diced bell pepper (choose whichever color pepper you prefer)
4 cloves minced garlic
2 tsps ground cumin
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of stewed tomatoes, undrained (the recipe says 8 oz, but I use the big can which is 13.75oz or something)
2 canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (minced)- You can do more here if you like it super spicy
1-2 tsp of adobo sauce from the canned chilies (the more you add the spicier it will be)
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of cilantro chopped
and whatever ingredients you need for cornbread whether that is a jiffy mix (egg, milk, and the mix) or your own

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook turkey, onion, bell peppers, and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat until meat is cooked through.
3. Sprinkle cumin on top of skillet mixture and stir it all in.
4. Add beans, tomatoes, chilies, and adobo sauce; bring to a boil over high heat.  Then reduce heat to medium; simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.
5. Remove skillet from heat and stir in cheese and cilantro (sometimes I don't do cilantro, or I used dry cilantro).
6.  I spray a 13x9 baking dish with nonstick spray.  Then I pour the skillet mixture into the baking dish.
7.  Finally, I make my cornbread (I have a great recipe that I'll share later) and pour the cornbread over the over the turkey mixture.  If you use a jiffy mix for cornbread then just one box of jiffy mix will work great.
8.  Cook the dish uncovered for 20-30 minutes until the cornbread is a beautiful golden brown.

I hope you enjoy this dish.  It is one of our family favorites!

Megs

Hamilton Chili

Sorry, that it has been so long since I have posted, but we are back from vacation, and back in the swing of making new recipes. Before I jump into the recipe I wanted to give Christina a shout out and thank her for being an amazing friend and letting us come to visit them in SF. Hopefully someday we will be back close again. We miss you guys already!

Now, for the Chili!! It is fall so, even here in Texas, we can finally start making some of our favorite comfort foods. We originally got this recipe from a book called "Come Home to dinner", but since then we have made a lot of little changes to make it our own. One of the changes that we have made is to add the kidney and black beans. Ethan and I love lots of different beans, so we added them, but feel free to take them back out if you don't like either kind. Finally, sorry for forgetting to take a pic, but it pretty much looks like every other chili.

Chili

1 lb. Ground Beef
1lb. Sausage, Mild or Spicy both work
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1-28 oz can Diced Tomatos, undrained
1-15 oz can Tomato Sauce
1-15oz can Black Beans, rinsed
1-15 oz can Kidney Beans, rinsed
1-32 oz can Chili/ Pinto Beans, rinsed
2 TBSP Chili Powder
1 1/2 Tsp Ground Cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:
Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Fritos
Corn Bread
This chili is also yum served over rice.

Brown the ground beef and sausage in a skillet, drain grease and add to slow cooker. Rinse all beans and then add to cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients. Let cook for 6-8 hours, on low. As with most chilis, feel free to let this simmer away on low all day!

Creamy Chicken Pockets

Okay, this is one of the recipes from the recipe party I hosted the other day. Thanks you Amber for bringing these super yummy pockets! Also, I made a huge mistake at the grocery store and accidentally  bought country biscuits instead of the crescent rolls. Although the biscuits turned out a lot thicker, they still made good pockets. So, if you get home and realize you have the wrong canister for this recipe, still give it a try. 

Yield: 24 pockets
4 TB olive oil
2 chicken breasts, diced (8 tenders or 2 big cans of canned chicken)
1 cup minced onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 TB butter, softened
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
4 tablespoons milk
3 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls/ or 3 pastry sheets (each cut into 8 squares)
2 TB butter, melted
Bread crumbs (Italian seasoned or Panko)
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken with the onions and garlic.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and 2 tablespoons melted butter until smooth. Stir in the cooked chicken, onions and garlic. Add the salts, pepper and milk. Mix well.
Separate the crescent roll dough into the eight triangles or cut into eight squares. Dollop a tablespoon of filling into the center of each triangle and fold the corners up to seal. Press and seal firmly. Place on ungreased baking sheet or stone and repeat with the remaining dough and filling OR use greased cupcake pans. Brush the tops with the melted butter and sprinkle with the bread crumbs (optional).
Bake for 11 – 13 minutes, or until golden brown.
Recipe Note: To heat up leftovers, bake in a preheated 350˚F oven for 10 minutes.

Crock Pot Italian Chicken

This isn't an amazing picture but I promise it tastes SUPER good :)

4 Chicken Breasts
1/3 cup butter
1 package Italian Seasoning
1/4 cup water

1 8oz package cream cheese
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

Add first four ingredients into Crock Pot and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. (Perfect to have cooking during church!)
When chicken is done, take it out and shred it. Put aside.
Add cream cheese and cream of chicken in the Crock Pot and mix well.
Add the chicken and then eat up! I like to eat it on top of rice but you can do mashed potatoes or any sort of pasta as well.

Thank you Bingham family for the yummy recipe!!!

Oven Tacos

Okay, I know all of your jaws are dropping right now. Yes, I am alive! I have been one busy mama and had to remove the unnecessary aspects from my life for a while...um year. I gave myself one pleasure and that would be pinterest. So, needless to say I have MANY recipes to post. The kids are back in school and I should be able to post more often. Sorry all for my absence and thank you for not kicking me to the curb :)


Okay, now to the recipe. It is a simple recipe that the family went crazy over. Don't you just love when you make something simple and easy, because you can’t figure out what to make for dinner, and the family loves you for the "special" meal you prepared for them?!?! This is one of those. Even Josh loved it and asked for it to be placed on the permanent meal plan list! I halved this recipe and made about 8 very full tacos.


Oven Tacos
Recipe from: lynnskitchenadventures.com

2 lbs ground beef
1 can refried beans
8 ounce tomato sauce

1 pkg taco seasoning or homemade taco seasoning

1 ½ cups shredded cheese

18-20 hard taco shells

Lettuce, salsa, sour cream, etc for serving.


1.Brown ground beef. Drain off any fat and add refried beans, tomato sauce, and seasoning.

2.Spoon mixture into taco shells.

3.Place filled shells into a 9×13 pan, standing up. Sprinkle with cheese.

4.Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until heated through.

5.Enjoy!


Okay ladies, it has been so long since I posted that blogger has changed everything! I cannot figure out how to get a picture on the post??? I wonder if the website is having a hard time because half of the buttons are not where they should be, according to the help video blogger has. When I figure out the new format I can add a picture.

Slow-Cooker Carnitas

Ethan and I just tried this recipe last night and it was the best carnitas that I have ever made in the slow-cooker. No joke. We loved it! The only thing that we changed from the original recipe is that we added canned pinto beans and it turned out perfect so I'll just be sharing the recipe as we made it!


Ingredients:
3 lb. pork roast
4 oz can Chopped Green Chilis
3 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
2-10 oz. cans Diced Tomato & Green Chilis (Like Rotell)
3 cube Chicken Bouillion
2 cups Water
2-Cans Pinto Beans, rinsed

Toss the roast in the slow-cooker on Medium (or if your cooker is like mine, the 8 hour setting). Add in everything except the beans. Cover and Wait. Add the beans about 2 hours before you are ready to eat.At this time, you also want to shred the pork.

The original recipe called for this to be served over chips, but Ethan and I have always been fans of tacos so we ate it taco style. We also added lettuce, tomato, and cheese on corn tortillas.

Frank's Gyros

Yes, I have another Frank's Hot Sauce recipe to share, and this is why: Ethan. While we were making our menu for the next two weeks, he rattled off three different Frank's recipes that we have made. What I learned from that is that Ethan can never be left in charge of the menu, and that there are lots of different ways to use Frank's without making it too spicy. This is really a mixture of two different recipe, but I will put everything in this post. 

4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
A drizzle of oil


Pound out the chicken so it is about 1/2 inch thin. Put the rub on the chicken and then saute in pan until cooked through.Thinly slice the chicken.

In the meantime slice up all your favorite salad veggies. We used:

Lettuce
Tomato
Cucumber
Carrot

Place a small portion of the chicken onto a thin wrap. We just used the wheat flavor. You want to put in in a thin layer that spreads across the width of the wrap. Then layer on your veggies. Finally spoon over a little bit of our favorite Blue cheese dressing. Finally start wrapping. Just remember that the tighter you make your wrap, the better everything will stay in.

Willena's Blue Cheese Dressing

1 Cup Best Foods Mayonaise

4 Oz. Blue Cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)

¼ Cup Dry White Wine, or White wine Vinegar

1 TBSP Onion, Graded

4-5 Drops Tabasco

Slow Cooker Parmesan Chicken

Parmesan Chicken

Many of you won’t know this, but my husband, Ethan has been working Sundays for the past year. Finally after a long year of going to church alone, his schedule changed for good and I had my partner next to me for church this week. I was so excited for his first weekend off in over a year that I decided that I wanted to make a super simple Sunday supper. When I think simple, I think slow-cooker, and so I tried this recipe. This was the perfect lazy Sunday recipe! No cooking ahead, just mix, toss it all in and come home to deliciousness!!

If I were going to change anything, I would double the rice, because we didn’t think there was enough rice. The original recipe also calls for 2 cups of Parmesan, but I thought that just sounded like too much. As you can see below, I only used 1 cup of Parmesan and we loved the out-come. Feel free to redouble the Parmesan.

Ingredients:

1 Packet Onion Soup Mix

1 cups, uncooked white rice

1 cup, Parmesan

1 ½ cups Milk

2 cans Cream of Mushroom (One Chicken and one Mushroom also works)

5 boneless, skinless breast

6 Tbsp butter

Pepper to taste

(Warning: I wouldn’t add any salt to this mix. We found that between the onion soup mix, the can soups, and the Parmesan there is just enough salt already! )

Spray Slow-cooker Bowl with non-stick spray. Mix the first six ingredients in a bowl. Place Chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow-cooker. Pour soup mixture over the chicken.

LOW for 8-10 hours

HIGH 4-6 hours. Ours was perfect after 4 ½ hours

Ciabatta Pizza Dough

Ethan and I love PIZZA. We seriously make some kind of pizza recipe once every other week. So about two to three times a month. Because we love making pizza, I am always looking for ways to make pizza a little different. So when I saw this recipe for Ciabatta dough, I was sold. We finally found a recipe for pizza dough on Pinterest that was actually better than it claimed to be!!! The one drawback from this recipe is that it is a true yeast dough, and because of that it needs time to rise. What that means is that if you are smarter than I am you will read through the whole recipe before you start making it or you will be eating at 8:30 like we did yesterday! All in all, you will need to start the dough the night before or in the morning the day you want it; you will also need to have about two hours to layer this dough and let it rise. The good thing about this dough is that even though you have to go back to it a few times, it really just needs time to rise and then be worked with, and repeat. So, in the end, yes it is a little time consuming, but we really did love it, and will be making this again soon. Hopefully I'm not scaring you away from this recipe because it only look about an hour to make (all combined), and the quick occasional look.

Recipe from Food Pusher:http://food-pusher.blogspot.com/2012/05/ciabatta-crust-pizza.html

Ciabatta Crust Pizza

INGREDIENTS

Biga

• 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1/2 cup water (4 ounces), at room temperature

Dough

• 2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2  teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
• 3/4 cup water at room temperature
• 1/4 cup milk at room temperature

Pizza Toppings

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 8 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
• 8 ounces grated Italian cheese blend
• garlic salt to taste
• your favorite pizza toppings

INSTRUCTIONS

1. FOR THE BIGA: Combine flour, yeast, and water in medium bowl and stir with wooden spoon until uniform mass forms, about 1 minute. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature (about 70 degrees) overnight (at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours).

2. FOR THE DOUGH: Place biga and dough ingredients in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on lowest speed until roughly combined and shaggy dough forms, about 1 minute; scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Continue mixing on medium-low speed until dough becomes uniform mass that collects on paddle and pulls away from sides of bowl, 4 to 6 minutes. Change to dough hook and knead bread on medium speed until smooth and shiny (dough will be very sticky), about 10 minutes. Transfer dough to large bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Slide parchment with loaves onto inverted, rimmed baking sheet or pizza peel.

3. Spray rubber spatula or bowl scraper with nonstick cooking spray; fold partially risen dough over itself by gently lifting and folding edge of dough toward middle. Turn bowl 90 degrees; fold again. Turn bowl and fold dough six more times (total of eight turns). Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Repeat folding, replace plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes longer. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place baking stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit at least 30 minutes before baking. (Note: We used a standard cookie sheet and had to problem with the edges. )

4. Prepare a pizza peel, inverted cookie sheets, or a rimless baking sheet with parchment paper.  You will need two of these.  Transfer dough to liberally floured counter, being careful not to deflate completely. Liberally flour top of dough and divide in half (or fourths if you want to make small pizzas). Turn 1 piece of dough so cut side is facing up and dust with flour. With well-floured hands, press dough into a rough 12-inch circle (about an 8 inch circle for small pizzas).  Carefully transfer to parchment-lined baking sheet or pizza peel.

5.  Using floured fingertips, evenly poke entire surface of each loaf to make dimples all over the dough (this prevents crust from ballooning into pita bread). Carefully slide parchment with crusts onto baking stone using jerking motion. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until bubbles on top and bottom are lightly browned. Transfer to wire rack to cool and wait for pizza making.

Two small crusts.  Not very round, but good.

6.  With a pastry brush, spread some butter around the edge of the crust.  Spread 1/2 cup of sauce onto pizza.  Mix the cheeses in a large bowl and use half (or less) to top the sauce.  Then sprinkle garlic salt all over top of cheese and around the crust edge.  Top with other favorite toppings.  Bake at 450 degrees until cheese is melted and bubbly, 5-10 minutes.  Carefully remove with pan or peel.  Allow to sit for a couple of minutes and then slice with a pizza cutter.  Serve hot, but be careful.

Makes two large, or four small pizzas.

Cilantro Lime Pesto

Pinterest Recipe #3= Success. Again.


I just have to lead off this post by saying that I thought that the Korean Beef Tacos we tried last week were wacky and different, but this Cilantro Lime Pesto taco recipe definately takes the cake! Or the shell. This is so different than any other tacos we've even had. I do have to admit that the first bite made me suspicious, but once i got over the uniqueness of these tacos I was sold. After Ethan took his first bite, he had the same response. So, if you decide to try this meal, make sure to give it more than one bite!

P.S. This is not a date night food because you can definitely taste cilantro, lime and garlic on your breath for a while...even with gum...

cooking spray for sauteeing
2-3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in bite sized pieces
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup cilantro lime pesto (recipe follows)
flour or corn tortillas
preferred taco garnishes (salsa, sour cream, cheese, etc)


Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a skillet sprayed with cooking spray, saute chicken over medium high heat and cooked through. Toss cooked, seasoned chicken with the pesto. Fill tortillas with chicken and top with preferred garnishes.

* To make ahead/freezer meal - Cook chicken as directed as above and cool. Place chicken in freezer bag. Prepare cilantro lime pesto as directed below. Place a 1/2 cup of pesto in a small storage bag then place inside the freezer bag with the chicken. Freeze. When ready to prepare, defrost and heat chicken. Toss chicken with defrosted pesto. If desired, heat chicken and pesto together before filling tacos.
**I didn't try the make ahead version, so if anyone else did and has good luck with it please tell me!!

Cilantro Lime Pesto

recipe adapted from Food Network

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves (do not include stems)
2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sliced, toasted almonds
3 tablespoons chopped, fresh garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 cup shredded asiago (Parmesan or Romano can be substituted too) *I used Parm
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup chicken broth


Using a blender, mix together the cilantro, olive oil, almonds, garlic, lime juice, asiago, salt and chicken broth on low speed for 2 minutes.

**One hint for freezing any kind of Pesto sauce that has always worked for us is to put the pesto into an ice tray and then freeze it. This way you get serving sizes portions of pesto instead of having to unfreeze more than you need.