October 21, 2009

Chicken Pot Pies

1 2/3 cup flour
8 oz cold cream cheese
1/3 cup butter, cold
1T celery seed

Mix well in a bowl with pastry cutter or in a food processor until it forms a ball. Set aside

In a large skillet,
1/3 cup butter
2 t minced garlic
1 minced shallot
1 t poultry seasoning
1/2 t sage

stir together until fragrant. Add

1/3 cup flour and with a large wisk, cook for about 2 minutes. Add

1 cup milk, wisking so lumps don't form.
3/4 cup chicken stock

Cook on medium high heat, until thickened. Add

3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1-2 cups frozen veggies (peas, corn, beans, carrots, potatoes)

Mix well and set aside to cool.

Section the crust into 6th's. Roll out each section to a circle larger than one of the small pie pans from the grocery store. Put a bottom in and them heaping the filling in. Then a op on and seal the edged by folding under and crimping.

Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 for 25 minutes.

I love these. The crust is wonderful. I make the 3 pies. We each have one for dinner. Then I take the thrid to work the next day and heat it up in the toaster oven It's prefect the second day also.

October 12, 2009

Baked Ham Dinner

The first thing that I did was make Suzanne's Sandwich Bread . It was the first time that I've ever made bread that wasn't froma box and/or in my bread machine. And it came out wonderfully! I'm not very good at shaping the loaves so I had an air bubble in one of them. But it really is good bread.

Then I took the half ham and covered it was applce cider and some pineapple tidbits and juice and put it in the oven to bake.

Macaroni & Cheese

2 cups small shells, cooked & drained
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup onion
1 galic clove, minced.

Heat the butter in a large pot and add the onion & galic. Cook until fragrant. Add in

2 tablespoons flour and cook for 5 minutes, amking sure all the flour is absorbed and the mixture is hot and slightly browned.

Add in 1 1/2 cups milk slowly, wisking well. Cook on high heat until thickened. Add in

2 cups chredded cheese. I used monterey jack and white cheddar.

Add the cooked noodles and stir well. Pour into greased casserole dish. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, or until bubbly.


The dinner was a success. Pete did not like the mac & sheese though. I made a recipe last fall for a birthday and he loved that one, but I can't find it again. So I'm back to the drawing board for another recipe.

October 10, 2009

Pizza & Wings

1 package chicken wings. Cut the wings apart into separate pices.

! bottle franks hot sauce

Toss wings into the hot sauce and marinate for 3-4 hours. Remove and place on baking sheet lined with foil. Bake at 500 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until crispy. Remove to a bowl and toss in more hot sauce. Serve with blue chese dip.

Pizza Loaf

1 roll of pizza doug fom the refridgerated section
1 jar of pizza sauce
2 cloves garlic
1 minced shallot
1 cup diced green pepper
1/2 lb jimmy dean sausage, cooked and crumbled
1/2 package pepperoni
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll out the dough to 10x15. Layer the pepperoni on 1/2 the dough, keeing about 1/2 inch edge clear. Mix 3/4 of the jar sauce with the garlic, shallot and peppers. Spread that on top of the pepperoni. Spread on the sausage and then cheese. Flip the cleared half of the dough over onto the ingredients. Seal the edges by rolling them over and pinching them together. Brush the top with oil and a little salt. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until the top is nice and browned. Cool for 5 minutes, slice and serve.

The wings were a hit. I got them half off and couldn't resist having wings and pizza like we were going out to a restaurant. I forgot to slipt them though and they didn't get as crispy as I would have liked.

The pizza loaf was real hit. I would have used green olives and onions, but Pete doesn't like those. It was good heated up directly on the pizza stone in the oven the next day. I think next time I'll split it in half and put ingredients in for Pete and then for me in the other one.

October 09, 2009

German Dinner

1 1/2 lbs new red potatoes, quartered
1 kilbasa, sliced into 1 inch pieces
1 large can saurkraut

Put the potatoes in the bottom of a crock pot. Season well with salt, pepper and some red pepper flakes. Add the kilbasa over the top. Then spread out the can of saurkraut on top, juices and everything. Season well again with salt & plenty of pepper. Cook on low heat for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4.

As a kid, my mom would make this with porkchops and bake it in the oven for an hour or so. I didn't like it as much because unless you cook it correctly, the porkchops ended up tough and chewy. So when she'd made it, my Dad and I would eat something else.

When I met Pete, he introduced me to German food again and I remembed my Mom making this. So I tried it. We still make it with porkchops occasionaly, but when we do, we make sure that there is enough juice that the pork is covered. Usually though we make it with kilbasa or better yet, brats.

October 08, 2009

Chicken Enchiladas

1 green pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic

Heat 1 tablesppon of oil in a large frying pan and saute the ingredients until they're fragrant.

Add 1 can diced chili ready tomatoes ( or 1 can diced tomatoes & 1 can diced chilies)
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock and
a package of low sodium enchilada dry seasoning mix

Let this come to a boil.
Then add 1 lb of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Bury them in the mixture so they're covered. Cover the pan and lower to a simmer. Simmer for 40 minutes. Take the chicken out and put it on a plate to cool slightly. Keep the cover off the pan and raise teh heat to a low boil again so the juices can condense. Shred the chicken and return to the pan.

In another pan lightly heat about 3 tablespoons oil.

You'll need 10 flour tortilla shells
2 cups of shredded cheese
the chicken mixture from above
and a baking dish.
Spray the baking dish so that the enchiladas don't stick.
Open a can of enchilada sauce and pur a small amount in the bottom of the dish to coat.

Set up an assembly line to do the following:
Heat each shell in the oil until warmed through and plyable.
Place it on a plate and put about 1/4 cup chicken mixture and 2 tablespoons cheese in and roll up tightly.
Place it in the pan and continue until all the shells are used.
Pour the remainder of the enchilada sauce over to coat.
Put another cup of shredded cheese over the top.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or until it's hot & bubbling.

I know that it sounds like a lot and hard to do. Honestly it was difficult the first time. But I've been making these for so long that they're easy now. If it was just me, I'd add black olives and minced green onions to the chicken mixture, but Pete doesn't like them. They heat up well the next day for left overs. And sometimes I have more chicken mixture than shells and I freeze the leftovers. When I need a quick lunch I heat it up and eat it with corn chips or just put it in a shell and microwave it.

October 07, 2009

Spicy Beef Sandwiches

1 lb thick sliced real roast beef from the deli
2 cups low sodium beef stock
2 tablespoons worschestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dired onions (or 1/4 mined fresh onion)
1 teaspoon garlic (or 1 minced garlic clove)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 sliced pepperocinis

Mix everything but the beef together in a sauce pan. Layer in the beef and simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes take the beef out and put on plate. Mix 1/4 cup cold water and 2 tablespoons cornstarch well. Add to the liquid in the pan, stirring, until slightly thickened. Add beef back in. I served this with crusty garlic bread as sandwiches. It would have been good with cheese on and next time I

October 04, 2009

Bavarian Style Apple Torte

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar

Cream the butter & sugar together. Add the vanilla and mix in the flour. Press into a 9 inch spring form pan.

2 (8oz) packages cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix cream cheese and the sugar. Add eggs one at a time and then vanilla. Pour over crust in pan.

3 cups apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar

Mix well and pour evenly over the filling. Bake at 350 for about 55 minutes, or until filling is set.

This was a HUGE hit. Pete decided that it was almost the same as his mother's apple torte. And he's requested it again. We had a nice Sunday dinner of roasted chicken, potatoes and bread. I also had roasted carrots & butternut squash.