Chicken Potpie

This recipe is made to fit into a 2.5 qt pan. Mine is a deeper dish, and is approximately 3.5in. tall.

2 cup warm water
2 tsp chicken base
4 tsp chicken bouillon granules (or 4 cubes granules)
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup onions, diced
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
4 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1/2 cup cubed cooked chicken
1 jar (4 1/2 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained

Pastry for a single-crust pie (bought or your recipe of choice) *see below recipe for doing a top and bottom crust

Preheat oven to 450. Grease 2.5 qt baking dish.
Combine water, chicken base, and chicken bouillon in small bowl.
Preheat small pan over med-low heat with olive oil; saute onions until clear.
In a 2 qt saucepan, melt butter. Slowly stir in flour and thyme to avoid lumps, whisk until smooth (I love to use my Ikea sauce whisk here). Stir in bouillon mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
Add mixed vegetables, chicken, onion, and mushrooms into gravy like mixture and stir well. Pour into baking dish.
Roll out pastry to fit top of dish. Place over filling; trim and press edges to baking dish to seal. Cut ~1in slits in top. Bake at 450 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.


If you are planning to do pie crust for the top and bottom of the potpie, please see following directions:
No need to grease baking dish.

Flaky Pastry Dough for 2 crust 10-Inch Pie (or to line top and bottom of potpie)
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt (I usually make this a heaping scoop)
About 1 1/2 Tbs butter (not margarine)
1 cup combined butter and shortening (please read full directions so you will better understand this)
6 to 8 Tbs cold water

Sift flour into medium mixing bowl; blend with salt. Place butter in 1 cup measuring cup; fill remainder of cup with shortening (basically you want 1 cup minus 1 1/2 tsp in shortening... but who wants to measure that out?). Add butter and shortening to flour; cut in using pastry cutter or fork. Add water, 1 Tbs at a time, tossing after each addition; form into 1 large ball and cut into half, but with slightly more in one half than the other. Roll out the larger half first, so trimmings can be combined into smaller half. As you roll out dough, turn over the dough frequently, to be sure it is not sticking.

After adding filling, roll out smaller half and cover pot pie. Pinch edges together, and cut slits in top. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Cook's notes: I love that this freezes beautifully. I like to put 1 serving quantities in my small microwavable plastic dishes, so it can be warmed easily at a later time. The Flaky Pastry Dough recipe can be used for pies as well.

Sources:
The recipe is a variation from Taste of Home's Chicken Potpie

The Flaky Pie Dough recipe was taken from The Everything Cookbook copyright 1970 by Betty Wason

Tasty Salad

I got this guideline at Enrichment a few weeks ago (thanks Jenn!), and I LOVE this salad. The dressing is perfect! Here's all that I add (and it's approx 200 calories with the dressing): Spinach, Green Leaf Lettuce, Iceberg Lettuce, Green beans (fresh; cut unto 1in. pieces), mandarin oranges (6-8 slices; broken up), almond slivers, broccoli (fresh; broken up to be really small), sauteed mushrooms, a couple small strips of sauteed chicken (sauteed in olive oil, Italian seasoning, & a little rosemary; I break up the chicken into little pieces when I make the salad), a handful of grape tomatoes.

Doesn't this look tempting??

The Awesome Everything Salad:

This salad can be a little bit different every day, but in order to really be satisfying it needs certain core ingredients. Every salad must have a vegetable base, with a source of proteins and fats, something sweet, and something crunchy. There is overlap in these categories, but I will give you some ideas of what you can throw in below

The Green Base (choose one or more)

Mix of dark leafy greens

Baby Spinach

Thinly chopped Kale

Any favorite lettuce

Green Interest (choose one or more)

Chopped celery

Scallions/Green onions

Parsley or cilantro, chopped

Sprouts

Vegetables (choose 3-4)

(part of crunchy category)

Carrots

Tomatoes

Green Peas

Butternut Squash (microwave)

Red/Yellow Peppers (Fresh or sautéed)

Asparagus (Sautéed)

Mushrooms (Sautéed)

Protein/Fat Source (choose 1-3)

Meat Strips

Marinated Tofu (Refrigerated produce section)

Nuts (cashews, walnuts, pine nuts, pecans)

Fresh Avocado

Something Sweet

Fresh Blackberries, blueberries or strawberries

Canned mandarin oranges

Dried cranberries, blueberries or cherries

Raisins

Other Additions

Kalamatta Olives (Can buy in quantity at Costco)

Goat cheese, Feta,

Back-to-Basics Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/4 C. balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp pure maple syrup or agave nectar (we just threw in some Mrs. Butterworth's)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp sea salt (or regular... sea salt is just healthier)

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 small clove garlic (optional)

4 tbsp walnut oil...... (I usually use olive oil). (we go with olive oil, I'm sure it's far cheaper)

Combine all ingredients except oil and puree. Continue blending while slowly adding oil...

Basic Vegetable Soup

This is a recipe that has evolved over the last couple of months. There is always a great flexibility in vegetable soups, so feel free to personalize this to the tastes of your family. My husband really likes carrots in soups, and likes a little less potato, so we've tailored this to his preferences.

Ingredients:
8 cups water
2 Tbs chicken base
4 medium carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 small or medium potatoes, chopped into bite size cubes
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 can green beans (can substitute 7 oz frozen, thawed)
1/2 can peas (can substitute 7 oz frozen, thawed)

In 5 qt stock pot, add 8 cups water and 2 Tbs chicken base.
Add vegetables in following order: carrots, celery, potatoes, and onion.
Cover with lid, and bring soup to boil, then turn down to a low simmer. Let simmer for 45 minutes.
Add green beans and peas, and let cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Serve; salt and pepper to taste.

Yields appx. 10 cups.


Cook's notes: I tend to add the vegetables as I'm cutting them. For time purposes, the most important thing is to get the water heating first, then start the rest of your preparations.
I love using chicken base in my soups. I feel that with bouillion cubes you are always trying to do a balancing act with the salt. I purchase the chicken base from Sam's for about $3.50. Generally, you use 1 tsp for each cup of water that is used. This is such an inexpensive alternative to buying chicken broth! Especially since each container (remember... $3.50) will make about 76 cups of broth. I also appreciate that it is a paste rather than a powder. I don't particularly like the powders because they sometimes make the broth slightly granular.

Macaroni and Cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (7 ounces)
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard (dry)
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded or cubed sharp Cheddar cheese (8 ounces)

1. Heat oven to 350•
2. Cook macaroni as directed on package.
3. While macaroni is cooking, melt margarine in 3 quart
saucepan over low heat, stir in Worcestershire sauce. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and mustard. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted.
4. Drain macaroni. Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole. Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Add extra pep to this favorite recipe by using pizza-flavored or jalapeno pepper cheese.

Cook's notes: I like this twist on mac n' cheese. It's definitely more filling and is a great negotiation with the kids! I combine all the dry ingredients in a small bowl before mixing in to the wet ingredients. Definitely take your time when adding in the milk! I add this a little bit at a time until the mixture becomes more of a liquid- using your sauce whisk at this step works beautifully! We like to eat this with a bit of ketchup on it.

PREP:25 min; BAKE:25 min
Makes 6 servings, about 3/4 cup each

Source of recipe: Betty Crocker's New Cookbook

Baked Chicken Supreme

4 whole chicken breasts, halved
1/4 cup shortening
1 small garlic clove
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon oregano (optional)
1/4 cup flour
1 cup tomato juice
1 can (about 10 1/2 ounces) tomato soup
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Hot cooked rice

Brown chicken breasts in shortening, using more shortening if needed. Remove from frying pan and place in 9x9-inch baking dish. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons drippings. Add garlic and onion to skillet; cover and cook until soft but not brown, about 5 minutes. Blend in salt, sugar, oregano, and flour (use a sauce whisk if possible here, as the flour will tend to clump). Add tomato juice and tomato soup; heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and blend in sour cream. Stir vigorously. Add enough milk to thin sauce a little. Add Parmesan cheese. Pour over chicken in baking dish. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until meat is fork tender. Serve with cooked rice. Makes 8 servings.
Note: Skinned and boned breasts are best, but unskinned, unboned pieces may be used. Or use all pieces from one chicken, or pieces desired from two chickens.

Cook's notes: This is a great recipe for having leftovers! We found that if you individually pack Tupperware containers with the chicken, sauce and rice, that it warms up beautifully in the microwave, and will still taste fresh all week (I guess the sauce works as a preservative) . Do BE CAREFUL while browning the chicken, it has a tendency of spitting hot shortening your way when the pan gets too hot!! On another note... I really like the onion flavor, so sometimes I will add about a cup of onions instead of the amount listed in the recipe. Also, I typically purchase the frozen chicken breasts, and will use 6-8 of them depending on their size.
I always use my 9x13 baking dish instead of the recommended 9x9.

Source of recipe: Lion House Classics