Chicken Pot Pie

One of our favorite meals for a good winter day (and yes, it's still winter here in Newfoundland!) is Chicken Pot Pie. Now, we call it pot pie, but it's more like a chicken stew. I used to bake it in the oven with pastry over the top, but now I just make it in the crock pot and I make biscuits on the side. We all LOVE it!

CHICKEN POT PIE

3 chicken breasts (I use boneless, skinless)
1 onion
4-5 carrots, sliced
1 small turnip, cubed
3-4 medium-sized potatoes, cubed
3 sticks of celery, chopped
1/4 cup chopped red or yellow pepper
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped cauliflower
1 can kernel corn
2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Chicken Broth


Boil the chicken breasts in large pot. Save the liquid. Remove and cut into cubes. Put back into pot and add chopped onion. Bring to boil again. Next, add in carrots, turnip and potatoes. Boil for about 10 minutes.

Put the Cream of Chicken soup and the Chicken Broth in large crock pot. Add celery, red pepper, broccoli, cauliflower and corn. Add in chicken, vegetable and the liquid. Stir and set on high for 3 hours.

In last half hour you'll need to thicken it. I use about 4 Tbsp of cornstarch in 1 cup of cold water. Mix well, then stir into soup.

Serve with hot biscuits.

**NOTE: This makes enough for a large crock pot and is enough for 2 meals for our family of 6. Like most soups/stews, it always tastes better the next day :-)

You can add other vegetables or increase/decrease the amounts to your liking. I just try to put the "harder" veggies in the pot to boil a bit before adding to the crock pot.

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Here's a biscuit recipe. I got this one from my mother-in-law.

Lonna's Biscuits

2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter or shortening
3/4 cup milk

Mix first 3 ingredients, then cut in butter with pastry blender. Add milk and mix. Knead on lightly floured board. Handle it gently and knead about 15 times. The more you handle it, the tougher the biscuits will be, but don't worry, we haven't had one we couldn't eat :-) Pat or roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutter and bake at 450 deg. for 8-10 minutes.

If you make this recipe, I'd love to hear what you think of it!

EASY Chicken Quesadilla

I in no way claim to know all there is to know about Mexican dishes (had to use spell-check to see how to spell quesadilla, though spell-check wanted the word changed to queasily), but these are what we call Easy Chicken Quesadilla :-)

Easy Chicken Quesadillas

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 cups cooked rice
2 jars salsa (not sure of the grams, but we use 2 of the small Tostitos brand)
2-3 cups grated cheddar cheese
20 flour tortillas

Cut chicken into pieces and fry in small amount of olive oil. Add salsa and heat. Cook rice and add to mixture.

Layer one tortilla with some cheese, then the chicken mixture and a bit more cheese. Top with another tortilla. Fry in hot frying pan until browned on both sides (probably a minute on each side)

Cut in wedges and serve with sour cream and/or salsa.

a meat dish

I thought I'd post my recipe for meatballs. My kids say I make the best meatballs ever :-) That's probably because I don't have onion in them!

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

meatballs:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 rolled oats
salt/pepper
onion powder

Mix all ingredients and then roll into 1" balls. Place on wire rack, on a cookie sheet and place in 350 deg. oven. Cook for 20 minutes or until browned.

Remove from oven and place meatballs in casserole dish or small roaster.

sauce:

1 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup vinegar
juice from can of pineapple chunks (reserve the chunks)

Mix all ingredients in saucepan and heat until boiled and thickened.

Pour over meatballs. Add in pineapple chunks, some chopped onion and chopped peppers.

Cover and bake at 325 deg for 1 hour. Serve with rice and side of veggies.