Chicken Pot Pie

I had to change up this recipe just because James doesn't eat peas. He says it's his dad's fault. His dad never liked peas and never ate them, so, as a boy, he decided that if his dad didn't have to eat them, he didn't either. He would pick every single one out if I put them in something. So I just use broccoli in my chicken pot pies.


My mixture was too soupy and I had to scoop out a lot of liquid for it to be the consistency I wanted in the dish. Not sure what went wrong there, but the crust was great. I usually put a whole crust on chicken pot pie (line the bottom then put a crust on top). We really liked the fluffy pie crust and the new ratio of chicken filling to crust.

Perfect Pot Roast and Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! So that James' mom didn't have to cook or clean, we hosted Mother's Day dinner at our house. I was excited about using more PW recipes (the salad, dessert and macaroni and cheese were provided by other Fields), though worried about having enough food. Abby, my sister-in-law, was surprised at my worry. "It's just our family, Kara."
"You realize that's 9 people, right??"

So instead of the 3-5 lbs. PW suggests, I bought about 7 pounds of meat and used both my crock pot and my mother-in-law's Pampered Chef stone to cook all the carrots, roast and onions. I cut the vegetables the night before, leaving them in the fridge in a zip-lock. I also salted the beef and readied the fresh herbs. This morning before church I seared the meat and browned the veggies, starting the timers on the slow-cookers as we left.

I made the mashed potatoes last night. James had the ingenious idea of using my apple peeler-corer-slicer to help peel the potatoes. While not perfect, it definitely helped speed the process. I didn't add the last bit of butter on top before baking, since they seemed plenty decadent to me without it. And while they took longer than 30 minutes to heat back up in the oven, Abby's macaroni and cheese wasn't ready yet, so they weren't the cause for the dinner delay.



Everyone agreed it was a delicious meal. The potatoes were so rich. Someone ventured to say it was the best pot roast ever... except for their mom's, of course.

Chicken Spaghetti

So it's been a while since I've posted... but I've been trying some of PW's recipe's even before I received the actual cook book for my birthday.

I used the website and followed the recipe almost exactly. I used some of a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking my own, and we had whole wheat pasta. When I told James we were having chicken spaghetti, he was like... how is that any different from chicken with pasta (something I often throw together last minute)? I explained that it was a casserole and completely different. He said it was cheesy. It's exactly what I think of when I say "chicken spaghetti," and I liked it alright, though yes, quite cheesy.

Chicken Pot Pie

Though this chicken pot pie was good, it wasn't as great as some other recipes I have tried. I must admit that I didn't have time to make the pie crust, so I cheated and used a store-bought crust. With regard to the filling, though, the consensus at our house was that it was too rich and thick (ha! - and this is comfort food we're talking about, I guess we're just really picky...). I was really surprised by the direction to use an entire cup of flour - if I decided to try this recipe again, I would definitely cut down on that. I did like her use of white wine, though, and will probably incorporate that in the chicken pot pie recipe that I like a bit better.

Chicken Fried Steak, Cheesy Corn Grits, and Burgandy Mushrooms

I managed to get in 3 recipes for supper tonight. This might seem an unusual food combination, but it worked! I started the musrooms just after breakfast--they take an amazing 9 hours to cook PW says! Well, I tested that theory just a bit. I had had these musrooms last week at my daughter-in-law, Cathy's house, and she cooked them a bit longer than one hour (I think). They were great. So I tried them with our lunch today, at 3 hours cooking time, and they were wonderful. By supper time, they were almost at their full 9 hours cooking limit. I have to say, I think they digressed since lunch. By the time all the wine and water cooked off, it was just a puddle of grease (butter) that they were simmering in. But the bad part, is that then all the salt from the bullion was concentrated in the musrooms, and I think they became a little too salty. When I do these again, I will just cook them 2-3 hours. They are very delicious. 

The chicken fried steak was easy to do and fried up nice--though your house smells like it--but on a cold day that can be ok--smells like a cozy diner!

And the pan gravy turned ou good too.  I did have to keep adding milk to keep it the right consistency...

I made the cheese grits from some organic corn grits I have. I like the yellow grits better than the white ones--more flavor. I have never made cheese grits, though I know my daughter, Carissa, has made them for years. I was not ready for my husband's overwhelming response to them. After his 7th helping (I am serious!) I asked him if he was going to eat them all in one sitting. He looked surprised, and said, "Well, they are good--is it bad to eat a lot of cheese grits?" The funny thing is he is originally a "Notherner", and doesn't usually get all that excited about Southern foods! But the cheese grits were quite a winner tonight!

"Killer" Chicken Pot Pie

I'm a pie baker. I love making pies. And I can tell you, this crust is excellent. It was very flaky and easy as pie to make. ;-) ... As for the chicken pot pie itself, this will kill you. Maybe even tonight, so beware. It's made with heavy cream and lots and lots of butter. Though, my family loved it. Who wouldn't?

Perfect Pot Roast

While I was at Bed Bath and Beyond, going to suck it up and buy a new dutch oven, I found out that I already had one with my Calphalon pans I got for Christmas last year!  Thank goodness, because they are expensive.

I love pot roast and usually always cook it in the crock pot- Danny does not "prefer" the recipe I usually use.  He LOVED this one!

I saw a clip of Rachel Ray last week where she talked about browning your meat and veggies before putting them in- so when I saw that Ree says to do that, I knew it would help.  And it did! 

It was also strange to not put potatoes in the pot, but I went with it and I liked it better- I just made her Creamy Rosemary Potatoes with the roast.  We will definetly make this one again!

Chicken Spaghetti

Unfortunately, I don't have a photo to go along with this entry, but I'm happy to report that the chicken spaghetti was a big hit at our house (so far, everything I've tried has been!). I cheated and used a store-bought rotisserie chicken instead of cooking my own, and that definitely made this a super, super easy dish to throw together. I went pretty easy on the cayenne pepper, in deference to our kiddos, but my husband threw some extra on his own helping and really liked the result (so if you like cayenne pepper, I say go crazy with it!). As with several of the other recipes I've tried from the cookbook, this one made more than we needed for one meal, so we've got two more chicken spaghetti dinners waiting for us in our freezer! :)