Sweet & Savory ~~ Individual Chicken Pot Pies

What's for dinner?  How about individual chicken pot pies? This is a great recipe for leftover chicken which can be doubled or tripled with the additional pot pies being frozen if you would like to cook them at a later time.  It happens to be one of our family favorites which we've enjoyed for over a decade.  So, here goes:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup diced cooked chicken
• 1 - 14 oz. can cut green beans or vegetable of your choice or 1 - 10 oz. bag of frozen, cooked vegetable
• 1 - 10.5 oz. can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• A few drops of hot sauce (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1 cup of Bisquick mix
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Place diced chicken, vegetable of your choice, undiluted soup, poultry seasoning and hot sauce inside bowl and mix well.
• Spray individual baking containers with vegetable or olive oil spray to prevent sticking during cooking.
• Divide mixture into individual baking containers.
• Thoroughly blend Bisquick mix, milk, egg and Parmesan cheese using mixer at lower speed for about 2 minutes.  Make sure batter is not lumpy.
• Spoon Bisquick mixture over the top of the chicken and vegetable mixture inside the baking containers.  Make sure to spread the liquid mixture so that the chicken mixture is thoroughly covered.
• Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
• Rest for 5 minutes after removing from oven, invert onto dinner plates, and enjoy!

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• I have served these pot pies during all four seasons of the year.
• For summertime dining, you could pair with a nice ear of corn on the cob.
• A tossed green salad with additional veggies is a nice accompaniment year round as well.

Happy dining & enjoy.

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram 

Sweet & Savory ~~ "Honey Almond Cake"

Fresh honey, almond flavoring, applesauce and pecans make for a scrumptious combination in this moist, melt-in-your-mouth cake!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
• 3/4 cup honey (I used light colored clover honey)
• 1/2 cup applesauce, slightly heated in microwave
• 1 teaspoon almond flavoring
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. hot water

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease and flour a 9 x 9 inch square baking pan.
• Cream butter and honey until well blended in mixing bowl.
• Add heated applesauce along with almond flavoring and mix well.
• Fold the dry ingredients into the honey and applesauce mixture.
• Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water and mix thoroughly and quickly.
• Add to mixture inside bowl.
• Blend well.
• Pour batter into baking pan.
• Bake for 38 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Yields 10-12 servings.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• Serve warm or cold.
• Delicious with ice cream or whipping cream.
• Iced tea or warm tea enhances the honey flavor of the cake.
• Iced or cold coffee is a nice beverage to serve with cake

Happy Baking & Enjoy!

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram 

Sweet & Savory Monday ~~ Autumn Soup

A bowl of hot soup deserves a warm welcome on these cool, windy, rainy days! Paired up with bread, rolls, or crackers, your family or dinner guests will be happy diners.  I prepared this recipe in a crock pot, but it could be easily cooked on your stove top in a soup pan or saucepan.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 Tbsp. garlic, diced
• 2 Idaho Burbank Russet medium sized potatoes, diced
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 1 cup corn
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 tsp. salt, optional
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 cup corkscrew noodles or variety of your choice

DIRECTIONS:

• Wash and prepare all veggies
• Place inside crock pot or soup pan/sauce pan
• Fill pan with enough water to cover vegetables
• Cook until vegetables are tender

Here's a nifty 90 idea if you are using your crock pot ~~

Whoever designed these crock pot liners deserves more than a High 5! Before placing the ingredients into your crock pot, place liner inside which helps to make clean up so much easier.

I prefer to make large batches of soups and stews so that I can have left overs. In addition, these containers of soup can be frozen in order to be heated and served at a later date.

This is a great way to get all of your daily servings of vegetables in one fell swoop!  Be creative and add your own favorite veggies.  Another health aspect of preparing your own recipe is the absence of preservatives.  

Enjoy Autumn's bounty and stay warm!

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram 

Sweet & Savory Friday ~~~ Retro 50's Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

• 6-8 pork chops or thin loin chops
• 2 cups rice
• 3 3/4 cups water
• 1 - 4 oz. jar diced pimentos
• 1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
• Seasoned pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Lightly brown pork chops and sprinkle with seasoned pepper, optional
• Place rice in bottom of 9 x 13 inch baking pan
• Heat water to boiling and pour in baking pan
• Add package of onion soup mix
• Add jar of diced pimentos
• Mix thoroughly
• Place pork chops on top
• Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• Since I just harvested fresh tomatoes from my horse trough gardening receptacle yesterday, I sliced some of those to serve with the pork chop and rice casserole.

• No pork chop dish is complete without a little applesauce.  Pork chops and applesauce. That's sort of a tongue twister along the lines of Sufferin' Succotash!
• A nice summer salad is a tasty compliment with any dinner.

When I was a young girl being raised on Sage Creek Farms, I have fond memories of my sweet mother, Rita, preparing this dish which is a family favorite. A variation of it first appeared in some type of farming magazine in the 1950's; ergo, I have titled my blog post Retro 50's Casserole.  I just thought that wording would add a little extra pizzazz.  What say you?

Happy Dining & Retroing!

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram  

Sweet & Savory Friday ~~ "Delish & Easy Pecan Rolls"

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• dash of salt, optional
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup ground cinnamon
• 2 tubes large refrigerated biscuits, any brand

DIRECTIONS:

• In a medium sized saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt. 
• Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Add the pecans.
• Pour into a greased 13 inch x 9 inch baking pan.
• Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow container such as a glass pie plate.
• Cut each biscuit in half and dip it in the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  (I wear a pair of those latex gloves for this part of the project and it seems to work out nicely!)
• Place the biscuits, cut side down, on top of the brown sugar mixture in bottom of baking pan.

• Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until tops of biscuits are golden brown.
• Invert onto serving plate.

These easy to fix rolls are so delicious they will disappear before your very eyes. They are a consistent family favorite.

Happy Baking, Eating & Reading!

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram    

Sweet & Savory Thursday ~~ Bacon Bow Ties

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound bacon
• brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

• Line jelly roll pan or baking pan with aluminum foil.  Place cooling rack on top.  You could also use a broiler pan.
• Tie bacon strips into bow tie shape.
• Cook for one hour at 300 degrees.

                                            

• Turn bow ties over and sprinkle with brown sugar.  
• Bake for another 45 minutes to one hour.
• Make sure to check the centers of the bow ties to see if they are cooked completely.

Happy Reading as you enjoy your bow ties!  Let me know if you can eat just one of these and leave the rest of them on the plate.  :-)  

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram         

Sweet & Savory Thursday ~~ Crockpot Chicken Comfort Dinner

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 - 10.5 ounce cans Cream of Chicken soup
• 2/3 cup milk or water
• 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 tsp. Poultry Seasoning
• Salt and/or pepper, optional
• 1 - 6 oz. pkg. stuffing mix
• 1 2/3 cup water 

DIRECTIONS:

• Stir together soup and milk or water (whichever one you choose to dilute the soup) in the bottom of Crockpot.
• Place chicken breasts in bottom of Crockpot.
• Sprinkle Poultry Seasoning over chicken breasts.
• Sprinkle Salt/Pepper over chicken breasts (optional).
• Combine the water with stuffing mix in separate bowl and stir to blend together.
• Spoon the stuffing over chicken breasts.
• Cover and cook on low setting for 6 hours.

(The above photo depicts what your mixture will look like after all ingredients are placed inside Crockpot)

Serve with vegetable of your choice, dinner rolls, fruit, or other comfort foods your family enjoys.

This is a delicious chicken recipe and so easy to prepare. You just fix it and forget it! 

Happy cooking, eating & reading!

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

Sweet & Savory Thursday ~~ Busy Day Casserole

                                                    BUSY DAY CASSEROLE


Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• Seasonings of your choice such as garlic powder, seasoned pepper, Worcestershire Sauce, seasoned salt, dehydrated onion, etc.
• 1 - 14 oz. can of cut green beans
• 1 - 10.5 oz can Cream of Mushroom soup
• 1 -  24 oz. bag of frozen tater tots

Directions:

• Place uncooked ground beef in bottom of 9 x 9 inch square bake ware.
• Sprinkle with seasonings of your choice.
• Drain liquid from can of green beans and spread evenly over top of seasoned meat.
• Spread cream soup evenly over top of green beans.
• Layer tater tots on top.
• Bake one hour at 350 degrees or until tots are golden brown.

Helpful hints:

• The very best part about this recipe is that it can be assembled in about 10 minutes flat, and you do not need to brown the ground beef before placing it inside the bake ware!  This is a huge time saver to say the least.
• It's fun to experiment using different seasonings in this recipe.  I would start out using the seasonings that your family likes the best, and then add some additional ones the next time you make it.
• This is a great dish to take to someone who has just experienced a death in the family; to the mother of a newborn baby; to a potluck dinner, and so forth.
• The recipe can be made ahead of time and placed in the freezer to be cooked at a later time.
• Some people like to put Ketchup on top before eating their serving of it.
• This recipe has continued to be one of our family favorites for generations. 
• I have made this dish in a crock pot and cooked it on a low setting for about 6 hours and it turned out very well!

Living in the west, it puts a big smile on my face to be using beef and potatoes when preparing meals for my family.  

Happy Eating & Happy Reading!

This recipe is taken from the official Sheila Fabulous Collection.

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram