PB and J

A good friend of mine passed this recipe along to post on the page. This is also our first male contributor. It may be a good one to try on a day when you are tired, like after a New Year's Celebration. Enjoy!

Four Steps to a perfect PB&J Sandwich

Contributed by Todd Burris

1. Take two pieces of bread
2. Put peanut butter on both pieces (very important)
3. Add a little jelly in the middle
4. Press together and enjoy with milk!!!!!

Chicken Dinner Pie (Chicken Pot Pie)

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and stays safe. Well, I am now on day three on stock the freezer. I am not cooking tonight, but I went ahead and made two meals to stick in the freezer. This is a recipe that I got from my mom. It is adapted from the 1972 Betty Crocker Cookbook. Mom starting making this when she and dad were first married, because it was a good way to make the chicken last more than one meal. We could all use a lesson in that now. I am using the chicken that I boiled yesterday, so that was a big saver on time. I have adapted the recipe to make two pies. I froze both of them today.

Supplies:
2 aluminum pie plates

2 boxes of roll-out pie crust (in the freezer section)
4 T of butter or margarine
4 T of flour
2 t of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/4 teaspoon of thyme (key ingredient)
1 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of light cream
4 cups of cooked chicken
1 16 oz. bag of frozen mixed vegetables

Chicken Filling:

Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken broth and cream. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in chicken and vegetables.

Pie Crust:

Roll out one pie crust in the pie tin, forming it to the bottom of the pan. Do this for both pie tins. Spoon in half of the mixture into each tin. Top it off with the other pie crust. Seal of the edges but pinching the the edges from the two pieces together. Put small slits or crosses in the top for it to vent while cooking.

Fresh Pie: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cover edge with 2 to 3 inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning: remove foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 6 servings. (Mom said that the aluminum foil strip is key to not burning the edges!)

Freezer Pie: Cover with aluminum foil, date and label, and place in freezer. Store up to two months. Defrost in the refrigerator the day you plan on cooking it. Follow directions above for cooking.

Up to six meals in the freezer and it is only Wednesday!

Chicken Spaghetti

Day two of stock the freezer.

Today I made chicken spaghetti. It is an easy recipe that makes three meals out of one recipe. I started with a package of bone-in chicken breast. The package contained four pieces of meat with comes out to about 5 to 6 cups of chicken when cooked. I began by boiling the chicken, letting it cool, then pulling the pieces off. The recipe only calls for 3 cups of chicken, so I have enough for a meal tomorrow too.


Supplies:
3 freezer casserole aluminum plates (they look like tall pie tins- or you can use lasagna pans)

1 cup of diced onion
3 cups of cooked chicken
2 lbs of Velveeta cubed
1 can of rotel (drained)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
2 12 oz packages of cooked spaghetti

In a skillet saute the onion and the chicken, salt and pepper to taste. Let them cook until the onion is soft. While that is cooking, place the cubed Velveeta (it melts faster), cream of mushroom soup, and rotel in a bowl. In your three casserole dishes, place spaghetti in bottom of dish, dividing it between the three dishes as equally as possible. Once the chicken and onion are cooked down, pour them into the bowl with the Velveeta, soup mix, and rotel, and stir. The mixture will still have cubes of cheese, but they will melt later. Pour the 1/3 of each mix in the casserole pans. Stir each casserole until noodles are coated with mixture.

Fresh casserole: Place in oven for about 20- 30 minutes on 350 until lightly browning on the top.

Freezer casseroles: Cover tightly with aluminum foil, label and date, and place directly in the freezer. When you choose to eat them, thaw in the refrigerator and bake 30-45 minutes, until the center is warm. (I would eat them within two months of freezing them.)

So, countdown is on: Two nights of homemade food on the table and four meals in the freezer for later.

Marinated Chicken Breast

As a working mom I am always looking for those things to help me out in the kitchen. I typically like to have dinner about 5:30, since the girls are so young. That does not give me a whole lot of time in the kitchen to prepare things. So, I like to help myself where I can to make more efficient dinners. Each day this week I am going to be doing meals that will make more than one entree so I can serve one and freeze one or two. Today was the first of that for the week.

Our family eats a lot of chicken during the week. At least one day a week I like to do a baked chicken. To change things up I like to marinate the chicken. The problem is I don't have enough time to marinate and bake after school. The following "recipe" allows me to have things ready when I get home from work. For my family I typically bake three chicken breasts. This recipe made three meals for us out of one bag of chicken. When I buy a bag from Sam's it will make 5 to 6 meals.

Marinated Chicken Breast

1 bag of FROZEN chicken breast from store

3-4 freezer bags

3-4 different marinates
(You can use the bottled marinates, salad dressing (Italian), or marinade packets found with the seasonings (this is the cheapest route- and typically all you add is water and oil, sometimes vinegar for two pounds of meat)

Some different seasoning ideas would be:

• Italian Dressing
• Teriyaki Marinade
• Chipotle Marinade
• Mesquite Marinade
• Lemon Pepper Marinade
• Bareque Sauce

Mix desired marinades in a bowl, or pour directly into the freezer bag. Place desired number of chicken breast (still frozen) in the freezer bag. Place a tight seal on the bag and place in the freezer.

On the morning of the meal place the bag in the refrigerator to thaw. When you ready to cook the meat is marinated for you. Bake or grill and enjoy.

Sage Sausage Bread

This is a recipe that Pam Nutter made for breakfast over the Christmas holiday. I thought it was really good and a different spin on things! It's good breakfast that can be made ahead of time.

1 pound sage pork sausage
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup milk
2 cups buttermilk baking mix
1/4 cup melted margarine
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook and stir the sausage and jalapeno until the sausage is well browned, about 10 minutes. Drain; set aside to cool slightly.
Stir together the Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, and milk in a large bowl. Stir in the biscuit mix, margarine, salt, and parsley. Add the sausage mixture; stir until well combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or cold.

Pam used muffin pans instead of a baking pan. This turned out really well! You may not have to bake it as long in a muffin pan.

Pam's Baked Spinach

This is a recipe that Pam Nutter put together from a couple of other baked spinach recipes and then she added some other ingredients that made for a really good baked spinach. It had a nice rich flavor. This would be a good side for a family meal or entertaining.



2 (10 oz) packages of frozen chopped spinach

1/2 cup boiling water

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Mozzerella cheese (Pam's addition - not neceesary but, addes a great flavor)

1/2 cup Feta cheese (Pam's addition - not necessary, but adds a great flavor)

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

2 tablespoons butter



Cook spinach in the water. Drain well.



Combine softened cream cheese, milk, cheeses and cooked spinach. Put mixture into a greased 1 quart baking dish. Melt butter and toss with bread crumbs. Add bread crumb mixture to the top of the casserole. Bake at 350F until heated through, 20 to 25 minutes.

Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie

This is a recipe that my Mother-in-law, Pam, is making to use leftover turkey from Christmas. It's definitely a good way to use leftover mean and veggies too.

Prep - 20 min
Total - 50 min

2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces (or any kind of leftover turkey or chicken)
1/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing
4 oz. Cream Cheese
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed (or whatever leftover veggies you have. Pam sauteed some fresh carrots and celery with the turkey)
1 pie crust - top and bottom (refrigerated or homemade)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Cook chicken in dressing in a large skillet on medium heat for 2 minutes.
Add cream cheese, cook and stir until melted.
Add flour, mix well, add broth and vegetables, simmer 5 minutes
Pour mixture into deep dish 10 inch pie plate.
Arrange pie crust over filling, flute edges.
Cut four slits in crust to allow steam to escape.
Bake 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.