Sweet Mingle Mix

I feel very blessed to be in a school district that fits snack time into the school schedule. The catch is that we have to send our children with their snacks. I always try to have something salty with protein of some form for Una's snack because that combo seems to help her with her hypoglycemia. I would LOVE to send just plain regular chex mix because of the salty nuts and lack of sugar, but she HATES that stuff. In fact, this is the only snack mix I've been able to make (find) that Una will eat and thoroughly enjoy. And, although it is rather sweet, it's not something she'll get everyday. (Thanks, Jessica, for sharing this with me!)

SWEET MINGLE MIX
1 1/2 cups pretzel sticks (broken in half)
2 cups Chex
2 cups Cheerios (not honey-nut)
1 cup peanuts
1 cup M&Ms
10 oz. vanilla candy coating

Line driper pan with wax paper. Combine all ingredients, except candy coating in a large bowl. Melt candy coating in microwave. Pour over dry ingredients. Pour mixture into dripper pan to cool. When cool, break apart. Store in covered container.

So, let's make this together!

I don't use the same ingredients; but, I'm sure you can mix it up according to what your family likes best.

Start off with the pretzels.

Then add the Kix and Crispix.

Now add the Kissables and peanuts (which are not shown).

Don't forget to let the little ones taste it first!

Pour Vanilla Candy Coating over everything. (My microwave died on me, so I had to use my double boiler.

Stir everything until it is well coated. Una and Dos were my helpers.

Maybe they'll grow up to be hand models?

Dump it all out onto wax paper to cool. Then break it apart and store in ziploc baggies. And, if you're like me, you'll place those baggies in the freezer. That way, when you pull them out they can go into lunch boxes and not get all melted and messy (and neither will the hands that dig into the baggies).

Easy Zesty Chicken Pot Pie

This week there are two TTT posts because I skipped out last week. This one is dedicated to a super easy chicken pot pie. Papa LOVES this pot pie for the flavor; I LOVE this pot pie for the simplicity.

ZESTY CHICKEN POT PIE

12 oz (1 1/2 [8 oz.] pkgs.) cream cheese, cubed

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 cups choped cooked chicken

2 pkgs. (10 oz.) frozen mixed veggies, thawed*

1 pkg. Italian salad dressing mix

1 refrigerated ready-to-use pie crust**

Preheat oven to 425°. Place cream cheese in large saucepan. Add broth; cook on low heat until cream cheese is completely melted, stirring frequently with wire whisk. Stir in chicken, veggies & salad dressing mix. Spoon into 9-inch pie plate. Cover wtih pie crust; seal and flute edges. Cut several slits in crust to allow steam to escape. Place pie plate on baking sheet. Bake 20-25 minuets or until golden brown.

Serves: 8

*I use a peas & carrots mixture for the veggies.

**The first time I made this, I used two pie crusts, placing one in the pie dish before pouring in the filling. I actually prefer it this way.

Una and I had fun using my mini cookie cutters (I originally got these to cut out marzipan shapes for a birthday cake) to make a design in the pie crust instead of just cutting slits.

I also skipped reading the part about placing the pie dish on a cookie sheet .... big OOPS! This is a must, unless you want to clean your oven at least three times over the next few days. (That's why my cookie sheet looks so clean ... I realized when I started smelling burned filling that I needed the cookie sheet and slid it under the pie a little bit too late.)

Farmhouse Chicken

This week I'm posting one of my absolutely favorite dinners. Luckily for me, my sister was here while I made it, so she took pictures for you. (That's why they are so much better than the pictures I take!) She also said that she prefers step-by-step instructional photos, so that's what she took!

Originally I got this recipe from the Kraft Food & Family magazine a couple of years ago. Since then, I've altered it to my liking. (Actually, the original is much more health conscience: using things that say "reduced-fat," "light," "fat-free," and "reduced sodium." We're all about getting extra fat in our house [and flavor], so I just steer clear of such statements. But, to each their own; make it the way you want to make it!) So, I'll post the original recipe at the bottom in case you want that. Otherwise, this is the way I make it:

Start by heating about 1/3 cup Italian Salad Dressing in a skillet. Use more or less depending on how many chicken breasts you are using. I needed 6, so I used 1/3 cup dressing. Add your thawed chicken breasts to the heated dressing.


While your chicken in browning, start cooking some brown rice. I pour two cups brown rice into a pot, then fill the pot with water until the rice has about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water above it. Then, I boil the water down until craters form atop the rice. It usually takes a while to get to this point. So, we'll skip to the next thing I do after I start the rice:

Peel and slice diagonally 5-6 carrots. Again, the number varies according to how much you'll need. In my case, we LOVE these carrots, so I think I used 6.

Then, cut one onion into wedges. Put both the carrots and onions in a bowl and set them aside to use once the chicken is done browning.

At this point, the chicken has probably been browning for a few minutes. Turn it over. Let the other side cook until it turns a golden brown.

Add carrots and onions.

Pour in one can chicken broth. (Because I was feeding many people, I actually used 1 1/2 cans chicken broth in my rice instead of water, then I poured the left over 1/2 can of broth in with this one can of broth.)

Cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes; or until carrots are tender.

Check your rice. Do you have craters??? I did. So, I put a cover on my rice and reduced the heat to low. (Ten minutes from this point the rice is ready. This is how I make white rice as well, except the water is only 1-inch above the rice.)

Use this time to cut up one package of cream cheese into cubes. (Again, I used one and half packages because we LOVE the gravy for this dish, and I wanted to be sure to have enough.)

When your timer goes off, or your carrots are tender, remove everything from the broth. Cover it to keep it warm.

Add the cut-up cream cheese to the broth in the skillet. Whisk it together with the broth on high heat until the cream cheese is blended in. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 3-5 minutes or until it's thickened a little bit.



Pour cooked rice onto a platter.

Place chicken, carrots and onions atop rice.

Pour gravy over everything.

Take a good look at your very aesthetically pleasing dinner. Then, dig in and revel this yummy goodness.

FARMHOUSE CHICKEN DINNER

¼ cup flour
½ tsp. pepper
4 small bone-in chicken breast halves (1 ½ lb.), skin removed; or 4 skinless, boneless breasts
¼ cup light Italian dressing, reduced fat
2 cups Minute Brown Rice, uncooked
2 cups baby carrots
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
1 can (14.5 oz) fat-free reduced sodium chicken broth, divided
4 oz. Neufchatel cheese

Mix flour and pepper in shallow dish. Add chicken; turn to evenly coat both sides. Heat dressing in non-stick skillet and add chicken meat-side down; cook 5-6 minutes or until golden brown. Turn chicken over; add carrots, onions and 1 cup broth. Cover, and reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 20 minutes or until carrots are tender and chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile, prepare rice as directed on package; spoon onto serving platter. Use slotted spoon to remove chicken and veggies from stew; place over rice. Cover to keep warm. Add Neufchatel cheese and remaining broth to skillet; increase heat to high. Cook until cheese is melted and sauce is well blended, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 3-5 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Spoon over chicken and veggies; sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. chopped parsley.

Making Bread

Okay, so my sister has been here visiting over the weekend and she decided she wanted to "help" me make bread so she could do it at her house. Little did I know that when she said "help" it really meant "you-make-the-bread-while-I-make-a-mini-movie!"

Anyway, she recorded me making bread and posted it on her blog. I figured that since the video was of me that I'd post the video on my blog too! So, here you go!

Ham & Cheddar Loaf

I was looking online for something new to make the other day and came across this recipe. It reminded me so much of Hot Pockets that I just had to try it. I can't wait to try all the variations; although, I think next time I'll make individual sizes. Oh, the recipe says that it has six servings of one slice each; which I thought wasn't enough to feed my family of six for dinner (based on the picture of how big their slices were), so I made two loaves. Totally only needed one, so I froze the other for another day! I also needed to make bread, so I just used my favorite white bread recipe* in place of the frozen bread dough.

HAM & CHEDDAR LOAF

1 lb. frozen bread dough, thawed
1 pkg. (9 oz.) ham slices
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
¼ cup Miracle Whip dressing
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese, grated

Heat oven to 350°. Flatten dough on lightly floured surface with hands. Roll into 12x8-inch rectangle with rolling pin. (If dough is difficult to roll, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling out.) Top with ham to within ½ inch of edges. Mix cheddar cheese and dressing; spread over ham.

Moisten edges of dough with water. Starting at one of the long sides, fold one-third of dough over filling; repeat with other long side. Pinch seams together to seal. Place seam-side down, on lightly greased baking sheet. Cut three diagonal slits in top of dough with kitchen shears. Brush with egg; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. (I baked mine for 35 minutes and it was too brown … I think 30 minutes is sufficient.) Cool 10 minutes before slicing.

*Here’s my favorite white bread recipe (anyone have a whole wheat bread recipe they LOVE?)

This is my favorite because it always turns out perfectly. Seriously, it does. I found it on a recipe card of my mom’s when I was typing up all her recipes (I promise, Mom, you’ll get them back soon). There was written on the card: Works every time. I thought that was a ridiculously arrogant statement, and was determined to prove it wrong. And, I can’t. This is THE PERFECT white bread recipe. I have made it by hand and in a mixer, and both times it has turned out fabulously.

It only takes about an hour and half to make this bread; and there’s very little kneading involved. If you use a mixer, you don’t really need to knead at all; if you make it by hand, you’ll probably have to knead just enough flour into the dough to make it soft and supple instead of sticky (once the dough starts to clean the flour off the counter, stop kneading).

I also love that this recipe is so easy to scale up and down according to how many loaves you want. I don’t like homemade bread that is 4 or more days old, so I usually make only 2 to 3 loaves at a time. But, because of the recipe, I’m able to make even just one loaf if I want, and it’s not hard to figure out the measurements for the ingredients. Seriously, if you’ve never made bread before, but have always wanted to … this is the recipe to get you going. It’s that easy! There weren’t any directions on my mom’s recipe card, so I made up my own and they’ve worked for me so far.

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients. Warm up your water in the microwave to the right temperature. (I usually test it with my pinky finger. If the water is close to burning my finger, then it’s just about right. Sometimes I check with a thermometer, just to be safe. But, if it feels super-duper hot, don’t pour it into your dry ingredients because you’ll kill the yeast. Also, if you've ever proofed your yeast before, you'll need the water to be hotter than the standard 105°-115° because the yeast is mixed in with the flour already.)

Add water and shortening. Stir together until you have a nice soft dough.

Place dough in a greased large bowl; turn to coat (or just turn, then flip the dough upside down). Cover, and place in a warm spot to rise. (I turn on my oven to 350° and set my bowl atop the range so the heat of the oven can keep my dough warm. This really helps out in winter.) Let rise until double, or about 30 minutes.

Divide your dough into desired number of loaves. Shape each loaf. I roll mine out into a rectangle just about the same width as my loaf pan. Then, I roll it away from me (starting at the short side) as I squeeze it together. Then, I pinch to seal the edges.

Place in lightly greased loaf pans. (You can let it rise again for 30 minutes, or just bake it. I usually just bake it.) Bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.