Turkey Pot Pie

Over the last few years, as a family, we have tried to reduce the amount of processed flour we eat.  We've gone from having a bread option at each meal to, now, at many meals having no bread or flour of any kind, just a simple lean protein and fresh cut veggies and fruit.  Most of the time this works well for us.....but, sometimes I JUST NEED SOME BREAD!   Ok, there, I said it, I feel much better now:)

All kidding aside, some dishes just cannot be created without the flour element, like turkey pot pie.  But, instead of making the crust and also corn bread to go on the side like I normally would, tonight I made a corn bread biscuit in place of the crust and killed two birds with one stone.  Yay me, I love it when I have a good idea:)

Begin with equal parts of butter and olive oil in a large oven safe skillet.  Chop an onion and sauté with a bit of salt til translucent.

To make the rue- add into the onions the flour along with all of the seasonings, cook stirring for several minutes.

The mixture should be thick and turning golden brown like this.

Next add chicken stock and milk, stirring to incorporate the rue into the liquid.  Continue stirring until the liquid becomes thick and bubbly.  This is also a good time to taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings if needed.

Add frozen veggies, stir to combine and allow to heat through.

Last add in the cooked turkey meat.  At this point you can cover the skillet and turn the heat off while mixing the biscuits.

Preheat the oven to 400F and in a medium bowl combine the dry ingredients.

In a small bowl combine the wet ingredients.

Add that to the dry and stir to combine.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the biscuit batter onto the top of the pot pie filling.  Place in the oven and bake, mine took about 23 minutes.

Here it is out of the oven, looks good to me!

Turkey Pot Pie

1 onion, chopped
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 t poultry seasoning
1/3 c flour
2 c chicken (or turkey) stock
3/4 c milk
1 bag frozen mix veggies
2 c cooked turkey, chopped

In a large oven safe skillet saute onion in butter, olive oil and salt.  When onion is translucent add in remaining spices and flour.  Cook and stir for several minutes, til thick and turning brown.  Add in chicken stock and milk, cooking and stirring til thick and bubbly.  Add in veggies and allow to warm through.  Add in turkey, stir in, cover skillet and remove from heat while mixing biscuit dough.

Corn Bread Biscuits

1 c ap flour
1 c corn meal
1/4 c sugar
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking soda
3 1/2 T melted butter
1 egg
1 c buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400F.  In a medium mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients, set aside.  In a small mixing bowl combine the wet ingredients.  Add the wet to the dry and mix til combined.  Using an ice cream scoop, scoop dollups of dough onto the pot pie filling.  Place skillet into oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, til top is golden brown and sides are bubbly.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Muffins

I do love marking the seasons by cooking with seasonal ingredients.  Today I'm celebrating fall with one of my favorite recipes, given to me years ago by a dear friend.  She gave it to me as banana bread, but I've made this recipe into many, many different kinds and each time I make it it comes out perfectly delicious.  So use this as a good muffin/quick bread recipe with your favorite spin.

Beginning with the dry ingredients, combine into a large bowl and set aside.

In a smaller bowl mix wet ingredients thoroughly.

Pour wet into dry and mix just til combined, making sure to not over mix.  (note: I made this before my first cup of coffee and didn't add enough oil, which is why my batter looks so thick.  They still came out just fine!  See, the perfect recipe:)

Fill 2/3'ish full into a paper lined muffin tin and bake.

I don't normally, but since I need a little extra help mourning the loss of summer I'm taking my muffins over the top with cream cheese frosting.  In a large mixing bowl beat your (cold) cream cheese, room temp butter and vanilla.  I know you thought you needed room temp cream cheese, but you don't!  You will definitely need room temp butter though!!!

Add in sifted (YES, SIFTED) powdered sugar and mix well.

Place in a gallon ziploc bag and place in fridge to chill until your muffins are completely cooled.

I like doing a simple swirl on my muffins and cup cakes.  I'm not really the cake decorating sort, so this is a pretty fool proof method that looks impressive, but is not hard at all.  Cut the bottom corner off the bag (the bigger the whole the bigger your swirl).  Starting on the outside of the muffin squeeze frosting out in a swirling motion til you reach the center, give the frosting bag a little lift to break the stream and to finish with a cute little spike and voila your done.

Now repeat about 2 dozen times!  So pretty:)  Enjoy!


Pumpkin Muffins
from Heather

3/4 c ap flour
3/4 ground flax seed
1/2 c ww flour
1 1/2 pumpkin pie spice
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/8 t salt
1 c canned pumpkin
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c buttermilk
1 egg
3 T canola oil

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line muffin tin with paper cups if you wish, set aside.  Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.  In a smaller bowl combine wet ingredients well.  Pour wet into dry and mix just til combined.  Pour into muffin tin til 2/3'ish full.  Bake for about 18 minutes, or til cooked through.  Cool on a wire rack before frosting.  Makes 12 muffins, doubles well.

Note: substitute any flavor for the pumpkin- banana, zucchini, applesauce would be good, although I've never tried, you get the idea.  Make sure you adjust your dry seasonings accordingly.

Cream Cheese Frosting
from Joy of Cooking

1- 8 oz brick cream cheese, cold
5 T butter, room temp
1 t vanilla
2- 2 1/2 c powdered sugar, sifted

In large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla.  Add powdered sugar in slowly while mixer is on.  Mix til just combined.  Place in ziploc bag in fridge til ready to frost.

Chili

It's official.  It's comfort food season.  I'm not a huge fan of casseroles, but I do love a good soup or stew to warm me up on a cold, wet day.  Today I'm kicking off the season with chili in the crock pot and my house smells amazing!  This recipe could not be easier.

While you brown some onion and hamburger in a skillet put tomatoes, tomato puree, beans, and chilies in the crock pot.

I add all the seasonings to the meat while it cooks, in addition to salt and pepper I have chili powder, cumin and garlic.

When the meat is fully cooked through add it to the crock pot.

Stir well and cook on low for 6 hours.

Done!  So simple and so delicious.  I put a dollup of sour cream and sprinkle of cheese on mine.  Corn bread is always welcome to the party, too!  Click here for for that yummy recipe.


Trail Chili
adapted from Fix It and Forget It

1 1/2 lbs hamburger
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T chili powder
2 t salt
2 t pepper
1 t ground cumin
2- 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
1- 8 oz can tomato puree
1- 16 oz can beans (I use pinquitos)
1- 4 oz can diced green chilies

Saute onion in olive oil and salt til translucent, add garlic, hamburger and remaining spices, cook til meat is fully cooked through.  While meat is cooking add remaining ingredients to the crock pot.  Add in meat, stir until well combined and cook on low for 6 hours.  Garnish with sour cream and cheddar cheese, serve with corn bread. Enjoy!

Hawaiian Grilled Chicken

I've discovered that I have a love for all things coconut.  I want to make a public apology to my family who is subject to the food I make.  I will try to not go so far that we're eating it for breakfast lunch and dinner, but I fear it may be too late even for that.

Ok, now that my conscience is clear let me share with you my new favorite chicken recipe that not only has coconut in the marinade, it's served with coconut rice! YUM!

Starting with the rice. I use plain white rice, but I have a few tricks to make it super yummy.

For this recipe I have 2 c rice in a medium sauce pan with 1 can coconut milk plus 1 cup water and a pinch of salt.  Give it a stir, place lid on and place over medium heat.  When you hear it coming to a boil give it another stir, replace lid, turn heat to low.  I don't have a cooking time, I just watch it.  When the liquid is all soaked up I turn the heat off and let it sit with the lid on until ready for dinner.  But I get a head start on the rice because it'll need to sit off the heat for about 20-30 minutes before it's ready to eat.  If your just making white rice then use all water, about 2 3/4 cup for 2 cups rice.

Now for the chicken, I mixed the marinade in a ziploc bag, making sure to leave the onions and garlic pretty large so that when I grill the meat it doesn't stick to the meat.  We're just looking for flavor, not to have the veggies in the finished dish.  Then cut up the chicken and place in marinade over night.

To cook place a grill pan on medium heat (because of the sugar in the marinade you don't want to cook it too hot) with some canola oil.  Blot the chicken to remove the excess marinade and grill for a couple minutes on each side, til cooked through then place on a platter.

Hawaiian Grilled Chicken
adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

2-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken
1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c water
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c onion, chopped large
1 garlic clove, smashed- not chopped
1 t sesame oil
1 c coconut milk (freeze leftovers or use in rice)

Mix all ingredients in ziploc bag and refrigerate over night.  To cook, warm an oiled grill pan over medium heat, grill chicken for 2-3 minutes or til cooked through.  Place on platter to serve.

Coconut Rice

2 cups white rice (not minute rice)
1 can coconut milk
1 c water
pinch salt

Combine all ingredients in medium saucepan and cover.  Cook on medium heat til begins to boil, stir and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer til all liquid is absorbed.  Turn heat off and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Hoisin Marinated Tri Tip Roast

I have just discovered tri tip roasts.  As a rule (and someone who is slightly weird about meat) I buy meat that is hormone/steroid free.  Because natural meat is higher in price I stick to the cuts that are less expensive, hamburger, stew meat, pot roasts, etc.  A few times a year I will make fajitas with skirt steak, mmm so good.  But as my boys, and their appetites, grow I'm finding that I'm more and more conscience about how much I spend on meat.  So when I came across this recipe for hoisin marinated tri tip I was fully prepared to buy a less expensive cut in place of tri tip.  To my surprise tri tip is not THAT much more than other cuts of beef I gravitate to.  In addition, it's very low in fat, does not take long to cook and because of it's triangular shape everyone can have the wellness they prefer (skinny end well done, wide end medium:)

The night before mix the marinade in a gallon ziploc.  Rinse, pat dry and add the tri tip to the marinade and chill overnight.

About 30 minutes before you cook the trip tip set it out on the counter to take the chill off.  The roast will be more tender by doing this.

To cook, pat the meat dry with a paper towel.  Heat a large oven safe pan over medium high.  Add olive oil and brown meat on both sides.  Pour the marinade into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil for several minutes, til sauce is thickened.

Place a temperature gauge in the thickest part of the meat, making sure it doesn't go through the other side and place in the oven til desired doneness, about 20 minutes for medium rare.

When meat is done place it on a large cutting board and cover with foil to rest for 10-15 minutes.

Slice thin against the grain and serve with the reduced marinade.

Hoisin Marinated Tri Tip Roast
adapted from Chow

1/4 c hoisin sauce
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground garlic
2 T rice vinegar
2 T soy sauce
fresh ground pepper
1 tri tip roast
2 T olive oil

The night before combine all ingredients into a ziploc bag.  Seal and refrigerate over night.  30 minutes before cooking set roast on counter.  Heat oven to 375F.  Heat olive oil in a large oven safe skillet.  Brown meat on both sides.  Place a temperature gage in thickest part of meat and place in oven to finish, 20-25 minutes.

Remove from pan and cover with foil for about 10 minutes.  Cut into thin slices and serve with reduced marinade.  Enjoy!