Best Chicken Pot Pie

"Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle."

- Amy Bloom



The Poolboy and I have reached a new stage in our relationship.

One we haven't experienced in about sixteen years.

TH - who is now driving - works weekends and evenings, plays rugby, makes a daily appearance at school, and has a social life the likes of which I never knew at his age.

In other words, he is seldom home.

Which has given the PB and I a new lease on married life.

Don't get me wrong, we love our son madly, but the beginning stages of the empty nest feel more like a natural progression than a loss.

We've had all these years to season our relationship, and now are faced with the good fortune of spending time together as best friends and partners.

I read somewhere that even the worst marriages, if given time, will mellow into something around which both partners will come to feel gratitude.

So the good news is that if your relationship is already somewhat happy, your slow climb into old age will be that much better with a loving partner by your side.

"Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century."

- Mark Twain

Being that we were faced with another night of eating dinner alone, I got it into my head to prepare one the PB's favourite dinners: Chicken Pot Pie.

The perfect blend of ooey gooey comfort, creamy mushroom gravy, and golden flaky pie crust, my chicken pot pie has been a family favourite at Sunday dinners for more years than I can count.

But it's one of those meals that requires a lot of love.

Remember, good things take time.

If you're willing to give this recipe the attention it deserves, I promise, you won't be dissapointed.

"Happy marriages begin when we marry the ones we love, and they blossom when we love the ones we marry."

- Tom Mullen

To begin, you will need



* 3 boneless chicken breasts - cubed
* 1 cup diced carrots
* 1 cup frozen green peas
* 1 cup diced white or Yukon Gold potatoes
* 1/2 cup sliced celery
* 1/4 tsp garlic powder
* 1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
* 4 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add chicken broth to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain broth into a bowl and set aside. Set vegetables aside in a seperate bowl.

Next gather



* 2/3 cup butter
* 2/3 cup chopped onion
* 2/3 cup chopped mushrooms
*2 cloves minced garlic
* 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 2 1/2 cups chicken broth (you will use your chicken broth from above)
* 1 1/3 cup milk

In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions, and mushrooms, in butter until onions are soft and translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook until garlic smells good and is starting to incorporate with the other ingredients. Stir in flour, salt, pepper.

Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick.



Remove from heat and set aside.

Add the chicken and vegetable mixture to your gravy.

Add 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)



You can set all this aside until you're ready to bake the pie.

I usually do my pie crust and filling in the morning and then let everything sit in the fridge until I'm ready to build the pies later in the day.

When ready to bake, place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Using a fork, make several small puncture marks in the top to allow steam to escape.



Bake in the preheated 425 oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Twenty is even better.



This recipe will make two gorgeous pies.

These freeze beautifully.

Bake from frozen at 350 for app 30 min.

For PRINTABLE RECIPE click here

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In the spirit of "Good things take time," the same principal applies to marriage or any long term relationship.

Like the humble chicken pot pie, the recipe for a long term marriage often requires more effort than many cooks intially anticipate.

But when the flavours and textures are given the love and attention to meld together just so, what you are left with is a masterpiece.



That being said, every good masterpiece needs the proper setting around which to be appreciated.

Because we live in a small cottage style home, I have become big on moving things around and creating new looks in unexpected places.

And what could be more romantic than dining by candlelight in front of the fire?



So that's just what we did.

I have several inexpensive round glass top summer tables in varying sizes that I keep in storage for these kinds of dinners.



Like I always say, life is in the details.

You don't have to leave home and spend a whole bunch of money to have a romatic candlelit dinner.

Don't be afraid to shake things up every now and then and create a new space in an old room.

When all is said and done, that's the true secret to a long and lasting marriage.

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Missed Dishin It this week?

No worries! You can still listen, and it's a good one...

Beef Stroganoff and Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake

Hey everyone!

This is going to be a quickie because I have a re-run of Wife Swap coming on at 11 before I go to bed.

Lord knows I love me some Wife Swap.

Anyways, I'm situated at my computer desk after having had a really good day.



All hail the big glowing box - this is where the magic happens.

I have a confession to make, though...

It seems I've been up to no good.

For years the Poolboy has claimed an allergy to sour cream, swearing up, down and sideways that he can't eat the stuff because it does terrible things to his intestines.

And I, being the gullible and dutiful wife, have kept myself from cooking favourite meals like beef stroganoff out of respect for his bowels.

Long time readers will remember the incident in the Toronto airport after Marv allegedly snuck a little sour cream into the Pool Boy's gravy.



But it occurred to me last week as I watched the PB tuck into a chicken wrap smothered in sour cream rich ranch dressing, that his stomach seemed to be choosey about which sour cream, exactly, it was allergic to.

In the case of chips and dip, wraps, or soft tacos, there didn't seem to be a problem.

But when it came to a meal he had never liked that was a favourite of mine - namely beef stroganoff - an allergic reaction was an apparent inevitability.

Which seemed way too convenient.

I've been suspect of the whole sour cream thing for years, so tonight, armed with residual Ghengis Khan spirit from the the weekend, I conducted an experiment.



I made beef stroganoff in the slow cooker and told the PB I was making a recipe that required no sour cream, telling him it was thickened with corn starch (of course I was lying).

With nervous trepidation and more than a little guilt, I presented him with the dish.



About which he ooh'd and ahh'd appropriately because, lets face it, the man's met me, and then proceeded to tuck in.

Eating not one but two helpings.

To extend my experiment a little further, I went on to bake a sour cream chocolate chip cake.

A recipe that proved so delicious, we managed to plow through half the cake!



And still no combustion.

He's currently sleeping like a baby and is none the worse for wear.

Which is personally quite exciting!

Imagine all the sour cream that's going to sneak into my cooking from now on...

Anyways, here's the recipes for the stroganoff and the cake.

Both were super easy to make and really delicious.

Perfect for weeknight cooking.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

For Printable Recipe click HERE



*1 1/2 lbs lean stewing beef, round steak, or nice sirloin (I use sirloin)
* 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can condensed golden mushroom soup
* 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
* 1 tablespoon garlic powder
*1 tsp dill
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon pepper
* 1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 cup sour cream

Place meat in bottom of crock pot and pour both cans of soup on top.

Add garlic powder, dill, and salt and pepper to taste. I like a lot of pepper in this recipe. Stir everything together

Cook on low for six hours or longer, until meat is tender.

A few minutes before you are ready to serve, sauté sliced mushrooms in butter and olive oil and stir into crock pot along with the sour cream.

(You can also let the mushrooms cook along with the beef if you don't feel like sauteeing)

Serve over egg noodles.

Easy Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake

For Printable Recipe Click Here



1 box Duncan Hines cake mix
1/2 c. oil
1 c. sour cream
1 (8 oz.) bag chocolate chips
3 eggs

In a bowl mix cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream. You will be replacing the water on the cake mix directions with the sour cream. Fold in chocolate chips. Follow directions on box for baking.

NOTE: Make sure the cake mix you buy calls for 3 eggs, 1 1/3 cup water and 1/2 cup oil. Do not add the water, replace with sour cream.

Have a great day everyone!

Fast Food Slowed Down - Mave's Chicken Wraps

Do you ever get to the point where you just don't know what to cook for dinner?



Like you've made everything in your repertoire but have somehow lost inspiration?

Well so do I.

And it's those times I find myself saying "Let's pick up fast food."

Except fast food is never as good as we imagine, has nothing to do with fresh local ingredients or sustainability, and in my case sticks around for hours afterward like a bad sodium hangover.



I know.

So I thought I'd share an original recipe.

I make these chicken wraps all the time and the family loves them.

They're very good warm, but make extras as they're delicious cold and great to take for lunch.

Mave's Chicken Wraps



Ingredients

One package chicken tenders, or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into slices
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

Marinate chicken in these ingredients for 2-3 hours.



After the chicken has marinated...

Cook 1/2 cup of white rice in one cup tomato juice and hot sauce (to taste) for twenty minutes until rice is cooked.

I like to use jalapeno sauce but any old hot sauce will do.



Anyways...

Add one can corn
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup sour cream

Mix together until well incorporated



Set aside, and keep warm while you finish cooking the chicken...

Sautee the chicken tenders with a diced onion and a diced green pepper.

Add a little more hot sauce to the chicken if you like. Taste it to see if it suits you.

When the chicken is cooked, cube a ripe tomato and an avocado.
Warm your burrito shells
Then spread an even layer of the rice mixture onto the shell.

Top with the chicken mixture, some tomato, some avocado, and some more fresh chopped cilantro.



Fold as shown in the original photo and enjoy...



I like this with a cold Dos Equis beer...

A marguerita, however, would be good in a pinch ;)

Ole and have a great day!

Memories, Gratitude, and English Muffin Pizzas

Back in the day when the PB and I didn't have a lot of money, I got very good at making our food budget stretch.

I'd hit the grocery store, list in hand, with an entire two weeks worth of meals in my head - preparing family favourites like make ahead meatballs, sloppy joe mix, upside down chicken and rice pie, and mini pizzas.



This was during a time when frozen meals were a convenience that I had to make myself.

But as the years went by and the Poolboy and I became more established and better employed, shopping with a strict list stopped being a necessity.

It`s a funny thing time.

As the minutes, hours, and years pass by, time has a way of softening the edges on moments that were once overwhelming and devastating - giving us the gift of perspective that can only come with experience.

I can remember going to the grocery store one afternoon with a friend.

She had all the money in the world, and I had $56.00 from a family allowance cheque I had cashed earlier.

Oh for the resentment.

I wandered through the store lamenting my lot in life, wishing for frozen entrees I couldn`t afford - somehow equating my worth with my ability to purchase Lean Cusines and Hot Pockets.

I compared and struggled, instead of realizing what a beautiful young woman I was.

*Catch in my throat*

The thing about blogging is that it provides constant opportunity for insight.

I realize right this moment that perhaps I`ve written the above as a reminder to myself not to be such a tough task master.

That maybe I could take a lesson from a young mother from long ago who compared herself instead of saw herself.

***

Back to now.

Where I once knew the price point of every item in the grocery store, I was suddenly faced with a new found freedom.

And I'll never forget the moment I first realized it.

Pushing my cart down the cereal aisle trying to decide between Frosted Mini Wheats and Special K, I realized I was making my decisions based on preference and not on price.

Further, I had absolutley no idea how much the groceries in my cart were going to cost.

Emancipation!

In the years since I`ve been blessed enough to enjoy the freedom of being able to buy whatever I want.

Frozen pizzas, pre-packaged frozen dinners, and even the coveted Lean Cuisines have all made their way into my freezer at one time or another.

But as is often the case with things longed for, the frozen entrees I wanted so badly turned out to be just okay and not what I had built them up to be.

They couldn't compare to the things I had painstakingly and lovingly prepared myself; a marriage, a confident son, a few good meals.

Which is why I`ll be posting a variety of freezer recipes over the next month starting with an all time favourite snack of The Hair's:

English Muffin Pizzas
(his friends love these too)

And they're so easy to make!

Simply take 2 or three packages of english muffins and split each muffin in two.

Brush each split muffin half with extra virgin olive oil, about a tbsp of your favourite pizza sauce and then top with whatever you like.



The batch in the picture above was topped with pepperoni, fresh basil (basil freezes very well), and shredded mozzarella cheese.

I have also made ham and pineapple, Italian sausage and black olive, and three cheeese. Really, the possibilities are endless. Just be wary of omitting things that don't freeze well.

***
Here are two yummy varieties that, though not as suitable for the freezer, are amazing for entertaining - one topped with fresh tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella cheese, fresh cracked black pepper, kosher salt, extra virgin olive oil, toasted pine nuts and fresh basil.

The other with caramelized onions, roasted garlic, and plenty of fresh cheese.



The final recipe I`d like to share is made with ground beef, Italian sausage, and chopped onion.

Sautee the ground beef, onion, and sausage together until cooked and brown.

Add a small can of tomato paste, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1 tsp oregano, and a half tsp cayenne pepper to the mixture and spread over halved english muffins.

Top with a shredded three cheese blend.

For another variation, spread the muffin halves with cheeze whiz and then top with the above omitting the three cheese blend and sprinkling with parmesan cheese.



To store any variety: lay on a cookie sheet and put in freezer until firm. Individually wrap each pizza bun in plastic wrap and then store in large freezer bags.

Freeze for up to 3 months or bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 6 dozen. To use frozen Pizza English Muffins: Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

If in a big hurry, you can put these under the broiler for about seven minutes - just watch them :-)

***

There's a certain kind of bonding that happens in families over food.

I still make the tuna buns my mother made back in the 70's when company came over.

At the time, I thought of them as a big treat, but it's only as an adult I've come to realize that my mother was doing the best she could with the ingredients she had.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

In fact, I made a batch of them Friday night for a quick dinner - and while I did, I remembered playing charades in our rec room, good smells, and happy times.

Perhaps one day TH will feel the same, looking backwards on winter nights.

For a brief moment, he'll remember the smell of toasted english muffins, pepperoni, and cheese - and know for sure he was loved.

***

If you enjoy this blog be sure to visit my daily blog A Fabulously Good Life

Or stop by to listen to me on Blogtalk radio....



"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."

Mary Jean Iron

Red Shoe Martinis, Hot Mushroom Turnovers, and This Week's Episode of Dishin It!

It's funny how the world has gone back to cocktails.



For years in all of my social circles the only thing people drank was wine and beer.

And usually that occurred among gender lines with the men prediominantly drinking beer and the women, wine.

But over the last few years, I've noticed a shift.

And certainly at last night's wedding (pictures to follow later in the week) I noticed far more people people sipping mixed drinks.

My first venture into the world away from wine occured about two years ago while on a trip with the Poolboy.

We went out to dinner to a steakhouse, got to feeling adventurous, and ordered dirty martinis.

For those of you who don't know, a dirty martini is full on alcohol with a splash of olive juice thrown in for good measure.

I know.

It doesn't sound all that good.

But if you love olives like we do - and these martinis came with not one, not two, but three - you can kind of understand.

And we got to the steakhouse hungry, so that the olives mixed with all that vodka, just seemed to go down good.

By the time our steaks arrived, the two of us were in euphoric moods.

Since that day, I have sampled martinis in many different places - with probably the best martini of all time coming from a bar at the O'Hare airport in Chicago.

The next time any of you is there - I highly recommend it ;)

But now I've kind of moved on from those and have recently begun to experiment with other types of libation starting with...

The Red Shoe Martini



An ounce and a half vodka
1/2 ounce blackberry liquer
1/2 cup cranberry juice
Juice of one lime

Shake shake shake with ice and serve very cold.

To go with, here's a favourite appetizer of mine. I make them and freeze them. They are soooo good and they never last for longer than about ten minutes.

Hot Mushroom Turnovers


Ingredients:
Dough:
1 - 8 oz.(250 g) cream cheese
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) flour
1/2 cup (125 mL) margarine

Filling:
1 lb. (500 g) mushrooms, minced
1 large onion, minced
3 Tbsp. (45 mL) margarine
1/4 cup (60 mL) sour cream
1/4 tsp. (1 mL) thyme
1/2 tsp. (2 mL) salt
1 egg, beaten

Instructions:
To prepare dough, blend all ingredients in a mixer, then form into a ball. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
To prepare filling, saute mushrooms and onion in margarine. When cooked add sour cream, thyme and salt. Roll dough out to 1/4 ' (1 cm) thickness. Cut in 3' (7cm) circles. Fill with 1 tsp. (6 mL) filling, drained slightly. Brush edges with egg. Fold and seal by pressing edge with a fork. Pierce top in 2 or 3 places. Brush top with egg. Bake at 400F (200C) for 10-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Yields 24.

In the meantime, be sure to tune into the latest episode of Dishin It where I'll be sipping one of these fabulous concoctions, cooking spaghetti with chunky meat and vegetable sauce, and talking about relationships.

All that and more on Dishin It! Live Saturdays at 6 PM Pacific. But you can listen at any time...

Absolutely Delicious Slow Cooker Pork Chops with Peaches

People!

I seem to be getting back on track both health and life wise - just as I talked about on Dishin It, things seem to be brightening up and I am once again motivated to get back into the kitchen.

But when life is this busy, getting into the kitchen is all about recipes that are relatively quick and easy to prepare - and what could be easier or more comforting than your slow cooker bubbling away on the counter all afternoon so that dinner is ready when you arrive home?

We had this wonderfully flavourful meal last night and I will definitely be preparing it again!

Pork Chops with Peaches

For Printable Recipe click HERE



5-6 boneless pork chops
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
8 oz. spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce (I used spaghetti sauce and it turned out delicious)
29 oz. can peach halves
1/8 c. white vinegar, 1/8 cup balsamic
Salt and pepper

Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper and lightly brown pork chops on both sides.

Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, tomato sauce, 1/4 cup juice from peaches, and vinegar.

Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper. Arrange in crock pot. Place drained peach halves on top. Pour tomato mixture over all. Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours.

Bippity Boppity Boo!

Listen to Maven on Blog Talk Radio!

Dishin It with Maven on Blog Talk Radio this evening at 6:00 PM !

Broadcasting LIVE from my fabulous kitchen somewhere in the nether regions of Canada...



It's been a rough couple of weeks for yours truly and I feel the need to get back on track and into the swing of things - how best to do it? By getting into the kitchen and making a pot of my favourite - and super healthy - turkey chili. Join me as I stir the pot, release some stress, strategize self care, and navigate self doubt as I get back on track in my life and in the kitchen!

Here's a link to the recipe I will be using during tonight's episode:

Chili Con Carne made with Ground Turkey



Dishin It! On Blogtalk Radio with Maven

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