Recipes 'n Stuff

I've been asked for a few recipes, so I thought I would go ahead and post them on here.  I cannot take any credit for these!  Two of them are my mother in law's ideas and one is from Kraft Food and Family Magazine!  I feel very fortunate (or cursed for our waistlines) that both Jordan and I come from homes with great Southern chefs!  Our moms can bake and fry it up with the best of them!  So here they are!  P.S.  ALL of these are EASY to throw together with things that you usually have sitting around the house!

#1   Jane's "no recipe" Chicken Pot Pie:

2 refrigerated pie crust (found near biscuit section)
Cooked chicken (either 3-4 chicken breasts or a rotisserie chicken=super easy, fast dinner)
1 cup or so of cooked rice (a bag of Success rice is easy)
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (corn, english peas, limas, carrots, etc.)
cream of chicken soup (depends on size of casserole, usually 2

1/2 cup sour cream
optional...you can also add shredded cheese to mixture...about 1 cup
 
Let the pie crust sit out for about 10 -15 minutes before trying to put the first one in the bottom of your buttered casserole dish.  I use a deep oval casserole dish, so I have to either roll or stretch the bottom crust to fit the dish.  You can use a round casserole dish which makes this step easier. 
 
Cook bottom crust for about 8 - 10 minutes until it starts to get a little puffy, but not too brown.
 
Mix the soup, sour cream, mixed veggies ( I usually microwave this to get it warmed up and to cook the veggies a little.) 
 
Then add cooked rice and chicken.  Stir .  If it looks way too thick, then I sometimes add a little water or chicken broth. Better to have it too thick than too thin though.
 
Pour mixture into casserole dish over bottom crust.
 
Put the top crust on and roll the edges and pinch to make pretty around edges.
With a knife, cut a few slits in top crust.
 
Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with herbs.  (Either rosemary and garlic, or chicken herb, or herbs of your choice...anything to give it a savory taste)
 
Cook at 350 until bubbly and top crust is brown.  Everything inside was already cooked so it just has to get hot.  Enjoy!

 This chicken pot pie is SOOO good and yummy...easy weeknight meal to throw together, especially if you grab a rotisserie chicken on the way home and use that.

#2   Easy Chinese Chicken Stir-Fry

Simple ingredients

1 large bag Bird's Eye Teriyaki mixed frozen vegetables (comes with 2 sauce packets inside)

1 bag frozen Tyson Chicken fingers - buffalo flavor

Rice - I LOVE jasmine rice with this recipe, but whatever kind you like.

honey to taste

There's no real recipe for this, but you just cook the frozen stir-fry vegetables as the package instructs.  I accidentally got the oriental frozen bag, but the teriyaki is better.  Cook your rice to package directions.  While these are cooking on the stove, pop your frozen chicken fingers into the microwave for a couple of minutes to get them just a little cooked.  After you take the chicken out of the microwave, cut it into small bite-sized pieces and throw it in with your veggies.  Continue cooking, adding the sauce packet that comes with the frozen veggies and a few tablespoons of honey.  Serve all of the chicken mixture over rice.  Note: I keep an extra bottle of teriyakki sauce in the fridge and usually add more to my mixture.  I promise you, this is one of my favorite things and it's quick and easy.  It's my go-to recipe for a busy (or lazy, as in my case) weeknight.  

#3  Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

 

1 package devil's food cake mix

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

Preheat oven to 375.  Place ingredients in bowl and beat with electric mixer on low for 2 minutes, then on medium for an additional 2 minutes. 

Shape into 1 inch balls.  Place 2 inches apart.  Flatten each ball in criss-cross pattern with a fork dipped in sugar.

Bake 7-8 minutes.  Cool 2 minutes.  Place on wire racks.  Makes 3.5 dozen.

This recipe is seriously easy and took little to no time to put together and they only bake for 7 minutes.  These are my cookies from Bunco Cookie Swap!  They are chewy and chocolately!  Yum!

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And just for fun:

Don't you just love how we're giving into our 7 month old's demands to have OUR cups whenever he sees them in our hands???  Weird.  I love how you can see Jack in this picture.  I'm sure he was fresh from licking all over the high chair and/or John Michael's hands.  What a wonderful dinner!  Of course, I wouldn't want it any other way!

Verse O' the Day:

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

Colossians 1:28

Christmas Open House

Well, if you didn't know it, now you do!  It's time for BooMama's Tour of Homes!  We didn't too much in the way of elaborate decorations this year.  We still have our little Christmas tree from when we were first married!  I'm hoping next year will be the year that we get a big ole' honkin full, thick, tall, obnoxiously lit tree!  It's our First Christmas with our new baby and the first Christmas in our first home!  How exciting!  So sit back, all you friends and family from back home who can't drop by this Christmas season, and see our house all decorated up in its Christmas finery!

Come on in!

And of course, the dog has to have his own stocking that will be full of Chicken treats and dog loofa toys!

This is just part of my village.  I set it up in 3 different locations around the kitchen this year.  Last year I had it all spread out on our bar with lots of fake snow!

Last year I put wee lil votive candles nestled within the red glass beads.  It was very pretty and looked neat with the glow of the tree around.  This year, I stuck our Christmas card in the red beads.

John Michael got his very own Christmas tree this year.  I dressed his tree up in all the special momentos from these past few months.  I topped the tree with his blue hat from the hospital, hung "first Christmas" ornaments, Alabama ornaments, and anything little boy related!

The Mantle.  I am so proud of my mantle this year.  You have to understand that I am not terribly creative in this department and I got some wonderful ideas from The Nesting Place.  Looking at her post made me think I CAN do a garland and make it different and a little unique!

I mixed traditional red berries/lights/garland with BIG magnolias, gold beady-things, feathers, and brown flowing wisteria stuff!  Sounds weird, but it came out well. Plus...ALL half off at Hobby Lobby!  Wonderful!

Our table is now set for Christmas.  I couldn't find a centerpiece, so I made this one from things I had sitting around the house=FREE decorations!

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, y'all.  Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season!

Here's my attempt to get Jackson to pose beside the tree.  That didn't go very well, as you can tell!

Wait!

Be Still!

Verse O' the Day:

In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?

Psalm 56:

So Much to Say, So Much to Say

We have been so busy this weekend!  It IS the Holiday season, though!  I baked on Wednesday for a family with a precious new baby girl.  I made chicken pot pie and I hope it turned out well.  Thursday I baked cookies for Bunco and Friday I made Alabama trash candy and homemade cheesecake covered with caramel, chocolate, and pecans for our Sunday School class party.  Whew!  Thursday night we had Bunco and I was so excited to finally get to go, as I missed October and November.  Lady Luck was with me and I won a prize for most wins!!  This wreath perfectly finishes up my Christmas decorations for my fireplace:

Jessica and I won pretty wreaths!

The theme for Bunco this month was cookie swap.  Everybody brought different cookies and they were so good! I made chewy chocolate peanut butter cookies.  They were SO easy to make and they were pretty good, too.  Julie made enchillada soup and a super yummy chocolate-coffee punch.  It tasted kind of like a frosty from Wendy's.  I cannot keep eating like this or I will not be very happy in January.

"C" is for cookie!

Pretty wreath on the candelabra

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Friday night was our Sunday School class party.  We had a really good time getting to visit with everyone and all of the food was yum-O.  There were so many desserts there, too!  We had a great time playing a get to know ya game and playing dirty santa ornament exchange.  I picked a beautiful glass snowflake.  It looks wonderful on the tree!  It was parent's night out at church, also, so we left JM at church so that we could go to the party.  We left him for the longest we've ever left him.  We were gone about 3 hours and he was not crying when we arrived to pick him up....he was asleep!!  Needless to say, the last few nights have not been wonderful.  He has been waking up pretty often again.  Who knows when this baby will get himself straightened out with sleep.  He slept about an hour and a half this morning and he's taking a nap now.  He varies so much everyday!

Waiting to eat!

Date night!

And just for fun, check out our little jumperoo:

JUUUUUMP!

Little Boy Blue

I decided to put up a teeny Christmas tree in John Michael's room.  I hung ornaments that were shades of blue, baby's first Christmas, Alabama-themed, and special items from the past few months.  It ends up we have tons of "first" Christmas ornaments and I made an ornament out of his picture with his first visit to santa!

Now, I'm not saying this is the prettiest tree, but it has a lot of memories hung on it.  It kind of looks all jumbled.  The tree is topped with the little blue cap that the nurses put on JM when they brought him back to me after his newborn assessment in the nursery.  I also hung his little white shoes that he wore home from the hospital.  The yellow ribbon at the top of the tree is his measuring tape that the nurses measured him with afer he was born.  I figure each year we could hang special things from throughout the year on his very own tree!

JM likes his tree!

I was going to buy some cute blue fabric to make a little tree skirt out of, but I ended up using a blue receving blanket instead.  I put the only 3 blue stuffed animals that we own under the tree to fill up the space!

Verse O' the Day:

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.”

Psalm 91:14-15

7 Months of Learning Experiences

John Michael turned 7 months old yesterday!!  He was a total sweetie and was so happy!  He napped wonderfully and ate some yummy sweet potatoes for lunch!  I still can't believe that he's getting older so quickly.  I've said it about 10 times on here, but time is passing too quickly.  John Michael is sitting perfectly by himself and he is eating a number of foods.  He is seeing things that he wants and he is reaching out to get them.  He is starting to get mad if we take something away from him.  I don't think his object permanence has really set in yet.  He loves his jumperoo and he is literally jumping like a manaic as I type!  Thanks, Aunt Joan for the jumperoo!  He has also mastered his smiles and using his tongue.  He now smiles at things instead of us having to get him to smile, he's starting to just randomly smile at a toy!  How fun.  He also learned to stick his tongue out and he does so quite frequently!

I'm 7 months old!!

During lunch John Michael became so interested in my wedding rings!  He played with them and felt all over my hands!  How cute!

Yum!

 

Later in the day we headed to the promenade and did some shopping at Sephora.  Unfortunately, none of it was for me, it was all gifts!  I do so love Sephora!  JM did so well.  He was the best little baby there.  Lots of people commented on how good he was and the salesladies pinched his cheeks and played with him. I was thinking, if only you had seen this child 5 months ago!  It was an enjoyable afternoon of shopping with my little guy!

We had women's Bible Study this morning at church followed by the end of the year luncheon.  I had a great time and learned a few more names and faces.  It's really hard to do when you're new somewhere.  I definitely have to get out of my comfort zone sometimes!  We spent a wonderful morning in prayer and then had visitation for the home-bound.  JM did perfect in nursery.  He ate breakfast and lunch there and was a happy camper everytime I checked on him.  I hardly ever leave him, so it's hard for me to be without him!  I am glad to have nursery workers who are so sweet to John Michael.  After church we came home because the weather is N-A-S-T-Y!  Cold, wet, dark, falling temps=yuck!  We have stayed inside today and I like it that way!

Verse O' the Day:

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.

Psalm 119:147