Veggie Casserole

With several fresh vegetables in the fridge one week, I had to figure out some creative ways to eat them up before they went bad.  What resulted was a vegetable casserole that my husband loved!

First I boiled chopped broccoli, carrots and cauliflower until it was cooked.  After draining the water out of them, I mixed in 2 cups of crushed crackers, half to one can of cream of chicken and half to 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.  You can add salt and pepper to taste as well.  After mixing everything together, I poured the mix into a casserole dish and cooked at 350 until the cheese was melted and the top started to look a little crunchy. 

This dish is a delicious side to baked chicken or pork chops!

Corn Rice Stirfry

When there aren't many groceries in the house, it makes cooking so much more...well...interesting.  Last week, when I needed to run to the grocery store, some of the meals here were a little more creative.  One of those was a corn and rice stirfry.

First I took some frozen corn, chopped red, green, and yellow peppers, as well as some chopped onions.

After heating up some oil in a skillet, I tossed in the mixture, and let the vegetables cook.  If the mixture becomes too oily, you can drain the dish.  When the vegetables were cooked through, I added half a can of diced tomatoes and a partial can of chicken broth.

I continued to cook and stir everything so it wouldn't stick.  I added different seasonings for flavor, like garlic power, southwest seasoning, crushed red peppers, cilantro and parsley.  Lastly, I added some cooked rice to the skillet.

I served spoonfuls of the meal on plates and sprinkled shredded cheese on top. 

My husband especially enjoyed the dish.  It would also be good wrapped in a flour tortilla.

I wish that every day were Saturday...

My great intentions for last Saturday had been to spend the day cooking. Instead, I wrote and wrote. Finally, at seven in the evening, I started cooking. This is not the time of evening to start cooking, especially when you have to get up the next morning. However, my wonderful husband helped me so much.

After fighting with a chicken, suffering from the lack of counter space, and a limited amount of time, I was able to complete the three recipes that had been on the agenda. I'll share more later, but today we are enjoying the homemade chicken potpie.

To enjoy this amazingly delicious recipe,

This recipe makes two potpies, one to cook and one to freeze!

Use the store bought frozen pie crust. There are lots of kinds to buy, but I choose the kind that is already in the pan. The pie crust often comes in twos, but make sure to buy two. One crust will be the bottom, and the other will be the top of the potpie.

While the pie crusts are frozen, take two of the crusts out of the pie pan. When the crusts are thawed, it will be too difficult to try to take it out of the pan. The pie crusts that are out of the pan will be the top of the pie. Let all of the crusts thaw.

Cook a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. While that is cooking chop into chunks and cook, two to three pieces of the boneless, skinless chicken breast. (I cooked mine in the microwave.)

When the vegetables and chicken are cooked, mix together with two cans of cream of chicken soup. Add a bit of sage and mix.
Cook the bottom part of the pie crust until it begins to turn golden brown. Then divide the mixture between the two pans.
Add the second crust to the top, and poke some holes in the top. There will probably be a little extra dough from the top crust, which we used for a fun design.
Place the pie on a cookie sheet, in case it bubbles over, and place in the oven at around 400 degrees. Cook until the top crust is brown and a little crisp. We cooked one pie that night, and then covered and stuck the other one in the freezer for later. It was delicious!

Saturday Salsa

After my cooking spree on Saturday, I remembered that I still had tomatoes in my fridge that were starting to go bad. Luckily I had also been wanting some good homemade salsa. Unfortunately, I didn't have all of the ingredients for the said project. However, my mom told me that they actually make a salsa mix. A salsa mix, who knew?!? We always had homemade salsa. Well, I got my salsa mix, cut up some tomatoes, added some canned diced tomatoes, and ta-da!
I added some chopped onions, green peppers (both which I keep handy in the freezer), and some tomato juice (I like my salsa a little runny.), just to make it taste a little less like a mix. It's pretty good, if I do say so myself.