Cooking with KP: July 2023

Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie

If you are looking of an easy meal to put on the table after a long busy day at work or running errands, here is a good one. I found this recipe online and made a few adjustments.

First of all, if your crockpot insert can safely go in the oven at 350 degrees, you only have one pot to deal with. If not, crockpot and baking dish and you're done.

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup chicken broth (I used reduced sodium because of the canned soups)

1 medium onion, diced (make your life easier by using the pre-diced seasoning mix from grocery stores)

1 stalk of celery, cut in bite size pieces

16 ounce bag of frozen mixed vegetables* or 2 14 ounce cans of mixed vegetables with potatoes,drained

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon of poultry seasoning

1 1/2 tablespoons of dried parsley flakes

1 small bay leaf (optional)

1 can of Grand Buttermilk Flaky Biscuits

Spray the insert of your crockpot. Do not use a liner if you are going to be putting it in the oven later.

Pour in soup mixes, garlic powder, pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning, parsley flakes, chopped onions, chopped celery, chopped potatoes (if your mixed veggies don't have them *see below), and chicken broth. Put chicken on top and press to the bottom. Make sure they are covered in mixture. Toss in bay leaf. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Thirty minutes prior to serving, use two forks to shred the chicken into pieces and pour in mixed vegetables. Stir. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While oven is preheating, cut each biscuit into four pieces.

If you are going to bake in the crockpot insert, you just top with biscuits and bake until biscuits are golden brown.

If you are using a different baking dish, spoon crockpot mixture in pan and top with biscuit pieces. Bake until biscuits are golden brown. Usually 16-20 minutes.

The bottom of the biscuits might be a little "wet"for some people. You can bake your biscuits separately and lay on top of the mixture prior to serving. Your choice.

* Frozen mixed vegetable rarely have diced potatoes. So, you may want to dice a large baking potato and put in when you add the chicken. Canned mixed vegetables generally contain potatoes so you don't have to add the fresh potato.

Sausage and Potato Casserole

I found this recipe online from Taste of Home and made a few changes. It is great casserole that works for dinner or breakfast. Serve it with eggs for breakfast or serve it with salad or vegetables for dinner. Either way, your family and friends will enjoy it.

4 cups of butter/gold/yellow potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick. I just wash them well and don't peel them.

1 pound of bulk breakfast sausage

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1 Tablespoon parsley flakes

1 can cream of mushroom soup

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cups of shredded cheeses (use your favorite)

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 2 quart casserole dish. Brown breakfast sauce in a large skillet until there is no more pink. Add onion, bell pepper, and parsley and continue to cook until onions are nearly done. Drain any grease from skillet. In a bowl, mix soup, milk, sour cream, garlic powder and pepper. Layer half of the potatoes in the bottom of the pan. Top with half of the milk/soup mixture. Sprinkle half of the sausage next and then sprinkle on half of the cheese. Repeat the layers. Cover with foil and bake 60 minutes. Use a fork to judge the potatoes are cooked. If not, return for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and remove foil, return to over from cheese to lightly brown and bubble.

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

My grandson will not eat raisins, which I normally put in my bread pudding, so this recipe was born.

8-10 cups of white bread, cut into cubes of 1 inch (I like to let my bread sit out for a 3-4 hours before cubing it; it helps in cutting it)

1 stick of butter

1 1/2 cups of brown sugar

5 eggs, beaten

2 1/2 cups of whole milk

1 Tablespoon of vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups chocolate morsels ( I used the mini ones)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x 13 baking dish. Put bread cubes in the pan. Melt butter and drizzle over the top of bread cubes. In a large mixing bowl, mix beaten eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups of morsels over bread. Pour milk/egg mixture on top and lightly press down to make sure each cube is soaking. Let sit 10 minutes. Bake for 45 minutes-1 hours until bread is firm and not wiggling. Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of morsels on top, while pudding is hot. Serve with ice cream or whipped topping.

Cheaper Cuts of Beef Don't Have To Be Tough

Most people avoid the cheaper cuts of beef because they tend to be tough. With 8 children and three adults in our home, my mother had to find ways to tenderize the cheaper cuts of beef. One way to cook "down", as my mother used to say, a tough cut of beef steak is to season both sides of the steak with garlic powder, seasoned salt and pepper. Lightly brown the steak in a large skillet and on top add a diced green bell pepper, medium onion, a bay leaf, parsley flakes, a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. Cover with lid. Let the steak simmer for 30-50 minutes. Remove lid and thicken juices by cooking 5-10 more minutes. You can also do the same with a cheap beef roast in a crock pot. Add all the ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The flavor is simple, amazing and great with mashed potatoes.

Fall Vegetables for a Healthy You

As the fall approaches, we will all start to stay indoors more hours. This will lessen our vitamins, such as vitamin A, D, and K, which are enhanced by sunlight. Below are a few vegetables you might want to increase in your diet as the fall and later winter days approach. Besides, they are very tasty. In fact, in the next few weeks, I will be posting recipes that incorporate many of these delicious veggies.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very rich in carotenoids, vitamins A, B6, C, potassium, iron and fiber and are delicious when baked and eaten plain (without butter) or used in soups, casseroles or stir-fries.

Bell peppers are great sources of potassium, manganese, fiber and vitamins A, B, C and K. These sweet peppers are flavorful additions to salads and healthy stir-fries. You can choose from a rainbow of colors, including: green peppers,yellow peppers, orange peppers,and red peppers.

Summer and winter squash are rich in carotenoids, vitamins A and C, potassium, magnesium and fiber and can be served alone or added to many dishes.

Just a few tips for you...

Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato- based sauces. No more stains!

Use lifesavers candy to hold candles in place on your next birthday cake! Kids love them.

Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugarcone to prevent ice cream drips!

Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off!

If your celery begins to wilt in the fridge, fill a large cup half full of water and place celery in the cup. Put back in the fridge for two hours--it will be crisp. (Learned this from my mother).

Cooking Myth Busted

A Potato Can Save a Salty Soup or Stew. True or False? False. "This is an attractive idea, but it doesn't work because potatoes are not particularly absorbent," says Wolke, who conducted his own soup-and-potato experiment for his Cooking Myth Busters book. "There is no reason they would attract salt." If you remove the raw potato from the soup, the potato will taste salty, but so would a sponge — it has simply soaked up some of the salty liquid. Still, there is hope for salty stews: Adding a bit of vinegar or sugar can "cancel out" the saltiness by giving your taste buds competing flavors.

Super Moist Turkey

If you are looking for a way to get a moist turkey, you might try one of these family hints:

1--bake the turkey upside down--breast down for the first half of the cooking time. It will help the darker meat cook more thoroughly and the fatty juices of the darker meat will drip down to the breast and add moistness. Use a deep roasting pan for this.

2--bake the turkey with the breast up, but rub it with butter, garlic powder and pepper only. Do not salt the skin. Instead, mix salt in a cup of warm water and pour that cup of salted warm-not hot-water inside the cavity of the turkey. The salt water will steam up into the turkey, making it very moist.

3. bake the turkey with the breast up and slice two lemons and one orange in halves. Place the halves inside the seasoned turkey and the juices will steam into the meat, adding moisture and flavor.

Hint of the Week

Here is something I learned from my wonderful Mother, the greatest cook I have ever known. When you have just a small serving of cooked vegetables leftover from dinner, don't throw them away. Keep a large plastic container in the freezer and put the vegetables in the container. Mix them--carrots, corn, green beans, broccoli, etc. When the container is full make a pot of soup or stew. Also, if a recipe calls for 1/2 a chopped onion, chop the whole onion and add the half to the freezer container. My mother made the best vegetable soups from this idea.

Hint for the Week

With Fourth of July quickly approaching, you might be thinking of making Deviled Eggs. If you want perfectly boiled eggs, place eggs in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Do not layer eggs on top of one another. Bring water to a rapid boil for 2 minutes, reduce to simmer and let eggs simmer 8 minutes, return to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and empty hot water and fill pot with cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes. To peel easily, slightly crush shell in your fist and roll on counter with a firm grip. Of course, you don't want to push through the egg, but by making the shell crack in many small pieces, it is easier to peel. My father saw this on a cooking show years ago and taught me this. It truly works.