Mini Apple Hand Pies (for 3.14 Bridal Shower Day! )

Mini Apple Hand Pies

4 sheets of Puff Pastry ( I used a Walmart brand Jus Rol )
1 21 oz can of Apple Pie Filling (I used Walmart’s Lucky Leaf brand)
1 egg

Indian Sugar purchased at India Bazaar 1981 Woodbury Ave # 15, Portsmouth, NH 03801

Preheat Oven according to Puff Pastry packaging.
This made 30+ biscuit shaped pies, two large baking sheets full. You could also make them rectangles/squares/triangles by cutting the sheets with a knife, and not worry about cutting them out/ reusing the scraps.

I dumped the pie filling into a slightly larger metal bowl and used my “meat chopper” to make the pieces smaller. This is the one I bought Rebecca. The one I have came from Pampered Chef, and I have seen them at Marshall’s, but not recently (hence this Amazon version)

Unroll sheets of puff pastry and decide on shapes. For the circles, I used a 2.75” cutter. If you don’t have one, I just found this set on Amazon that looks nice, and I like them, because they are simple to store.

Cut out as many shapes as you can from the sheet. I’m going to use the circles as my main instruction, because that is what I did.

Place half of the circles on the two cookie sheets
I used a 1 Tbs cookie scoop (Pampered Chef), here is one similar on Amazon and put a plop in the middle of each circle.
Carefully place another circle on the top of each filled circle, lightly pressing down with your fingers all the way around. Follow this up using the tines of a small fork to crimp the edges all the way around.

In a small bowl, whisk one egg with 1-2 TBS water until well mixed.
Use a pastry brush to brush this egg wash over the tops of each hand pie.

Pop in the oven for 15 minutes, till golden, remove and let cool at least 10 minutes before removing to a rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!!!!! 

Blessings~

Note: Amazon links are Affiliate links. Thank you for the few cents I earn if you purchase through them. :) 

Roasted Acorn Squash with Sausage Apple Stuffing

When you are gifted 5 lovely acorn squash, you wait till everyone is home for dinner, and make something fun with them. When it coincides with the first day of November, it's just that much better. 

I knew I wanted to make a stuffed squash with sausage and apples, so I looked around on the internet, but didn't find anything that suited exactly what I had in mind. So, I chose the cooking method for the squash that seemed the most reasonable (read:quick!), and did my own thing. 

Note, for my purposes, the stuffing worked perfectly for 5 acorn squash, so if you aren't cooking that many, you will have leftover stuffing (yay!) 

Ingredients

5 Acorn Squash, halved and seeded

1 lb roll of Sausage (I used Aldi's)
Garam Masala Spice blend (I have a grinder bottle with black peppercorn, coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, ginger, I think any combination of these would do nicely)
1/2 tsp Savory or Sage

2 Apples, cored and diced (1/4-1/2 inch? Not large chunks)

(2 TBS?) Honey

1/2-1 tsp Cinnamon

1 box Hawaiian Stuffing (Aldi~ or some other box of stuffing, but this is one of my favorites)

Butter

Black Pepper

Hard Cheese, Grated. I used Gouda, Parmesan or Asiago would also be good. 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F while preparing squash

2. Place squash halves cut side down on parchment paper on baking sheet (I had to use two sheets, because I couldn't quite fit 10 halves one one sheet) and bake for 40 minutes (Some larger squash may require 10-15 minutes longer)

3. Brown (and chunk up) sausage over medium heat. I also added the spices and savory or sage at this point. Because I ground directly onto the meat, I don't have an exact measurement, but I will guess about 1 tsp or so of Garam Masala Spice mix) 

4. Remove cooked sausage to a medium sized bowl.

5. Melt 1 Tbs butter in same pan, add apples, drizzle with honey, sprinkle with cinnamon and saute' until soft. 

6. Use slotted spoon to remove apples from pan (So any liquid remains for next step), and add to sausage

7. Add 1/2 the recommended amount of water for your box of stuffing to the pan, add the stuffing and mix till moistened (I didn't bring to a boil or add butter, just 1/2 of the water, and mix)

8. Add stuffing to the bowl of sausage and apples, and mix, tossing with a fork so that it doesn't compress. 

9. Remove cooked squash from the oven, and flip over carefully (With spatula and fork to steady)

10. Add two or three thin slices of butter to the squash cavities, and pepper the whole thing (to taste)

11. Fill with the stuffing mix. I used about 2 scoops of a Table Serving Spoon to fill each cavity.

12. Grate the cheese over top and sprinkle with a smattering of pumpkin seeds, and return to the oven for another 20 minutes. You can choose to add the cheese 5 minutes before cooking time ends if you don't mind one more step. I was streamlining because I don't mind more "cooked" cheese. I would also consider grating the cheese over top right after removing from the oven~ that would work as well, I think.

13. Remove from oven, plate carefully (I tried tongs~ stick with the spatula and fork combo~ it works better, in my experience ;), and enjoy! 

Blessings~

Pesto Tortellini Chicken Soup

Pesto Tortellini Chicken Soup

1 head of garlic + 4 large cloves, peeled and "bruised" with the flat of knife

1 sweet orange or red or yellow pepper

1.5 lb of raw chicken (I used thighs)

3 qts chicken broth 

4 medium to large carrots, diced (with one set aside) 

3 stalks of celery sliced lengthwise and chopped

1 lb dried tortellini (I used Trader Joe's pesto tortellini)

1-2 handfuls of fresh spinach, rinsed, stacked, and sliced into thin ribbons (You can slice it however you want, I just found stacking and slicing all at once worked quite nicely for me). 

1-3 tsp onion powder (to taste)

3 Tbs pesto sauce, or to taste (I used Aldi's Pesto sauce)
2 or 3 pinches of salt (if using low sodium chicken broth, otherwise, to taste, after it is all cooked)
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

After eating, I decided that some shredded Asiago cheese to "finish" it would have also been nice. 

Roasting:

1. Preheat oven to 400 for roasting garlic and pepper purposes
2. Lay out two sheets of tin foil
3. Slice the tips of the cloves on the head of garlic, place in the middle of one square of tinfoil and drizzle with olive oil. 
4. Slice the pepper in half and remove the seeds. Brush with oil inside and out and lay face down on the 2nd square of tinfoil.
5. Close the foil for both tightly to contain mess and allow the garlic/pepper to steam/roast for 35-40 minutes. 

Soup: 

I cooked my chicken in the instant pot and finished the soup there as well, but if you have a big soup kettle, that works fine also. 

1. Pour 2 qts of chicken broth into pot (It can start heating up, either with IP Saute' function or medium heat on the stove)
2. Add the chicken, the bruised garlic, the one set aside chopped carrot, the chopped celery, and the onion powder. 
3. IP ~ close lid and cook on HP for 12 minutes, quick release, stove~ bring to boil and then simmer for 25-30 minutes. 
4. Remove chicken from pot to shred (I like to get rid of the little fatty bits and skin that don't dissolve at this point, before shredding).
5. If you have an immersion blender, you can incorporate the cooked garlic, celery and carrot pieces into the broth now (I did). If not, I might fish out the garlic cloves ~ or not. 
   
6. Bring the broth to a boil and add the rest of the diced carrot and the tortellini and cook for 14-16 minutes (Or according to the instructions on your tortellini package. If it is fresh tortellini, dump the carrots in a little earlier)
7. By now the roasted garlic and pepper are probably done, so take the foil carefully out of the oven and let it cool a minute while you shred the chicken and add it back to the pot.
8. By now you can probably add the ribboned spinach and swirl it in to wilt
9. Squeeze the garlic out of 4 of the cloves, peel the skin from the pepper halves and smush it all into a paste and swirl that, the Pesto sauce, and the pinch(es) of salt into the broth as well. 
10. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes, then dish up into bowls, add fresh ground pepper and shredded asiago cheese to taste. 
    

Garnish with yummy toasted bread~ I crushed the rest of the roasted garlic cloves and mixed it with a little butter and olive oil to put on our toast. YUM! 

 Blessings~

Kitchen McGyver's Crustless Chicken Pot Pie in the Instant Pot

Well, this was a fun experiment that turned out well!


Needed to cook something fast, filling, and friendly for sore mouths.

Ingredients:
7 chicken thighs
1 can of squash (or pumpkin~ I was using up an accidental squash purchase)
10-12 medium red potatoes, washed and cut into 1-ish inch chunks
6-8 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-ish inch chunks
East Bay Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
2 c chicken broth
1-2 c frozen green peas
1/4 cup butter, cubed

Put chicken thighs in instant pot upside down, sprinkle with seasonings, then turn over and sprinkle with more seasoning.
Pour in chicken broth
Spoon contents of squash can on top, spreading it evenly over the chicken
Add potatoes and then the carrots
Sprinkle with more seasonings (to taste)

Close the lid and set on high pressure for 10 minutes. Allow to natural release.

When you open the lid, add the frozen green peas and the butter and use a serving fork to dig down to the bottom and shred the chicken on its way up. This will also serve to mix in the peas and butter, hopefully without totally mashing up the potatoes and carrots.

Serve with ground pepper to taste.

Had no idea what it would turn out like, but it is totally a chicken pot pie minus the crust. Highly recommended, 5 out of 5 thumbs up!
*Side note~ I used the 8qt instant pot for this meal, but I think it could also fit in a 6 qt.

Blessings~

Pork Loin Dinner in the Instant Pot

When Pork Loin is on sale at Aldi, you just have to purchase it! But then you have to cook it, and because it is a leaner cut, it often ends up dry and tough. So I searched a couple of my favorite facebook Instant Pot pages, and ended up doing this:

Pork Loin with Veggies and Gravy in the Instant Pot

Ingredients:
1 pork loin (I had a 4.75 lb cut)
2-3 TBS grapeseed oil (Higher burning point, so that's what I cook with instead of olive oil)
Old Bay seasoning
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
1 bag of radishes
6 large Carrots peeled and cut into 1-2 inch chunks (depending on diameter :) )
As many potatoes peeled and chunked into 1-2 inch pieces that will fit in the pot (I used maybe 8 smaller potatoes?)
1 1/2 -2 cups chicken broth
6 TBS flour

1. Turn IP onto saute' function normal temp.
2. Cut the Pork Loin into three somewhat equal chunks and season with Old Bay Seasoning and Pepper while you are waiting for the IP to heat up.
3. When the readout says HOT add the oil and then brown the pork loin chunks  about 2 minutes on each side. As each chunk is finished, remove from the pot to a plate.
4. When they are all browned add the chicken broth to the pot and deglaze.
5. Return the meat to the pot, and dump in the veggies. Sprinkle in onion and garlic powder.
6. Close the lid, turn the pot off saute', turn the vent to closed, and then push the manual button (making sure it is adjusted to high pressure) and set for 20 minutes.

I knew this wouldn't be enough food for my hungry men, so I peeled a couple of pounds of potatoes and chopped them, and then boiled for 20 minutes to make mashed potatoes.

7. Let the pot NP for 14 minutes and then release the rest of the steam.
8. Remove the veggies with a slotted spoon to a covered dish for serving, and take the meat out to rest for a few minutes.

Making the gravy
9. Use the slotted spoon to remove any fatty chunks that might have come loose (not many in my pot)
10. Put the flour in a small heat resistant bowl (metal?) and add a few ladles of the hot broth from the instant pot and whisk (carefully) to combine, and then perhaps a couple more ladles of broth to thin the slurry down a little more before adding it back to the pot, whisking constantly. Whisk until it thickens, and then turn the pot off and then to warm if it will be a little while before eating.
11. Now is the perfect time to slice the meat and serve! (Note: the fat melted entirely off one piece of meat, the other two had a small amount still across the top, so I removed that from the meat before slicing~ but that is up to you. :) )

Sorry this isn't a post with "pretty" pictures of my food, but I was hungry! Maybe next time, because there definitely WILL be a next time! :D

Blessings~

Rice and Brats (day 1) turned into Soup (day 2)

Instant Pot Rice and Brats

4 cups rice (I used brown rice, so made some adjustments, mentioned below)
1 qt chicken broth
4 bratwurst (We used the blue diamond packaged bratwurst from Aldi) 

Close pot, close vent, and turn to rice setting

While rice is cooking,
Slice bratwursts into quarters lengthwise and then into slices, and saute'

When rice is done, stir in 1/2 stick of butter, the bratwurst pieces and an equal amount of frozen corn.
Enjoy as is first night (we did add a little dressing to moisten the rice a bit~ some had Lighthouse Caesar and some had Trader Joe's Chipotle Ranch~ either way it was a winner).

2nd Night Rice and Brats Soup

1 onion - diced                                    1/2 container pureed tomato
2 large carrots - diced                          2 containers chicken broth
2 stalks celery - sliced and diced         Tuscan Spices*
Siracha                                                 Oil (Grapeseed or other oil)

Saute' one onion in instant pot on saute' medium heat for 5-10 minutes.
Add carrots and celery and saute' for another 10 minutes until all vegetables are soft.
Sprinkle with Tuscan Spices, and add pureed tomato and one container of chicken broth.
Let boil for 20 minutes then lower the saute' heat to low, add the 2nd container of chicken broth, and allow to simmer for another 20 minutes. Add Siracha to taste.

Blessings~

The Newest "Mom's Chicken Soup" (Instant Pot recipe)

The Newest "Mom's Chicken Soup"

1 onion chopped
3 ribs of celery sliced lengthwise and chopped
4 large carrots chopped
4 large cloves of garlic chopped
6-8 white potatoes chopped
3 qts chicken broth
1 bag of Aldi's Ancient Grains
Old Bay Seasoning
ground savory
Aldi Poultry Seasoning
1 roasted chicken skinned, deboned and chopped
1 bag frozen peas

1. Turn IP on to Saute' adjust heat to low, and saute' onions till almost caramelized (10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally)
2. Add the garlic and saute' for a 3-5 minutes
3. Add the carrots and celery and saute' for another 5-10 minutes.
4. Put the potatoes and Ancient Grains in and sprinkle with seasonings (guessing amounts~ 1/4 tsp Old Bay, 1/3 teaspoon ground savory, and 1/2 to 2/3 tsp Poultry Seasoning? Not sure, I just added to the pot, but they definitely are part of what made this so good!) and stir.
5. Add 1.5 quarts of chicken broth and close the lid to the IP
6. Lock the venting knob (Turned all the way it will go clockwise), press Manual, high heat, for 10 minutes. Natural Release when it is over.
8. Add the chicken pieces and the peas. Turn on to Saute' to make sure that they heat through (I let it come to a boil again~ I was busy doing other things :), and then
7. Stir and serve, adding ground pepper to taste.

Blessings~

Cauliflower, Cabbage, and Sausage Soup

Cauliflower, Cabbage, and Sausage Soup

2 quarts Chicken Broth (One for now, one later)
1 head of Cauliflower chopped
1/2 head of Cabbage chopped  into large chunks
1 onion chopped
4-6 cloves garlic

1 box Cream Cheese
1-2 cups frozen peas
1-2 cups frozen corn
4 sausages, sliced lengthwise twice, and then sliced in pieces (quarter rounds)

1. Pour one qt of chicken broth in the instant pot with all of the vegetables
2. Close lid and vent
3. Push the "Manual" button and adjust time to 12 minutes
4. While soup is cooking, saute' sausage pieces until lightly browned on at least one side
5. NP release after 10 minutes, and use immersion blender until smooth (Or blend in small batches *carefully in a regular blender)
6. Add cream cheese in "chunks" and blend until smooth.
7. Add the peas and corn while stirring (to avoid clumping of frozen veggies) and the sausage pieces

Keep the soup on "Warm" for at least 10 minutes to allow the vegetables to warm up before serving.
Add salt and pepper and serve with bread or crackers.


Blessings~

Instant Pot Curried Carrot Soup

Curried Carrot Soup

This soup harkens back to a few decades ago, when we were introduced to it by good friends who always made it for their Christmas Caroling parties in Cambridge (MA), so it holds a special place in my heart.

What follows is loosely based on a recipe by Wilson Farms in Lexington, MA.

Curried Carrot Soup in the Instant Pot

1-2 TBS Grapeseed Oil (I've started using this for sautéing, as it has a higher burn point than Olive Oil.)
2 Tbs Butter
1 onion (chopped)
8 large carrots (cut into large chunks)
2 medium-large white potatoes (cut into large chunks)
4 stalks celery (chopped)
2 quarts chicken broth
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Curry Powder (to taste)
Large curd cottage cheese (optional)

*Asiago Cheese grated over top to taste (Optional)
Frozen Corn (optional)
Sausage/meatballs (Optional)

*Sprinkle of Lemon Pepper Seasoning to "finish" each bowl (Optional)
*New Additions/Updates 

Instructions

1. Set your Instant Pot on sauté, adjusting to the "low" setting if your pot has one.
2. While it is heating up, chop your onion (I prefer to use sweet).
3. When the display shows hot add your oil and butter, and when the butter has melted add the onions.

Sautéd onions and veggies waiting to be added

4. While the onion is sautéing, chop your celery, peel and chop your carrots and potatoes.
5. When the onion is golden, add the rest of the veggies to the pot, the salt and pepper and curry powder, and one quart of chicken broth. Turn the pot off.
6. Close the lid, and set the venting knob to seal.
7. Push the "pressure" button, "manual" button,  and "adjust" to make sure it is now on "high" and set for 8 minutes.

8. When the timer beeps let the pot sit for 15 minutes natural pressure release. You can let it finish that way (till the pin drops), or if you are in a rush, you can turn the knob to vent to release the rest of the steam, being careful to watch out for splatters...

9. After the pin drops, open the lid and turn the pot off. Let it cool for a couple of minutes and then use an immersion blender (<- One of my favorite "newer" kitchen tool!) to puree what's in the pot. Alternatively, scoop carefully into a blender and puree in small batches. Too much hot stuff will cause your contents to explode all over the place (Ask me how I know? Broccoli soup is a mess to clean up! ), so be careful.

10. Add the rest of the chicken broth, and adjust the seasonings to taste.

I like to add a big spoonful of (large curd) cottage cheese to this soup (As pictured at the top of this post), which gives it a very nice texture, but it isn't always in house (oops... forgot that on the grocery list today!) So instead we went with adding frozen corn and some tortilla chips for crunch, which was also good! Other optional ingredients I listed are sliced/diced sausages and/or meatballs, either of which would be a great addition as well. 

Really a very versatile soup, and if you try it, let me know what you think!

Blessings~

What's for Dinner Wednesday? A MacGyver Meal of course!

Had to write down what I did for this one, so I would remember... in case I want to make it somewhat on purpose next time... ;) and figured I'd share with you all as well. :) 

I almost always start any main meal with an onion, but I had no onion, so I chopped and sauteed... 

·               The last few stalks of a couple of celery hearts, including the leafy greens of the very inside ones.

·               And  one orange pepper

Minced

·               3 small garlic cloves and sauteed them for a bit

Added what was left of

·               1 carton of chicken stock in the fridge, and

·               1 carton of beef broth

Used one of my Christmas presents (a Kitchenaid Immersion Blender) to whip up those veggies so they wouldn't bother anyone. 　

Brought it to a boil and added

·               Two peeled, medium, chopped potatoes

·               Two peeled, large, chopped carrots

·               One bag of Ancient Grains (Bulgur and Quinoa) from Aldi

·               1 can of pumpkin puree

·               Some Orgininal Mrs. Dash Seasoning (1 tsp?) and

·               Sage  (1/2 tsp?) on its own for good measure

·               Pepper to taste

Brought to a boil again, and covered it, letting it simmer for 15 minutes

Added in

·               What we had leftover from a deli-roasted chicken (about 1 cup)

·               The end of a bag of  frozen corn (1/4 cup?)

·               About ½ cup of frozen French sliced green beans

Put the lid on and let that cook for another 5 minutes or so.

Served with

·               A dollop of sour cream

·               A sprinkling of Pepitas (roasted Pumpkin seeds)

The verdict here was thumbs up! :) 

If you make this let me know what you think ~ I'd love to hear how it works out for you.
The only other thing that I would suggest, is that those who want a little spice add a little Siracha, but other than that, I was pretty happy with it. ;) 

Blessings~

Huevos Rancheros Sweet Potato Soup (Recipe)

So... sometimes Necessity is the Mother of Invention....

This week we didn't have much in the fridge or the cupboards, and ran out of time to run to the store, so it was time to come up with what my DH likes to call a McGyver Meal. ;)
I had some sweet potatoes that I'd cooked in the Instant Pot on Monday, and I had some eggs for protein. With the addition of a can of green chile tomatoes it ended up having a bit of one of my dad's favorite flavors, a "Mexican Ranch Style Eggs" flair.

It turned out well enough that it was deemed necessary to document the basic recipe for future reference. I don't have pictures beyond the finished product but this is the process:

2 TBSP Olive Oil
1 onion chopped
3 carrots shopped
4 baked sweet potatoes (these were leftovers in the fridge~ instant pot cooked)
1 can of tomatoes with green chiles
1.5 boxes of chicken stock
Frozen Corn
Cumin (optional)
Celery Salt
1-2 eggs per person

1. Saute' chopped onions in olive oil till translucent.
2. Add chopped carrots and saute' for another 5-10 minutes, till soft
3. Blend up the baked sweet potatoes, onions, carrots and can of tomato/chiles in the blender.
4. Pour back into the pot and use the chicken stock in the blender to clean out the rest of the vegetable puree', and add to the pot.
5. Season with cumin and Celery Salt to taste.
6. Bring to a boil
7. Add the frozen corn~ 1/4 cup to 1 cup
8. Gently slide each raw egg into the pot of soup, and allow to "poach" for 3-4 minutes.

Serve in a bowl with toast for a yummy and somewhat unique take on poached eggs for dinner.

If you try it out let me know what your verdict is!

Blessings~

Instant Pot, Ancient Grains and Pork Chop (experiment)

Pretty happy with my Instant Pot still! 

Experimented tonight with center cut pork chops and grains (bulgar, quinoa, and couscous).

Not a real recipe at this point, but here's what I did...

Seasoned chops with original Mrs Dash, pepper, and Montreal Steak seasoning, then seared on both sides of each chop using the sauté function. 

Dumped in about a quart of (homemade-in-the-instant-pot-for-the-first-time using bones from a MB roasted chicken and some veggies) chicken broth, and an appropriate amount of "ancient grains" and pearl couscous.

Closed the lid and cooked on manual pressure on high for 10 minutes, natural pressure release (15 minutes before I finished it off).

Not bad! 

DH declared it flavorful

Youngest LOVES the grains

Middlest loves the pork (not a huge fan of couscous)

Eldest agrees with all the superlatives :) 

I think diced, sautéed Baby Bella's would be a very welcome addition, and maybe a little less time, as the pork is a little tiny bit dry. Tastes yummy, though!

Tomatoes are yummy Sweet Medley snacking tomatoes from Aldis to add a little Veggie color. :) 

Blessings~

Winter Cooking Inspiration (Soup/Stew/Chowders?)

My fellow Crew-mates on the Homeschool Review Crew are joining in on a Roundup focusing on Winter Cooking Inspiration. I'm planning to head over and check out a few of the recipes myself shortly, but wanted to get a post up with some of *my* winter recipes. 

You can find most of these in the "recipes" tab at the top of my blog, but I figured I would put a post up for you all, in case you're needing a little inspiration. :) 

Yummy and Quick Chicken Korma   If you like Indian flavors, you should enjoy this one!


Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing Casserole (I have no photos~ need to make it again soon, so I can add some photos! It was Sooooo yummy!)

McGyver Meatball Salad  ~ This one was inspired by a promotional product, but it is still one of my favorite salads. :)

French Fry Soup ~ Quick, easy, and yummy! What's not to like? (Soup is SOOOO good in the winter!)

 

Cauliflower Chowder ~ Another recipe inspired by a promotional product that quickly became a favorite. Unfortunately this Knorr Stock has been harder to come by, which makes me sad, because it is so good! You can use any Chicken broth in its place, though.

I also have a bunch of variations on a theme Chili Recipes: (Side note: They are ALL Beanless chilis)

Rich Autumn Chili

Wintry Weather ~ Low BudgetLentil Stew/Chili  

Mamma Loves Dadda No Bean Chili

Ricey Chili One Pot Meal (Casserole?) 

And a Holiday Dessert: 

Peppermint Bars

Hope that you find some inspiration here! Let me know if you make something, what you think of it, and how it turned out!

Blessings~

Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

This is a yummy and pretty easy recipe~ I've given a few options to help you control exactly what goes in your meal.

CROCKPOT CHICKEN AND STUFFING CASSEROLE

• 8 chicken breasts
• Large box of Bell's Stuffing
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 c water
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup** 

OR
**Make your own cream of chicken soup mix

• 1/3 c powdered milk
• 1/4 cup cornstarch or 1/2 cup flour
• 2 or 3 shakes of ground pepper
• pinch of basil
• pinch of thyme

Combine dry ingredients together and then whisk till smooth with

• 2 and 1/2  cups of chicken broth*** 

***my favorite out of a box chicken broth

• 1 to 2 Trader Joe's Concentrated Chicken Broth packets (Or 1-2 tsp boullion, etc...) and 
• 2 and 1/2 cups water

To assemble the casserole:

1. Mix the sour cream, water, and cream of chicken soup (Or mix)
2. Lay out 4 chicken breasts on the bottom of a large crockpot
3. Sprinkle 1/2 box of stuffing over the top
4. Pour half of the soup mixture and spread it so the stuffing is covered
5. Repeat the layers and sprinkle with shredded cheese on top. 

Cook on low for 6-8 hours
(If halving the recipe, cook for 4-6 hours)

Serve with homemade (or canned) cranberry sauce, and green beans or broccoli for a yummy dinner.

Thank you Brenda E. for the bones of this recipe.

Blessings~