Chicken Pot Pie

From McKay

McKay found this in the MJ Christensen School Cookbook and adjusted it to our liking.

Makes 1 large casserole that serves 8 - 10

3 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up into bite sized pieces (Or 2 cans chicken)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 ½ cups flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ cup buttermilk

¼ - ½ cup melted butter

1 ½ cup chicken broth (can be made from water and chicken bullion)

1 cup carrots (cut into bite sized pieces)

2 cups potatoes (cut into bite sized pieces)

1 cup frozen peas

Put carrots and potatoes in saucepan and add enough water to barely cover them. Boil for 10 minutes. Add peas.

Put cooked chicken in bottom of casserole dish. Pour soup over chicken, then vegetables, then butter. Mix flour, baking powder and salt with buttermilk in separate dish, then add to casserole. Pour chicken broth over the whole thing and bake at 375° for 40 minutes.

Ready to bake

I think that this recipe could be easily made with food storage items.
Use powdered buttermilk, freeze dried vegetables, oil instead of butter. I haven't tried it yet.

Navajo Tacos

 Makes 4 tacos

1 C flour (I use whole wheat ground from soft wheat)

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp powdered milk

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 to ½ C warm water

Olive oil to cover bottom of fry pan about ¼ inch.

Mix dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Add warm water a little at a time while stirring until you have a dough that can be handled. If it is too sticky, you can add a little more flour. Let rest for 10 – 20 minutes.

Divide dough into four balls and roll on a floured surface until about ¼ inch thick.

Heat oil on medium heat. When it is hot cook the fry bread about 3 minutes on each side. Set on plate covered with paper towel to soak excess grease. You can keep these warm in an oven with the light turned on until ready to serve.

Serve with taco filling.

Taco filling I used today:

1 can white beans

1 can black beans

1 chopped bell pepper

1 hot pepper (finely chopped)

1/2 chopped onion

1 tsp. taco seasoning

Drain and rinse beans. Put in sauce pan with the rest of the ingredients. Heat (stirring occasionally) for about 10 minutes while cooking the fry bread.

Serve the tacos with grated cheese, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, plain yogurt or sour cream.

These could also be served with chicken or hamburger or canned chili. I just used what I had in the garden and in the pantry.

Here is the order that I made dinner.

1. Get the dough mixed.

2. While dough is resting, mix filling.

3. Roll out dough and fry, while filling cooks.

Crepes

From Tibos ”Crepes from around the world” (with only a few adjustments)

Makes about 10 fairly thick 12” crepes

1 ¼  cup wheat flour (best from soft white wheat)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs sugar

1 egg

1 cup water

1 1/3 cup milk

In large mixing bowl, combine all the flour, salt, and sugar and stir to mix well. Add egg, water and milk. Whisk until smooth. (Note: to make from food storage use 1 Tbs dehydrated egg and 1/3 cup milk powder and add to dry ingredients)

Pour 1/3 cup batter onto hot griddle and spread into about a 12 inch circle. I have a spreader made for cooking crepes, but the back of a large spoon would work. You need to work fast here, the dough starts to cook quickly. (It took me a while to get the hang of it.) Cook 15 to 20 seconds and flip over. Add filling to center of crepe, fold in ends and sides and let cook for about 30 seconds, then turn over and let cook for about 20 seconds more to make sure filling is hot.  Serve immediately.

Between cooking each crepe, make sure to rub the griddle with a paper towel with olive oil on it. The griddle must be non stick.  I have a crepe griddle and I love it, but it is kind of a big thing to store if kitchen space is tight.

Note: If I want to make enough for the family before I serve them, I put the cooked crepes on a plate and put them in the oven with the oven light on. My oven light is on the top of the oven and so I put them on the top rack right under the light.  You can also put them in the microwave and shut the door to keep them warm.

I served diced tomatoes and lettuce for topping the crepes at the table.

Filling Ideas for savory crepes:

Salmon filling:

Mix 3 oz cream cheese, 1 can drained salmon, and 1/3 cup chopped cucumber or celery.  This is enough for 4 – 5 crepes

Chicken filling:

Same as salmon, but replace can of salmon with can of chicken.

Eggs, grated cheese and bacon or ham are also good in crepes. I scramble the eggs before I use them in a filling.

Sweet crepes:

After making the savory crepes, I sometimes add a little vanilla to the batter before cooking the dessert crepes.

Follow the same instructions as above, but instead of putting filling in, sprinkle with sugar, or cinnamon and sugar or spread some nutella on the crepe.  Fold the crepe in half or fourths to serve. Marshmallows and chocolate chips would probably be good.  I’ve never tried it, but I bet it would be gooey and yummy. 

Filling them with fruit and whip cream is also delicious. I just cook the crepes and serve with a bowl of fruit and a bowl of cream. Fruit jam would work also. (food storage)

Batter

Salmon filling

Fold over

Ready to turn and warm other side

Cinnamon and Sugar

Cheater Pizza

I was thinking "easy meals" as I browsed the aisles of Costco a while back when I spied a 4 pack of frozen Kirkland brand cheese pizzas for about 10 dollars. Hmm, $2.50 per pizza? I was willing to try them. I brought them home and when I got one out to cook it, I decided to fancy it up a bit before I put it in the oven.
Everyone loved it and it was so easy! I just served it with a green salad and Marilyn kept saying it was the best pizza she ever had. I may never make my own pizza dough again.

Here is the box of pizzas

Ready to cook

I topped this one with pepperoni on half, pre cooked frozen chicken pieces, 1 slice of precooked bacon cut into small pieces, sliced zucchini, bell pepper, and a few cherry tomatoes cut in half.

Pasta with Tomatoes and Basil

From Brian and Sarah Matthews

Serves about 4

2 cups dry pasta (I used garden delight Penne)

1 lb. cherry tomatoes (about 30)

1 tsp. olive oil

½ cup chopped fresh basil

½ tsp granulated garlic (or fresh)

8 oz. fresh mozzarella (Ciliegine is in little balls and I like it best)

½ tsp. garlic salt

Pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, chop the tomatoes in half. In fry pan heat olive oil and add 15 halved tomatoes and garlic. (Save the rest of the tomatoes to add later.) Heat for about 5 minutes and smash the tomatoes a little. This makes a sort of sauce.

When pasta is finished cooking, drain, put in serving bowl and add the rest of the ingredients stirring in the cooked tomatoes last. This melts the cheese a tiny bit. Serve hot.

Saute half the tomatoes

Fresh basil from the garden

Save half the tomatoes to add fresh

I first had this at Brian and Sarah's and I'm not sure if I make it the same as them. It was a while before I tried it on my own.

We had it last night and everyone loved it. Marilyn and McKay don't usually like cooked tomatoes, but they really like this pasta.

It is a wonderful light summer dish.

Soft Pretzels

I served these for dinner a couple of weeks ago. We had watermelon and green salad for sides. Everyone loved them.

Makes 8 pretzels

1 cup warm water

1 Tbs instant yeast

Dissolve yeast in water, then add:

1 Tbs sugar or honey

1 tsp. salt

3 cups flour (I used half white, half wheat)

Knead for 5 minutes in Bosch or Kitchenaid machine. Let rest for about 10 minutes. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each one into a 14” – 16” inch “snake”. Form into pretzels and bake at 375° for 20 – 25 minutes. 

You can also do a twist right here

After they are baked, top with the following:

For Parmesan pretzels:

Melt 1 tsp. butter for each pretzel. Brush on hot pretzel and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. Serve with marinara or Alfredo sauce.

For cinnamon sugar pretzels:

Melt 1 tsp. butter for each pretzel. Brush on hot pretzel and sprinkle with a cinnamon sugar mixture. 

This one has a twist in it