Chicken Recipe Round Up!

Ladies, I love me some chicken. It's the main meat that I cook with! Here's a round up of Pierogie Mama chicken recipes that you can find here on the blog. Thanks to Foster Farms for sponsoring this post - where you can find so many more delicious chicken recipes!

Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta

 Apple Cider Chicken

Lime Cilantro Chicken Tacos

CopyCat Wendy's Crispy Chicken Caesar Wraps

Parmesan Chicken Cutlets with Lazy Girl Gnocchi

Do you have a favorite? Leave a comment!

Parmesan Chicken Cutlets

Every 4 months, 80 lbs of chicken breast waits on my kitchen island. I spend a whole day, sometimes with
my mother in law, sometimes by myself, processing all that meat into packages of unseasoned, marinated, shredded or ground meat. I have over 50 meals started, and it costs me $135. 

I order a lot of my family's meat through Zaycon Fresh. The chicken breast comes fresh and straight from the farmer, so it ends up being a lot fresher than what you buy at the grocery store. For example, my last case of Zaycon Fresh chicken breast had a bar code with a time stamp for the butcher date that was 3 days prior to my receiving it. I recently went to my local grocery store to see what their time frame is - and their chicken was 15 days old and also had 3% water injected. It's really not much of a discussion on which chicken I prefer to buy!

So today I want to share with you one of the ways that I meal prep when I am processing all of this meat. When I prep the breasts to freeze I cut them into 3 separate ways (after trimming the fat off) - a tenderloin, a breast and a cutlet. A cutlet is made by laying the breast down on a cutting board and cutting through the middle of the breast, horizontally.

I like to make my cutlets really small; they are really more like a chicken coin than a true cutlet.  It's about the size of your palm. Cutting that small bit off a breast makes the breast thickness more uniform so that it cooks easily and the "coins" are really tender. They are perfect for Chicken Parmesan Cutlets!

For the breading:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1 tablespoon of paprika 
• 1 tablespoon mustard powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1/2 c of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

This will bread about 16 small chicken "coin" cutlets. 2-3 cutlets per adult is a standard serving. The remainder can be frozen between sheets of parchment paper and bagged in freezer bags once fully frozen.

Instructions:

1. Prepare three small mixing bowls. Fill one bowl with 3/4 cup flour, fill the second bowl with 1 1/2 cups of Panko, 1 T paprika, 1 T mustard powder, salt & pepper, and the third bowl with the beaten eggs. Set the 1/2 c of freshly grated Parmesan aside. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Dip each chicken cutlet first into the flour, then into the beaten eggs and then into the Panko mixture.
*If you are prepping for a future meal, skip the baking portion and read the instructions at the end.*

3. Place onto a greased broiling pan or cookie sheet.

4. Bake at 425 degrees F and bake for 15-25 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked. Flip half way through.

5. Remove from the oven and give each cutlet a good sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
6. Voila! I love to serve mine with my lazy girl gnocchi (using left over mashed potatoes!!) and spaghetti sauce. 

**If you are going to freeze these, after step 2 place them in between two squares of parchment paper and freeze them on a cookie sheet. After they are frozen, store them in a freezer safe ziplock bag.**

Get started on saving your family money but not compromise the quality of your meat! Zaycon Fresh is where it's at. Sign up here! Also - check out my favorite Zaycon Fresh product - Wild Alaskan Salmon - and how I love to prepare it!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate links help keep this blog going and using them is at no cost to you! All images, opinions and the recipe are my own. 

Polish Apple Pancakes

Taste has such a connection with memory, don't you think? These pancakes bring back so many memories, but my favorite is of visiting my paternal babcia in Poland and her cooking these delights for my dad and I on the night that we arrived. I was about ten years old; tired, grumpy and overwhelmed. We were ushered in, sat at a plain and simple table in her small apartment's kitchen, and she continued to fry these babies up.

They are called "racuchy" (rah-tsoo-hiy) or "placki z jablkami" (pancakes with apples / "plah-ts-key z yab-kahm-eh").

These days I pull it out on those evenings where "breakfast for dinner" is on the menu again or if I have extra apples that should get used. They're like a mix between a pancake, fritters, dutch baby, beignet and a donut. There's just no one way to describe them! But they are super easy to make, use readily available ingredients and are so tasty. Even though they are essentially deep fried, they don't come out greasy.

You'll need:
2-3 apples (peeled, cored and sliced thinly)
2 cups of flour
1 egg
1 cup of milk
1 tsp sugar
vegetable oil
powdered sugar

You'll do:
1. Mix together the 2 cups of flour, egg, 1 cup of milk and 1 tsp of sugar to make the batter. It'll be similar to the consistency of pancake batter. Fold in the apple slices.
2. In a frying pan, pour enough vegetable oil to fill the pan about 1/4 of the way up. Heat it to hot.
3. Ladle drops of batter with 2-3 apple slices into the oil. You don't need a lot of batter, just enough to stick the apple pieces together.
4. Cook until the bottom is lightly golden, then flip. It should take less than 2 minutes total.
5. Place onto a paper towel lined platter. Blot up any excess oil with another paper towel.
6. To serve, give it a good dusting of powdered sugar.

Copycat Crispy Chicken Caesar Wrap

This didn't take a secret lab with multiple testings to uncover the perfect copycat recipe, but hey, when you got it you got it. And let's just say that from the time that I made these for dinner on Thursday, in the 5 nights that have passed since...we've had them for dinner or lunch 3 more times. So log this one away for an easy, short ingredient, 20 minute dinner or lunch recipe. You'll be happy that you did!

You will need:
Tortilla
Breaded chicken strips Strips (Zaycon Fresh has the yummiest!)
Your favorite cheese shredded - hubby likes Pepperjack, I like Asiago
Romaine lettuce
Creamy Caesar dressing (sometimes I mix it up and use Wishbone Spicy Caesar!)

You'll do:
1.Prepare the breaded chicken strips according to package instructions
2. Cut your tortilla in half and smear a good amount of dressing onto it.
3. Layer the lettuce, a crispy strip (or two!) and a sprinkle of cheese.
4. Roll it!

And that's all it takes. Wrap them up as to-gos for the car or for a lazy night in.

Zaycon Fresh is my #1 source for purchasing our meats, and we've ordered the breaded chicken fritters every time they've come available. They come pre-cooked, so all you need to do is crisp them up in the oven. For a limited time, pay $2.56 per pound with promo code FRITTERS2018 at check out.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. 

Lazy Girl Gnocchi

There's definitely a legit, old school, traditional way to make gnocchi. Friends, this is NOT a tutorial on how to do so! I'm positive that there are several really good Italian girl blogs that share their nonna's passed down recipe.  This is my lazy girl / busy mama / using all the leftovers recipe for gnocchi. Take what you will, but I promise that it's a delicious way to use your leftover mashed potatoes for a new meal that your family will love!

Gnocchi is a versatile dish. You can serve it with your favorite red sauce, or make a delicious pan sauce with the meat that you are cooking that night and pour it over gnocchi as a side. On this night I experimented with making an Alfredo style sauce with lemon essences, which needs some tweaking. A couple summers ago I shared a Gnocchi Mac n Cheese recipe that I found on Pinterest, which uses Gruyere, Fontina and Parmesan. Delish. Truth be told, that was my first pin ever. You know how you remember your first CD? Well, I guess I won't be forgetting my first pin either!

This recipe will make enough for 2 adults. If you have more mashed potatoes or want to make extra to freeze, just follow the ratio of 2 cups of flour : 1 cup of mashed potatoes.

You will need:
1 cup of leftover mashed potatoes (it's ok if you seasoned them with cream, sour cream, salt / pepper, whatevs. Again, this isn't traditional gnocchi so everything goes!)
~2 cups of flour
1 egg yolk

You will do:
1. Make a little volcano of mashed potatoes on your work surface. Dump your yolk into the crater.
2. Work the yolk into the potatoes using your hands.
3. Add 1/2 c of flour at a time, working the flour into the dough. You might not use all of the flour, it just depends on the consistency of your potatoes. Continue to add flour until your dough is firm but not hard. Keep your hands and working surface well floured to avoid sticky dough.
4. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into a log, about the width of your finger.
5. Cut 1/2" long pieces (perfection is not necessary).
6. Bring a pot of salted water to boil.
7. Using a fork, gently roll each piece up the fork to create the trademark indentations. Keeping your fork floured will help prevent the gnocchi from sticking to it. Fun fact: the ridges on gnocchi are there to hold sauce to the noodle better. All pasta noodles were developed with different shapes to compliment the type of sauce they are served with. You can freeze them on a floured cookie sheet at this point for later use.
8. Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water and wait for them to float, should be about 2 minutes.
9. Scoop them out and allow them to drain.
10. Most people top them with their favorite sauce at this point, but I like to give them a quick pan fry in a bit of olive oil to give them a slightly crispy side.

Lemon-Pepper Tuna BLT (a rendition of a Starbucks copycat!)

Any time I'm going for a longish drive, I battle with myself...should I stop at Starbucks and get a caramel frappicino and one of those amazing chicken salad BLTs? And more often than not, unless I am in the serious mood for a treat, I convince myself that nigh on $10 for a coffee and a sandwich is just not worth it. Instead, I silently vow that I will make this at home and pack one for myself the next time I go out.

Friends, this day has finally come. Except I've adapted this recipe to use Bumble Bee® Premium Light Tuna (you can use a pouch or can), because tuna contains high levels of omega -3's which are important for brain function along with a myriad of other benefits. I chose light tuna over albacore because I'm a nursing mom and albacore has been shown to contain higher levels of mercury than chunk tuna. I also prefer the flavor of chunk tuna to albacore. 

You'll need:

• Bumble Bee® Premium Light Tuna in a water pouch or can
• 3 T Mayonnaise
• 1/2 T Lemon Pepper Seasoning (adjust to your taste, some seasoning already includes salt in the mixture)
• 2 Oven roasted tomatoes
• 4 strips cooked bacon
• lettuce
• thinly chopped scallions
• salt and pepper
• a squirt of lemon juice (I've fallen in love with the flavor from lemon essential oil, so I added 1 drop instead)
• sliced creamy havarti
• your favorite sandwich bread

This makes 2 sandwiches. 

You'll do:
1. Prepare your oven roasted tomatoes and bacon ahead of time.

2. Mix together the tuna, mayonnaise, lemon pepper seasoning, tomatoes, scallions, lemon juice or essential oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Assemble your sandwich with the bread, a couple slices of bacon, havarti and a leaf of lettuce. Add a good dill pickle too.

Oooooh lawdy. I think I may have gone to heaven.

This is a delicious sandwich to pack for anyone's lunch - it's a twist on the the good old standby tuna sandwich that we all grew up with. It's also one of my go-to dinners on hot or busy nights because everything can be pre-made ahead of time. Pack this in your, your husband's or kid's lunch and they'll be asking for more, I promise!

Find more delicious tuna recipes from Bumble Bee Tuna!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

One last Lake House Dinner + Lavender Lemonaid Recipe (with Essential Oils)

“I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for the Beef Checkoff. I received products to facilitate this review and a promotional item to thank me for participating.”

7 days.

That's all the time that my parents have until they take off for a fabulous two year assignment to Germany.

Between the mixed emotions of their departure, we knew one thing was for sure - we had to take one last family trip to Mount Rainier and we had to have a one last hurrah dinner on the deck of their lake house. The house that hosted our wedding, the house where we lived for the first nine months of my daughter's life. There's a ton of memories tied up here, and farewell dinner was a little bit of closure for this life changing event for them.

What did we serve?

Filet mignon wrapped in bacon, seasoned with Williams & Sonoma Butcher's Rub
Baked Potatoes
Sourdough bread
grill roasted corn on the cob
and my new favorite.. Lavender Lemonaid.

You'll need:
1 large, juicy lemon
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup water + 6 cups water
6 drops of doTERRA Lemon Essential Oil
3 drops of doTERRA Lavender Essential Oil
ice

You'll do:
1. Juice the lemon into your pitcher
2. Gently heat the 1/2 cup of raw honey with 1/2 cup of water in a small sauce pan. Heat just until the water and honey combine well, you don't want to boil it. Remove from heat.
3. Add your drops of lemon essential oil and lavender essential oil to the honey mixture.
4. Pour the honey mixture into the pitcher with the lemon juice. Mix well.
5. Add the 6 cups of cold water.
6. Fill your pitcher with ice.
Now let that cool down and garnish with a sprig of lavender from your garden and you've got an absolutely delicious spa-like drink!

This was an excellent, hearty meal after our day trip to Mount Rainier. After an unexpected 4 mile hike from Narada Falls down to Longmire, it's an understatement to say that we were tired and hungry!

The Beef Checkoff was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. It's a national marketing and research program funded by America's cattle farmers and ranchers. Cattle farmers, ranchers and importers direct the national checkoff program, which uses funds toward research and promotion efforts designed to increase domestic and/or international demand for beef. The Cattlemen's Beef Board and USDA oversee the collection and spending of these beef checkoff funds. You might be familiar with "Beef. It's What's For Dinner."

Apple Cider Chicken

This apple cider chicken recipe is one of my favorite go-to recipes. It's filling but light, creamy and a touch of apple sweetness. Truth be told, I first made this dish when my dear friend Gretchen welcomed her now big-boy Max, and ever since then it's been a tradition for me to bring to a friend with a new baby. After all, what better way can you help a new mom than by bringing her food? When I was waiting on Ruby (who was born 5 days past her due date) I made this meal twice! I wished so hard that it would give her the hint that it was time for her to make her grand appearance.

For the apple cider chicken, you will need:
1/2 lb of butter, plus 1/4 lb and 1/4 lb for sides
8-10 chicken tenders, or 4 large chicken breasts
3/4 cup of apple cider (the real stuff, not apple juice)
1/2 lb of blanched green beans
1 lb of mushrooms
1 pint of heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
Salt and Pepper
A loaf or two of easy dutch oven artisan bread (you'll need to start the dough at least one day before you make this chicken)

You will do:
1. Blanche the green beans and set aside.
2. Melt the 1/2 lb of butter (in small cubes) in a large pan. Add chicken and cook until both sides are browned.
3. While the chicken is cooking, cook the fresh mushrooms in a small pot with 1/4 lb of butter until they are soft. Heat up the blanched green beans in a separate pot with the remaining 1/4 lb of butter.
4. Once the chicken is cooked, keep it in the pan and pour in the apple cider. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid is reduced and is a nice glaze on the chicken.
5. Slowly add the cream and stir often to create a nice sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Add the nutmeg and cinnamon at the very end.

Serve this chicken with green beans, mushrooms and that hearty bread. You can't skip on bread with this meal - it's so delightfully sinful to dip the bread in the remaining sauce.

As a growing family of 4 I make it a goal to source the best quality meat at the best prices. That's why I buy all of our meat through Zaycon Fresh. Every 6 months I order 80 lbs of fresh chicken breasts and I cut them into individual dinner serving sizes and freeze. We've saved hundreds of dollars in the price of meat as well as I always have the convenience of not having to go to the grocery store to purchase meats. Sign up for Zaycon Fresh and see all the different meats you can buy - beef, pork, chicken, sausages, bacon, turkey and more! By signing up for Zaycon Fresh I get a referral bonus, so thanks in advance for helping me feed my family!

A picnic for dinner! Huggies stylish baby wipes saved the day.

Disclosure: Thank you Huggies for sponsoring today's post. All opinions expressed are my own.

The last few days have been gorgeous and I decided it was high time for us to have our first picnic dinner in our backyard!

On the menu was...
Fresh watermelon slices
Seafood dip with pita chips
Lime cilantro shrimp pasta salad
Dessert: fruit juice popsicles

Lime-Cilantro is one of my all time favorite flavor combinations (right next to caramel and chocolate). Pretty much anything with these two ingredients in on my "must try" list. If Mallards Ice Cream in Bellingham ever decides to put that out, I'm there. Not kidding.

You will need:
1 box of penne or spiral pasta, cooked according to the box's directions
1/4 cup lime juice
2 T olive oil
1/4 c cilantro
1/2 t each of cumin, cayenne pepper, minced garlic, onion powder, salt
1 lb shrimp
1 avocado
1 mango
1 yellow bell pepper
6 oz cherry tomatoes

You will do:
1. Cook pasta amd set aside.
2. Combine lime juice, olive oil, cilantro and spices in a blender. Blend until fully combined - this is your dressing.
3. Cook the shrimp with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. Slice the avocado, mango and bell pepper into little chunks. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half.
5. Combine everything and serve!

The beauty of an outdoor meal is that its so low key. Penny wasn't super interested in the pasta salad (which was surprising, this kid eats everything) so she played with Squirt, ran around and or chatted with the chickens. Of course she came running back to the blanket as soon as the popsicles came out!

So...yea. Berry popsicles = a red mess. This girl ran around flailing this goody with glee and flu g red speckled juice all over the place.  What does every mama keep handy in a case like this? Wipes!

Huggies  just came out with a stylish baby wipes case that durable and refillable. They come in 3 different prints and also have a handle that you can snap to your bag, stroller, wagon, or keep it in the backseat for on the go messes.

Roasted Chicken in a Cast Iron Dutch Oven

Oh Pioneer Woman, thou art a dictionary of recipes!

Whenever I feel that I need some inspiration or guidelines on a recipe I want to try out for the first time I almost always land on a Pioneer Woman recipe first. Why? Because she rocks!

A few weeks ago I was at the grocery store and the meat department lady walked up to me and was like "hey - just throwing it out there - we have a TON of fryer chickens that I need to unload ASAP. They were $0.92/lb yesterday and today they are down to $0.78! You should pick one up." Well, I had actually only cooked a whole chicken ONCE before and it was a horribly failed beer can chicken attempt. I was a little skeptical, but she gave me her rundown of how she prepares her chickens and I was inspired. And who can beat the price of a home cooked dinner for literally just a couple bucks?! So I picked up a few extra veggies and came home to research how in the heck was I going to cook this thing with the ingredients that I have on hand. And I knew I wanted to cook this chicken in my cast iron dutch oven. So off to google-land I went, and landed upon this recipe that I took some hints from.

So here's what I did.

You will need:
1 white / sweet onion
1 apple
4 carrots
4 medium brown potatoes
1 chicken
2-3 T of Penzey's Italian Seasoning
1 T of Penzey's Rosemary
Kosher Salt
Olive Oil
1/2 stick of butter

You will do:
1. Wash your chicken, remove the organs and then thoroughly dry it off, inside and out. I typically boil the organs in water and then feed it to the dog. Everyone will get a little bit of this chicken today.
2. Chop 1/4 of the onion into large pieces, peel the apple and do the same. Stuff it all inside the chicken.
3. Combine 2-3 T of italian seasoning, 1 T of rosemary, about 1 T of kosher salt and about 3 T of olive oil. Rub it all over the outside of the chicken. Lay her on a pan in the fridge until you are ready to cook her. And keep an eye on that dog.
4. Peel and chop your carrots and potatoes, coarsely chop the onion and toss in a bowl with additional olive oil and salt. Set those aside as well.
5. Place your cast iron dutch oven inside your oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees (with the cast iron inside). Heat the cast iron for about 20 minutes before you are ready to cook. You never want to cook food in a cold cast iron dish. Bring out the chicken and veggies during this time to allow them to get brought up to temperature a little bit (my husband would freak out about the temperature danger zone but I personally am more ok with it as long as you are going to cook it ASAP).
6. When you're ready to go, place the chicken in the cast iron (breast side up) and surround her with the
veggies. Scatter bits of butter on top of the whole mix, cover, bake and leave it alone for about an hour to an hour and a half. Remove the lid for the last 10-15 minutes to help develop that crispy skin that we all secretly love.

7. Once fully cooked, remove from the oven and allow it to rest for about 10-15 minutes before cutting into it. I removed the dutch oven lid but draped a cotton (not microfiber or synthetic) dish towel over the top.
8. Serve with some warm sourdough bread. YUM.

Some additional thoughts...
SAVE THEM BONES, veggie scraps from preparation and any junk from the chicken that you wouldn't eat. Why? Bone broth in a crock pot, baby.

Pierogies go all Beastmode for the Superbowl!

This post is special to me in two ways -

1) pierogies. Duh!
2) Seahawks! Anyone living in Washington State (and pretty much the entire Pacific Northwest region) is living on a Seahawk / 12th Man high. This is the second time in the Seahawk's 38 year history, we're going to the Superbowl! We're known for our record setting loudness, thanks to our excitement for the team and the architecture of our stadium. 

This season has been the year of Beast Mode, aka Marshawn Lynch. He has been credited with the success of the team this year and has been the poster boy for Seahawk pride. His love for Skittles (aka: power pellets from his mama) is the inspiration behind many Seattle area restaurant munchies in preparation for the big game. Did you know that he's also the first athelete to be paid by the Skittles brand and they've released Seahawk colored Skittles?? 

And just like any other good Seahawk fan, I've prepared my own rendition of a Pierogie Mama family favorite - BEAST MODE PIEROGIES!

Making pierogies by hand is tedious work, friends. My mom and I keep up the family tradition of making them for holidays and special events, but for the every day I turn to Mrs. T's Pierogies. So I'm honored to share my collaboration with Mrs. T's and show you how any 12th man will appreciate these Polish delights by showing you how to make beast mode pierogies!

Note: Mrs. T's Pierogies can be served as a main or side dish. If you are serving them as a main dish, I recommend 6-7 pierogies per adult (a box comes with 12 pierogies).


You will need:
1 box of your favorite flavor Mrs. T's pierogies (we love potato and cheddar flavor)
Blue and green neon food coloring
a bag of skittles
1 cup of sour cream
1 tablespoon of sugar

You will do:
1. Bring 2 separate pots of water to boil, one colored with blue food coloring and the other with green. The exact amount of food coloring will depend on how much water you use, but I wanted to be sure that my pierogies were extremely colored so I started with 30 drops of food coloring. 
2. Carefully pour half of a box of pierogies into one pot and the other half into the other pot.
3. Bring them to a slow boil. They will float when they are done, but you may want to turn off the heat and allow them to soak in the colored water for an additional 10-15 minutes to allow them to get saturated with as much color as possible
4. Remove the pierogies from the pot using a slotted spoon when you're happy with their coloring.
5. Mix together the sour cream and sugar (this will make a sweet dipping sauce) and serve as a side - and don't forget those skittles!

These are pierogies that even Marshawn Lynch will mow down on - so get your Seahawk and pierogie pride on and serve these at your Superbowl party.. I bet you'll get a few questions about them!

Sbarro Baked Ziti Copycat Recipe

In the last month Penny and I have taken a couple mama-daughter dates and headed out to the mall. Not to do Christmas shopping, mind you. I *hate* shopping at the mall. Our business was needed at the jeweler for my semi-annual check up and a watch battery replacement. So I took that opportunity of a "trip into town" and also hit up the fabric store and timed our visit to the mall with lunch and a much needed trip to the indoor playground so that Miss Penny can get some energy out!

After about 45 minutes of running, giggling, climbing, crawling and sliding, the both of us were really ready for lunch. Sbarros is one of the very few 'fast food' joints I'll eat at and thankfully our mall has one. Their combo meal isn't a bad deal, but as a single income family I'm always on the look out for cutting down our expenses but coming up with ways of still getting those 'treats' we were accustomed to when we were DINKYs (dual-income no kids).

So while I've been trying for 2 years to get my pizza dough recipe down and still not getting the thumbs up from the hubs, I knew that I could do something about that baked ziti I always get as a side when we go to Sbarros.

You will need:
1 box of ziti pasta
1 15 oz can of organic tomato sauce
1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated pepper
salt to taste
2 cups of ricotta cheese
2 cups of shredded fresh mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

You will do:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook the ziti to al dente. Drain the water, but do not rinse the noodles!
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a non-reactive bowl, save about 1/4c of the tomato sauce.
4. Add in the ziti and mix well.
5. Dump into a 13x9" baking dish and pour the remaining sauce on top.
6. Bake for about 13-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

A reader's tip: If you are preparing this for a freezer meal, line the pan with tinfoil first. Freeze, and once solid remove the frozen ziti with tinfoil liner and wrap / fit into a freezer bag. That way you don't have to keep your baking dish frozen, and it will fit perfectly into it when you are ready!

buon appetito!

No "Cream of ____" Chicken Pot Pie

Who wants to learn how to make chicken pot pie without using 'cream of ________'? I know that in a lot of southern recipes that this ingredient is a must, but in the attempt to making as much as I can from scratch, I knew there has to be a different way. After all, chicken pot pie has been around long before canned foods ever ever invented. I also find a deep sense of satisfaction in creating a dinner from ingredients that I can already find in my well stocked kitchen. 

So after a little bit of research and some tips from other very good cooks (Ina Garten and Motherhood on the Rocks) I came up with my rendition of chicken pot pie - no canned soup!

Note: this recipe is enough for 2 individual servings.

You will need:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (We love Zaycon Fresh chicken breasts, read at the bottom of the post why!)
salt, pepper
olive oil
salt
pepper

1/4 onion, thickly sliced

1 carrot (or 5 baby carrots), thickly sliced
1/2 cup of peas
1/2 cup of corn
1 cup of chicken broth (here's a really simple recipe for how to make broth in a crockpot)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp thyme
1/4 c of flour
1/2 c milk or cream
Pie crust - make it yourself! Here's my favorite pie crust recipe using a food processor. I omit the sugar and use salted butter. If you want to make a really great crust, I love this buttermilk pie crust. You can sub soured milk (1T vinegar to 1 cup of milk) for the buttermilk.
This will make 2 pot pies in 16 oz size Corningware Ramekins.

You will do:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil onto your chicken breast and season with salt and pepper. Place on a tinfoil lined baking dish and bake until done - about 20 minutes or so.
3. Remove the chicken breast from the oven and shred or chop. Alternatively, if you have left over chicken from another meal use that!
4. Meanwhile drizzle a little more olive oil in a pan and gently sautee the onion until it is translucent. Add your carrots, peas and corn. Sautee for a few minutes.
5. Pour the chicken broth over the veggies and bring to a quick boil, reduce to medium and allow to cook until the carrots are soft.
6. Season with garlic powder, thyme, salt and pepper (to taste).
7. To thicken the filling, add a little bit of flour at a time. Stir quickly and efficiently so that you don't get clumps. This probably won't take the whole 1/4 cup - it may only be a few tablespoons. It depends on how much of your stock has evaporated.
8. Add the chopped chicken.
9. Simmer for a few minutes to get everything nice and happy. Then stir in the cream until it is well incorporated and remove from heat.
10. Spray your ramekins with non-stick spray and pour in your filling. Don't fill it to the brim, leave a little bit of room.
11. Meanwhile, prepare your pie crust. Alternatively, you can use pre-made pie crust but home made is soooo much better.
12. Lay the rolled out crust on top of your ramekins and run a rolling pin over the top to cut off the excess.

Use a fork to crimp the edge all nice and pretty, and sprinkle with a little bit of sea salt. Cut 3-4 slits into the crust.
13. Place back into the 350 degree oven and cook for about 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden and you can see the filling bubbling underneath.

As a growing family of 4 I make it a goal to source the best quality meat at the best prices. That's why I buy all of our meat through Zaycon Fresh. Every 6 months I order 80 lbs of fresh chicken breasts and I cut them into individual dinner serving sizes and freeze. We've saved hundreds of dollars in the price of meat as well as I always have the convenience of not having to go to the grocery store to purchase meats. Sign up for Zaycon Fresh and see all the different meats you can buy - beef, pork, chicken, sausages, bacon, turkey and more! By signing up for Zaycon Fresh I get a referral bonus, so thanks in advance for helping me feed my family!

Creamy Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Who loves potato soup? This girl! I've always loved ordering it for lunch and never thought about how easy it would be to make at home. It's now one of our favorite winter soups because I can make it in about an hour and it is sooo deliciously creamy!

You will need:

• 5 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped (or at least 4 cups of left over mashed potatoes - seasoned or not)
• 1/2 lb of thick cut bacon
• About 3 cups + 1/2 cup (reserve) of chicken stock (make your own)
• 1/4 c flour
• 2 large carrots (peeled and chopped to whatever size you like in your soup)
• 1/2 sweet yellow onion (peeled and chopped to whatever size you like in your soup)
• About 1 cup of heavy cream

You will do:
1. Boil the potatoes until they are done. Allow them to drain and mash briefly. Skip this step if you're using left over mashed potatoes.  

2. While the potatoes are boiling, begin cooking your bacon. Low and slow is the key for perfect bacon. Start with a cold pan, lay several pieces down and turn on to med-low heat. Cooking it slowly will allow the grease to release but not burn away any of the meat. Set aside on a paper towel - do not dump that grease from the pan!! Chop the bacon into medium sized bacon bits.
3. Using that delicious grease, cook the carrots and onions on med-low until the onions are translucent. 

4. Transfer the grease and cooked veggies to the pot you plan on cooking your soup in and add half of your bacon bits.

5. Dump in your mashed potatoes and add a little bit of flour at a time, continually stirring to thicken it up.

6. Pour in 3 cups of of chicken broth, bring to a boil and turn down to medium. Reserve extra broth just in case you need additional liquid.The soup will look very runny at first, but allow it to keep heating and the potatoes to soak up the broth and pretty soon you'll have a slightly thicker concoction but it still should be loose. If it gets too thick, add more broth and turn down the heat a little. If you feel it is still way too runny, add a little bit more flour at a time, making sure you stir constantly so that you don't get any clumps. Allow to cook for abut 10-15 minutes, until it gets to that perfect balance between the broth being fully incorporated and the soup not being too runny.

7. Add 1/2 a cup of cream at a time, stirring constantly, until you get the consistency of the soup you desire.
8. Top with the remainder of your bacon bits, some sour cream, chives, shredded cheese or whatever else you like on your baked potatoes!

I promise - you'll totally overlook the bacon grease and cream additions to this recipe. And getting good quality bacon (from a local butcher, if you can) really makes the difference. Drool.

Creamy Smoked Cheddar, Potato and Chicken Stew...In a crockpot! : Guest post at Apronista

What speaks more of fall than a crockpot, chicken, potatoes, cream and cheese?  
Probably pumpkin spice and crinkly leaves, but you get what I mean.

Check out my recipe Creamy Smoked Cheddar, Potato and Chicken Stew...In a crockpot!

over at Apronista's month long Crocktober extravaganza! 

Gender Reveal Party

Today was our gender reveal party. We had our ultrasound on Wednesday last week and it was tough keeping it a secret from the family until today. I pretty much had to be on a 'text only' basis, otherwise something was going to slip.

Our menu:
Balsamic spinach pasta salad (my mother in law's delicious recipe)
Deviled eggs
Crackers with a topping of cream cheese, smoked salmon and my mom's homemade pear sauce
ruske / potato and cheese pierogies (but of course!)
prosciutto and melon appetizers
fruit, veggie, meat/cheese/cracker platters
Baked brie with walnuts and cranberry sauce

And the grand finale:
the gender was revealed by way of cakepops. I used's The Kitchn's cakepop recipe using devil's food cake, sweet cream cheese and chocolate almond bark to coat.

The family members were told that the flavor of the cakepops is chocolate and only one of the 20 pops will have the gender of the baby revealed by the color of the batter. Kind of a Charlie Bucket and the golden ticket kind of thing.

We are so excited for Penny to have a younger sister. I don't have a sister and I think their closeness in age will be wonderful.

Quick and Easy Pesto Pasta - Guest post from Saving for a Purpose

Guess what I'm doing today? You got it. Tearing apart my house. Today I'd like to welcome Betsy from Saving for a Purpose. She shares a super easy and tasty pasta pesto recipe that is great to pull out when you're in a pinch for dinner!

If you like the Noodles & Company Pesto Cavatappi you might want to try this recipe it is so simple but so good!

You will need:

Cellentani noodles

Pesto (you can make your own)

mushrooms (if desired)

sun dried tomatoes (if desired)

Not only will you enjoy a delicious meal but you will save money by making it at home!

 This is what I did…  

• Make noodles as directed.
• Drain
• Add the pesto, look below to see what I used.
• you might want to add a little butter or parmesan cheese
  

The whole meal took less than 30 minutes to make and was really good.  This makes a lot of pasta for one person so I enjoyed the rest of it for lunch the next day.  It reheated very well, it is also tasty cold, I couldn't help it and had to sneak a few noodles before it went in the microwave. 

I used Buitoni Pesto with Basil…I added the whole container to the pasta, it was the perfect amount.  I have used a non refrigerated variety in a glass jar and did not like it.  I am sticking with the Buitoni.






Betsy is from SavingforaPurpose.com. She likes to craft, cook, bake and save time and money where it is possible without sacrificing family and fun time.  She tries to help others through her money saving endeavors.  

Want to write for The Pierogie Mama? Send me an email!

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