Cupcake Pot Pies and My Issues with Chicken...

Chicken. I love chicken. But, I am picky with my chicken.

I don't want skin, and I sure don't want a bone. I don't do fried chicken. Well, I can cook some mean fried chicken - but, me eat it? No thank you! The texture of the skin - not my thing. I can't eat chicken off of a bone. In fact, I don't really like meat on a bone. I can eat ribs, but I am always told I waste meat. Something about maneuvering around a bone weirds this lady out! So, I have chicken on a bone with skin marinating for my family to eat tomorrow night for dinner while I work late at work. I don't want them to suffer for my weirdness with foods!  (Chicken rant over! Ask me one day about pickles...)

Chicken Pot Pies on my Birthday Bucket List to make. So here goes my attempt. I am going to make Cupcake versions for my kids for lunch. Wish me luck!

Ingredients

Prepping for the Pot Pie Cupcakes

• Canned Biscuits (I used my family's favorite & want I had on hand - Honey Butter Biscuits)
• Mixed Veggies of your choice (My kids love Sweet Peas & Carrots)\
• Chopped up chicken, cooked
• Can of Cream of Chicken coup (I had Cream of Potato with Bacon, so that is what I used - plus, you can NEVER go wrong with bacon)
• Cheese (which I omitted because we are a family who is 80% lactose intolerant, and the soup will be enough)
• Spices (Onion powder, garlic salt and basil)

HOW TO

Very simple:

• Take EVERYTHING, sans biscuits and mixed it up.
• Press the biscuits into your cupcake pans and press up the sides.
• Scoop your mixture in, and fill it up good.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes depending on your biscuits and voilà!

RESULTS

Final Product

And the results... The kids LOVED it. :) Bacon was a great addition. I had extra mix, so I also made a larger one for dinner! This will become a regular in my meal planning rotation!

29 things to DO before I hit the BIG 3-0!

28 things in my 28th year FAILED. Haha, I accomplished  6 of them. Six? Come on Catherine! You are better than that! Six?

Anywho... Here comes year 29! And it's a BIGGIE. Last year of my 20's. When did I get old? A few amazing things came out of my list last year:

1) I made it back home to California. I got to spend some amazing time with some amazing people. Stayed with my BEST FRIEND, Beckie; stayed with my amazing older brother, Paul and his beautiful wife and daughter; stayed with my beautiful Mom, and my awesome Stepmoms drove all the way down and we visited with family we haven't seen in years. My Aunt Dawn and Uncle Ed are some of my favorite people! Drank a LOT of coffee during that trip. Lots of good, long overdue coffee.

2) Our Book Club Rocks! We are on our 3rd book, and just had our 2nd meeting. Good food, good drinks and good people. So what if it started off with like 12 people, and then there were Four. We are Four Strong. Maybe that should be the name...

3) I love painting. Went to Easley Amused with Kristyn, and I want to go all the time and paint all the time.

Now on to my "29" list.

1) Florida. This has been on my list since I moved to Mississippi 6+ years ago. Had the opportunity to go this year, and then life got in the way.
2) Garden. - We are in a new place, and I would like to start my garden again. I am going to do herbs in the kitchen, and I shall figure out some stuff to plant outside. Get the kids involved too. Maybe we can find some stuff to recycle as planters.
3) Pot Pies. - You know, this has been on my list for 2 years. I am going to do it this year. I think the kids will LOVE that they can be individual. Maybe, I will make a dinner party out of it. A POT PIE POT LUCK!
4) Go Wine Tasting with the Mister. - I <3 Wine. The Mister is new to it. I am going to find a place to take him tasting as a date. *FINGERS CROSSED* he will like it!
5) Go back to school. - I know what I want to do, and the kids are old enough now to allow me time to concentrate. I am going to do what I need to do to get back, even if it is just part-time to start.
6) Maintain Book Club. - We are 3 months in, and I would love to be able to have maintain this new and improved group ALL year. Themes and all. :)
7) Family Pictures. - This will only take ONE day and has been on my list for 2 years now. HAHA, I take more pictures that I will ever need, but I have like 12 in total of ALL five of us. That needs to change STAT!
8) Become a Member at Church. - This takes 4 Sundays. I usually work Sunday's, I will find 4 to get this accomplished.
9) Date Nights. - We make time. Which I truly do think is key, but I would like to make MORE time. More regular.
10) Become more routine. - I have started this with set bedtimes, and trying to wake up times, and small routines. In the next 2 years, I will have 3 kids in school. Well, that seems like it might be easier - this will require more work. Homework, afterschool activities and such. I am going to routine all 3 together early.
11) Kick the soda. - I need to kick caffeine. And this is an easy way to maintain/lose weight. Plus, if I had to choose between a soda or a beautiful cup of coffee - Coffee wins EVERY time.
12) Write more letters. - When unpacking, I found all these awesome hand written letters from grandparents, cousins and friends. It was awesome. My kids were in awe of these "letters." In a world of Tango, Skype and Facetime, handwritten letters are things of a museum. I love Snail Mail.
13) 5k. - I love to walk. I miss doing these with Beckie.
14) Mom's Night Outs. - Like our Book Club, I would like these to become regular. And more drunk. LOL
15) Take a Family Trip. - Anywhere.
16) Quit biting my nails. - I have a feeling this one will ALWAYS be on my list.
17) Send out Christmas cards. - I actually made Christmas cards and found them months later. Guys, you will probably get cards from us in November, but it will be this year! Haha
18) Figure out how to work in Books/Reading. - With the demise of book stores, I need to explore other options.
19) Tattoo. - at least ONE of my many planned.
20) Go to the beach. - I went to San Diego this year, and didn't go. CRAZY!
21) Go to the Romance Writers Convention that I believe is in New Orleans this year. -  Or one in Houston. Whichever is more convenient for Kristyn and I. I need a FANGIRL moment bigger than my heart can handle.
22) Paint. Easley Amused or elsewhere.
23) Make a memory quilt. - Shirts, baby blankets, curtains, wedding stuff. I want to make an AWESOME memory quilt.
24) Buy a "new" car. - New is in "new" because it just needs to be new to me. LOL
25) Have a BFF trip. - Weather it is seeing 50 shades in Texas, celebrating the big 3-0 in Vegas, me and the BFF are seeing each other this year!
26) Make tamales, at least once this year. - this is probably the thing I missed the most about the holidays as a child. Helping make tamales, and it has been 2 years since I have made them in a larger quantity. Maybe New Year's...
27) Plan a trip to visit my Dad in Montana. - Malakai really wants to see where Grandpa lives, and I just adore small towns. And I adore my Dad. Kill 2 birds with one stone. Also, Malakai thinks he wants to live there when he is 18. (Mainly because the fishing license is cheaper there than in Mississippi. But I told him he could look into going to college there. He liked that idea.)
28) Send ACTUAL Birthday cards, on time. - Back to the Snail Mail. And the fact that I love Birthdays. And I think everyone does too. It is your day to feel special. I would like to help with that!
29) Read my Bible. - I have started, I would like to finish. I think it is very important. I choose to read it a little each day to ensure I understand it all. And I think, the kids and I will talk about it too.


What would be on your "BUCKET LIST" if you took the time to make a list? I would love to know. Maybe, it will be on BIG 3-0 list.

Crock Pot Pie (#21)

Hello Birthday Bucket List! #15 - COMPLETE!!!

Amanda will be proud, I finally made a Pot pie, and it was AMAZING.

The Ingredients

Ingredients

Chicken - 2 skinless, boneless breasts

Corn - 1/2 cup frozen

Peas - 1/2 cup frozen

Onion Powder - dash

Milk - 1/2 cup

Basil - dash

Butter - 2 Tablespoons

Flour - 3 Tablespoons

Chicken Broth - 1/2 cup

Salt - dash

Pepper - dash

Canned Biscuits - 1 can

 

 

I didn't have Cream of ANYTHING soup, so I had to improvise, and that is where a lot of the ingredients came from.

 

{1 Tablespoon of butter and  3 Tablespoons of flour to make a base. Ass the 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of Chicken Broth, salt and pepper and ta-da  - you have a substitute.}

 

The Finished Crust <3

First, you want to spray your Crockpot, and toss in cut up chunks of chicken. [I read in several recipes that many prefer dark meat, but we only had breasts] Next I added the frozen corn and peas. Again, every recipe had different veggies, and most had celery. This is what I had on hand. Add the spices of your choosing to the pot as well. Finally, you add your soup or soup substitute and mix well. Several different recipes had awesome dough recipes, and options to take your Crockpot liner out and toss the biscuits on and toss in the oven. I didn't have the time or the oven. I took a can of biscuits, and placed them on top of the filling. Added some honey to sweeten the "crust." Placed the lid on top and put a knife between the lid and pot to eliminate the condensation on the crust. Times varied from 3-4 hours on high to 6-hours on low. I choose 3-4 hours on high. At 3 1/2 hours the filling was smelling delicious and the crust was perfect.

 

I really did enjoy this recipe, and with the weather finally feeling like Fall - it was a perfect warm feeling meal. The kids loved the chicken and sauce. I loved the biscuits. Overall, a win for this family and I cannot wait to play with other substitutions with veggies and adding potatoes.

 



The Finished Plate

As you can see, I made a small portion. I was not confident in this recipe. It is something I was never made or ate in my life. You can just adjust the amounts accordingly. This was enough for 4 servings with a side of mashed potatoes.

 

Enjoy Y'all!

 

 

Birthday Bucket List

For the past couple years, I have made a 'BIRTHDAY BUCKET LIST' that correlates with how old I am turning. Last year, I had 27 things to do during my 27th year. Needless to say, it was not very successful. Haha, my 27th birthday was 3 days before we shut the doors to my Beautiful Borders Store #0472. Which was followed by me being UNEMPLOYED and UNPLANNED for the first time since I began working. I was blessed God to only be unemployed for 6 whole days. Haha. Then came the hard part, we moved during this 6 days of unemployment which followed Malakai having to switch schools twice! (If you have not had to deal with a situation like this, NIGHTMARE!) Plus, I felt like I had been ripped from my entire family. I will not dwell on the loss of my favorite place growing up, and my favorite job thus far, but anyone who worked at Borders would agree that we were a loyal to the core group of people, and we were never there for the money. (HA!) We love those damn books and all their glorious plot twists and turns. I am grateful to still have quite a few of those people still in my life today, a WHOLE year later. I honestly did not expect it. There was a lot of drunken talk at our farewell party that we would never talk again. A year has passed and I have some amazing new co-workers, and even some awesome friends. I have been continuously blessed. We have found a church home, and the kids are all growing up so fast. We are a diaper-free zone now, and I never thought that would happen. Haha. I am happy to say that I did not put on the 40+ pounds I worked so hard to lose during this year of ups and downs. And my husband says I read WAY more now that I can't check them out. Funny how that happens. I look forward to this upcoming year, and I WILL complete my BIRTHDAY BUCKET LIST this year, so here goes it. (There will be some returning characters from last years list that are important to me to complete!)

1) Get my 3 planned tattoos.
2) Get my butt into the friggin' state of Florida. (I live too close to have never gone.)
3) Make a raised bed, and maintain my garden.
4) Be a part of a Book Club that meets once a month. I would LOVE it to be themed meetings, yep. I am a dork. So sue me! (Kristyn, can we do this???)
5) Complete at least one 5k and one 10k.
6) Create the reading corner in my room, like I keeping planning. (It's pretty awesome in my head!)
7) Skirts. (I am going to learn to sew, Alannah and I need more skirts!)
8) Have a garage sale.
9) Take a family picture. We have family pictures, but I mean like a photo shoot. :-)
10) Create and stick to a simple workout routine. (Now that the babies get up when they hear me get up, it's a LOT harder to work out after getting Malakai on the bus!)
11) Decide if I am serious about my store plans, I think I am. But 28 seems like a good year to decide what I need to do to go forward.
12) Go home to visit! LONG overdue, and my brother has a baby and a wife now. All these babies back home that I have NOT snuggled with yet!
13) Learn how to do the canning and preserves stuff. :-)
14) Go roller skating.
15) Make pot pies (Yes Amanda, they are easy - I just didn't do it last year. :-/)
16) Have a date NIGHT or DAY once a month. Even if it is a Wednesday, lol. Once a month.
17) 149, enough said on that one. :-)
18) Quit biting my nails.
19) Make some outdoor patio furniture.
20) Make/Find a vanity for Alannah.
21) Make/Find a fort(clubhouse) for the Boys.
22) Collect the cheesy plastic to-go cups from wherever I go!!!
23) Go to Easely Amused... Even if it is by myself.
24) Go back to school.
25) Volunteer somewhere with Malakai.
26) Host Marchgiving. I was an EPIC failure this year. I blame it on the morning of Borders. :-)
27) Blog more! (Twice a week, so 104 posts by my 29th birthday.)
28) Make a quilt.