My 1st Attempt @ Chicken Pot Pie

One of my absolute FAVORITE foods ever is Chicken Pot Pie.

I found a recipe that seemed simple enough.  Again, my food isn't Pinterest quality as far as looks go but was devoured in no time.

1 box refrigerated pie crust (on a Monday I have NO time for made from scratch)
1 1/2 lb rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
3/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 medium potatoes, peeled & diced
3 large carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a pot, boil water and add potatoes & carrots. Cook until tender.

Next, in a seperate saucepan, saute onion with butter.

Add garlic & celery, cook until tender.  Then stir in flour, whisk until well-blended.

Slowly add & whisk chicken broth.

Add seasonings & continue to mix.

Add milk & keep on medium heat until you have reached your desired thickness.

Add carrots, potatoes, peas & chicken.

Roll crust into 9 inch pie pan. Add filling & then layer with other piece of crust.

Bake 50 minutes.  You may want to let the pie sit for a few hours to keep it intact when you cut.  I wasn't so patient ;)

Ooey Gooey Bars

Okay, I'll be the first to admit it. Something I tried off Pinterest that looked flawless wasn't so hot looking coming from my kitchen but BOY is it yummy! Anywho, here's the recipe.

Crust::

1 box butter-recipe cake mix

1 egg

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling::

1  8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1  16 oz. box powdered sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Light grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.  In a bowl, combine cake mix, egg & butter with an electric mixer.  Mix well.  Pat into the bottom of prepared pan & set aside.  Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs & vanilla.  Dump powdered sugar & beat very well.  Reduce the speed of the mixer & slowly pour in the melted butter.  Mix Well.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Pour filling onto cake mixture & spread evenly.  Bake for 40-50 minutes (closer to 50 so it's not too ooey & gooey).  You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't let it stay in too long.  Remove from oven & allow to cool completely.  You can add chocolate & drizzle it on top after cooling for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool for at least an hour & then cut into bars and enjoy!

Homemade Chicken Quesadillas & Hot Salsa

Quesadillas are hands down one of mine & my husband's favorite foods.  But of course, cutting back on our grocery portion of our budget isn't going to allow us to splurge to go eat mexican anymore.  So this week, I got a rotisserie chicken to stretch out over two meals for us (I will also add that this was SUPER easy to make). I decided to try my hand at making homemade quesadillas.  I SUCCEEDED! My hubby loved these more than our local mexican restaurants! And it runs roughly $10 to make 6 of them =)

To make them, I used::

1-1/2 lbs rotisserie chicken
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 onion, diced
1  16 oz tub of goat cheese 
Flour Tortillas

Start by dicing all of your veggies.  Then put them in a frying pan with some EVOO on medium high heat to saute.  While your veggies are on, tear your rotisserie chicken & heat up your goat cheese.  When your veggies are done, make a thin layer of them across your tortilla.  Then make a layer of chicken on top.  And then add your cheese.  I also choose to pour cheese on top of my tortilla once i've folded it up (My name is Amanda & I'm a cheese addict.) Then enjoy ;)

I also made my hubby a tub of homemade hot salsa as an added bonus!

To make my salsa, I use::

1  12 oz jar of hot jalapeno slices, not pickled!

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp cumin

1 onion, diced

1 tbsp garlic

Add all of these in your blender, mix & enjoy ;)