Perfect for a picnic or dinner around a fire....

I have to say that this is one of my favorite things to eat and its considerably healthy and best of all, its portable.  And we all know that I love portable food!  A couple of months ago, I decided to indulge and buy myself a little something ... not shoes or clothes .... but a Breville Pie Maker from Williams Sonoma.  Oh my gosh do I love this thing.  How could I not ... its makes my favorite treat in the world ... a pie (or an individual pie I should say) in about 4 minutes.  Yes, you read that correctly ... 4 minutes.  Now you have to keep in mind that doesn't include the time it takes to make the filling or the crust but it is very simple and I absolutely love it. 

Anyway, I have been experimenting with it alot lately and not only have I been whipping out fruit pies but I also made some really exceptional pot pies that are fun to wrap in some wax paper and slip into a picnic basket and eat just about anywhere you want.  And they are beautiful, as well as, tasty!  Go figure!

The ones you see in the image to the right happen to be chicken pies but you can do just about anything from veggie pies, beef pies, enchilada pies to chicken pesto.  Basically, all you have to do is start with a base ingredient like chicken and add all the yummy complimentary veggies and then make a thickened sauce that will tie it all together.  Cheese and other things are optional.  Below, I decided to pass on a basic recipe for a chicken pie that you might like to try.  

Chicken Pot Pie

Favorite pie Crust (rolled out into two rounds)
2 chicken breasts (chicken chopped into bite sized pieces)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp chopped thyme
1/2 tsp chopped sage
2 carrots cut into bite size pieces
2  potatoes cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of frozen corn
1 cup of frozen peas
1 cup of green beans
1/4 cup sour cream
1 can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup

Cook chicken breast in a large sauce pan with 1 cup of water.  Bring to boil.  Add salt, pepper and chopped sage and thyme.  Add carrots, potatoes and celery.  Cook for 8 to 10 minutes.  Add corn, peas and green beans.  Continue to cook for 4 more minutes.  Remove from heat and sour cream and soup.  Stir until well combined. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a pie tin with 1/2 of the pie dough rolled into a circle.  Pour the chicken and veggie mixture into the crust.  Top with the remaining pie round and seal the edges.  Cut a couple of slits in the top of the crust for venting. 

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned. 

Chicken Mac and Cheese ... a new take on an old classic

I just had to share this with y'all!  Chris and I were having a quiet dinner the other night together.  Given our recent cold spell and the stress of the  past few weeks, the ultimate comfort food sounded perfect.

So after the kids were all settled doing there things for the evening, I decided to whip up a really tasty favorite of mine ... a gourmet macaroni and cheese that is made with chicken, bacon (of course), and gorgonzola, muenster and monterey jack cheeses.  Its really not all the difficult and pairs well with a salad of fresh baby greens with herbs, tomatoes, red peppers and a zippy vinegarette (I usually prefer a balsamic or a greek myself).  I also love baking it up in individual baking dishes or ramekins depending on how hungry you are or if it is going to be a side dish. 

Also, you can use any type of pasta that you prefer ... I used ziti in this one because I love the way it looks; however shells or elbows or bowties work fine.  You can also subtract the meat and make it vegetarian by replacing the chicken and bacon with roasted red peppers and sauted mushrooms ... or add them to this recipe if you want some excitement.  You can also increase the amount of cheese in the recipe depending on how cheesy you like it but the gorgonzola should remain the same as suggested in the recipe.

Chicken and Bacon Three Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

4 tbls unsalted butter

4 tbls all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups of whole milk
2 ounces of gorgonzola cheese
1 cup of shredded muenster cheese
1 cup of shredded monterey jack cheese
1/2 box of pasta (ziti, elbow, bowtie, or other)
2 chicken breasts cubed
olive oil
4 strips of bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare pasta according to the package instructions in a 6 quart pan.  Once boiled al dente, drain and return to the pan.  While the pasta is cooking, place the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the cubed chicken breast meat and pan fry until the chicken cubes are browned and cooked through.  Add this to the drained pasta in the 6 quart pan.  Using the same skillet, fry the bacon.  Once crisp, remove the bacon to drain and once cool, crumble into the pasta and chicken. 

Using a small sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the salt and pepper and flour to the pan and whisk together until thoroughly mixed.  Allow this to bubble for about a minute to cook out the flour taste.  Add the milk to the pan whisking while pouring to mix and prevent lumps from forming.  Continue cooking over medium heat, whisking occasionally to prevent sticking until the mixture begins to thicken (like a sauce or gravy consistency).  Now add the cheese to the milk mixture, stirring until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is thick.  Pour this mixture over the pasta and meat in the pan.  Divide among four individual ramekins or baking dishes or place in one large baking dish which has been sprayed with PAM.  Sprinkle the top with a little monterey jack cheese.  Place in oven and back for 25 minutes or until the top is browned and the mixture is bubbly. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  Eat up and smile!

Breakfast for Dinner anyone :)

Another one of Tammy's messes ...

OH MY GOSH ... do I love breakfast for dinner and so do Chris and the kids ... win, win for all of us.  Tonight with the weather looking a little questionable and the prospect of the next few days being breezy, rainy and in the 60's, breakfast for dinner sounded so good.  Plus, since I have been a little tiny girl, I have loved breakfast ... its happy food ... comfort food ... energy food and I am a firm believer that we should all have breakfast to maintain great health.  And let's admit  the fact that I have been under a great deal of stress lately and its catching up with me, so I was in desperate need of comfort in a big way ... ta da ... I found my comfort. 

I whipped up a quick batch of silver dollar pancakes for the kids, a side of bacon and some very pretty over-easy eggs.  Here's the catch....I'm not much of a pancake lover ... never really been my thing, so I decided to whip up a really tasty "hash" out of things from the refrigerator.  It was so, so tasty and I thought I must share because y'all might like it.

It was one of those throw in this ... add that ... a little bit of this and finally throw on some cheese and a couple of eggs ... there it was ... yum!  Now remember ... it wasn't pretty, but sometimes the best tasting things come in an interesting little mess :)

And now I will share my tasty little creation with you. 

Tammy's Fried Green Tomato, Mushroom and Bacon Potato Hash with Eggs
(long title but whatever)

Serves 2

1 small green tomato diced into bite size pieces
4 strips of bacon fried and crumbled
1/4 cup of chopped mushrooms
2 cups of shredded potatoes (hash brown style)
1/4 cup of shredded cheese of your choice but I chose jalepeno jack (of course)
butter for frying ( a couple of pats)
4 eggs

Fry your bacon and crumble.  Set aside.  Drain the pan and add the diced green tomato.  Fry this for about 3 to 5 minutes until it is tender and getting browned.  Now add the potatoes and mushrooms to the pan and a pat of butter and let this fry for about 5 minutes until the potatoes are tender and lightly browned.  Remove from the heat and sprinkle the cheese of the mixture. 

Fry your 4 eggs in butter or cooking oil or spray over easy or to your liking.  In the meantime, divide the potato mixture into two portions and put on plates.  Top with two eggs each.  And then dig in!