As I got older and started paying attention to those dreaded calories and fat, I realized those golden chicken pot pies were not the best food choice so I have stayed clear of them for a long time. All good things come to those that wait for sure because I came across a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie Soup. Thanks to Gina’s Skinny Recipes at Skinnytaste for sharing this awesome recipe that really does taste like those beloved chicken pot pies of my stay home summer days!

Chicken Pot Pie Soup – Original recipe can be found by clicking here.

• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups water
• 4 cups fat free milk
• 1 large celery stalked chopped
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 8 oz baby portabella mushrooms
• 2 chicken bouillon – I used one as the bouillon often contains a lot of sodium
• fresh ground pepper
• pinch of thyme
• 10 oz frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, corn, green beans) – I did not have this on hand so I cooked fresh carrots, used one can of corn and a small bag of frozen peas.
• 2 potatoes peeled and cubed small
• 16oz cooked chicken breast, diced small

Combine 1/2 cup of the cold water with the flour in a medium bowl and whisk until blended. Set aside.

Pour the remaining water and milk into a large pot and slowly bring to a boil. Add the celery, onion, mushrooms, chicken bouillon, thyme, pepper, vegetables and return to a boil. Partially cover and simmer on low until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. ( If you cook your own carrots like I did, do not add them in at this time since they will already be soft.)  Remove lid and add potatoes and cook until soft. (I cooked mine for 10 minutes.) Add the chicken, and slowly whisk in the water/flour mixture stirring as you add. Cook for another 2-3 minutes until the soup thickens. Add a dash of pepper to taste.

So delicious! It really does taste like Chicken Pot Pie! I had some pie crust in the freezer that I let thaw and cut into heart shapes. I baked them at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.  I HAD to have some crust!

See those little cubes of chicken and potatoes? Just like I remember from my Banquet Pot Pie Days. Thanks again to Gina for sharing this recipe that brought back many great memories and gave me back chicken pot pie. For those of you using  the Weight Watcher’s Point Plus program, a 1 cup serving serving is 4 points. A 1 1/2 cup serving is 6 points. Both of these values do not include the crust. For more nutritional information and more tasty WW recipes head over to Skinnytaste.

It’s all good. ~ Donna

Ingredients I used for this recipe. Wendy’s version can be found here.

1 sweet onion, cut into wedges

1 medium zucchini, sliced in 1/2 lengthwise

1 red bell pepper, cheeks removed and sliced into strips

1/2 pound button mushrooms, stemmed

2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Roma Tomatoes – Sliced into thick strips  (I would have liked to use grape tomatoes but they were $4.99 for a small container!)

1 package Sweet Italian Sausage

1 bag Gnocchi Pasta

1/4 cup white wine

Parmesan Cheese for Garnish

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Cut the onions, mushrooms and zucchini and place in a bowl. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss to coat and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Arrange on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes so they start to  caramelize. (You want them to brown deeply.) Start getting your tomatoes ready by slicing them if you are using Roma or if you are using grape then toss them into a bowl with the remaining olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. When your 15 minutes timer is beeping at you, take out the veggies that are cooking, flip them over and add the tomatoes. Cook all veggies together for another 15 minutes.

Cook the sausage. Love that sweet sausage. Start boiling your water for the pasta/Gnocchi.

Pour yourself a glass of white wine. Proceed to drink. Turn up the heat on the sausage and deglaze with white wine. Sip your wine as you stir the meat.

Hello Gnocchi!

When the veggies are ready, set them to the side to cool for a bit. Chop them up to get ready to meet the sausage.

Add the veggies to the sausage, add your pasta and mix together. Add your freshly grated Parmesan on top and you are ready to eat!

Wendy you are so right! This dish is a winner! Thanks for sharing and friends hop on over to see Wendy at Kiss That Frog. That girl  has  got it going on in her kitchen!

It’s all good ~ Donna

This a package of the quick seasoning mix I used to pick up. Some of those ingredients I hadn’t heard of and we had been eating that mess.

These are the ingredients to make your own homemade taco seasoning.

4 tablespoons Chili Powder – (My Dad says Gebhardt is the best so he sends it to me from Texas since I can’t find it here in Georgia.)

3 tablespoons Ground Cumin

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Paprika

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Mix all the ingredients  together to blend.

You get this pretty color mix that smells so good!

To prepare taco meat I cooked 1 pound lean ground beef, added 2 heaping tablespoons of the spice mix and one cup of water. I cooked until most of the liquid was gone.

For this taco salad I added a can of corn and black beans rinsed and drained. I served up with Tostada chips, avacado, lettuce, tomato, cilantro and topped with cheese.

So fresh and tasty. I love the flavor of this seasoning mix and no more store bought for us! Thanks to Annie for sharing the recipe and stop by her site. She has many wonderful other recipes to share!

It’s all good ~ Donna

]]> http://www.mysweetthings.com/2010/03/21/homemade-taco-seasoning/feed/ 2 http://www.mysweetthings.com/2010/03/18/thai-beef-lettuce-wraps/ http://www.mysweetthings.com/2010/03/18/thai-beef-lettuce-wraps/#comments Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:12:15 +0000 Donna http://www.holzerian.com/dblog/?p=387 On one of our recent Sam’s Club runs I stopped by the book section like I always do. They have such a great selection of books at terrific prices. Most of my teenage vampire novels have come from there! Yes, I read teenage vampire novels. You know you love Twilight! Team Edward! Anyhoo, back to the book section….I came across the book Cook This Not That!. This is one of the best little cookbook guides I have ever purchased! It lists dinners that you would find out at restaurants and it breaks down the price and calories you would be eating if you ordered the listed menu items. I was really not that surprised at how many calories are consumed eating out. Have you seen the Red Lobster commercial where they dip that lobster in that vat of butter? So good but yet so bad. We have tried many recipes in Cook This Not That and have not been disappointed yet!

In this book you will find many great recipes covering  ethnic dishes, appetizers, vegetarian dishes, breakfasts, desserts and beverages.

On the bottom of the page you will see the  calorie difference between the restaurant version and the home cooked version as well as the price difference of cooking at home.

For the Thai Lettuce Wraps you will need

12 oz flank, skirt or sirloin steak

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 tbsp hot sauce

2 tbsp fish sauce – This smelled so bad but tasted really good when cooked!

Juice of one lime

1/2 red onion sliced

1 jalapeno pepper – I left this out

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 carrot grated – I thinly sliced baby carrots because that’s all I had.

1 head Bibb lettuce, leaves separated

Heat the grill or pan over high heat for at least 5 minutes. Season the steak with salt and pepper and toss onto grill/pan. Cook for 4 minutes on each side until it’s firm but yielding to the touch. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Combine the hot sauce, fish sauce and juice of one lime in a small saucepan over low heat.

Slice the steak thinly and drizzle half the sauce over it. Use the lettuce leaves like tortillas and fill with the steak, carrots, onion, and cilantro. Drizzle a bit more sauce on top and add just a squeeze of lime juice.

These were so delicious! We did not have any other sides as this meal was all in one!

If you are out shopping at Sam’s Club look for this book. It was $10.00 and so worth it. I also saw it at Target for $18 but I’m sure most book stores will carry it and there’s always Amazon where it’s currently selling for $13.47. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

It’s all good ~ Donna

These are the spices I pulled out to check. No date on the front.

No date on the back. There is an address though. Like I would write them? Hello. It’s called websites.

On the bottom they have these number and letter codes.  No date. No luck. I headed to the McCormick website for information and I found a nifty little spice checker! You can enter the code and then add the city the spice was made in.  The address comes in handy after all.

I entered the codes and the city and here is what I found.

This little message. “The 2000 election lasted way too long. Your spices have outstayed their welcome too.”  Your Spice was made on 5/4/2000

WHAT?? I was 33 years old when this spice was made? My husband was 20? Weeps. I packed and moved it twice?!

“Hobbits were everywhere and lawyers were blonde. If your spices are from 2002 it’s time to replace them.” Your spice was made on 9/13/2002

I can’t even remember what happened in 2002. Where was I? Who was I?

“Dinosaurs ruled the theater. If you have Jurassic spices then it’s time to make them extinct.” Your spice was made 9/19/1993

In 1993 my youngest son was 2 years old. I stilled lived in Texas. That means this spice was moved across County and State lines into Georgia into 3 different houses! This is bad.

“Baby Doll dresses and clunky shoes use to be a fresh look , but like your old spices, they’ve lost their flavor.” Your spice was made on 11/2/1995

I don’t know which is worse, that I still have the spice or that I still have the clunky shoes?!

This little spice did not have a code on the bottom. Well, thank goodness for that! I get the message. My spices are Expired! It seems I really did not use them very often as some of them were still quite full. They were sitting nice and pretty in the back of the pantry. Just hanging out sharing stories about Elections, Dinosaurs, Blonde Lawyers and High Fashion.

So long my old friends. Thanks for the few good times I enjoyed you. You are expired. Say Goodbye.

It’s all good ~ Donna

P.S.

The lighting in my house is not so great due to the beautiful large trees that surround it. I found a large box, placed a white foam board on it, took a small white box for the background and used a white poster board to reflect the light. I placed this in front of my back living room window and I was very happy with the results! No flash used only natural light with my Canon and 24-70 lens.

Ingredients – Quick – I can’t stand the look of raw chicken!

Chicken Breasts

French’s Fried Onions

Egg

That’s it. REAL Simple!

Pour  some fried onions into a baggie and smash them up! This particular tool I got way back sometime in the

1990’s at a Crab Shack outside of Corpus Christi, Texas. Ah. Good Times!

Take that egg and scramble it up, pour it into a dish. Throw those breadcrumbs on a plate.

You can also shake the chicken in the baggie if you have that nifty gallon size which I did not use so plate it is!

Dip the chicken in the egg….then the breadcrumbs and place in baking dish.

Bake chicken uncovered in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or

you can…..

Take your camera out of Aperture Priority Mode because you decide you

 want to shoot Manually and have this happen!

OR this!

BAD IDEA!

Well, this dinner was a good idea. Very flavorful and crunchy and yummy!

Even better when your husband kicks in and whips up a Caprese Salad! Sliced Beef Steak Tomato, Mozzarella Cheese,

Basil from our garden, splash of Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Salt and Pepper. Another fast super easy dish!

Dinner is served!

This is Mia, who could care less what we eat for dinner and is giving me the evil eye. Perhaps that hat

has something to do with it?

It’s all good.

~Donna

Anyhoo, Ladies and Gentleman, I give you Parmesan Chicken!

List of Ingredients:

1 clove garlic, minced

1 stick unsalted butter melted

1 cup dried bread crumbs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

A large pinch of Italian Seasoning

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 lbs of skinless, boneless chicken – I used chicken breasts

Melt butter and add minced garlic.

Add the dry ingredients and kindly introduce them.

Mix them around so they can mingle!

Dip the chicken in the butter and garlic. This shiny chicken is grossing me out but it is part of this chicken

adventure so I quickly paste the image and move on..

Dip  the chicken in the crumb mixture to coat. “Hey who invited this chicken to our mix?”

Place coated chicken in a baking dish and bake in a preheated 450 degree oven.

But wait! I forgot to drizzle the left over butter, garlic mixture over the top of the chicken, so make sure you do

that before you bake.

After I put the chicken in the oven, I looked over and saw this mess. So what did I do?

Put off doing the dishes and took pictures of my favorite things in my kitchen!

This little coconut  mask got damaged in our move but still has a place in my heart.

I snapped this photo and saw the nice cobweb and thought I should dust but kept doing this…

Taking more photos!

The coconut masks I personally carried across the Mexican border. When I lived in

San Antonio a visit to Mexico was a short trip and the shopping was awesome.

This little switch plate, I crafted myself! Yes. I did. I will show you how in another post.

But….after a little diversion…here is the Chicken Parmesan!

I baked for 15 minutes and then another five and when the juices ran clear it was ready and it was Tasty!

It’s all good.

~Donna

My husband and I did some traveling so a few weeks went by before I had the chance to use it but I knew it was there sitting pretty and patiently for me to open it. One afternoon after work it was time for us to officially meet. I unpacked my pretty and learned how to use all the blades. My son came into the room and I quickly showed him the power of slicing a potato in seconds. I was thrilled! He was not so impressed. “Uh, okay Mom. Good job.” He giggled at me and walked away. What else could I chop in seconds? Onions! Dice, Dice, Dice in seconds. Cuisinart, where have you been my whole adult cooking life? I am so happy you are here! Well, now I had sliced potatoes and diced onions so scalloped potatoes came to mind.  My mom gave me a Betty Crocker cookbook many years ago and I knew I could count on Betty for a recipe. Sure enough, Betty Crocker came through and we had delicious scalloped potatoes for dinner that night.

Hello Friend!

Cuisinart meets Potato. It’s a death match. Guess who wins?

Potato down and sliced in seconds. It really was no match.

Good try Onion. Maybe next time.

Ingredients for this recipe.

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups milk

3 cups potatoes peeled and thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

Recipe and instructions straight from Betty Crocker.

Butter meet Onion. Be kind. He fought hard.

Salt and pepper’s here and we’re in the mix….

You are not alone….the sauce is on it’s way!

The gangs all here. Ready for some hot stuff. Hello 350 degree Oven.

All done.

Very warm and tasty and thanks Cuisinart for the slice, and dice thrills!

Pepe on the other hand is not so thrilled. Don’t take it personally Cuisinart. You

always have a friend in me.

It’s all good.

~ Donna

I remember my brother and I walking home from school to stay with Grandma. We would drop our school bags and settle in. She would ask if we were hungry and we could always count on a bean and cheese taco as an afternoon snack. She would cook them on the comal and they were toasty and oh so tasty. (For those who have not heard of a comal, it is a griddle or grill typically used in Mexican cooking to cook tortillas, toast spices, sear meat, and generally prepare food.) My Grandma would make fresh tortillas daily. Looking back I really appreciate all the hard work, effort and love she put into feeding her family.

Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas I was spoiled by delicious mexican food. I have not been able to find the same flavors in Georgia. When we visit home  we always stock up our on tortillas, tamales and barbacoa. When my family comes to visit they always bring us the taste of home.

I have in the past attempted making flour tortillas. I have tried to channel my Grandma and sadly have not succeeded. There is not a written recipe for her flour tortillas. She took pinches of ingredients and created  warm goodness. My attempt was tough, and pancake like with no flavor. I decided to once again attempt the flour  tortilla. I searched for recipes and came across a blog named Homesick Texan Perfect! I myself am a Homesick Texan and only a Texan would know the flavors I was looking for. I read through the recipe which you can find here. Skimming the ingredients list I noticed there was no lard involved. What? No lard. My Grandma had that lard out on her counter. Everything tastes better with lard right?! I put my trust into Lisa and her recipe and guess what? They were amazing! The right color and texture and taste…oh my!! Thanks again to Lisa the Homesick Texan. Thank you. Thank you.

List of Ingredients used for this recipe.

Two cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Mixing it up.

Nice ball of dough.

Letting the dough rest.

Rolling it out.

Not so perfect but look at how it’s forming bubbles. Bubbles mean it will have dark spots when you flip.

This is one case where dark spots are a good thing!

Big bubbles. This is a good thing.

Yes! Brown Spots! Not so perfect circle but brown spots I am happy to see you!

All done. Notice that nice bokeh (small white circles) in the background. Not planned but I like it!

Hello Lovelies. I am soooo happy to see you!

Dinner is served! So wonderful and so like home! My husband and kids were smiling,

I was smiling. It’s the little pleasures in life! This recipe is a true Texas Tortilla Recipe.

My taste test was eating it with just plain butter and it was heaven. The recipe made nine tortillas

and throughout the process of making the dough balls, rolling, and flipping, I kept thinking of my

Grandma who used to make dozens of flour tortillas daily. What a woman!

Thanks again to the Homesick Texan for posting this delicious recipe. We are happy to have homemade

flour tortillas in our home!

It’s all good.

~Donna