Kid Friendly, Quick and Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Scratchless Chicken Pot Pie

Y'all know my favorite place to be is NOT IN THE KITCHEN! However, I have to be, often enough, so I might as well cook something that BOTH of the kids like and is relatively healthy, easy, and budget-friendly. Scratchless Chicken Pot Pie is just that. Scatchless simply means, NOT FROM SCRATCH! However, if you have a family recipe for pie crust that you want to use, please feel free.

Here it is! Hot out of the oven. My 14 year old son has already eaten 2/3 in 10 minutes. Mom success!

What You Will Need:

How To Prepare:

Open your frozen pie crusts and separate the two, letting them thaw for about 15 minutes.
Take five of the chicken breast tenderloins and boil them for about 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375.
Put your frozen vegetables (I used about 3/4 of the bag) in a bowl with water and microwave for about 8 minutes. Drain water.
Cut up chicken and add to bowl.
Add vegetables, cream of chicken soup, a dash of milk and stir together.
Pour the mix into one of the pie crusts and top with parmesan cheese.

Here's what you have so far:

Almost ready for the oven!

Take second pie crust and lie on top of this one. Cut off the excess. Put slits in top of crust.

Bake for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Final Step:

Let cool and settle or feed immediately to the ravenous kids. This literally is one of the few meals my kids are waiting to eat. I feel so good about myself on these days...I feel like a productive and nurturing mom. It's a nice balance to the frequent complaints and comparisons I get to moms who "supposedly" cook better. 

Enjoy with a crisp, cool salad! Let me know how it turns out. And, of course, you can adapt this hundreds of ways...but here's a yummy place to start.

monicawrites: Garden & Gracie"Here's to Dogs and Digging"Have y...

monicawrites: Garden & Gracie"Here's to Dogs and Digging"
Have y...: Garden & Gracie "Here's to Dogs and Digging" Have you heard of the magazine, Garden and Gun  (  http//:www.gardenan...

Garden & Gracie

"Here's to Dogs and Digging"

Have you heard of the magazine, Garden and Gun ( http//:www.gardenandgun.com) ? It's a niche publication highlighting the best of the south. A friend, with a popular blog, has "Meow Mondays" and it's a hit. I don't have cats and don't really like them - however, I do have a dog and I love playing in the dirt. (However, I don't like when my dog plays in the dirt.) So why not have a series on this blog featuring my family's lovely Jack Russell, Gracie, and the many plants, flowers and trees in my garden....and all things garden-related.

Here's to smart gardening and cute dogs!

Russian Sage

Russian Sage (Persovskia atriplicifolia) is a wonderful plant to have in your garden for many reasons. First, it's drought tolerant, which means it's hardy. Plant in full sun and if it's in the ground, versus a pot, you most likely will never have to water it....I have never watered mine. Secondly, it's a perennial, which means it will continue to bloom each year from spring into autumn and you don't have to do a thing but get excited when the beautiful purplish-blue blooms emerge annually. Third, it attracts bumblebees, butterflies and other beautiful creatures to your yard. And finally, it's long and slender stalk and silvery green leaves accent other flowers, shrubs and plants in your garden.

Yes, there it is in all its glory. I've had to tie mine to the fence so pedestrians can use the sidewalk. But you see what a nice, flowing effect it has.

Fall is the perfect time to plant. You can easily get a gallon size of this plant for around $15. Place it in the soil, water and let it delight you for years to come. 

And yes, now for Gracie. She delights....sometimes. Most of the time, since I tend to be the one primarily home, she's begging for me to throw the ball. But when she sleeps, she's awfully cute. Enjoy!

Why yes, why not use a pillow when I can?

My favorite toy which really annoys mommy.....ha ha ha ha ha!

Thanks for joining me. Enjoy your day. Hope something in here either inspires you or makes you smile or at least distract you for a moment! Please share with friends....Gracie is NOT MODEST.

Apple Smothers

You like my the fancy name? Well, let me tell you how I pulled this one of of my...AIR! (Mind out of gutters, people) 

It's September 11. It's Friday. I've had a cold for over a week. I have to get my son up at 5:50am to get ready for school. I had been awake since 3am. I went back to sleep from 7:30am to 1pm. Yes, I'm lucky I can do that. Then I realized I needed to eat. Don't always like to eat...too much work (kinda like doing this blog, sometimes) Being the only Gluten-Free eater in the house and a penny pincher, I often eat the same things. Today, was really sick of the thought of the same thing. So.....EUREKA! A thought ran like tumbleweed into the next and into the next and the pantry cooperated and Voila.....I bring to you, Apple Smothers (another way of saying apple with whatever toppings you have) Yes, genius, I know.

Gluten-Free, Kid-Friendly and Healthy Go-To Snack
APPLE SMOTHERS

So, what's in this bodacious recipe? There are tons of variations and had my family not eaten my Nestle white chocolate chips they would be on here...ugh. But seriously, whatever you have in your pantry, smother it on an apple and there you go....have it for lunch or breakfast, between meals, pack in your child's lunchbox, or for a healthy dessert. 

This is what I used today:

Yes, that is my left foot. Please just focus on food. Not that great at photos, yet.

Ingredients:

Kind granola bar

Honey nut chex mix

Chopped walnuts, roasted

Jif peanut butter

Raisins

Gala apple

What to do:

Wash apple, whatever kind you prefer. Slice it. Smother, hence the  name, with peanut butter, almond or whatever other nut butter you like. Crumble granola bar and sprinkle on top. Pick out the corn chex mix pieces, smash, and sprinkle on top. Add walnuts, pecans, almonds. Add raisins, coconut, chocolate chips, white chocolate. 

Eat and Enjoy!

Recommended with a cold glass of milk!

Let me know how you enjoy and what variations you create. Enjoy your weekend.

monicawrites: Bita Bullet

monicawrites: Bita Bullet: An Ongoing Tribute to Her Rex Barrington, aka Modo, around the age of  81. That poster behind her is the press release for her novel...

Bita Bullet

An Ongoing Tribute to Her

Rex Barrington, aka Modo, around the age of  81. That poster behind her is the press release for her novel,
"One Good Man."

This her that I am referring to is my beloved grandmother, who passed away two years ago, at the wonderful age of 91. Modo is her name. And well, to put it briefly, she was my oxygen; best friend; soul mate; counsel; and the most amazing woman I've ever known. 

You'll learn A LOT about her over the course of this blog. 

One of her careers was as a writer. She published numerous cookbooks, a novel, and was proud to be a columnist for The Opelika Observer literally until the day she died.

This was her first post - which became a weekly go-to for many. I hope you enjoy!

Who is Bita Bullet?

September 16, 2011 

My pen name, Bita Bullet, was taken from a famous speech made in the 1970’s by President Gerald Ford, who at that time was very concerned about job loss, inflation, OPEC oil prices, Iran, and the many other problems associated with a recession or a depression. He was worried about the high price of gasoline which was almost $1 a gallon and rising. He asked the nation “to bite the bullet.”

Look at President Ford’s problems and just change the price of gasoline, and you have the same problems that are with us today. 

Did we not learn?

As many of my new readers at The Opelika Observer have surmised, my name does come from the bite the bullet phrase, which has a number of different meanings. For Bita, it is the meaning from President Ford’s speech: to be tough, to endure pain and sacrifice, and in an economic situation such as the present, it means to be frugal and to make the most of what you have. Bita’s columns are written on the economy, which simply means they can be on anything because you will be hard pressed to think of any situation that does not have some effect on it. Therefore, these columns will be diverse, but always with an underlying theme of trying to help us get our financial ducks in a row.

Many of the columns will be straight-out helpful hints on how to save money and the readers are invited to send in hints they have found to be helpful during this recessionary period. A bonus from these money- saving techniques is that usually they also help save the environment. Save gas, save money, save the environment.
Officially the recession is over, (Wells Fargo says it isn’t), but many people find that hard to believe in that their personal financial situation hasn’t improved and may have worsened.
Until you really have your financial ducks in a row and such things as a substantial emergency fund, sufficient retirement funds, your children’s (and your) education paid for, no mortgages or other loans, you are debt free and living well within your means and saving from every paycheck, you need to stay on your toes financially.

Our area has been spared the most drastic impacts of the recession. Our two largest employers, East Alabama Medical Center and Auburn University, give us an advantage over many cities where citizens have seen closings and massive job layoffs. This is not to say that we don’t have problems in Opelika, because we do. If you doubt this statement, just check with Miss Martha at the Food Bank.

Prior to 2007, when the possibility of a recession was beginning to be talked about and we watched the economy go from bad to worse, many Americans had never given their financial situation much thought. Then they were forced to face reality, which was that they had been living well above their means and were now in trouble. The same was true with our government.

During the World War II-Depression period, the advice was ‘Use it up, wear it out, make it do’. This has been replaced by the more modern ‘Reduce, reuse, recycle’, but the advice is as good now as it was then. It is not enough now to know how to make money; you must know how to handle it and that takes discipline, which is more important than the training of how to make it. They haven’t made enough money that you can’t flitter it away. You see examples of that every day. You may be an example.

Your comments, suggestions and helpful hints will be greatly appreciated. I look forward to talking with you every week for a long time. Thanks and have a happy week.

This was written by my grandmother at the age of 89! She's got a lot of wisdom. I hope you will come back for more!

Fresh Garden Mango Black Bean Pico de Gallo

Mango Black Bean Pico de Gallo

Mango Black Bean Pico de Gallo
Perfect for the end of summer when mangoes are deliciously ripe!

This is the perfect nut, dairy, gluten, meat free recipe. This is my own creation so feel free to adapt to suit your taste!

All amounts are estimates. I like to be creative in the kitchen and hate being bound by recipes, which is probably why I don't do a lot of baking....you really can't mess this up, though. So don't be afraid all of my baker friends!

Ingredients:
canned black beans
fresh mango
onion
tomato
red pepper
cilantro
fresh lime
salt to taste

Recipe:
Drain the beans. Dice the veggies and cilantro. Squeeze in some lime juice and sprinkle salt to taste. And, of course, add the mango. Tastes better as it has time to sit.

How to Eat:
With chips; over rice; over potatoes; or as I have shown here, over chips with taco meat. A great alternative to plain taco toppings!

Over taco meat and  chips for a taco twist!

Please let me know how you liked it. I'm a new blogger and this won't always be about food. So keep checking back to see what's new at

monicawrites.blogspot.com