Recipe: Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie

This is one of my favorite recipes...but Johnny and the girls are not a fan because somehow I gave birth to two children who don't like cornbread and...well Johnny is just weird. ;) 

Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie 

Ingredients:

1lbs cooked chicken breast, cubed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup 
1 can green beans, drained
1 can diced peas and carrots, drained
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar
1/3 cup milk
2 pkgs Jiffy corn muffin mix 
2 large eggs

Directions: 
Turn the oven on to 425. 
Combine the chicken, soups, and vegetables and 1/3 in a 9x13 pan. 

Put the pan in the oven while it's preheating. 
In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, and corn muffin mix. 

Pour cornbread on top of chicken mixture and smooth out to the edges of the pan. Be careful not to mix the cornbread and filling together. I typically try to make the cornbread topping thinner in the center and thicker on the edges. 
Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until cornbread is golden brown. 


(pictured also with a regular chicken pot pie that I made for Johnny...which is basically the same filling but using regular pie crust)

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A post shared by Candi Pride (@tinycandi) on Jan 25, 2020 at 6:43pm PST

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A post shared by Candi Pride (@tinycandi) on Oct 8, 2018 at 9:26pm PDT

Recipe: Beefy Rotini Skillet

Tried a new recipe tonight! It is actually a recipe I've had from my Campbells Collection cookbook I got in 2003, but I made a few changes and we tried it tonight. It was pretty tasty...Aubry had two bowls and even picky Ashlyn had a full helping! And the best part is that it is SUPER easy to make. :) I served it with a side of green beans.

Beefy Rotini Skillet 

Ingredients:

2lbs ground beef
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 can cheddar soup 
1/4 cup water
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder 
16oz rotini pasta, cooked according to package 
1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese 

Directions: 
Brown hamburger and drain. Return to pan. 
Combine the rest of the ingredients except the shredded cheese and mix well. Heat through on low heat. When finished, top with shredded cheese. 

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A post shared by Candi Pride (@tinycandi) on Jan 23, 2020 at 7:38pm PST

Recipe: Crackpot Chicken

We had Crackpot Chicken for dinner tonight. It's one of Aubry's favorite things to have for dinner. Even picky Ashlyn likes it! This is another recipe that I make in the pressure cooker and it is super easy. I like to serve it with a side of candied carrots (or plain buttered carrots for Johnny). :P

Crackpot Chicken 

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (I use frozen chicken breasts for convenience)
2 cups chicken broth, divided 
1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix 
8oz cream cheese, cubed 
4 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar 
16oz cooked penne or rotini pasta
top with bacon bits, if desired

Directions: 
Combine 1 cup chicken broth and ranch dressing mix in pressure cooker. 
Add chicken to pressure cooker. Cube cream cheese and place ON TOP of the chicken.
Lock and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Naturally release pressure for 6 minutes. 
Remove chicken and cube. Return to pot. 
Add remaining broth and cheddar to pot.
Turn pot to saute function. Cook until all cheese and cream cheese is melted, stirring often. 
Once everything is melted, add cooked pasta to pot and mix well. 
Serve topped with bacon bits. 

*I used the CooksEssentials 8qt Oval Pressure Cooker for this recipe.

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A post shared by Candi Pride (@tinycandi) on Jan 22, 2020 at 9:18pm PST

Recipe: Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

I usually prefer to make vegetable beef soup, but Johnny requested beef stew...so I made beef stew. ;) It smelled amazing while cooking and tastes great. I served it with crackers and biscuits as well.

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew 

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs of stew meat
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

3 tbs of oil, divided
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 tsp dried minced garlic
1lb carrots, peeled and sliced into 1" pieces
3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1"-2" pieces
4 cups beef broth
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 can tomato sauce
1 tsp Italian seasoning 
1 can peas

Directions: 
Turn the pot on to Saute setting. When the pot is hot, add 1 tbs oil. 
While pot is heating, whisk together flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge stew meat in flour mixture. 
Sear half of the meat on all sides (3 minutes then stir, 3 minutes then stir, 3 minutes then stir).
Remove the meat to a plate or bowl. Add 1 tbs of oil to the pot. 
Add the last half of the stew meat and sear on all sides as before.  
Remove the rest of the meat. Add 1 tbs of oil to pot. 
Add chopped onion and minced garlic to oil in pot. Saute until onion is soft and brown. 
Add beef broth and stir to get all cooked bits off bottom of pot. Return stew meat to pot.
Stir in carrots, potatoes, Worcestershire sauce, and Italian seasoning. Pour tomato sauce on top (do not stir). 
Close and lock pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes. 
Let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes before releasing rest of steam. 
Remove lid. Add peas to stew and stir to heat through. 

*I used the CooksEssentials 8qt Oval Pressure Cooker for this recipe.

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A post shared by Candi Pride (@tinycandi) on Jan 15, 2020 at 6:48pm PST

Insomnia strikes!

I hate when you're just watching the hours tick by and counting how much sleep you're NOT going to get when you have insomnia. I've gotten through (re)watching the entire last half of the second season of Scandal tonight. :P

Work has been slow since the holidays. This past weekend I took advantage of the downtime and got some work done around here. All the boxes and stuff of Johnny's mom that we moved out of the storage unit and old house were just haphazardly "organized" so I went through everything and organized them into more logical categories. I also wrote on each of the boxes specifically what are in them so that if we ever need to retrieve something MIL needs, we will know exactly where it is. I got them all sorted and put away (at least where they are temporarily until we clean out the basement and garage) but while I was in the middle of it, our living room looked like a tornado went through. Well...if tornadoes left everything organized into logical piles. ;)

Ashlyn is still sick. Now it's mostly just fatigue and weakness since she hasn't been eating much. She can't stand for very long before having to sit and take a break. So she hasn't been at school. Hopefully she will be feeling better soon. I contacted all her teachers tonight and Aubry is going to pick up her homework tomorrow so she can get started on that while she's home.

Aubry spent the last part of the week and into the weekend at the Kansas Thespian Festival. It was the first time she had gone to something like this and she had a good time. It's still hard to believe that she will graduate in a few short months!

But...I suppose I should try to get some sleep now. :P Goodnight!