The Forest...

This weekend we went out on an adventure to search for some huckleberries up in the woods. So after driving an hour and a half we see that there are A BUNCH of people picking berries EVERYWHERE! So we ended up only picking about a handful because either 1) they aren't fully ripe yet 2) they picked them all. So we gave up on the search for huckleberries and decided to explore the various roads on the mountain.

 

 

Sunday Quotes

From Dark to Light...

The last few weeks my kitchen has been upside down while I have been painting it. And let me tell you I am glad I'm done painting it!! It by no means is finished, but the most time consuming part is done at least. The before and after is amazing to me. I knew going from a dark color on the cabinets to white was going to be a huge change, but I never imagained the end result being SO much better. I love it!

 

Both of these pictures where taken at about the same time of day, can you tell how much brighter the kitchen is whith the cabinets painted white!? It's awesome!

 

The kitchen is no where near "finished" but for now i'm one happy girl :)

Sunday Quotes

Chicken Pot Pie

I came across a recipe for turkey pot pie with phyllo crust that I had cut out of a November 2010 Country Living magazine the other day and I decided to make it! My way of course. So in the end it neither has turkey or a phyllo crust, instead it has chicken and a homemade pie crust. Here's what I did and it only took me about 30 minutes to prep everything and about another 30 to bake.

For the Filling:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 small bag of frozen vegetables (I used frozen cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup milk (I used a dairy free milk)
• 1 teaspoon ground mustard
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Half a rotisserie chicken (shredded)

Preheat the oven to 400F

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Add onion powder, frozen vegetables, and garlic powder. Cook until vegetables are tender. Stir in parsley.
2. Sprinkle vegetables with flour 1 tablespoon at a time and stir until it is all mixed in and no lumps. Cook until mixture starts to look a little golden brown. Add broth, milk, ground mustard, and salt & pepper to taste. Stir frequently until mixture thickens. Stir in chicken.
3. evenly divide into two oven safe bowls and set aside.

For the Pie Crust:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 3-4 tablespoons cold water

I put all my ingredients into a food processor but you can mix everything in a bowl.

1. Stir the flour and salt together. Cut in the shortening until the pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water over the mixture and gently mix. repeat until all is moistened. Form dough into a ball.
2. On a lightly floured surface flatten dough with hands. Roll dough from center to edge, forming a circle. Cut out two circles large enough to cover your bowls.
3. Now cover your bowls with the pie crust and make sure to cut some vent holes.

Place into the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
Let cool and enjoy!

Makes about 2 servings.

Dairy-Free Fruit Popsicles

I am not sure what has gotten into me lately, but I have been on a roll branching out and using new recipes. Maybe it's the heat that is putting me in such an adventurous mood. So while I was cleaning out the cupboard (apart from being in an adventurous mood in the kitchen, I've been in an organizing frenzy in the kitchen too) I came across our Popsicle molds that we bought a long time ago and never really used them. So I went online and looked for a recipe for dairy free fruit Popsicles and came across this recipe. But since I didn't have carrots or almond butter, I decided to use what I had on hand. Can you believe it only took 3 ingredients!?

   And the end result was Delicious! Even the Hubby loved them! If you are worried about it tasting like coconut, don't worry it doesn't really taste like anything but creamy goodness. Even the Hubby couldn't tell it was coconut milk, and he HATES anything with coconut in it, he literally won't touch anything that has coconut in it, until now!

So this is what I did:

Ingredients:

·    1 can of unsweetened coconut milk (look for it at your local health food store OR at your local supermarket in the Asian food isle, usually on the bottom shelf)

·    honey or any other sweetener to taste

·    fresh or frozen fruit

This is the kind of coconut milk I used. I didn't have any fresh fruit on hand so I used some frozen fruit that I hand.

Open your can of coconut milk and using a spatula put it in a bowl. Don't worry it's supposed to be separated.

Using a whisk mix it together only until it is fully mixed, don't over mix otherwise you will end up with whipped cream. At this time add your sweetener. Keep adding according to your taste. Then add however much fruit you want.

I added some fruit into the empty container before I poured the mixture into the container. I used a ladle to spoon it in. Beware this can get messy, or at least for me it was.

I love the swirls it created! Now place in your freezer for 30 minutes before you stick your Popsicle stick in. Now just wait a few hours until they are all frozen. To get them out of the molds just run warm water over the molds for a few seconds and then you are set to eat!

And the end result is a deliciously creamy treat that has absolutely NO DAIRY and is super easy to make!

Spaghetti Squash with Peas & Chicken

OK, so I've kinda been on an adventurous roll in the kitchen this week. I had never eaten spaghetti squash before let alone cook it. So I went out and picked one out of the garden and decided to try it! And I'm glad I tried it! It was really quick and easy. It took me about 40 minutes to make this. I used things that I had on hand, including the spaghetti squash from our garden. I got the idea to make this from here, I recommend watching the video if you have never cooked spaghetti squash before, it really helped me a lot!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium spaghetti squash
• 1 cup peas (I only had frozen peas on hand, but you can use any vegetable you have)
• 1 boneless chicken breast (thawed and cooked)

Cut the squash in half length wise and using a spoon, scoop out all the seeds. Then place them face down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Put it in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes or until a knife can be easily poked through. Meanwhile cook the peas or vegetable the way you like and cook your chicken the way you want, I grilled mine :). After the chicken is cooked cut it up into small pieces and set aside. When the squash is done take it out of the oven and (with an oven mitt in one hand hold the squash) using a fork, scrape the flesh out and put in a bowl. Then toss the chicken and peas in with the squash, and serve!

makes about 4 servings.