Each recipe must fit these requirements: 10 ingredients or less, can be made in under 45 minutes and feed a family of 4. This is all to help give y’all new ideas for great back to school dinners. By the end of this challenge, y’all will have 32 new recipes to choose from! Every day during this challenge you have the opportunity to vote on the Meal Maker Back to School challenge Facebook page for your favorite blogger. The top 2 voted bloggers will get to go head to head in a live cook off challenge in San Antonio on August 28th at H-E-B!! The cook-off will be presided over by George Duran!

This week’s secret ingredient -

H-E-B frozen veggies

I use frozen veggies for so many things: stir fry, pasta, casseroles etc…

I decided that for our #HEBack2School family friendly meal challenge, I wanted to make individual pot pies.

My kids love personalized servings, and so do I.

These chicken pot pies are ridiculously easy and so delicious.

Traditionally, I like to use pie crust for Pot Pies but my kids *begged* for flaky crescent rolls instead. They love the sweetness that they add.

One 1 lb (16 oz) bag of your favorite HEB frozen veggies, 1 (10.5 oz) can Cream of Mushroom soup with Roasted Garlic, 1 can Crescent Roll Dough, 1 pre-cooked whole roasted chicken (I used the H-E-B lemon pepper flavored one — lemon pepper chicken is the first dish I ever made for my husband, so that flavor holds a special place in our hearts)

Sautee’ the frozen veggies in a skillet until just softened

While the veggies are softening, shred the pre-cooked chicken

Add the chicken, Cream of Mushroom Soup, Salt and Pepper to the veggies and cook until bubbling.
For Nathan and myself, I add a dash of Hot Sauce and stir it into our pot pies

This is where you top each pot pie with crescent roll dough. It’s super easy, you just stretch and wrap to fit. Like I said, I prefer pie crust dough, I can cut it to fit and I prefer the flavor, but my kids loooove the sweet flakiness of crescents.

Bake at 350 until the tops are golden brown – this took about 15 minutes in my oven.

it’s Week 4 – Here is a round-up of my recipes:

• Egg Muffins
• Dippin’ Dogs
• Peanut Butter, Apple and Bacon Sandwich

Don’t forget to check in on the other 7 Meal Maker Challenge Competitors and get some more delicious recipes!!!

If you’d be so kind – take a moment and go vote for me on the Meal Maker Challenge page

For my part in this Meal Maker Challenge, I am being compensated and have received some products (some of which you can win – more about that later) All opinions, recipes, thoughts and ramblings are completely my own.

Happy Monday! I love seeing what y’all are sharing.
I get inspired and I often drool over what y’all are feeding your friends and family.

• Link up one recipe that you’ve posted over the past week.
• Only link up a recipe that you’ve created
• Link back to Mouthwatering Monday in your linked post
• Share the love
• Visit 3 or more other MWM participants

[donotprint]I love my crockpot.

My childhood memories are filled with the scents of pot roasts and onions and crockpot cooking welcoming me home from school in the afternoon.  Savory soft carrots and potatoes infused with the flavors of garlic and pepper and slow simmered in a true roast gravy with onions.

{drool}

As an adult, I love the simplicity of it, the ability to toss ingredients into a gadget, walk away and come home to a delicious smelling house and a full meal that is produced almost effortlessly.

A couple of months ago, my crockpot bit the dust.  I did what any self respecting blogger does and I hit up twitter and Facebook.

Y’all were very adamant —

The only crockpot is a REAL Crock-Pot

Y’all know when you get a new kitchen gadget how you feel bound and inspired and challenged and determined to use it to make your very next meal?   What? Is it just me?

So — I pulled out one of the few things that I’ve never cooked in a crock-pot; a whole chicken and got to thinking.

I looked into my pantry to see what was on hand and I found a few of my staples:

Garlic, lemons, limes and onions. As an afterthought I grabbed the mandarins out of the fruit bowl and clipped some rosemary from my newly planted bush by the front door. (#win) and I sliced it all up

Doesn’t that look like an afternoon at a good beach club?  Drink garnishes and the scent of rosemary and garlic — heaven.

Y’all — if you have a spot — plant some rosemary, it smells divine, grows easily and is pretty much a fabulous addition to about any dish.

Back to the crockpot.

Place the onion slices, slices of 1 lemon, 1 lime, 1 mandarin and a handful of garlic in the bottom of the crockpot

Stuff the chicken with a handful of garlic, slices of lemon, lime, mandarin and 1 rosemary branch

Place the whole chicken inside the crockpot and top with– rosemary and the rest of the garlic, lemons, limes, mandarins and some fresh cracked pepper.

Place on low and cook for 8 hours.

Resist the urge to remove the lid and dive in.

Resist the urge to remove the lid and swim in the aromas wafting from the crockpot.

Just. Resist.

Until the warmer light goes on — then, feel free to dive in to the piece of art that is this amazingly flavorful savory, tangy, sweet, moist chicken dish of awesome.

I warn you, the chicken falls of the bone.

When you go to remove this from the crockpot, it’s fall off the bone tender.   With the exception of the bones and the rosemary branches, every single bit of this dish is edible.

My friend ate the limes without realizing they were limes, it is THAT good.

This dish is ridiculously easy, amazingly delicious and the smell.  Holy hell y’all, the smell.  You want to dive in and lick your crockpot. [/donotprint]

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I love seeing what y’all are linking up and feeding your family and friends.
Thank you for sharing the link love, commenting and linking back — <3

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