Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

ConAgra HEB Meal Maker Challenge Vote for Me Logo - Final (2)

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
pot pie ingredients

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.

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

frozen veggies

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

chicken and veggies

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

individual chicken 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.

individual pot pies

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Approximate Time: 35 minutes

Delicious homemade individual pot pies. Great with chicken, turkey or even just veggie.

Ingredients

  • 1 (16 oz) bag frozen veggies
  • 1 (10.5 oz) can Cream of Mushroom Soup with Roasted Garlic
  • 1 can crescent rolls
  • 1 pre-cooked roasted chicken (about 3 C. once shredded)
  • Salt, Pepper and Hot Sauce (if desired)

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F
  2. Saute' one bag of frozen veggies until tender
  3. While the veggies are sautee'ing - shred the pre-cooked chicken
  4. Once the veggies are ready; add the soup and chicken. Stir in freshly ground pepper and salt to taste. Cook until bubbly
  5. Fill 6 individual pots or an 8X8 baking dish with the veggie/chicken mixture. Add hot sauce to the individual dishes for the adults and stir.
  6. Top with crescent roll dough
  7. Bake about 15 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown and fully cooked
http://asouthernfairytale.com/2011/08/22/homemade-chicken-pot-pie/

 

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

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

ConAgra HEB Meal Maker Challenge Vote for Me Logo - Final (2)

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



Southern Fried Chicken Strips with Chili Garlic Dipping Sauce

This started out as a post to share a chicken strips and dipping sauce recipe
chicken tenders SL
A recipe, that I’ve adapted from Southern Living and to introduce a fabulous giveaway and yet (as often happens) this went completely away from me.

Am I the only one who starts out with one idea and ends up with something completely different as an end result?

Y’all know that I am all kinds of Southern.

I believe that being addressed as Ma’am and Sir are not signs of disrespect or getting older, but signs of respect and Southern Tradition.

I believe in Sweet Tea and Moon Pies, Manners and Morals, the healing powers of Fried Chicken and Grits and that Y’all is a completely acceptable form of address.

{/tangent}

Well, the other day this adorable young lady from Time.Inc contacted me about Southern Living and my interest in working with them.

It took less than two shakes of a beaver’s tail for me to say; “yes, I’d love to and here’s how I would love this partnership to grow”

Well, bless her darlin’ heart, she was right on board and although they’ve featured me as a Mama Blogger of the week, I’m not sure she actually realizes what she is getting them in to.

In the mail today I got a couple of Southern Living Magazines, an All You Magazine and a Southern Living Cookbook {swoon}

Southern Living Cookbook

I spent a good 30 minutes flipping pages, bookmarking and realizing that this cookbook is a simple, instruction book to Southern Cooking for those Southern and Not.

This book will walk you through the Why, How, What, How To, Why You Should, and What to Do of Southern Cooking.

Many of these recipes reminded me of my Granny’s well worn recipe cards, recipes shared in hushed whispers in church kitchens and the tradition of junior league cookbook fundraisers.

The pictures are gorgeous, the instructions are simple and the notations are wonderfully easy to follow for the southern and non-southern alike.

{I’m giving one of these away, stay tuned]

My kids are absolute chicken tender fanatics and my husband and I love anything chili and garlic.

I found the recipe for Chicken Tenders with Come Back Sauce and the fact that I had 85% of the ingredients and it mentioned chili sauce, made the decision for me.

I set out to make them, and since I’m completely and utterly unable to leave any recipe alone and make it as written….. I did it my way, with what I had on hand.

As any good southern girl (and ex-southern-restaurant manager) would do, I soaked the chicken in buttermilk and seasonings

chicken in buttermilk

Please, for the love of all that is lovely and delicious and southern

  SOAK YOUR CHICKEN IN BUTTERMILK PRIOR TO FRYING

{ahem}

Buttermilk Chicken Soaked Southern Fried Chicken Tenders

Prep Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Approximate Time: 4 hours, 21 minutes

Yield: about 16 strips

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Cut the chicken breasts into equal strips size strips or nuggets
  2. Combine chicken, buttermilk and seasonings into a dish or ziplock baggie, seal/cover and refrigerate for 3 to 5 hours
  3. Mix 2 C flour and 1 Tbsp seasoning in a shallow dish and set aside
  4. Remove chicken from fridge
  5. Dredge chicken through flour (for a super thick crispy skin, dredge through flour, dip back into buttermilk and dredge through flour again) and set aside, repeat this step with all strips
  6. Pour oil into a cast iron skillet or dutch oven, about 2 inches deep.
  7. Heat to 350 (yes, this needs to be exact)
  8. Fry chicken about 5 pieces at a time, this takes about 5 or 6 minutes, turn halfway through until chicken is golden brown on each side.
  9. Lay to drain on a draining rack/cookie cooling rack placed over newspaper or paper towels to cool and drain
  10. Serve with favorite dipping sauce
http://asouthernfairytale.com/2011/07/21/southern-fried-chicken-strips/

 

The chicken tenders are fabulous.

Tonight, the dipping sauce way outshone the chicken.

I made asparagus in the skillet to serve next to the chicken tenders.

I dipped the asparagus into the dipping sauce and that, is where my planned evening went awry.

OH MY HOLY HELL.

OH MY HOLY TONGUEGASM.

asparagus in dipping sauce

Seriously, y’all.

The side dish and sauce far outshone the main dish on this one.

I could totally see serving this sauce drizzled over grilled asparagus, I drizzled it over what we had left, turned around to get my camera and Nathan had snatched half the plate and gone back to our room with it!

asparagus with chili garlic mayo sauce

as a dressing for salad, a complement to my favorite burger…. the possibilities are endless

Chili Garlic Mayo Dipping Sauce

Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Approximate Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Yield: 3 Cups

Serve this as a dipping sauce, a salad dressing, a sandwich spread

Ingredients

  • Adapted From
  • My Version
  • 1 C. mayonnaise
  • 1/3 C. chili garlic sauce
  • 1/4 C ketchup
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 2 tsp coarse freshly ground pepper (about 12 turns for my grinder)
  • 4 tsp Worcestershire
  • 4 tsp Dijon Mustard
  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 medium onion, minced
  • 2 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 C olive oil

Instructions

  1. Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium size bowl
  2. Cover and chill, for at least one hour.
http://asouthernfairytale.com/2011/07/21/southern-fried-chicken-strips/

 

I can’t even begin to tell y’all how much I love this recipe, the cookbook and Southern Living in general.

The lovely people at Southern Living have offered one of the Southern Living Cookbooks and TWO Southern Living magazine subscriptions to my readers.

Here’s the deal.

THREE of y’all will win!!!

One person will win the Southern Living Cookbook

Southern Living Cookbook

Two others will win a subscription to Southern Living Magazine (one of my favorite magazines for recipes, decorating and inspiration)

How To Enter:

Mandatory:

Leave a comment telling me: What your favorite Southern Recipe is, or what Southern Recipe you’d love to learn how to make

Bonus Entries:

Tweet this giveaway and leave the Tweet URL in the comments

Subscribe to A Southern Fairytale through e-mail or reader and let me know in a comment (I can verify this)

Follow Southern Living on FB and tell them where you came from, leave that in the comment

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is 4 possible entries per person! :-)

This giveaway is open from 7/21/11 to 7/27/11 at 10:00 PM CST

Good Luck, y’all!

 

Rosemary Citrus Garlic Crockpot Chicken

[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

crockpot

 

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:

rosemary garlic citrus bowl

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

rosemary citrus chicken prep

 

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

citrus rosemary 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.

rosemary citrus ready to crockpot 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.

rosemary citrus chicken crockpot style

 

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.

rosemary citrus crockpot chicken plated

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]

[print_link]

: Citrus Garlic Crockpot Chicken with Rosemary
  1. 1 head of garlic, sliced
  2. 4 medium lemons, sliced
  3. 4 medium limes, sliced
  4. 2 medium mandarins, sliced
  5. 1 large yellow onion, sliced
  6. 4 to 5 fresh rosemary stems
  7. fresh cracked black pepper
  8. 1 (5 lb) whole chicken
  1. Slice the citrus and the onion
  2. Slice the entire head of garlic
  3. Layer the onion, the slices of 1 lemon, 1 lime, a handful of garlic and 1 mandarin in the bottom of the crockpot
  4. Fill the cavity of the chicken with garlic, lemons, limes and mandarins
  5. Place the chicken in the crockpot and top with the remaining lemons, limes, mandarins, garlic and rosemary.
  6. Garnish with fresh cracked pepper
  7. Cook on low for 8 hours

* add 2 sliced jalapenos for a nice kick of heat

* if you are worried that your fruit might not be ripe enough, remove the peels.  Unripe citrus will leave a bitter taste.

 

 

[donotprint]
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

[/donotprint]

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