Those Three Hole Punched Recipes

     Now, what to do with that stack of recipes that you hole punched last week???  Remember, I said I needed a system that was  simple and streamlined to deal with this pile of tear outs that I had been collecting. And I didn't want to spend a big block of time dealing with it.   If you are anything like me, the number of tasks on your DAILY TO DO LIST  far exceeds the number of minutes in the day.  I needed to break it down into quickie  steps.  Your next step is to simply put the whole pile into a binder.  Yes, unorganized and all types of dishes together in one place.  Don't worry, further organization is coming!
     So, now that they are all in a binder you can AT LEAST flip through them and zero in on some recipes to try.
     OK, that took you maybe 10 minutes, tops.  You can be done for now-OR- you can choose 2,3,7 recipes to try this week.  I put my choices in a little folder and tucked them into the binder.  You can simply put them at the top of the pile if you want.  When you make them this week, keep those that you like,make notations on them and put them on the top of the pile in the binder.  Guess what you are going to do with them if you don't like them.  You are simply going to recycle them.  Put them in your recycle bag and take them to your local school or library.  Or make some plant starter pots.  More on that this week.
 

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie With Biscuit Topping

I have had ZERO time for crafting these days so I am going to share a Skillet Pot Pie Recipe that I found on the internet.  I had to tweak it a bit so I'm going to give you MY version.  You can find the original on www.mealsmatter.org.

There is a yummy biscuit recipe that goes with this but I did not have the heavy cream that it calls for so I skipped it.  Normally, I would have made a healthier biscuit, but this time I grabbed a box of Bisquick(which I know is not healthy) and added some goodies to dress them up a bit.  You can even use biscuits in a tube.
Find the biscuit recipe on the box, whip that up but add 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese.  Once they are out of the oven, mix 2 Tblsp. melted butter and 1/8 tsp garlic powder together.    Brush this mixture on the hot biscuits.  Set these babies aside while you make the pot pie mixture.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts(I used thighs)
4 tbl. unsalted butter
1 medium onion, minced (1 cup)
2 ribs celery, sliced thin
4 small potatoes, peeled, diced
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup flour
1/4 c dry vermouth or dry white wine
2 c. chicken broth(I boiled my chicken and used the broth from that)
1/2 c. evaporated milk
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
2 c. frozen peas and carrots, thawed
Dash of pepper


In a pot, add your chicken and 2 1/2 c. water.  Bring to a boil and cook until chicken is done.  Remove the chicken and add the potatoes to cook in this broth.  When the chicken is cool, cut into bite sized pieces.  When potatoes are soft, put aside.
     In your skillet, add 2 tbl. butter, garlic, onion, celery and  cook 5 minutes or so, until onion is softened.  Stir in the flour and cook stirring constantly, until incorporated, about 1 minute.
     Stir in wine and cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds.  Slowly whisk in the broth from the chicken, evaporated milk, and thyme.  Bring to a simmer.  Add chicken, potatoes, and mixed vegetables.  Simmer 5 or 10 minutes to combine.

To serve, ladle up a bowl of the pot pie mixture and top with a biscuit.  Mmmm, comfort food!

  And it doesn't take long to whip up.  It's much faster than making a crust and baking.  If you could plan ahead and have the chicken cooked that will save you time during the regular preparation.  The original recipe  has you pan browning the chicken but since my chicken thighs were half frozen I chose to boil and use that broth!

Let's Tame Your Recipe Tear Outs and Simplify Your Dinner Recipe Search

     If you are a recipe and cook book hoarder like I am you have torn out recipes in piles, folders, boxes or strewn about on counter tops, in files, and tucked into the magazines they were extracted from.  Actually, I'm not that bad. I do have all of my tear outs and newspaper clipped recipes in a pile in my cook book cupboard.  Do I EVER make any of them.  Ah, no.  And why not?  Because I won't ever go through the pile to find that recipe that I ripped out months ago.  Who has time for that? But, I tear out some really yummy looking dishes and hope to make them "Someday".  That's the 8th day of the week - "Someday" - the one that never comes.  Long ago, when I had time,(BHAK(before husband and kids)) I would actually cut out the recipe and glue them on paper and tuck them in a binder.  I have three of those binders and I use them often.  Well, I just don't have time for that anymore  so I tried to come up with a way to streamline that idea so that I could use those recipes without investing a lot of time finding them.  It's not perfect and it's not really pretty, but for me, at this point in my life, it is functional.  That's as far as we can go sometimes, isn't it?
     Here is your first step to using all of those recipes.  This week, I  want you to  accomplish three tasks.  The first step is to collect the clippings and  put them all in one place.
 
     The second step is going to involve a hole punch - preferably a three hole punch.  It will make your life much easier.  Now, three hole punch your stash of recipes.  Actually, you would be surprised at how quickly this will be accomplished with a three hole punch.  If need be, take five minutes, here and five minutes there to get this done. Do it when you are waiting for the onions and peppers to fry or the toast to pop.

     Step three will help you with dinner this week.  During hole punching sessions, pull out a few recipes that you can make for dinner this week.  Now, put all of the recipes back in your pile, file or bag and sit tight 'till next week.  Enjoy those that you pulled out for dinner.  If you liked them, note that on the recipe and put that on the top of your pile.   If you didn't, pitch it.
    That's it for now.  If you don't have time to punch, just collect and stack this week.  Next week we'll put them somewhere.

For next week: You will need a binder or two, depending on the height of your recipe stack.

200 Creative Crafts For You & Your Home - Time for another book review...

I buy books that inspire me.  It is very rare that I actually use a pattern straight from a book.  I swoon over the pictures, log the basic idea in my mental file and learn new techniques that I can apply to my own creations.  Some of my favorite books are older publications that have some great basic retro-type ideas.
     This book, "200 Creative Crafts for You & Your Home"  is packed with exactly what it says, 200 pieces of inspiration.  Most of these ideas are simple and fast to create.

There are two sections to this publication.  The first section, crafts for you, contains more personal craft projects like jewelry, bags and accessories.

The second half of the book has projects for your home including frames, vases, teaspoon coat hooks and furniture.  There are 312 pages of goodness here.

There are so many ideas I have tagged in this book I'll never have the time to make them all, but if you are looking for a quick project-some of which can be kid/teen friendly, give this publication a looksy.  Take the basic idea and embellish to your heart's content.   Out of 200 ideas you are bound to find more than a few that pique your interest.

Winter Outside Spring Inside

We finally got a snowstorm here in Michigan-our first this year! There was plenty of hype and hoopla from the news teams about the huge winter storm with 6" - 8" sure to pack a punch right in our backyard.  I made plans to go sledding with the kiddos in the morning as we were sure to have a much needed snow day.  Yahoo! We woke to 1", school as usual,  no flakes falling but a promise of more snow to come throughout the day.  We ended up with five inches, maybe.  Some big snowstorm!
    But indoors we have been enjoying a bit of spring, courtesy of my Farmgirl friend, Pat.  I received her gift of two bulbs at Christmastime and look what they have grown into.  Lovely!

Notice the stowaway?  Inside my house.  In february.  It's one of those cabbage butterflies-or moths, I think.   I don't know where it came from.  Probably in my closet, eating my wool sweaters!  She was fluttering around my kitchen lights so I invited her onto my finger, ferried her over to the blooms and gently placed her right on top.  She seemed delighted to be there as her proboscis dipped in and out of the blossoms.

Perhaps it was just her time to go  or maybe the nectar was poisonous to her but two days later she was lifeless on my windowsill.  Poor little thing.  It was an amazing  breath of springtime in our little corner of the dining room.

Valentine's Day Silverware Cozies

Whip these little silverware cozies up in a flash, no pattern necessary.  To make these heart cozies, I simply doubled my felt, folded it in half and cut out a half heart.  You know how to do that.  I stitched an easy design and there you have a bright addition to your Valentine table.  Don't just save them for Valentine's day though.  Use them often to show your loved ones that you care.  You can even tuck a napkin in behind.

REMEMBER TO LUBE YOUR ROO!

Winter is rearing its ugly head - finally!  This  snow and cold can be hard on your backyard chickens.  Did you know that a rooster's comb can get frostbitten?  And do you know what happens when a rooster's comb gets frostbitten?  His points turn black and fall off!  That's what happened to Hucks' comb a few years ago.  He is my very suave,  non-attacking, gentlemanly Black Maran rooster.  I actually keep vaseline in the coop this time of year so that I can lube those combs on nights like tonight.  That night, I didn't think it was cold enough to do damage to the boy's combs.  I was wrong.  Sure enough, the next morning, his comb tips were white.  Eventually, they turned black and then...his points fell right off!  So he is point-less!  Poor Huck.  His lovely comb is smooth on the top.  It didn't seem to affect his manhood but it probably makes the hens do a double take.