Chicken Salad in a Pita

A light and tasty lunch. I didn't used to even like chicken salad until recently, and now it's one of my favorite lunches! I whipped these pita pockets up quickly this afternoon since it is a  bread that doesn't have to have a long rise time.
-Amanda

Chicken Salad in a Pita

1 recipe of Homemade Pita Bread (I used 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white this time)
1 baked chicken breast (I bake up about 8-10 at at time with just olive oil & salt and then freeze them for use in casseroles or dishes like this!)
3/4 cup grapes cut in half
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2-3 tbsp of real mayo (you could also use thick greek yogurt, which is tangier)
dash of salt
some shredded lettuce

Cut pockets in half. You may have to use a serrated knife to gently open the pocket. I used my Magic Bullet to shred the chicken breast, but a mini-food processor of any kind would work. Add the cut grapes, walnuts, mayo and salt. Stir until well incorporated. Stuff pocket with lettuce and top with chicken salad. I served mine with a diced apple and chopped raw carrot.

Homemade Peanut Butter

Sometimes when I make something homemade for the first time, I just have to laugh and wonder why it took me so long to try and make it from scratch! This peanut butter is delicious and tastes nothing like jarred peanut butter. I'm so thrilled I think I'm going to try almond butter next. I bought my peanuts in a bulk bin at the store already roasted (no salt) but they still had the skins on. My twins helped me peel all the skins off the nuts, which was fun since the three of us sat around the table concentrating on slipping the skin off each nut. (For photos, visit my personal blog.) Next time I'll try and buy nuts that don't have the skin, but even so, it was still simple.

I don't have a recipe, I just did it by "feel" and taste. I started with about 3 cups of peanuts in my food processor. I pulsed for about 30 seconds, then I drizzled in some honey (a tablespoon or so.) Then I added a few pinches of salt and about 3-4 tablespoons of peanut oil until I got a consistency and a taste that I liked. I read that homemade peanut butter will be good in an airtight container in the refridgerator for 2 months.

I made my girls grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches on homemade wheat bread for dinner, a childhood favorite of mine.

Another Beef Taco

I have really been enjoying the homemade from scratch cooking I've been doing. Everything tastes so much better. Meals have become simpler because the ingredients are more complicated. Instead of fixing a fancy side dish to go along with these tacos, I cut up a fresh pear, because my focus was on making homemade wheat tortillas. I used to take about 30-45 minutes to cook a meal. I got this one on the table in 30 minutes and everything was fresh. My dough was already prepared ahead of time, but I did roll it out and cook it in the 30 minute time slot.)
-Amanda

Another Beef Taco

8 small tortillas
1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 small red bell pepper
1 small onion
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
salt to taste
favorite cheese as garnish

Saute beef in a large skillet (I prefer cast iron.) When it is about half way cooked, add diced onions. Add seasonings as beef is still cooking (oregano, chili powder, cumin and salt.) Add corn and last bell pepper. Cook just a few minutes, but leave bell pepper a bit crunchy. Put about 1/4 cup of meat mixture on each tortilla and grate fresh cheese on top. Serve with fresh fruit.

Homemade Graham Crackers

In attempt to get processed foods out of our diet, I needed to ditch the store bought graham crackers and gold fishies. These are so great with a bit of all natural, no sugar added apple butter! I have not made my own apple butter... yet! I'm still in the baking realm of homemade cooking, I have not ventured into canning. I have dabbled a bit with a few condiments (ketchup and bar-b-q sauce.) I got this graham cracker recipe from Not Dabbling In Normal. Although next time I make it I'm going to sub some of the butter for coconut oil, and instead of white flour I want to try white wheat flour. (I also used a food processor instead of doing it by hand.)
-Amanda

Graham Crackers
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole barley flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp clove
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
1/4 cup milk

Combine flours, sugars baking powder, cinnamon, salt and cloves in a food processor. Add chilled butter and pulse until crumbly. Add milk and mix until you get a stiff dough. Knead the dough lightly to be sure it is smooth. Cut into 2 pieces and flatten each into a rectangle. Wrap the pieces in plastic wrap and chill until firm (at least 1 hr.)

Preheat oven to 350degrees. Working with one piece of dough at a time, turn out onto floured parchment paper and roll until it is 1/16 inch thick, the thinner, the crispier the cracker. Trim edges (use the trimming later for another batch) and you will have about a 9x12 inch rectangle. Cut into squares and prick with a fork, transfer to baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned 12-15 minutes. Cool on rack.

Corn Relish

I'm not a huge fan of chicken legs. I'm one of the crazy people that prefers white meat over dark meat. But we've been eating a lot of chicken and I was getting tired of the same type of dishes. These chicken legs went on sale and so I thought I'd change it up a bit. I marinated them in a quick homemade bar-b-q sauce. I don't have the recipe for that because I kind of just kept adding and tweaking until I liked the flavor. I used: 1 can of diced tomatoes, some grated onion, a few tbsp homemade brown sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, dried pepper flakes, vinegar, salt & pepper. I added a squirt of my homemade ketchup, and then let it simmer until thickened. Then I pureed it and marinated the chicken in half of it. The rest I reserved to serve with it. Here is the recipe for the corn relish:

Corn Relish
2-3 ears of fresh corn
1 small red bell pepper, diced
1/4 red onion, diced small
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 springs fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp dried
1/8 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Saute the onion, garlic and bell pepper in a skillet. When they start to get tender, add the corn. Add cumin, oregano and salt. Last remove from heat and stir in cilantro. 

Carrot & Applesauce Puree

Lately my two year old twins have gotten picky about certain vegetables. I think it's a phase most two year old's go through, but I'm determined to power through it and get to the other side. Right now, they love peas almost every time you serve it to them. Broccoli on the other hand is hit or miss. One day they "love" broccoli, the next day it is, "yucky, NO like it!!" As for mushrooms, Izzie likes them, Maddie has eaten them on accident. And for reasons beyond my comprehension, they don't like carrots. I thought carrots were supposed be one of the "give" veggies that all kids liked. They don't like them raw, cooked, shredded or roasted. Today I decided to go back to the babyfood days when they actually loved carrots and puree them. I got the idea watching Food Network. On some of the fancy cooking shows the contestants will serve a "puree of blah blah blah vegetable." I always laughed at the critics who were basically eating baby food and saying how wonderful it is. Now all this is to say, I made pureed carrots for the girls, and they did turn them down, but I'm going to serve them again at dinner and see how it goes. I think the fact that they saw me make the carrots was my downfall in this instance. One success I've had with the girls is to offer the same vegetable several meals in a row, until they get so used to it, they don't think about "not liking" it.
-Amanda

Pureed Carrots & Applesauce
for a Toddler palette (I hope!)

2 large carrots
1 tsp olive oil
pinch of salt
1/2 cup plain, full fat greek or organic yogurt
1/4 cup natural, no sugar added applesauce

Cut carrots into round slices and place them on a cookie sheet or roasting pan. Drizzle olive oil and salt over them and toss to coat. Roast in the oven at 475 degrees for about 25 minutes or until tender. (They are great for adults this way! I pulled out some for me to eat at this point.)

Scrape all the carrots and oil into a blender. Add yogurt and applesauce and puree until smooth. This dish is really sweet, too sweet for me, but if you like sweet vegetables, I'm sure it would be a good side dish even for an adult.

From Scratch Chicken Pot Pie

I have a potluck dinner to go to tonight so I decided that a Chicken Pot Pie would be a great dish to bring.
-Amanda

From Scratch Chicken Pot Pie

Pastry recipe from: Betty Crocker's Cookbook, bridal edition.
Two-Crust Pie
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp shortening (cold)
4-5 tbsp ice cold water

Place shortening, flour and salt in food processor. Cover and process, using quick on and off motions, until mixture is crumbly. With food processor running pour cold water all at once through feed tube just until dough leaves side of bowl. Dough should not form a  ball.

Gather the crumbs into a ball on your counter. Divide into two. Shape into a flattened circle on a lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll pastry out on lightly floured surface using floured rolling pin, into circles 2 in larger than the upside down pie plate. Line pie dish with crust. Fill with the chicken filling (see below.) Top with a second pie crust rolled out the same way.

Chicken Filling:
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pint mushrooms
1/2 cup frozen carrots
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 chicken breasts
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup milk
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chicken broth
salt, pepper, thyme, oregano

Dice one small onion into small pieces and saute in a large skillet with olive oil. Add garlic. Cut chicken into small pieces. Add the chicken to the onions. Saute until chicken is half way cooked. Add chopped mushrooms, frozen carrots and peas. Season with salt, pepper, oregano and thyme. Make a slurry of milk and flour. When chicken is cooked through, add flour slurry and stir. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, continuing to stir. Add chicken to pie filling and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.