Baked Carrot Fries

There isn’t really much to say about this “recipe” except that these “fries” are delicious and the color goes with the season. Have a Happy and safe Halloween everyone!

What You’ll Need…

1-2 Carrots (Per Person)

Olive Oil

Garlic Powder

Dried Parsley

Pre-heat your oven to 400.

Peel and cut your carrots into sticks. Remember, one large carrot per person.

Once the carrots are cut line them on a greased baking sheet and sprinkle with garlic powder and parsley.

Lastly, drizzle with olive oil. This helps the spices stick to the carrots.

Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until soft.

Enjoy along with regular baked fries or by themselves. Either way you do it you can enjoy these delicious carrots plain or with your favorite dipping sauce.

Fall Chicken Pot Pie

Before a few weeks ago I hadn’t had chicken pot since I was a kid; well I made it for the first time and it was amazing. This recipe is full of vegetables, chicken, and flaky, buttery pie crust. It’s definitely worth the time that it takes to make it.

As for the pie crust, I’m including the homemade crust recipe that I used, but you can always use store bought pie dough; it just won’t be the same.

What You’ll Need…

Flaky Basil Pie Dough:

2 ½ Cups Flour

1 Teaspoon Salt

2 Sticks Butter (Really cold, cubed)

5 Large Fresh Basil Leaves (Chopped or cut.)

½ - ¾ Cup Very Cold Water

Chicken Pot Pie:

1 Ball of Pie Dough

3 Large Chicken Breast Halves

½ Large Onion (Chopped)

2 Carrots (Chopped)

2 Ribs Celery (Chopped)

1 Large Handful Fresh Green Beans (Cut into bite-sized pieces.)

5 Large Mushrooms (Chopped)

1 Cup Frozen Corn

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Cups Chicken Stock

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

4 Tablespoons Flour

Fresh Basil (To taste)

Dried Parsley (To taste)

Pinch Salt

1 Egg

Start out by making the pie dough. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, salt, and basil. To the combined dry ingredients add the very cold, cubed butter. To combine, use a pastry cutter, forks, or your hands. No matter what you mix with, do it quickly so that butter doesn’t melt. The mixture is combined when it looks like coarse sand and the butter is the size of peas. Now add in the water, slowly, and mix until slightly combined. At this point turn the “dough” out onto a floured surface and knead the dough until it is combined. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, overnight works even better.

Now onto the actual pot pie; bake the chicken breasts at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Be sure to check that they are fully cooked before adding them to the pie.

While the chicken is baking start on the vegetables. You can cut the vegetables to any size that you like, but I find that bite-sized pieces are easier to eat; and they cook a lot faster. Once the vegetables have been cut sauté them in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. The carrots and beans take longer to cook than anything else, so start with them.

The vegetables should be done before the chicken, so move onto the best part of the pie, the “gravy”. In a sauce pot combine 2 cups of chicken stock and one can of cream of chicken soup. Allow the gravy to heat up, stir every once in a while. After about five minutes add 4 tablespoons of flour and whisk to combine. The sauce will thicken up like a béchamel sauce. Once the sauce has thickened, turn off the heat and add a pinch of salt, basil, and parsley.

When the chicken is cooked through remove it from the oven and allow it to cool slightly, so that you can work with it. At this point removed your pie dough from the refrigerator. When the chicken has cooled cut it into bite sized pieces. Combine the chicken and vegetables in a mixing bowl and mix.

Now, on a floured surface divide the pie dough into two and roll bowl pieces out slightly larger than the pan that you are baking the pie in. Carefully place the bottom crust into the dish and make sure that it covers the sides. At this point place the baking dish on a sheet tray so that there isn’t a mess later. Pour the chicken and vegetable mixture on top of the bottom crust and top that with the “gravy”. Be careful, all of the gravy may not fit; don’t worry, just save that for on top. Carefully place the top crust on top of the pie and seal the edges.

Cut a few vents in the top so that the steam can escape and brush the entire top crust with a beaten egg.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Enjoy by itself, topped with extra gravy, or even topped with a piece of your favorite cheese.

Vegetable and Lentil Soup

It’s fall! That means that it’s time for pumpkin, apples, and soup. Homemade soup is so much better than the stuff that comes out of a can; although I do keep canned soup in the house. So, gather up all of your vegetables and get ready to make some delicious soup. This is a base recipe, but you can add anything you like to it. Brussel sprouts  and kale are great additions.

What You’ll Need…

4 Cups Low Sodium Vegetable Stock

4 Cups Water

1 Cup Lentils

1 Bell Pepper (Sliced)

½ Large Onion (Large Dice)

1 Large Handful Green Beans (Cut into bite sized pieces)

2 Carrots (Large Chop)

2 Ribs Celery (Large Chop)

1 ½ Cups Frozen Corn

1 Tablespoon Parsley

1 Tablespoon Basil

1 Tablespoon Flour

Start out by placing the lentils in a small bowl and cover with water so that they can begin to soften.

Now, move on to chopping the vegetables. The sizes listed above are just what I did, but you can cut them into any size you like. Once the vegetables are cut move them to your slow cooker along with the lentils.

Cover the vegetables with 4 cups of water and 4 cups of stock. Allow the soup to cook on low for 4-6 hours.

One hour before serving add the corn, spices, and flour, stir thoroughly.

Serve plain or with crackers and topped with cheese.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Lasagna

That’s right; pumpkin isn’t just for pies anymore. I know, pumpkin lasagna might sound weird, but believe me, I didn’t make this up. I was actually inspired to try this when I saw Rachel Ray make pumpkin lasagna on her Week in a Day show. As you know, I like to tweak recipes and make them my own; so I didn’t even open her recipe, but used what I remembered from the episode and made my own, delicious dish.

What You’ll Need…

1 Package Lasagna Noodles

1lb Ground Meat (Any kind you like.)

5oz Fresh Spinach

1 15oz Can Pumpkin Puree

4oz Goat Cheese

1 ½ Cups Frozen Corn (Optional)

2 Cups Milk

3 Tablespoons Butter

4 Tablespoons Flour

Salt

Pepper

Pinch Nutmeg

Oregano (To taste)

Parsley (To taste)

Herbes de Provence (To taste)

Pre-heat your oven to 375.

If you are using dry, boxed noodles start out by bringing a pot of water to a boil.

While you water for the water to boil move onto your meat. Brown the meat and then set it aside. At this point the water should be boiling, so add your pasta and allow it to cook until al dente.

Once the pasta has cooked, drain it and set it aside. Place the corn in a small pot with ½ cup of water and allow it to cook.

While the corn is cooking we move onto the béchamel sauce. Start out by putting 2 cups of milk into a pot and allowing it to heat up, slowly. Now, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large pot. Once the butter is melted add the flour and whisk them together for about a minute so that the flour taste cooks out. At this point remove the larger pot from the heat and add the milk. From the point that you add them milk whisk the sauce until it thickens up. You will know that the sauce is done you draw a line in it on the back of a wooden spoon and the line stays. Turn off the heat and add a pinch of salt, pepper, and nutmeg to the sauce and stir thoroughly. At this point the corn should be done.

Mix the corn with the meat, oregano, Herbes de Provence, and parsley.

The last step before layering the lasagna is to mix the can of pumpkin puree with one egg and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Now we begin to layer. Start out by greasing a 9 x 13 pan. Place a thin layer of the sauce as the first layer. The second layer should be pasta, the third sauce, the fourth the meat and corn, the fifth pumpkin and the sixth goat cheese. After the cheese start the process over again, but start with pasta instead of sauce.

After the second layer or cheese place the last layer of pasta and top with the remaining béchamel sauce.

 

Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

After removing the lasagna from the oven allow it to rest for about 5 minutes. This is so that everything can tighten up, and so you don’t burn your mouth.

Top with Parmesan cheese and fresh basil and enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

It’s fall! You know what that means; it’s pumpkin and apple season! While I don’t have any new apple recipes yet, and you can expect at least one in the next few months, I do have a new “pumpkin” recipe. I use the quotation marks because these cookies have a slight pumpkin flavor, but there is no pumpkin used, and the cookies are more about the flavor of the spices and of course the chocolate.

Now, this recipe is fairly easy, it is a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe, but it does require a “specialty item”. The chocolate chips in the traditional recipe are replaced in this recipe by Pumpkin Spice Caramel Ghirardelli Squares chocolates. According to their website this flavor is available at Wal-Mart and Target.

Just to make everything a little less messy, freeze the chocolate for at least half an hour before you cut them so that the caramel is solid.

What You’ll Need…

1 Cup (2 Sticks) Butter, softened.

¾ Cup Granulated Sugar. (I used cane sugar and it gave the cookies an added crunch.)

¾ Cup Brown Sugar, packed.

1 Teaspoon Vanilla (If you like vanilla, just add a little more.)

2 Eggs

2 ¼ Cups All-Purpose Flour.

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

½ Teaspoon Salt

½ Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

8 Pumpkin Spice Caramel Ghirardelli Squares (Chopped)

Pre-heat your oven to 375.

In a large bowl beat together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Once combined, add the eggs and beat well.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. I find that this is easiest with a whisk. Once the dry ingredients are mixed slowly add the wet ingredients and combine.

When everything is mixed well add in the chopped chocolate.

At this point drop the dough onto a greased baking sheet. The size of the cookies depends on your personal preference. I like larger cookies so I use a tablespoon to scoop out the dough; if you like smaller cookies you can use a teaspoon. Don’t use measuring spoons for this part, use spoons that you actually use to eat with.

Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes; this all depends on how you like your cookies.

Once removed from the oven allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet before moving them to a cooling rack.

The amount of cookies that this makes depends on the size of the cookies. If you make smaller cookies it should make about 4 dozen, a batch of larger cookies should yield about 2 dozen.

Also, this recipe is super easy to double.

Enjoy!