Friday, March 14, 2008

Things kids say...

I taught elementary art for five years, and taught over 1000 kids in that time. As a teacher you hear some great takes on life from kids. I found a list of my favorite kid sayings from when I taught.

"Look at my picture Mrs H! ....and this is Jesus' horse because it can fly!" - kindergarten girl

"Mrs. H, I am going to Alabama over spring break. Yeah, I am going to be homesick...no, wait carsick." - 1st grade girl

"My grandma likes to sew, but she died so she doesn't get to do it anymore." - 1st grade girl

"Does Chuc Norris know anything about airplanes?" - 2nd grade boy

"...butt doctors make a ton" - 4th grade girl

"My grandma says I am a Christian, but my dad says I am a Republican. I guess I am just half and half." - 4th grade boy

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe makes dinner, plus two other dinners as you'll freeze two pies.

2 pkgs. - Pillsbury Deep Dish Frozen pie crusts (4 pie tins)
1 pkg. - Pillsbury Refrigerated rolled pie crust (2 rolls per box)
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream chicken soup
1 - 16 oz. pkg frozen peas & carrots (or mixed veggies if you like)
4 tbsp margarine or butter
4 tbsp Flour
1 cup milk
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
3 medium sized potatoes peeled, cooked, and cubed
3 hardboiled eggs -chop the whites and the yolk

Prep:
- Tell husband you will cook tonight, if he will clean the kitchen.
- Remove pie crusts from fridge to thaw.
- Boil eggs. Remove shell & chop cooked Eggs.
- Cook & cube Chicken (optional: reserve broth from cooked chicken)
- Peel, cut, & cook potatoes in boiling water
- Boil frozen veggies for 3 minutes.

In large pot melt margarine, stir in flour. Whisk in chicken broth, cook until smooth & bubbly. Stir in cream of chicken soup, and then the milk. Cook until mixture thickens, stirring constantly.

Make a pie crust assembly line with 3 pies of the pie tins (the remaining one will be one of the tops.)

Add cut cooked chicken, eggs, veggies, potatoes to pot with soupy mixture. Gently stir in each ingredient before adding the next.

Use 3 pie tins for the bottom of crust. Add 3 cups of mixture to each pan.

Fill pie mixture to the crust. Carefully lay the remaining pie crust on top of one of your pies and pinch the crust. Cut slits to let steam escape. Unroll the 2 packages of refrigerated pie crust and place on top of the other two pie crusts. Cut off extra dough, pinch the edges, and cut slits to let steam escape.

Cook pies at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Freeze remaining pies by placing in large ziploc bag. Write cooking instructions on top of bag before freezing. Remove bag for cooking.

Look at the disaster zone which is now your kitchen. Be glad you didn't skip step 1 of the prep.

Note: A frozen pie takes forever to cook, like 2 hours. Ideally, put a frozen pie in the fridge in the morning, and then put it on the counter to defrost around lunchtime. It will still take about 45 min - 1 hour to cook then.