The shepherd didn't do this one...

I ripped off the shepherd's pie tonight. No ground meat, no peas.  Tonight was "use what you got" night. What I had was split chicken breast and time on my hands.  It was one of those weird Saturdays where I had a lot of different things to accomplish but still wanted to make a hearty dinner.  Shepherd's pie seemed to be the ticket! It seems more appropriate to call it Farmer's pie since I used a chicken!

I put four split chicken breasts on to boil and ran off to vacuum the husband's truck out. Okay, I don't really recommend you leave your chicken boiling alone. I have a small house. I kept coming back inside to keep an eye on my chicken. I did not want it flying the coop while I was making my husband happy!

Once the chicken was done, I carefully removed it from the bones and skin and shredded it.

Next I chopped about 2 pounds of gold potatoes (left the skin on) and put them to boil in the remaining chicken broth until tender.  While they were boiling I opened two cans of Campbell's Cream of Chicken and Herb soup and mixed it with one soup can of milk. I put this in the bottom of my 13" x 9" glass dish.

I added my shredded chicken to the soup/milk combination. Next I defrosted frozen Lima beans. I was out of peas. I am NEVER out of peas but for the first time, I was out of peas. I had to chose between edamame or Limas. I chose the Limas. I defrosted them to keep them from causing the casserole from taking to long to heat through.  I did this in the microwave.

Next I defrosted some crinkle cut carrots.  I like to keep frozen carrots on hand as I just don't always get to use fresh ones up before they go bad.  Sometimes I feel guilty about this but then I shrug my shoulders and am grateful that I have the modern conveniences of a freezer and frozen vegetables!

By this time, my golden potatoes were tender. I drained them and added one stick of REAL butter and a splash of milk and mashed them with a hand masher.  A liberal dash of salt and heaping dash of pepper was also added.  Spreading them over top the carrots, Limas and chicken mixture, into a 350 degree oven it all went for 25 minutes.  It heated through very well and came out hot and tasty!

So, I don't think the shepherd would have made this pie, but definitely the farmer! Or at least this silly wife and mother who wanted to feed her family!!

Smoked Ham and Potato Soup

The weather has begun to change. Its time to roll out the soup recipes. What better time for a hearty soup when my two favorite men at home are sick?  I think a good strong soup always makes a body feel better!

The main ingredients in this soup are as follows:

Back to my favorite Cumberland Gap smoked ham, cut into small to medium dice
(1) 3 pound bag of golden potatoes, cut into even small chunks - try to keep as close to the same size as possible so the cooking time will be the same
(2) medium onions, diced
(6) cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
olive oil
butter
(3) cans of Campbell's Cream of Chicken and Herb soup
(4) soup cans full of water
(1) cup of heavy cream

Chop your onions and put in the bottom of your soup pot with a turn or two of olive oil and two tablespoons of butter on medium low heat.  Dice the ham and add in.  Next add your smashed garlic.

While your ham and onions sizzle and marry, dice potatoes.  It is not necessary to peel the potatoes when using golden potatoes. The peel adds a nice texture.  Dicing them to even slices allows for even cooking time.  When they are all sliced, dump them all on top of the ham with the garlic and onions.  Next add the three cans of Campbell's Cream of Chicken and Herb soup and the (4) soup cans full of water.  Allow this to come to a boil and then reduce heat and cover and let simmer for at least 20 minutes.

Check the potatoes to see if they are done.  When the potatoes are tender, add (1) tablespoon of butter and (1) cup of heavy cream.  Allow the butter to melt and stir in the heavy cream.  Allow to heat through for about 10 minutes and then serve.

This was a thick, hearty soup that was warm and comforting. It was very easy to make and made my two men feel better. I hope you try it!

Chicken Pot Pie....sort of

Tonight was all about fast. I had a bag of shredded chicken leftover in the refrigerator I needed to use.  I had a can of biscuits.  I had a conversation with my friend Shannon about what she was going to do with her chicken tonight. We talked about pot pie and I started craving it. But I did not feel like fixing it very much. So I dashed off to the grocery store for some frozen veggies (I did not feel like dealing with all the chopping and peeling of fresh so don't fuss!) and some Campbell's Cream of Chicken and Herb soup.  This is how I threw (and I really did just throw) it together.

In the bottom of a pan that I rubbed with some butter I put a layer of shredded chicken. To the top of that I sprinkled some Soul Seasoning, Garlic Powder and Parmesan cheese.

Pardon my shadow fingers in that picture!! Oh well.....I really stuffed the chicken in the bottom of the casserole dish.  Next came the layer of vegetables. I used two bags of an Italian vegetable mix that had zucchini, carrots, lima beans, peas, cauliflower, peppers, beans and who knows what else!

I mixed two cans of the Campbell's Cream of Chicken and Herb soup with one and half cans of milk well mixed together.  This became the next layer over-top the chicken and vegetables.

And then for the next "cheating" part, I took two cans of biscuits and put them on top of the casserole and put it in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes until the biscuits are brown. I then put a sheet of aluminum foil on top to protect the biscuits from further browning and let it heat for another 10 minutes so that the vegetables and chicken and gravy could get good and hot.

As you can see from the picture I cheated even further....I used a foil aluminum pan so I did not even need to wash dishes! I had a fast, yummy stress-free dinner.