Chicken pot Pies

I came up with this one today after looking at some ideas on pinterest. Here it is! It's fairly easy to make.


Start with Flaky Pie Crust here on the blog. This recipe will make 4 individual pie crusts or one big one. I made 4 individual ones today. It should look something like this:

After you have your pie crust you will want to make your filling. I used chicken gravy mix for the sauce and added cooked potatoes, mixed frozen vegetables and some of a rotisserie chicken.

I put the top of the pie crust, put them on a cookie sheet and baked them for 35 minutes! The smell will kill you!

Here is the recipe:

For filling
2 cups water
2 packages of chicken gravy mix
1/2 cup frozen vegetables
1/2 cup cooked potatoes
1 cup rotisserie chicken


I really hope you all enjoy this one! Excuse my bad photography. I just point and shoot. :)

Flaky Pie Crust

My Mother in law is amazing at making pie crusts! I don't know how she does it and I wish I knew how to make pies as well as she does. My favorite has to be her strawberry pie. Here is an awesome pie crust recipe I've used for YEARS! My mother in law recommends using butter shortening.

3 Cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cup shortening
1 egg beaten
1 TBS vinegar
1/4 cup Ice water

Mix flour and salt together and fluff a bit. Cut shortening into flour mixture using a fork or pastery cutter until flour looks like small peas. Mix together egg, vinegar and ice water and slowly combine together (I don't always use ALL the water mixture in flour depending on humidity)

This makes
2 Pie shells
1 Pie crust with top
4 personal size pies (As I found out today)

Bake as directed on your pie recipe or if there isn't one bake at 400 for about 25 minutes and check on it until golden brown.

2nd Labor and Delivery visit.... This MONTH!

That thought alone kinda freaks me out. I really don't want next month to be like this month.
Here it is, in not so much of a nutshell.
On Sept 12th I experienced intense pain in my chest. It was then that I went to L&D and they monitored Brooklyn and found that nothing was wrong. They sent me on to ER where they discovered gallbladder disease. At that point my liver enzymes were still in "Normal range" but on the high side.
Fast forward to Sept 22-24 I noticed a difference in the color of my urine (I know, people don't usually talk about this stuff. I'm not afraid though) Mine was ORANGE, that's right orange. That can mean basically one thing in my condition. That a gallstone was stuck somewhere and bile was filling into my digestive system and being processed by the old kidneys. Which is a very very bad thing. Basically the bile then gets into your blood stream and you can develop jaundice. You know, when you find bilirubin in your blood. Anyway, they did a urine test and a comprehensive blood panel. when I say THEY, that was my sergeon. Mind you, there are two doctor's right now that I'm trying to work with. Well, my sergeon called me later on that day and said, "Looks like you have protein in your urine, follow up with your ob for antibiotics." And that was the beginning, I should have known!
25th, I called my ob's office and had them pull the blood and urine report that was done. My liver enzymes are DOUBLE what they were on the 12th and I had high bilirubin. I get a call from my OB himself saying that he doesn't like the level of my liver enzymes and if I really have protein we have a problem. Get my butt to L&D. Well, a little while (about an hour) we made our way in without a 2 year old because that's the last place we need her all hyper. They repeated all the tests. My enzymes are still high, no protein and my bili levels are back in normal range. They sent me home with order to collect pee for 24 hours.
26th, OB called again recently and explained. Liver enzymes are one thing they use to diagnose people with preclampsia. They aren't positive if my liver enzymes are due to my gallbladder or not, but now it makes it harder for them to diagnose the preclampsia. They now have to rely on what my urine tells them and what my blood pressure is. I'm still collecting urine for the protein test which I will find out tomorrow and in the meantime my blood pressure is still good. He hasn't given an exact decision at this point, but I know what it's going to be. Preclampsia can only be resolved with the delivery of the baby. At this point that means that Brooklyn would be 12 weeks early. Hopefully that doesn't happen and I'm going to try to relax and hopefully have good news tomorrow.

Pink Frosted Sugar Cookies and Baking Tips!

I have always known that I loved baking. I grew up always experimenting with all kinds of baking. My dear mother had way too many sweets in the house when I lived there because I love to create and I don't always help with the eating of the creation. :) Maybe that's why she's loosing weight and looking great!!!!  Anyway, I came across this recipe the other day while looking for desert ideas. Jaron and I threw a baby celebration party and we aren't really fond of cakes and cupcakes. I haven't found a recipe of them that I love yet. However, he saw this recipe and said, "I want you to make that one." So if the hubby wants it, he usually gets it. Plus, who can give up an opportunity to bake because I sure can't.

I worked in a bakery for a little while and I feel like I learned a lot about baking being there. Plus, I always had my fill on sugar stuff I never made anything the whole time I was there! haha. Baking tip I'm explaining today has to do with cookies. When you bake cookies you usually need to be careful about how you bake them. If you don't mind crunchy burnt bottom cookies then overbake all you want. Most people don't like it. So here's what I learned. Say I'm making a chocolate chip cookie that is a little dense and supposed to be chewy. You want to bake until the tops are golden brown. There are a few shades of brown, but stick to the light shade and it won't disappoint. When you take the cookies out of the oven you want them to sit on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. A baker at my job once told me that cookies continue to bake after they come out of the oven. Taking them off of the sheet right out of the oven stops the baking. Depending on how soft or hard you want your cookie is how soon you take them off the sheet. Typically with a light brown top you want to leave them on the sheet for at least 2 minutes to finish their cycle.

Sugar cookies are entirely different. They are very dense and meant to be soft all around. You want to bake them until the BOTTOM of the cookie is a light/medium brown and after baking IMMEDIATELY take them off the sheet onto a cooling rack. This is because you never want to overbake a sugar cookie. With that tip, I introduce the recipe Jaron requested. Get the original recipe HERE.

Cookies:

6 cups all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 c. butter, at room temperature
2 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. Salt
1 1/2 c. sour cream

Frosting:

1 c. butter, room temperature

1 t. vanilla extract
4 c. powdered sugar
6 T. heavy cream
Several drops food coloring
Multi-colored Sprinkles

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the flat beater attached, cream the butter and granulated sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time beating until each is incorporated. Add the vanilla and sour cream and beat at low speed until combined.

Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Dough will be a bit “sticky”. Divide dough into two sections. Flatten into rectangles about 1 1/2 inches thick, then wrap with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator overnight or at least two hours until firm.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.

Use the plastic wrap that you chilled the dough in. Dust the top of the dough and then flip and flour the other side, keeping it on the plastic wrap. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles and transfer to a baking sheet. Bake for 7 minutes, until pale golden. Immediately transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Best to work in small batches while keeping the remainder of the dough chilled.

To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and vanilla. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar. Once smooth and creamy, add in heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired spreading consistency is achieved. If desired, add food coloring and beat until combined.

Once cookies have cooled completely, frost and add sprinkles. Allow frosting to set, then store in an air-tight container. Let cookies sit for several hours before serving to allow the flavors to develop.

Makes approximately: 5 to 6 dozen cookies (will vary on the thickness of the dough)

 Notes

I do not have a stand mixer so I used a hand mixer and it worked very very well. 

Leave the second half of the cookie dough in the fridge while the first half is baking. This thaws out very quickly and is very very sticky dough. It is supposed to be very very sticky so don't let that alarm you!

6 cups of flour is just the right amount of flour. NEVER over add flour into your sugar cookies. You want them to be soft and melty not like a piece of bread. 

1st week with Gallbladder Disease

I have no idea where to begin, but I have learned a few tips that I figure I should write about.

I learned to pay attention to my body and what it's telling me. I'll explain. I did some research online about gallbladder disease/gallbladder problems. I found that side effects can include: Fatigue, Hair loss and Weight loss. I've experienced all of that! Well, not exactly the weight loss, but I haven't gained anything since I lost 10lbs about 2 months ago and when I went in for my OBGYN appt today I was down a pound from last time... But it makes sense. I have always had thick hair, but so far this pregnancy it's really thin which doesn't make sense because I take prenatals everyday which should make your hair grow like nuts, right? Fatigue, I chalk that up to being prego, but what do I know. Mostly it was the hair loss and the weight loss that tipped me off that something wasn't exactly quite right.

Eggs are bad for your gallbladder!! Who knew! They have a lot of fat and cholesterol. I figured they were so healthy. Hmm, interesting. You can find good diet ideas here.

Listen to your surgeon where this is obvious it's important to remember. Mine doesn't want me to go through surgery right now because they wouldn't be able to go in laroscopically (sp?) basically 4 small incisions. Given the size of my uterus right now they would have to do it the other way which is 2 8inch long incisions and it would be longer to heal with risk of pre-term labor.

Listen to your body and to what irritates you. So far I'm on an egg/sausage mcmuffin. I have ruled out that cheese is not a factor in my gallbladder pain, but I have yet to eat sausage or eggs because of my fear of the pain and I really don't want to take pain meds right now. Different things irritate different people so if spinach irritates someone else, it might not irritate me. It's trial and error, but also you need to be smart about it. Don't go eating a huge hamburger.

Most people have gall stones. Gallbladder disease means that you have an infection or "sludge" in your gallbladder and thickening lining. So far I'm not as severe as some, I have some sludge, but not enough to thicken the lining of my gallbladder.

Homemade Crunch Wraps

OH MY GOSH! I forgot to post my weekly recipe post. I had a goodie this week. Found this on pinterest. It's homemade crunch wrap supreme. Supposed to be as good (if not better) than the ones made at Taco Bell.
Get the recipe at this blog here

So good! I think it's better than Taco bell. I recommend making homemade taco meat OR for a Less fat version I actually put refried beans in mine. Since I can't have very much fat I have completely cut out taco meat from my diet. :( But hey, I love refried beans so it's okay. 

I give this an:

A+

Gallbladder Issues

So as we ramp up to 27 weeks along (SQUEEE, Just one more week until 3rd trimester!!!) I found out that I have Gallbladder disease.  Jaron and I spent 6 exhausting hours at the hospital today first making sure that Brooklyn was okay. Which she is fantastic, just so happy and healthy moving around in her little space. I'm so relieved that she is okay and she gets to stay in there still!  Next we went to the ER because no one ever told you that L&D doesn't really deal with chest pain. I didn't know what was going on and I was freaking out. Let's recap.
I first felt the pain at about 10am this morning at work 25 minutes away from my home. I ignorded at first and figured nothing was wrong..... About a half an hour later I was feeling much worse with hot flashes and check pain radiating from my right side to my left. Lets just say I booked it out of work and I honestly don't remember if I clocked out or not..... I drove most of the way home when I stopped and puked up my guts on the freeway. After that I felt better and started to think that I was imagining things. Dr said to go to L&D though so I carried on. Got the hubs and the little one in the car and grandma kindly helped us with her while we got to the hospital. Once there we sat in L&D while the elvaluated Brooklyn. She was putting on a show the hole time becuase of all the excitment!!! What a cutie! Anyway, they figured out that she was okay. My OB came in to talk with me and I began to feel worse at this point. Pain still on my right side, but now it was traveling to my back and down my right side. I felt nothing on my left which was good news to my OB because there was nothing with my heart. Told me to go to ER to be evaluated for gallbladder and/or kidney infection.
Once there I took a turn for the very very worse. I spent the next hour in the most intense pain I have ever been in in my life INCLUDING labor. I was crying, puking, and sweating as much as anyone could imagine. I honestly had no idea what was wrong, but I figured it was the gallbladder. I asked my husband for a blessing who then asked any member of the staff if they could help provide one. No one stepped up right away so we continued on with all our testing. I had an ultrasound done and they found gall stones and sludge in my gallbladder. They also found some protien in my urine which means I also have a UTI on top of it all!
While the testing was going on Jaron and myself were blessed with an amazing opportunity that I'm sure doesn't come around much. One of the men in the hospital stepped forward to come aid Jaron in a blessing for me. I was amazed with his willingness to help us and with his love of the gospel to know what a great opportunity that this was. I will never forget his kindness that day.
Tomorrow we shall see what the surgen says. I  hope by then I haven't drove myself crazy looking at articles of gallbladder surgeries and pregnancy, but I know everything will be okay and Brooklyn his healthy. At least we have that to help us!
Love you all!

Weekly Pinterest Recipe: Best Burger Recipe Ever with Secret Sauce

I have decided to start doing a weekly Pinterest recipe challenge where I will try at least one of the pinterest inspired recipes and grade it with a rating. Today's recipe was "Best Burger Recipe Ever with Secret Sauce" There is the link the the original site. Anyway, I gave this one a try! Here is the recipe:

Burger Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef 85/15
sesame seed buns
1/2 cup of grated Monterrey jack cheese
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
season salt to taste
cracked black pepper
onion powder

 After trying this recipe here are my thoughts. I liked this burger because the bbq sauce gave it a sweet taste. I used Sweet baby rays BBQ sauce because that's what the recipe calls for on her blog. I think this would be a good burger with a sweet pickle. I myself am not a fan of sweet burgers, I like them bitter. But overall this one was a good recipe so I give it an:

A-

Harvest Soup

I found this recipe last year sometime and decided to try it. At first I was a little confused by the combination of food, but once you try it you won't be disappointed!!! I don't know the exact measurements since I now make it from memory.
Enjoy!

4 strips of bacon cooked and chopped
1 Red potato sliced
1 small carrot pealed and sliced
1 cup water
1 tsp of chicken boulion
2 cups milk
3/4 cup of frozen corn
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbs of cornstarch
3 Tbs cold water
1 cup cheese
Green onion

First cook your bacon through and set aside on paper towel to let drippings soak. Then put your potato, carrot, water and boulion together and boil for 20 minutes (If you have picky ones in your house who don't like green onions you can add 1/2 cup onions here, I usually use a few Tbs of dried onion.) Then add milk and frozen corn, pepper and garlic. Then heat until corn is softer about 5-10 minutes. Be careful not to boil or your milk will scald. Mix cornstarch and water together until smooth and pour into soup and then heat for a bit longer until thicker. (You can add as much cornstarch mixture as you want. Remember that more cornstarch = thicker soup).  Then turn off stove and remove from head and add cheese stirring until melted. Don't cook more because your cheese will fall to the bottom of the pan.  Spoon into bowls and put bacon and green onions on top as desired.

Growing

Our little family is growing!  I am officially 26 weeks along now! Yay! 
This week I get to participate in the "wonderful, Delish" glucose test. Praying that the test turns out normal and pretty sure it will.
As far as the pregnancy goes this time it has been a rocky one.  At 19 weeks my doctor told me I had Pregnancy Hypertension. This is a condition that only appears during pregnancy usually sometime before 20 weeks. With Abigal I had it at about 39 weeks and I turned out to be one of the "Lucky" 15% who developed Pre-clampsia. I have been trying all I can to keep the blood pressure at a healthy level.  One thing I have changed is my sodium level. I have also taken caffeine out of my diet. I keep my sodium intake below 1,000mg a day and eat more natural foods. My snacks are fruits and vegetables instead of crackers. Ha! So that's my update for now!
Jaron is doing good. It's been a struggle sometimes to be a stay at home dad, but he does a great job! Happy to have time with Abby. He keeps the house in excellent clean condition. I'm very proud to have such a great husband.
Abigal is getting so big!! Today I realized how much she's really changed. I am amazed by her and her knowledge of everything around her! Happy to say she's finally starting to communicate. She's always had a hard time communicating to us. She tends to freak out a little. We've taken a different approach the past month. In the midst of a freak-out moment we sit down to her level and we ask her to explain it to us in a very calm tone. I think this has really helped her understand that we are trying to hear her and when she's upset and not communicating it's not helping us help her. I'm so excited to be a parent and I am completely in love with this age!
Can't wait to see Brooklyn when she finally gets here and to see all of my favorite baby clothes again!