I find that I revert to a cavewoman when I am hungry. Not that I want to, and I never notice it in the moment, but I get very grouchy when hungry. So I am going to share a few of the recipes that I remembered to take pictures of before I devoured them :)
First, chicken pot pie. Or my version of it.
So my quest started one day when I was at the grocery and I saw Phyllo dough. And I said "I'm getting this." No plan for what I was to do with it, how to use it, or otherwise. Then the pinteresting commenced. I found recipes for mostly desserts (except for when I was looking for a dessert). And I came across a "healthy" chicken pot pie with phyllo dough. Well once I began reading the recipe, it called for a chicken boullion cube (HEALTHY?! ITS LOADED WITH SALT!). So, I kicked that recipe out the door. Then I found my mom's recipe that called for pie crusts. But that called for all kinds of fork work with the crusts and I am NOT coordinated (ask the unfortunate people that do Zumba classes around me). So, I made mom's recipe, but just put phyllo on top. Healthier and quicker. Now that I have rambled for a bajillion lines here's the brass tax:
2 tbls of butter
2 tbls of flour
1tsp of poultry seasoning (I used Tony's turned out just fine)
1/4t of black pepper
1/2 c chicken stock
3 oz can of evaporated milk (I only had a big one, it ends up being half way between 1/4c and 1/2c)
2 c chicken (cooked and cubed, I used rotisserie chicken, see below for more on these)
10oz bag of mixed veggies
1 boiled egg, sliced (don't know WHERE this came from, but I omitted it, kinda sounded weird)
6 phyllo sheets
Melt the butter, then add the flour, stirring constantly.
This makes a roux for those of you who aren't from the South. There is a fine line with making a roux. It can go from a pretty brown to burnt skunk mess in 0.1 sec, so you have to stir it constantly and have it on med low heat. I like to keep it kinda low because I frequently lose track of what I am supposed to be doing and go off into LaLa land and burn it. But once you master it, you are going to use it a lot.
Then take off the heat and add in the seasoning and pepper. Once mixed, add the stock and milk. The original recipe said stir until mixed and creamy, but that really didn't start happening for me, so I put it back over the heat once it was pretty much mixed, and it continued to thicken and incorporate together.
Then add the chicken and mixed veggies (and egg if you want, blech). And warm through (especially if the veggies were of the frozen variety).
Pour into a greased 8x8 baking dish. If it's Pyrex, you can keep it on the burner on low to keep the mixture warm (I heart Pyrex). And add your phyllo sheets (see below for more on Phyllo handling)
Then stick that tasty meal in the oven and cook at 375 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes, enough for the dough on top to get delicious looking (golden brown). I just know that when I can't stand it any more and it looks super tasty that's when its ready.
This was my final product:
Want to eat your computer hunh!
Rotisserie chicken. I love these. So easy, you don't have to cook it, you don't have to worry about making it moist, its all done for you. When I get one, I usually let it cool then pick the meat off. And this time, I was able to make 2 meals out of one chicken. I made the pot pie, and then some noodle-roni (rice-a-roni but noodles instead) and added the chicken. Another of my favorites is Zatarans cheesy jambalaya. All that takes is a box, some chicken, and some sausage (I usually keep sliced sausage in the freezer, take it straight from the freezer and throw it in the pan). Super easy 30-minute meal. You can even start the mix, and brown the sausage while its going.
Now on to Phyllo. I was intimidated, but once you get the hang of it, omg is it easy. So you thaw the dough overnight in the fridge, then when ready to use it, take it out and roll it onto a cutting board. Cover with saran wrap with a damp paper towel on top of the wrap. Uncover and use one sheet at a time.
When you have the first sheet placed, the rule is any dough that is touching needs a layer of some kind of oil on it. I like Pam or canola oil spray, but I know a lot of people use melted butter instead. So brush/spray every piece of phyllo that touches another piece, and then another spray/brush on the top layer.
Next up, oatmeal muffins. I didn't LOVE them, but they were pretty tasty and healthy too. So, here goes.
3 ripe, mashed, bananas
1c vanilla almond milk (I would assume any other kind of milk would work, but that's what the recipe called for and that's what I used.)
2 eggs
1 tbls baking powder
3c oats (not instant)
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbls mini chocolate chips
Let me start by saying I didn't have that much chocolate chips, so I put what I had and added some nuts. Still delish.
Preheat to 375 F.
Mix everything together but the chocolate chips.
Let it sit while you put the muffin papers in the muffin pan. Also, spray the muffin papers with oil so that the muffins come off cleaner (and you don't lose any delicious goodness).
Then add chocolate chips and mix.
Divide the batter between 15 muffin cups (weird, I know). They should be almost completely filled.
Bake 20-30 minutes until edges begin to turn brown (or in my case, when you can't stand it any longer and have to take them out to eat one). Should be firm when poked with a finger (your choice of finger).
They are even better when warmed in the microwave for like 15 seconds or so.
Here is a picture for your salivary glands:
Man I want one now....but they are all gone.
Just a parting picture of one of my babies.....
Isn't he so adorable! He likes to sleep on his back with his feet up (preferably in my face)
