Getting the Feeling with Mini Pot Pies

Getting the right feeling in your writing is essential to the story. The reader needs to feel as though they are in the story and not watching from a distance. Getting this right isn’t easy sometimes. For me, I have to imagine myself as the person whom I’m writing. I have to tune out the world and place myself in the scene, imagine the sun on my skin, the sound of the leaves crunching under my feet. If it’s a scene where the reader will need to understand their feeling, I have to picture myself being chased, dodging bullets, hiding from a monster. That panic, heart pounding fear that would go along with it. My husband hates when I have to write a fight scene between a couple because I may take it out on him and give him a stink eye for a day or two, forgetting that it‘s not him I‘m mad at but a character in my story. When I do this, I have to make nice with the hubs, so I make him one of his favorite dishes to say sorry, it’s not him. It’s my crazy writers mind. (I’m sure I’m the only one who is this odd)

　

Mini Chicken Pot Pies


Ingredients

• 2 cups COOKED chicken breasts diced  (I use 2 larger cans of chicken, like the ones you get by the tuna in the store)
• 1 can cream chicken soup
• 1cup FROZEN veggies
• 1cup shredded cheese
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 can Pillsbury (any brand really) biscuits

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

2.  In a large bowl, combine the chicken, soup, frozen veggies, cheeses, and seasonings.

3.  Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin and place the biscuit dough into each cup, pressing into the bottom and up the sides.

4.  Evenly spoon the soup mixture into each biscuit cup. Place filled tins in oven and bake for 15 minutes, Check at 12 minute mark.

　

Multi-Tasking: Cook While You Write Without Burning Anything

*waves* Hi there!

I know, it's been a while since I've been over here, but I'm super excited to be back! Things have just been crazy busy, and I think we all suffer a bit from being stretched too thin. What with kids, work, writing, pets, you name it!

For me, cooking is fun, if it doesn't become work. Especially if I can get oodles of other things done while I'm cooking. The easiest, least work, most multi-tasking enabler out there I've found is the slow cooker, aka crockpot.

I've made a lot of easy things in here before, pulled pork, bbq ribs, pot roast ... but when the family wanted something a bit "out of the box" for dinner the other night, and I had some serious writing goals to accomplish, I knew the crockpot was the way to go.

It was a cold wintry night and I wanted something with a little kick to keep us warm. Here's what I found to "make" all day, took me less than 30 minutes to prep, and left me with 8 hours to write, get the house cleaned up, and even sneak in an episode of Supernatural on Netflix:

Jambalaya: Slow-cooker Style

Into the pot you throw

1 box of chicken broth (you know, the tallish ones?)

1 tbls of Creole seasoning, more if you like extra spice, less if you don't

1 Kielbasa sausage, diced

3 cloves crushed garlic, more if you want

1 big green pepper, diced

1 big onion, diced

4-5 celery stalks, diced

1 can 10ish oz of diced tomatoes (my family likes extra tomatoes, so I use 2 cans)

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken, diced (I used chicken tenderloins, but breasts or thighs would work fine too)

1 cup of long grain rice*

Then

You stir everything together, put the lid on, plug your crockpot in, and turn it to high for 8 hours.

Do some writing. Clean, if you're feeling extra motivated. I'm always pro-napping with the kidlets. Oh! And you can never go wrong with some quality time with Dean Winchester.

Then ten minutes before you serve....

Toss in 3/4 lb of peeled, deveined shrimp

Stir, replace lid, turn crockpot to Warm.

A few serving suggestions for you ... and especially involving the * above.

1) Serve in a bowl with some yummy French bread for dipping (we had a bunch of leftover crescent rolls, so I made those instead, still YUM!)

2) Serve over rice (helps with the spice for younger kids)+

*3) Add another cup of rice to the original recipe and serve up like a stew

+4) Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top also helps with spice for the kids (accidental discovery thanks to my 7yo)

I know it's not totally authentic, but my family loves it, and it gives me time to get tons of stuff done (i.e. word goals for the day!!) without having to worry about making dinner!

Hope you enjoy!

When Writing Interferes with Cooking

Sometimes, the writing life really interferes with kitchen life. Last week, my debut book, Pretty Crooked, was released into the world. As I should have predicted, my entire routine went to crap. I spent many hours online, doing social networking, talking up contests and answering email, obsessing about various book-related details, writing up blog posts and preparing for my launch party. In the meantime, I could not go to the gym. I could not get anything practical or household-y done. Worst of all, as far as I'm concerned, I could not cook.

When this week started, I was determined to get back on track and restore some sense of normalcy in my household. I craved home-cooked nourishment. I needed routine and simple food. And yet, I was still pretty fatigued, both emotionally and physically, from the release experience.

Last night, as the dinner hour drew near, I made a deal with myself: If I only agreed to cook, I was allowed to use the easiest recipes in my arsenal. So I broke out an old favorite from Epicurious, Spiced Roast Chicken Breasts. This little number takes little forethought, no knife skills and can be thrown together in minutes. Even better, the technique guarantees an excellent result every time. I served it with some asparagus and mashed squash and I was good to go. I could even envision a time when I might tackle something a bit more challenging. But for now: baby steps.

Spiced Roast Chicken Breasts

From Epicurious.com

Serves 2

2 chicken breast halves

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 450°F. Pat chicken dry. Stir together spices, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and rub evenly all over chicken.

Heat remaining tablespoon oil in an ovenproof heavy skillet (preferably cast iron) over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chicken on both sides, about 5 minutes.

Transfer skillet to middle of oven and roast chicken, skin side up, until just cooked through, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate. Add water to pan and deglaze over high heat, scraping up brown bits.

Pour pan juices over chicken.

Making It Up As We Go

I wish that life came with a manual.

A really precise manual, spanning tens of volumes like an Encyclopedia set.

It would also be cool if life came with a unicorn, but I digress... Because if life came with a manual, dear readers, then we would have something concrete to spin off from, or twist to make it uniquely ours. Instead we trundle along, mostly following in familiar footsteps, shying away from the things we were told to be scared of, or sticking to the straight and narrow after a near-miss when we did try to change course.

Sticking to the known is comfortable. It can also be boring.

I took a big step off course when I decided to write for publication, then a larger step out of my comfort zone when I started to see some success. And now, while I'm not exactly at ease with publishing, I don't panic as I bob about in its peculiar gravity. I'm trying on a new genre, dipping the toes of my pen in to see if we might be a match. It's exciting, stretching parts of my skillset and requiring that I set aside others.

In the spirit of stretching, I'm giving you a recipe that practically begs to be adapted. It's a slow-cooker recipe, which in my mind makes it difficult to screw up. It's also delicious and feeds eight to ten.

Mid-post P.S. Those are pickled jalapenos peeking out of the corn muffins. They're like spicy gold, I tell you.

Two Bean Chicken Chili

1 T. vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic
1 lg. onion, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 t. dried savory
1/2 t. coarsely ground black pepper
zest of 1 lime
1 T. ground cumin
2 T. fine cornmeal
1 C. chicken stock
1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped, with juice
2 lbs chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 14-oz cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 C. frozen, sliced green beans
1 T. chili powder
2 T. lime juice
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 4.5-oz can mild green chiles
1 jalapeno pepper, diced (optional)

• In a skillet over medium heat, warm oil. Add onions and celery. Stir and cook until onion is translucent. Add garlic, savory, pepper, lime zest and cumin. Stir for 1 minute. Add cornmeal and toss to coat vegetables. Add chicken stock and cook, stirring, until boils - about 1 minute. Add tomatoes (with juice), return to boil, then transfer into slow cooker.
• Add chicken, both beans, and stir well. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Chicken should be cooked and chili should be bubbling.
• Add chili powder, lime juice, and all chosen peppers. Stir. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until bell peppers become tender.

This is a great recipe with which to experiment. Add your favorites. Excellent topped with sour cream and cilantro.

For the Busy Writer

I learned something a few years back when I picked up my writing again: it is amazing what a person can get done in 24 hours.

If you’re anything like me, you are a writer who has far more going on than just your next latest and greatest project. There’s kids and day jobs, doctor appointments, dance classes. Houses and families to maintain and above all, of course, meals to be made and eaten.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m not a fantabulous cook, but over the years, I’ve learned how to get by, especially as things have grown busier. Recently, we added another family member who insisted on arriving about 3 weeks early, which means things are even crazier now as we adjust from being a family of 4 to being a family of 5. To give myself a little extra time here and there, I started a little stock pile of freezer dinners for our family a few weeks ago and here is one that’s a favorite for everyone from my steak & potatoes husband to our picky 3yo.

You don’t have to make things complicated to make them taste good. (And to save yourself time in the kitchen so you can have some more time in the chair to do some writing!) So here you go, and sorry, no pictures this time :(

Ingredients

1-2 lbs of boneless/skinless chicken breast or chicken breast tenders

1-2 bottles of creamy Caesar salad dressing*

½ head of iceberg lettuce, chopped

1-2 hearts of Romaine lettuce, chopped

Directions

The freezer part –

Put your chicken into a zip-top freezer bag. Dump in 1-2 bottles of the salad dressing, depending on how much chicken you’re using. I generally go with a 1-1 ratio: 1 lb of chicken to 1 bottle of dressing. Make sure you label the bag with what you’re making (chicken Caesar salad) before you begin … then squeeze out all the air, seal up the bag, mix around and lay flat in the freezer to begin your stock pile. This will keep for up to 6 months.

The cooking part –

Thaw out the freezer bag in the fridge or under cool running water. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Pour the contents of the bag into a casserole dish. I use a 9 x 13 if I’m making any more than 1lb of chicken. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the top is a nice golden color and the chicken is cooked through.

The mixing part –

Mix up the chopped lettuce and serve with some chicken on top. The baked dressing becomes a warm, creamy sauce to go over the chicken on top of the lettuce as well.

Super yum and easy to make! This chicken is also tasty served with pasta!

So if you’re looking for ways to save some time and squeeze in some extra writing, why not start your own freezer meal collection?

Happy eats!

*I've had pretty good luck with all brands of creamy Caesar dressing EXCEPT the Great Value one from Wal-Mart. So I'd recommend against that one, as the dressing tends to separate in the oven and you're left with a not so tasty looking layer of oil on top of your chicken.