Carrots with Thyme Butter

Sautéed carrots, cooked on the stove in butter, seasoned with thyme and touched with a hint of sweet honey.  The thyme add earthy aromatic notes to the dish that compliments the flavor of carrots.  This is a quick and easy side dish recipe that tastes great with any meal.

Ingredients

1 lbs. carrots, washed, peeled and cut into evenly thick rings or sticks
1 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/3 to 1/2 tsp. thyme
salt to taste
a pinch of red pepper flakes (Optional)
2 to 3 tsp. honey or sugar

Directions

In a large cast iron skillet, heat butter and oil over medium heat.   Add the carrots. Cover and cook the carrots for about 4 to 5 minutes, without stirring.  After 4 minutes, remove the lid and stir the carrots.

Sprinkle in the thyme, salt, and red pepper flakes.  Stir to combine.  Continue to cook the carrots, uncovered, for another 2 minutes.  

Drizzle the honey or sugar over the carrots and stir in the honey. 

Continue to cook the carrots until they are browned and fork tender.  It should take just a few more minutes, so keep a close eye on them so they do not burn or get overcooked.

Notes

You can use baby carrots instead.  

For large carrots, you can cut them into sticks.  Just make sure to keep the thickness close to the same on the sticks or rings. 

You can use fresh thyme. Use 2 stalks of fresh thyme with the stem removed.  Use just the leaves.

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits is the perfect way to use leftover chicken.  This is an easy recipe using, chicken, and vegetables, baked in a tasty gravy, and topped with biscuits.  This is an old recipe, but it stands the test of time.  

Comfort food, made with love, is always the best.

Ingredients

1/4 c. butter
1 onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 (15 oz.) can peas, reserve liquid, or frozen *See note below
1 (15 oz.) can corn, reserve liquid, or frozen  *See note below
3 potatoes, peeled, and cut into bit sized pieces
1/4 c. flour
1 Tbs. parsley
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. celery seeds
1/2 tsp. rosemary 
1 tsp. Italian seasoning.
2 c. chicken broth *See Note below
2/3 c. half-and-half cream, or milk or evaporated milk
salt and ground black pepper to taste
3 c. cooked chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
1 (16.3 ounce) can refrigerated flaky-style biscuits, or you can make your own biscuits
Butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°.

In a large, deep cast iron skillet over medium low heat, add onion, celery, and carrots.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. This takes about 15 minutes. 

Mix in peas, corn, potatoes, flour, parsley, thyme, garlic powder, celery seeds, rosemary, and Italian seasoning.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour coats the vegetables and begins to fry, about 5 minutes.

Whisk in chicken broth and half-and-half, and cook until the sauce is thick and bubbling. Stir in cooked chicken.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

You can leave this in your cast iron skillet, or you can transfer the mixture into a 7x11-inch baking dish. 

Arrange biscuits on top of the filling.

Bake in the preheated oven until the biscuits are golden brown and the pie filling is bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush some butter over the top of the biscuits. Let the meal rest 10 minutes before serving. 

Notes:

Combine the liquid that you had from the peas and corn.  Pour in enough chicken broth to make 2 cups.  This is what I do when using canned corn and peas, as it adds flavor. 

If you don't want your biscuits to be soggy on the bottom, prebake them at 375° for about 7 to 8 minutes.  Then turn the biscuits upside-down when putting them into the chicken mixture. Meaning, the side that was on the bottom of the baking pan in now facing upwards. 

Granola Bars

It is easy to make your own granola bars with just a few simple ingredients. They are so easy to make.    By making the granola bars at home, you don't have to worry about preservatives, salt and chemicals that the store ones have.  And then, remember, there were all those recalls that granola bars had last year as well.

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup raw honey (Or use 1/4 c. honey and 1/4 c. molasses)
2 Tbs. creamy peanut butter or crunchy
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325°. A baking sheet. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish or use parchment paper in the pan for easy removal of the granola bars.

On a baking sheet, spread the oats and coconut out evenly. Toast oats and coconut, stirring once or twice, until lightly browned and nutty smelling.  

Transfer the oats and coconut to a large mixing bowl.

In a medium saucepan, over medium-low heat, mix honey, peanut butter, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt together.  Cook and stir until smooth.

Pour the honey mixture over oats and coconut. Stir to coat. Spread mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish.

Bake in the preheated oven until beginning to dry, about 8 to 10 minutes. If you like a crunchier granola bar, bake for 15 minutes.

While the granola is still hot, score the bars into equal portions with your spatula. You don't need to cut all the way to the bottom of the pan. This will make breaking them apart much easier.   

Notes

You can add additional ingredients like chopped pecans, almonds, peanuts, raisins or mini chocolate chips. Or you can add cranberries, blueberries or raspberries.

Pineapple Rolls

Pineapple Bread Rolls

Delicious, light and fluffy bread rolls with pineapple and coconut inside and a powdered sugar glaze drizzled over the top.  This is easy to make and a recipe your family will love.  Serve them for breakfast, or as a dessert.  

Ingredients

1 c. crushed pineapple
1 c. unsweetened coconut
1 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1 3/4 c. warm water (divided)
1/3 c sugar
1 T. yeast
1 egg, room temperature
1/3 c. dry milk powder
4 1/2 c. or more, flour (bread flour works best)
2 T. cooking oil or lard, melted and cooled
1/2 tsp. salt

Glaze

1 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 to 4 Tbs. milk

Directions

Heat oven to 325° when ready to bake. Grease 9 x 13-inch cake pan.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine pineapple and coconut.

Sprinkle the cornstarch and sugar over the pineapple and coconut.  Mix well.

Cover with a lid or a sheet of cling wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour. 

Pour the pineapple juice into a measuring cup.   Add enough water to make 1 1/2 cups liquid.  

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1/4 cup water, sugar and yeast in a bowl.  Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes to make sure the yeast is active. 

Add in the remaining water and pineapple juice, egg, 1 cup flour, and milk powder. Beat well with a wooden spoon.

Mix in the shortening, salt and most of the remaining flour. Turn out the dough on a floured surface.  Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed. The dough should be smooth and elastic and have a slightly tacky feel. 

Lightly grease the bowl that you mixed the dough in.  Place the dough into the bowl, turning the dough over once to ensure all sides are greased, so it does not dry out.  

Cover the bowl with a tea towel and set the bowl in a warm location.  Let the dough rise until doubled. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle that is about 2 inches thick.

Spread the pineapple coconut mixture over the top of the dough, going close to the edges.

Fold dough onto itself, capturing the pineapple coconut mixture inside.  It will be like making a burrito.  Then press the dough down with your fingers or a rolling pin, to seal.

Cut dough into squares, using a pizza cutter.  

Place the dough evenly into the prepared cake pan.

Cover the dough with a tea towel and let rise until doubled.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

While the bread is still warm, make the glaze.

In a medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, vanilla and 3 tablespoons milk.  Mix well.  Add more milk if you want a thinner glaze.  Using a spoon, or a fork, drizzle the glaze over the top of the warm bread. 

Allow the glaze to set up and serve and enjoy.

Mashed Potato Casserole

Moist, juicy ground beef base, with creamy mashed potatoes, bacon and cheese over the top.  This recipe is simple to prepare and loaded with flavor.  It's a dish that my kids love to eat and request it often.  

Ingredients

6 strips bacon
2 lb. potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk or whole milk
2 Tbs. butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 c. frozen whole kernel corn
1/4 c. barbecue sauce
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 c. shredded Cheddar or pepper Jack cheese

Directions

Heat oven to 375°.  2 quart baking dish optional. I use my cast iron skillet to finish baking the dish in the oven.  

In a large, deep, cast iron skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until it is crisp. Remove the bacon and place on a paper towel lined plate.  Drain off bacon fat. When the bacon is cool, crumble the bacon into smaller pieces.   

Fill a large pot with water.  Add potatoes and bring the water to a boil.  Cover and continue to boil the potatoes until the potatoes are fork tender.  This can take about 15 to 20 minutes.  Drain the potatoes. Leaving the potatoes in the pot, add evaporated milk, and butter. Mash the potatoes well with a potato masher.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 1/4 cup of crumbled bacon into the potatoes

In the skillet you cooked the bacon in, over medium heat, add the ground beef, onion, garlic, and bell pepper.  Breaking up the ground beef, cook and stir until the meat is browned and cooked through. This takes about 8 to 10 minutes.

Add corn, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire, paprika, and mustard. Cook and stir until hot and bubbling.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Remove from heat. Smooth out the ground beef mixture. 

Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the ground beef.  Sprinkle the top of the potatoes with the cheese and the rest of the bacon. 

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until mixture is bubbly and cheese is melted.

Serve and enjoy.

Apple Spice Cake

Apple Spice Cake is more like a cobbler, than a cake. It is quick, and easy to prepare with canned apple pie filling, spices and a cake mix.  It's a recipe where you basically just dump the ingredients into a pan and bake it.  But the end result looks like it took you a lot longer to achieve this great tasting, flavorful dessert.

Ingredients

2 (21 oz.) can apple pie filling
1 1/2 to 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 Tbs. white sugar
1 (15.25 oz.) pkg. yellow cake mix or spice cake mix
1 and a half sticks cold butter
1 cup pecans, finely chopped (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly spray or butter a 9 x 13-inch cake pan.

Pour the apple pie filling into the prepared pan. 

In a small bowl, combine cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and sugar.  Mix well to combine. Sprinkle the spice mixture evenly over the top of the apple pie filling.

In a large bowl, add cake mix.  Cut the butter into the cake mix using a pastry cutter or two table knifes held in one hand. The mixture should look crumbly, and the butter will be the size of small peas.  *See Notes

Sprinkle the cake mix and butter over the top of the apple pie filling and spices.  Try to get the cake mixture spread evenly over the apples.  This will help prevent dry spots in the cake mixture.  

Scatter the pecan nuts over the top if desired.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the cake is brown on top and bubbling on the sides.  Check the cake for dry spots after 30 minutes.  If you see any dry spots, put a half tablespoon of butter in those spots and continue baking until done. 

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Notes

If you are in a big hurry, you don't need to cut in the butter.  Just sprinkle the cake mix over the top of the apples, then dot the butter over the top of the cake mix.  Cut the butter in small squares and line them up on top of the cake mix like a checkerboard. Make sure the butter is covering most of the dry cake mix.  Another way is to melt the butter and pour this over the top of the cake mix.

Smothered Pork Chops

This is a recipe that my mother made quite often.  Tender, juicy pork chops served with a delicious onion gravy.  It is a one pot meal that is easy to prepare and does not take a lot of time.  You can use bone in or boneless pork chops, whatever you have in your refrigerator or freezer.

Ingredients

4 slices of bacon cut into 1/2 inch slices
4 thick cut pork chops
1 c. flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. thyme
2 cup chicken broth
4 potatoes, peeled, and cut in half or in quarters

Directions

Preheat oven to 300°
     
Heat a cast iron Dutch oven, over medium high heat, cook bacon until it starts to crisp.  Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate and set aside. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons bacon grease from the skillet. *See note below.

Season both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper.  
     
In a low sided dish or bowl, combine flour, onion powder, and thyme.  Dredge the pork chops in the flour mixture, shaking off the excess flour.  Do not discard the remaining flour, as you will need that later in the recipe.  
     
In the same skillet that you fried the bacon in, add the pork chops. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until each side is golden brown. You may have to fry the pork chops in batches. Remove the pork chops and place them with the bacon, while you prepare the gravy.

In the Dutch oven you were just using, add the onions.  Sauté the onions until they are translucent.

Slowly sprinkle 1/4 cup of the reserved flour mixture, over the onions, stirring constantly. Be sure to scrap the bottom of the pot to remove the flavorful bits at the bottom.    Cook for a minute or until the flour is golden brown, but not burned. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more bacon grease to the skillet.  

Slowly pour in the chicken broth, whisking constantly.  Cook and stir until the mixture thickens. Season with more salt and pepper to taste.

Return the pork chops and bacon to the Dutch oven.  Cover the Dutch oven with a lid.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the internal temperature of the pork chops is 145°.

Notes

Keep your bacon grease.  I pour mine through a strainer into a mason jar.  Secure with a lid.  You can use this any time when you are cooking foods that you want that extra flavor in, like potatoes, carrots, and other meats.