Turkey Pot Pie

Question: What to do with leftover turkey? Answer: Pot pie!  Got leftover gravy and cranberry sauce? We'll use that too!

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked and diced turkey (or chicken)

1 medium onion, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

1 medium red pepper, diced

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp sundried tomato, chopped fine or snipped with scissors

2 tbsps butter

2 tbsps flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup 10% cream

2 tbsps fresh chopped parsley

pie dough enough for a double crust 10" pie

Heat butter in large skillet and add onion, celery, carrot and red pepper and cook until carrots are tender. Then add the garlic and sundried tomato. Make a well in the center of the vegetables and stir in the flour, salt and pepper. Cook 1 minute then whisk in the broth followed right away by the cream, whisking away any possible lumps forming. 

 

Stir together and simmer 3-4 minutes until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat. Mix parsley and turkey together and add to the skillet.

Roll out the bottom crust and lay it in a 10" pie plate. Spoon the filling into the crust. Brush the edge of the pastry with a little water then roll out the top crust and put it in place. Seal the edges and brush the top with a little milk (optional). Cut a few air holes in the top.

Bake in a 400°F oven on the lowest rack for 50 minutes. After about 20-25 minutes you may want to cover the edge with foil to avoid over baking the crust.

Let the pie stand 15 minutes before slicing.

So about the leftover gravy and cranberry sauce...I like my pie with a side of cranberry sauce while my husband likes his smothered in gravy. Have either or use both. 

I wish I had leftover stuffing too!!

Serves 6

Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry

Get dinner on the table in no time with this quick weeknight chicken broccoli stir fry for two!  

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced or sliced

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsps minced garlic 

1 cup broccoli florets 

Sauce:

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 tbsps low sodium soya sauce

1 1/2 tsps cornstarch

1 1/2 tsps honey

1 tsp sriracha sauce

Garnish with sesame seeds

Whisk the chicken broth, soya sauce, honey and sriracha together and set aside.

In a medium skillet heat oil and brown the chicken on all sides, stirring until cooked through. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Toss in the broccoli and cook another 2 minutes.

Whisk the cornstarch into the sauce, make a well in the chicken/broccoli and pour the sauce in. Whisk a little then stir everything together. You may want to add just a little more broth (like 1 tsp or so) to loosen everything up, then cover and cook on medium 3-4 minutes. The broccoli should still be tender-crisp.

Top with sesame seeds and serve over rice.

Next Level Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

I am not a lunch person. Don't have anything against it, I just hardly ever have a desire to make it. And it's usually boring. Enter the Apple Cheddar Grilled Cheese Sandwich!

Ingredients:

4 slices plain white bread 

2 processed cheese slices

2 handfuls shredded old cheddar

1 apple, thinly sliced

Mayonnaise or butter

Inspiration struck! I spread mayonnaise on one side of each piece of bread. Grab the butter if you prefer, but mayo is always spreadable and adds a slight tang. 

Place two slices mayo side down in a non-stick frying pan. Add a slice of processed cheese, a few thin slices of apple and a pile of shredded old cheddar. 

Top it all off with another mayo slathered slice of bread and warm the skillet to medium low heat.

Cook slowly until the bread is golden and crispy on both sides with cheese starting to ooze (drooling😋)

Not fancy but darn tasty!

Garden Green Beans

Green beans picked fresh from my garden. They are coming to an end now but have "bean" my best producer this season!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs fresh green beans, whole or cut lengthwise if bigger

1 yellow pepper, cut in strips

1 onion, sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsps minced garlic

14 oz canned diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp lemon pepper

1/2 tsp fennel seed

1 tsp dry oregano

Boil the beans in salted water until just tender and drain.

In a large skillet, sauté yellow pepper and onion in olive oil until tender then add the garlic for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and seasonings and heat through. 

May be made ahead a few days and re-heated when needed.

Serves 10-12

Mini Stuffed Pumpkins

Overflowing with flavour, these mini stuffed Baby Boo pumpkins make an elegant little presentation. Some of you may recall I posted DIY pumpkin placemarkers a few days back. Once they did their placemarking duties for Canadian Thanksgiving they turned into these cute side dishes! (See the placemarker how-to link at the end of this post)

Ingredients:

9 mini pumpkins (these Baby Boos are about 4 oz each)

olive oil

salt and pepper

Rice and Veg Filling:

2 tbsps olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 cup diced mushrooms

2 tbsps minced garlic

1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary

1 tsp dry thyme

1/2 tsp dry sage or savory

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups rice (1/2 brown, 1/2 white)

2 3/4 cups broth

1 cup chopped nuts and seeds (walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds)

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Begin by slicing off the tops of the pumpkins as though you were going to make teenie tiny jack-o-lanterns. Some were quite easy to cut while the more squat squash were pretty hard! Scoop the seeds and stringy stuff out (save the seeds for next year's garden) and brush on olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper inside and out.

Replace the tops and bake on a lined cooking sheet in a 400°F oven for anywhere from 35-55 minutes or until tender. A knife should easily pierce the skin.

Now for the rice... this recipe makes more than what you'll need for the pumpkins which is OK because it's delicious and you'll want to serve it again later in the week!

Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add the onion, celery and carrot (classic mirepoix) cooking for about 10 minutes or until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook 2 minutes, then add the garlic and seasonings. Finally add the rice and stir together then pour in your choice of broth. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes until rice is tender. Remove from heat and add the nut mixture (whatever combo you like to make 1 cup) and the dried cranberries.

Fill each little pumpkin with the rice mixture and top them with their caps.

Return them to the 400°F oven for 15-20 minutes. The skin is edible so you can eat the whole thing, but some may just want to scoop the veg inside along with the rice mixture.

Really wish I had a black plate to show these off on!

Adapted from: domesticgothess.com

DIY Pumpkin Placemarkers:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2021/10/diy-pumpkin-placemarkers.html

Creamy Mashed Potatoes with Garlic

Ok, mashed potatoes must be the most boring, bland looking vegetable ever!  But with a little help bland can turn to BAM!

Ingredients:

5 lbs Yukon gold potatoes (worth the extra $$)

1 garlic head, roasted and mashed

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup half and half cream

2 tbsps Lowney's chicken broth powder (this is already salty so don't overdo adding extra salt)

1/2 cup regular or roasted red pepper hummus (store bought or homemade... see below for both the hummus recipe and a quick "roasted" garlic recipe link)

🠋Booooring 😞😴

Once you have boiled your potatoes, drain and mash them. Then add the remaining ingredients and mash together until well combined and smooth. Add more cream if you like. Yum!

Serves 10 people

"Roasted" Garlic in the Microwave:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2017/11/roasted-garlic-in-microwave.html

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus:

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2021/07/roasted-red-pepper-hummus.html

Kicked Up Ham Sandwich

An awesome bread can change a ho-hum ham sandwich into a hit!

Ingredients:

Spicy sliced mortadella

Leftover sliced dinner ham

Strong cheddar cheese

Dijon mustard

Cranberry Walnut Slow Cooker Yeast Bread (recipe link below🠋)

 

Here's the link to make this amazing cranberry bread that'll change your sandwich making game! A no hands on kneading required yeast bread packed with walnuts and cranberries!

https://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2021/03/cranberry-walnut-slow-cooker-yeast-bread.html