Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Last night I made homemade Chicken Pot Pie for Matt and I. I've made this recipe a few times before, but never shared it with family. I got this recipe from my mom.  It makes a lot of servings, but you can always alter it to make smaller portions. I just like to make a bigger pan of it because we normally eat it for leftovers the next day for lunch and dinner. It's even good the day after that too.
 So, the recipe I am putting up, is for the size of meal I make:

Prep time: 1 hour (which includes cook time for chicken on stove)

Cook time in oven: 30-35 minutes

Serving size: I think this could easily feed 5-6 people, but not including going up for "seconds"

• 2 Chicken Breasts (preferably on bone; it comes out more moist this way, easier to take apart and it's actually cheaper than buying skinless and boneless)
• 1 Family size can of Campbell's Cream of Chicken soup (26 oz.)
• 2 cups of Bisquick mix
• ~ 2 cups of milk
• Peas and Carrots mix (I buy these in the freezer section, usually generic brand name will do) You can also use the mixed vegetables that include corn too.
• Pepper and salt
• 13x9 baking dish

First you will start off by putting the two chicken breasts in a large pot. Then add water so it's a little over half-way filled to the top. Start your timer to have it cook between 40-50 minutes (Mine is usually finished within 45 minutes). Make sure your water comes to a boil.

Once the chicken is finished, carefully take it out of the pot and put it on a plate. Cut open the chicken to see if there is any pink. If there is pink, then you need to cook it for a little bit longer; if there is no pink, then continue to let the chicken cool on a plate for about 5 minutes while doing the next step.

While the chicken is cooling, this is a good time to start on the peas and carrots. You can either:

 A.) put them in a steam bag or plastic bag and cook it in the microwave for ~5 minutes, or 

 B.) steam the on the stove.  

If you want to steam them: Put a little bit of water in the pot, then put the vegetables in. Once vegetables are added, put the lid on the pot and let the water get to a boiling point. Once it starts to boil, turn down the burner so it's only simmering. Steam the vegetables for 15 minutes.

Before I put the lid on

After the vegetables are started, now it's time to cut up the chicken into cubes or shred it into pieces. I find it easier to cut all the chicken off the bone, then pull it apart with my hands so it's shredded. Put all the chicken into your 13x9 baking dish, or whichever dish you decide to use.

Yeah, I know.. it looks gross - this is after I took the chicken off the bone.

Next, add the Campbell's chicken soup. BEFORE you throw away the can, pour milk a little bit under the halfway mark.  Now, pour the milk into the baking dish and stir around the chicken, chicken soup, and milk.

Not so appetizing looking here either.

The peas and carrots now should be finished and drained out. Once they are, pour the vegetables into the baking dish. Add some salt and pepper (not too much salt!) and stir. Preheat oven for 350*

Now, it's time to make the crust. Take 2 cups of Bisquick (make sure it's leveled off to the top.)  Put in mixing bowl, then add 1 cup of milk. You want your mixture to not be too thick or too runny. Right in the middle to where it's easier to spread and easily slides off the spoon you mix with.  So you can adjust the amount of milk once it's stirred and use your better judgement. When the Bisquick is mixed up, then pour into baking dish. Make sure to cover the entire dish so nothing is visible. I find it easy to pour it all across evenly and then spread it gently with the backside of the spoon to have all the areas covered.

Put cookie tray in the oven, and then the baking dish on top (this way if anything were to overflow it lands on the cookie tray rather than your oven!). Cook for 30-35 minutes, remove from oven, and let it cool for 5 minutes (that way it keeps it's form and not too soupy when you put on the plate).
 Then enjoy :)

I know it sounds confusing and a lot of steps, but it's not. Okay, so maybe there are a lot of steps, but once you make this dish at least once or twice, it becomes easier; more of a routine.

Say Cheese

I feel very accomplished today. I have been slacking on going up to the college to get my parking permit, student ID, Books, and asking a few questions. But today I told myself I cannot wait any longer because sooner than I know, spring break will be here and then I'm in trouble since school starts the next day!
So, I forced myself out of the house to go to the college.

Well, I got my parking permit!

And my student ID!

I went to the bookstore to purchase the two books I need for the course but only one was available, so next week I'll drive back up to the campus and just purchase both of them at the same time. It seems easier to me.

For now, I'm all set until school starts on March 28th. Yay college. It came up quick!

Welcome Aboard!

This weekend has been such a blast. I've been enjoying spending time with Matt and being outdoors. The weather has definitely picked up and it's starting to feel like California, once again. I cannot wait until the summer comes around!!  

Yesterday (Saturday), Matt and I were out the entire day! We first went to the USS Midway Museum in San Diego early in the afternoon. We didn't realize how big the actual ship was until we got there.We were touring through the ship for about 2.5 hours! It was really interesting and a lot of fun.

We were able to sit in jets, helicopters, etc. Matt also saw a few planes that he's worked on before.

Here's a chopper Matt has worked on.

There was a boat race going on throughout the day. This made us want a boat!

Huge bridge going from San Diego to Coronado Island

Love this statue. Mother and son welcoming home the Dad from overseas. The facial expressions up close were awesome.

Doing the famous dipped kiss :)  Of course, this is our version since we're not in the exact pose or attire.

After the museum, we decided to go rock climbing. This was my first time trying to climb but Matt has gone a few times before and thought I would enjoy it; which, I did!

-- Getting my first lesson on belaying and tying a climb knot.

-- I accomplished my first wall to the very top.

-- Then I tried to boulder (which I think is very tough).

-- And before we left, I was able to climb up a few walls to the top. I was mainly proud that I accomplished a 5.5 with no issues. The higher the numbers, the tougher the wall and routes get.

--Top two pictures are a few views of Vertical Hold, the indoor climbing place. It's over 24,000 sq. ft. of climbing.

--Matt bouldering up a wall. He did an awesome job at bouldering and climbing!

--Both of us bouldering up a wall to take a picture.

At the end of the day when we came back home (12 hours later), Matt made a delicious pizza

and I noticed a new flower bloomed from pretty bouquet I put together.

It was a fun-filled day and we managed to cross off #14 and #74 on our list!

If you would like to see more pictures, keep and eye out for my facebook. I will upload them later on tonight or tomorrow. And don't forget, you can always enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Evening Out

Matt got off work early today! It was definitely a nice feeling for the both of us. We were able to eat an early dinner for a change. After dinner, Matt and I went to the local Farmer's Market here in Oceanside. They block about 3 streets off and have a lot of vendor booths and tents set up with people selling items. There is normally a band playing, jumping houses, and a lot of food. Of course, the name wouldn't make since if they didn't sell fresh produce and flowers, so that is there as well.
And this is what makes me enjoy living in California.

Fresh squeeze organic lemonade. Very sweet & sour!

And of course, who doesn't love funnel cakes??

Matt was being silly without me knowing and put whip cream in his mouth(picture on the left)

Matt's new hot sauce. The Nemesis. Just the name alone sounds intimidating to me! This hot sauce contains tons of peppers and spices including the habanero and ghost pepper. We also found out tonight that the ghost pepper is no longer the hottest pepper in the world; the Naga Viper Pepper is and you can read about it by clicking that link. It is actually hot enough to strip paint. Yes, paint.

And I got me something -  fresh flowers. I made a flower arrangement just like I've wanted to for awhile now. Definitely not as easy as it looks to be at the florist shop. I think I did an O.K. job, but Matt says it looks "perfect"; which, of course makes me feel better. I am my worst critic.

#58 Put together a cute flower arrangement from the house

* Click photos if you want to view them larger.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you very much and Matt loves you too. We hope you had a nice day out with Dad. We miss you! Sending you a hug via computer.

Run Forest, Run!

I signed up for my next race; a 10k (That's 6 miles). I was going back and forth whether I should sign up for another 5k or try a 10k. But, in the end I registered for the 10k, this way I can see what my time will be and know that I tried something new. Rather than if I were to do a 5k, I would only have the goal to beat my old time; which, I have already completed on the treadmill a few weeks ago.

My race day is on April 2, 2011. Unfortunately, Matt will not be here to run with me or to cheer me on since he will already be on another DET in Yuma, AZ for 2 months, yuck! This race is raising money to help military families with autism kids. 1 of every 88 military children are born with autism. Since I grew up around military and am married to someone in the military, I really support this race and cause. I know one day Matt and I will have children and we hope that they will be healthy. Having to raise someone with autism while your spouse is in the military can be one of the hardest things to do. Not only is it tough, but it's expensive. Most people think that because we're military, we get free everything, that is not true.

Anyways, I'm training right now for the race and if you want to help donate money to my fundraiser, click this link: Act Today! For military families with autism kids

Also, the other day Matt and I were talking about our past trip to the Hollywood sign and L.A. and that's when we decided that we are going to cross those 2 items off our list. We did see a lot of things around the area and we can ALWAYS go again. The list is just to do things that we have never done before, so since that was our first time, technically we should have crossed it off last week.