Recipe #19: Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes

Source:  Quick Dish by tablespoon via Pinterest

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast, poached and diced
1 14.5 oz can cream of chicken soup
1 cup frozen mixed veggies
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbls. Herbs de Provence
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
2 cans Pillsbury Grands biscuits

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked chicken, cream of chicken soup, frozen veggies, cheese, herbs and spices.

Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin and place the Pillsbury biscuits into each cup, pressing into the bottom and up the sides.

 Evenly spoon the pot pie mixture into each biscuit cup. Slide into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Check at the 12 minute mark.

Let rest for about 3 minutes and dig in!
   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This recipe intrigued me.  There are an awful lot of recipes these days for cooking food in muffin cups.  It seems like an interesting idea, but probably not one my husband would probably not one hundred percent embrace.

 

But since he is still gone, I figured why not?  Plus, I had 3 rotissiere chickens from the grocery store.  (I buy them when they are marked down and then take the meat off the bones and freeze it.  Perfect for those times you needed some cooked chicken for a recipe such as this.

 

I mixed up the filling early in the afternoon and put it in the refrigerator.

 

 

I used a combination of cheddar and monterey jack cheese that I had already shredded earlier in the week for tacos.

When it was close to dinner time, I put the biscuits in the muffin pan.  It was pretty quick to press the biscuit dough into the pan - I had seen in the comments of this recipe that some people had had some issue with this, but I had no trouble at all.

Into the oven and 15 minutes later, dinner was ready!

 

The kids ate these like muffins.  They were a little leery of them at first, I think the name threw them off, but once they came out of the oven, both kids seemed interested.  I put some gravy I had over the top of mine and used a knife and fork.  They were pretty good.  

 

I'm not sure how these can be called cupcakes, since they are biscuits to me. 

 

I have a few still in the refrigerator.  I'm not sure how they'll heat back up, but I'll let you know! 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Ratings

Special Ingredients Needed:   None 

Ease of Preparation:  Easy. 

Taste:    Good.   A little heavy maybe with the biscuits and the cream of chicken soup, but definitely filling.

Overall

Recipe #18: Slow Cooked Pulled Beef Sandwiches

Source:  makeaheadmealsforbusymoms.com

Ingredients
3 lbs. beef chuck roast
1 cup Bull’s-Eye Original Barbecue Sauce
1/2 cup Ketchup
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 tablespoons spicy mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
 
Directions
1.  Turn the slow cooker on high heat.  Rinse the beef under cold water and place in the slow cooker.
2.  Combine the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl and pour over the beef.
3.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. 
4.  When the beef is done, place the beef on a plate and shred it with 2 forks.  Return the beef to the sauce and mix well.  Serve on a hamburger bun.
Makes 8 sandwiches

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Where do I start with this recipe?  Let's start with the big thing:  I did not make this in my slow cooker.  My slow cooker was slightly out of commission as I spent 3 days trying to get burnt honey out of it.  But I had this chuck roast and needed to get a dinner set for tonight.  So I did an Internet search on "converting slow cooker times to oven times", and wouldn't you know?  There is actually an eHow page that helps you figure out how long to cook something in the oven that's from a crockpot recipe. 

So I cooked this for 2-1/2 hours at 325 in a 9x13 pan covered tightly with foil.

After it cooked, I let it cool and shredded the meat and put all the meat and the sauce left in the pan in the refrigerator.  We had it for dinner tonight and it was very good.  I really like pulled pork and this was a decent alternative.  I served it on hamburger buns, and I of course added a slice of cheese, because why not?  

(I took the cheese off for the picture, so you could see how it actually looked.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ratings
Special Ingredients Needed:   None 

Ease of Preparation:  Easy. 
Taste:    Very similar to pulled pork.  The sauce was excellent.  The flavor was very good the next day.

Overall:  9 out of 10 

Recipe #17: Slow Cooker Parmesan Honey Pork Roast Recipe

Source:  Six Sisters' Stuff via Pinterest

Ingredients:
1 (2-3 pound) boneless pork roast
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup honey
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp dried basil
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place roast in slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the cheese, honey, soy sauce, basil, garlic, oil and salt; pour over pork. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160°.

Remove meat to a serving platter; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. Bring liquid to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice roast; serve with gravy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, my first foray back into new recipe land was not so great.  This recipe sounded great, but sometimes, you need to pay attention to the comments you find.  Several people commented on this recipe that they didn't care for the smell of the meal, and I have to say, I agree.  And that's a major turn-off for me.

The honey was burned onto the crock pot.  I followed the directions, but I suspect this is not a "set and go" crock pot recipe.  If I had been home and been able to keep a close eye on it, I think it would have been OK.  But because it was left all day, it just wasn't very appetizing looking when I got home.  Maybe this sauce would be better in an oven, where you can baste the pork and cook it for less time.  I may actually try it, now that I say that.

We pitched it and had pizza instead. 

They can't all be winners, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ratings
Special Ingredients Needed:   None 

Ease of Preparation:  Easy. 
Taste:    We actually never tasted this.

Overall:  1 out of 10  (because I don't feel I can honestly give this a 0 since we didn't try it.)

Where Am I?

I'm still around and I haven't abandoned this project already.  Honest!

My husband is traveling this month and the truth is, the kids and I tend to eat out fairly often while he's gone.  So I haven't tried any new recipes since he's been gone, though I am hoping to try some of these cookie recipes I've got stashed away.  :)

Hang in there!  I'll be back - I promise!