Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie

My daughter sent me the link to THIS VIDEO recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie. It seemed very simple to make and since I'm a sucker for CPP, I was totally willing to try it out. It is super fast to put together...but of course, takes 6-8 hours in the crock pot to cook up. I had to go buy the Pillsbury biscuits and an extra can or two of cream of chicken soup. I didn't use an entire bag of peas or corn but measured out a cup each (to keep it Weight Watcher point friendly). The biscuit dough is added after the slow cooker cooking and you'll need a crock with a removable ceramic pot in order to bake it off in the traditional oven.

I was a little disappointed that the base of the pot pie remained soupy and we had to eat it in bowls with a spoon. I thought it might be a thicker, more traditional white sauce but it still tasted pretty good. There are no potatoes in the ingredient list so adding those might help to thicken it or serve it with rice or mashed potatoes to soak up some of the creamy broth. I'm not a fan of the refrigerated dough products and find they all taste the same (meh, nothing compared to homemade flavour). This dish was no different and at 3 WW points per biscuit, I limited it to one. My daughter and hubs loved the Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie and ate the leftovers the next night. I don't find the real deal that much more difficult to make (I use puff pastry or my usual pie dough) so I'm not sure if I would include this in the regular rotation of dinners, but for those who want it semi-homemade, quick, and easy to assemble, this just might be the solution for you! You can watch the video below and cut-&-paste the directions in the info section below it (press the 'SHOW MORE' to reveal it). Enjoy!

The Finish Lines!

Oh, I've been working hard to meet my deadline! The quilting is done on the Social Butterfly, the label is made, and now I'm just finishing up the hand binding, which has been lovely. The quilt looks great and I can't wait to give it away! lol!

I'm very ready to move on and even though I still have a couple UFOs waiting to be finished, I think I'm going to start something new. I realize that it's been a long time since I've sewn on many of my vintage machines and I'm a bit worried that there may be issues if I don't spark them up. I might take a week and just sew some half square triangles together on each one to give them some exercise.

Speaking of exercise, I am fully dedicated to my healthy routine lately and it's been my focus these past few weeks. There are several events coming up that I want to be ready for and that is great incentive. I haven't been this fit in probably ten years so that makes me feel even more empowered. I may even do some shopping for both workout clothes and evening wear!

I've tried several great recipes and products too that are really helping keep me on track. Some are not the most nutrition-packed but I've learned enough over the years that I need substitutions for when those naughty cravings hit! I'll share some later this week.

The quilting finish line and the weight-loss finish line are both in sight now. Of course I realize that neither really has an ending and it's a good thing actually because I enjoy always having a project to work on, both with my quilting and my health! 

Chocolate Swirl PB2 Banana Muffins

I was excited to try the PB2 in some baking and these Chocolate Swirl PB2 Banana Muffins seemed like a good first project. I'm a sucker for muffins and have really been missing them on my WW plan. This recipe was shared on The Sweet Tooth Life blog and were easy to make. The muffins are made with regular, healthy ingredients like whole wheat flour, oats, and banana, and you can substitute non-dairy choices and sweetener if you want to reduce the calories further or eliminate the milk. I chose to use almond milk (unsweetened, regular) since hubby couldn't have the muffins with the powdered peanut butter anyway. I used real sugar and a combination of quick oats and old fashioned for a bit of texture. I also used real chocolate chips since there are only 1/4 cup of them in the whole batch.

I must say the muffins smelled divine as they baked - very chocolatey! The results were great! They are tender and flavourful although I couldn't really taste the peanut butter that much. It's subtle! I also had trouble making them 'swirl' and they turned out more like a layered plain and chocolate effect. Still tasty though! The only downside is the recipe only makes 8 muffins and they were gone in a flash. WW Points values varied on the internet but I took an average and counted them as 4. The Chocolate Swirl PB2 Banana Muffins totally satisfied my 2:00 pm treat-with-tea craving and I will be making them again. You can use the link above to go to Mary Frances' blog and get the recipe.

PB2 (Powdered Peanut Butter)

Have you heard of powdered peanut butter? I picked mine up at Costco but it is also available at health food stores and 'nutrition/vitamin' stores. The brand I bought is PB2 made by Bell Plantation. Here is the description as per their website:

PB2 is peanut butter reimagined. Freshly roasted peanuts are pressed to remove 85% of the fat and calories. The result is a delicious and all natural alternative to traditional peanut butter with twice the healthy proteins per gram than its traditional counterpart. PB2 can be mixed with any liquid to make a spread, eaten straight from the jar or added to recipes for a rich nutty flavor.

PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter is mixed with water to create a traditional peanut butter mixture. It also works and tastes wonderfully in recipes that call for the use of peanut butter. Check our recipes section for great ideas on how to use your PB2.

A lot of people use this as a dip for their apples or add as extra protein in shakes and cereals. I was a little nervous to try it but it's actually really good! It tastes pretty much like peanut butter and is very smooth. Now, I already use and enjoy NATURAL peanut butter. Processed peanut butter has a lot of added sugar and salt and is hydrogenated. If you are not used to the 'nutty', unsweet taste of the real deal then the PB2 might be more of a stretch for you. I won't stop using regular natural peanut butter (on sandwiches, for example) and I know there is some value in the natural fat, but as a dip or recipe ingredient I think the low calorie PB2 has its place. In my next post I'm going to share my review of the first baking I did with it - scrumptious PB2 Chocolate muffins!!!!

"Crackslaw"

I had never heard of Crackslaw but it's all over the net. I learned about it on Weight Watchers because it can be a low-point meal but had to try it because of the rave reviews everywhere. Basically, you cook up some ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, or turkey) with minced garlic, add a bag of fresh coleslaw mix and some seasonings and you're done.

The beauty of the dish is it's made in one pan and extremely fast to prepare. You can change it up by mixing and matching your vegetables, meat, and flavourings but the basic premise is always the same. It is typically an Asian-flavoured recipe and often served with potstickers and rice. After all the fuss I'd read, I couldn't wait to try it.

I made mine the lower-fat way by using a tiny amount of oil, lean ground turkey, and extra veggies. I added onions, red and yellow bell peppers, and celery. I used a prepared Szechwan sauce (but only 100 ml) and just a dash of sesame oil. I garnished with some sesame seeds and sliced green onions. We each added Sriracha sauce (hot sauce) at the table - I can only handle about 3 drops in my whole serving! I steamed some vegetable potstickers and served some sticky rice on the side.

I must say I've joined the bandwagon! What a delicious and satisfying dinner. Everyone loved it and we were full afterwards. While we find the name unfortunate, and prefer to just call it stir-fry from now on, I highly recommend checking out the recipe. You can find many, many versions and there are Pinterest pages full of links. I know for sure I will be making this often.

The Spiralizer!

I must live a sheltered life because I only just learned of this kitchen gadget taking over the world, the vegetable spiralizer. Since I have been refocusing my efforts on healthy eating I've come across mention of 'zoodles', 'noodles' made from spiralized zucchini. Once I looked into it I thought, well, I don't need that. My DD's boyfriend actually has a hand-held version and had made her a dinner of 'spaghetti' using the curly strands of zucchini. She said she was open to eating it more often and when we were in the discount store I saw something similar to his for only $2.99. I figured I had little to lose by trying it and it might just be fun!

I will admit that it was quick and easy to use. I spiralized one small zucchini to yield about a cup of zoodles. Since it was the middle of the afternoon (I was too impatient to wait to try it out at dinner!), I simply boiled the vegetable for a couple of minutes and then lightly sauteed it for a snack. Pretty tasty, I will admit! Now, I actually enjoy zucchini but my DH does not. It was going to be a tougher sell to convince him that he'd not notice the difference between pasta and zoodles. My meat sauce is great...but maybe not great enough to disguise this substitution!

The little hand-held model is great for maybe a single serving but I knew I would not stand there and 'pencil sharpener' 6 zucchini. As it happened, when I started to check out reviews, I found the Star Frit sprial slicer on sale for $20 bucks (reg. $39.99). I trust that brand and know they make great gadgets. When I went to the store to pick it up the shelves were bare!  The lady was able to find me just one in the warehouse so I grabbed it. My DD wants one too so I got a rain check for her but apparently they are on back-order! Who knew they were SO popular! This one came with 3 different blades (thick noodles, thin noodles, and curls) which safely store right in the unit like drawers. That's brilliant because I have an older slicer gadget and a food processor and neither has a storage solution for the crazy sharp blades. The Star Frit spiralizer also has a suction cup base and easy turn handle.

It was super easy to crank out the spirals on my first try. I started with the thicker blade but preferred the thinner for noodles. I got piles of them from 3 small zucchini so this is much better for making larger, family-size quantities. I tried steaming as my cooking method this time as I read that it was preferred but (maybe because I had a larger quantity) it took forever and they were still 'al dente'. Dinner was very tasty and all agreed that once in a while it would be an okay alternative to real pasta. With meat sauce and parmesan it was not that difficult to enjoy the meal and it's totally guilt free calorie-wise.

For the first attempt I'm pretty pleased with the results. The Spiral slicer works great and makes quick work of preparing zoodles. I already ordered 3 cookbooks and am excited for them to arrive. I want to make sure to actually use this kitchen tool and proper recipes to follow make that easier and more versatile. You can also use it with carrots, potatoes, parsnips, apples, etc. The first recipe I want to try is for zucchini fritters and the second is for curly potato spirals baked up like fries. Yum! I'll be sure to post the results when I do.

 

Quilting Happiness

This post could totally be about how much I love quilting in general but actually, it's the title of a new book I picked up at my favourite discount bookseller. I hadn't intended to buy another quilting book but this one caught my eye and once I had a good look at home, I'm so glad I got it!

Quilting Happiness: Projects, Inspiration & Ideas to Make Quilting More Joyful (by Christina Lane & Diane Gilleland) is unlike any of the zillion books I already have about quilting. First I'll say that it's a beautiful book on lovely paper (which, as you may know, I adore!), has just over 170 pages in 5 chapters, lovely diagrams and photos, super quilts (both small and large) and (my favourite) TONS of text to read!

The premise is very unique. The authors hope the book serves as a workbook to help explore what about quilting makes you happiest and how to expand on that feeling. Scattered amongst the fun and gorgeous project patterns for you to make are exercises and ideas for you to try. They range from ways to inspire and motivate your creativity (e.g. list things you notice each day or play with your fabric) to creating a place to record your ideas (a quilt journal or an inspiration board). There are quick "Tools for Happiness" for self-reflection and a bit of analysis to help you realize what kind of quilter you are and what you can learn from that knowledge.

I think you get the idea. Quilting Happiness is really interesting and very different. It still has great quilts to make and the 'tools & techniques' how-to section, but offers so much more and goes much deeper into the 'why we do it' and 'how can we make it even more fun and meaningful'. It's a great read (for me anyway - I love to READ about quilting) and chock full of good stuff - too much to even explain here. Well done, ladies!

Old Fashioned Peach & Blueberry Cobbler

I shared this Milk Calendar recipe in 2012 in THIS POST but since I just made it for our Labour Day dessert I thought it was time to bring it up again. This time, seeing as it's peach season here, I prepared the Old Fashioned Peach & Blueberry Cobbler with fresh, ripe peaches instead of the canned ones like I used 4 years ago (since it was in March!). It only takes a second to give the peaches a dip in boiling water and the skins slip right off. I used frozen blueberries from the freezer since I like to use them up before they get too icy.

The cobbler is fantastic, especially warm from the oven with vanilla ice cream. (Hey, that's what I said last time too!). I must say that the 'cobbles' from this recipe are amazing. They are so light and fluffy and probably my favourite part of the entire dessert. You can access all the recipes in that post from March linked above, including my mother-in-laws homemade Peach Cobbler recipe. The Milk Calendar Peach & Blueberry version recipe is still at the same link so definitely give it a try too! Delicious!

Hey, Craftsy Classes are ON SALE!!!

Oh, I almost missed it! Craftsy classes are ON SALE right now and there are still a couple of days left to take advantage. They are offering 50% off most classes until September 5th... You can use the SALE BUTTON to the right of this post to go straight to the sale page.

The kids are almost all back to school now and while everyone else helped one of them move this weekend, I cleaned the house like crazy! It was a ton of work to get it back into shape after the summer but it feels so good now that it's done. I even got some of the windows cleaned!

I am now ready to get back to my crafting. My trip photos are spread out and I've got the first set of Pre-Designed pages finished. I'm on hold while I wait for another 2 packs of refills and some Designer paper to match. How did I think 800+ photos were going to fit into one set of pages????

Tomorrow I'm going to quilt a little on the Social Butterfly. I have almost finished half of it and once those last few rows are stitched I can rotate the quilt and work on the second half. I'm really looking forward to the hand binding for some reason and getting it done and gifted.