Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday: Chicken Biscuit Pie

This week's recipe is another I've had around for years. It's simple and one of my favorite comfort foods.

Chicken Biscuit Pie

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter

1 onion, chopped

1/3 cup flour

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

Salt & Pepper

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen carrots

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

Biscuits:

2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

5 tbsp shortening

3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450. Grease a 2 quart baking dish.

In a large saucepan, saute the chopped onion in butter. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add frozen veggies and chicken and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Pour into greased baking dish.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Stir in milk just until dough is moistened, then drop by spoonfuls onto chicken mixture.

Bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes.

A few personal additions. I do whatever veggies I have on hand. Frozen, fresh or canned. Just remember they must be cooked prior.

Also, I find the biscuit mixture to be too much and always half it. Or double the chicken mixture, whatever meets your needs. I also cook it at a lower temp. Usually 375.

You can use canned biscuits also. Throw them on top, or bake them separately.

Enjoy!

Musical Monday

This weeks song is Laughing With by Regina Spektor.

I really like Regina. She has a unique voice, and her lyrics are always interesting.

I listed the lyrics this week just because I really love them. They are powerful.

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” CS Lewis

Laughing With

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God when the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one's laughing at God when it's gotten real late and their kid's not back from that party yet

No one laughs at God when their airplane starts to uncontrollably shake
No one's laughing at God when they see the one they love hand in hand with someone else and they hope that they're mistaken
No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door and they say, "We've got some bad new, sir"
No one's laughing at God when there's a famine, fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
Or when the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head you think that they're about to choke

God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious
Ha ha
Ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one's laughing at God when they've lost all they got and they don't know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize that the last sight they'll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one's laughing at God when they're saying their goodbyes

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
Or when the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head you think that they're about to choke

God can be funny
When told he'll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war

No one's laughing at God in a hospital
No one's laughing at God in a war

No one's laughing at God when they're starving or freezing or so very poor

No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
No one's laughing at God
We're all laughing with God

Pinterest

I had to blog about my latest and greatest obsession…

Pinterest!

If you have never heard of it, I will give you the lowdown. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. It's basically a visual bookmarking site. You can pin images of all the things you love onto personalized bulletin boards.

It consists of Bulletin Boards that you pin photos to with links attached.

Say there are several crafts you'd like to do. Instead of bookmarking them the "old fashioned" way, pin them to your Craft Bulletin Board in Pinterest. Then they're all right there, just a click away. You can see everything all at once.

Or there's a great recipe you stumbled across that you'd really like to try. Click on your Pin It button, it's a bookmarklet, that you installed on your bookmark, there are detailed instructions once you sign up,

click on the picture you want to pin,

then file it under whatever category you choose.

Then when your looking through your Recipe Bulletin Board, you can quickly see the recipe you want, click on that pin, and it will take you directly to the recipe.

I'll admit…I'm totally hooked.

Whoever thought this concept up is pure genius.

Have you ever been browsing through the internet and stumbled on something you really liked? Sure you can bookmark it, but let's be real…how many of us actually do that? Then actually remember to go back and find it!

I hate the conventional bookmarking. It drives me crazy and I never use it.

Another awesome concept of Pinterest is that you can see what your friends are pinning also. That really opens up your realm of great finds. It makes it easy to share recipes, craft ideas, photos, products, quotes, and a zillion other things!

I can't tell you how many awesome recipes, craft ideas, pictures and slews of other things I have come across from this site.

If you haven't checked it out, you should.

You do have to be a member to use Pinterest. You can request an invitation from Pinterest itself, or a friend can invite you.

I'm not sure how I got so lucky, but I requested an invitation from Pinterest and received it less than an hour later. I've heard of people waiting forever and not getting an invite.

If you'd like an invite, shoot me a comment or an email.

Scritch A Scratch

This is what happens when you have a kitty cat sweetly sleeping in your lap, and your husband decides to be silly and scare the poo out of her.

Wordless Wednesday

She decided to sit on him. He was not amused.

Tasty Tuesday: Lemon Ricotta Cookies

This weeks recipe is a delightful little cookie!

Lemon Ricotta Cookies.

Has anyone else noticed that all my summer recipes are desserts??

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

15 oz whole milk ricotta cheese

3 tbsp lemon juice

Zest of one lemon

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp lemon juice

Zest of one lemon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the butter and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice and zest. Beat to combine, then stir in the dry ingredients.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough onto the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until edges are slightly golden. Remove from oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about a half a teaspoon onto each cookie, and spread using the back of the spoon. Allow the glaze to harden for two hours, then store in a container.

Enjoy!

Musical Monday

This week's song is Pyro by the Kings of Leon.

Love this song, and love this band.

The music video is pretty cool too. You should check it out.

Back To Our Normally Scheduled Programming

Ahhh, I think we have finally made our way back to Normalville.

Finally!

I think Richard was getting worried there. Poor man ran out of underwear. Now there's a crisis.

Phoenix is doing much better. After much research I settled on Blue Buffalo Longevity. We started that this past Tuesday, so it's almost been a week. He really seems to enjoy it. I've also split his feeding schedule. We do a late breakfast, then dinner. He seems to like being on a schedule. I am hoping that about 3 weeks from now we'll see a major difference in his allergies. They say it takes about a month. If no change, then we're off to the vet. Bad news for Phoenix! Hopefully they clear up.

As far as everything else, I'm just trying to make up for the past days of neglecting just about everything. I did finally go to the grocery store! Ha.

We've been trying to install the little shelves on the false front cabinets in the bathroom and kitchen. What a nightmare. They were supposedly easy to install. Pffft. We've only got 5 more to go.

I know I've neglected putting up pictures of the house. I had wanted everything done first, but let's face it…that's not happening. Between procrastinating and not being able to make up my mind we're in a slight standstill. I'll get pictures up as soon as I get some batteries for my nice camera. So we should expect that to happen, oh in 3 months or so. Heehee.

Crazy Days

Sorry for the absence!

Is it really Sunday already? Where did the past week and a half go?

I totally missed an entire week of grocery shopping. Needless to say our fridge and pantry are looking pretty bare.

Phoenix has been sick and I've been preoccupied with him. He stopped eating just over a week ago. This didn't really concern me as he will do this from time to time. He's quite stubborn. I had just opened a new bag of Iams so I wasn't sure what the problem was. He held out for days. It wasn't until Wednesday that I got concerned. He nibbled at his food I had just put out and ate maybe a 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup. He then promptly threw it all up. He was also acting like he didn't feel good. He didn't want to play, and he didn't want to chase the cats. You KNOW something is wrong when that happens!

I got online to make sure there weren't any recalls on his food, and checked the bag of food but everything looked fine. So I went and bought some Beneful to fill in until we could figure out what was wrong. He ate all of his food that night, but still acted like he didn't feel good.

He ate normally the next day, but early Saturday morning he had thrown up everywhere. I was about to cart him off to the vet as soon as they opened, but decided to try some rice as he acted like he was starved. Not a big surprise there!

I made rice for him and he ate all of it. More rice for lunch, then I boiled some chicken and gave him a rice, chicken and carrot mixture for dinner.

This morning he had rice, chicken, and carrots again and seems to be feeling better. He even chased the cats.

We're still not sure what's going on, if anything. So we're keeping an eye on him for now.

I have decided to change up his food for a more all natural kibble. I was a bit dismayed after seeing the ingredient list for Iams. I've been shelling out more money for a food I thought was better, but come to find out it has quite a few icky ingredients. There is no dye in it like the Beneful, which is good, but still some things I don't want to see in his food.

I'm now wondering if the dyes were what made him sick. He had become accustomed to the Iams so it is a possibility I think.

I also found a lot of people complaining about skin, ear and eye allergies with Iams. This is something that Phoenix has started having problems with. I always blamed it on pollen and outdoor allergens, but started checking the pollen count and everything has been extremely low or non-existent. Now I'm starting to think he's developed an allergy to his food.

So for now he's going to be eating an assortment of things so I can see if the allergies clear up.

I'm leaning towards switching towards Blue Buffalo brand. The ingredients are decent, and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I really liked the TimberWolf line of food, but at $25 for a meager 4 pounds, I think we shall pass!

Tasty Tuesday

I don't know about your neck of the woods, but it is HOT here! And I mean scorching!

The last thing I want to do right now is toil over a hot stove. The less time I spend in the kitchen right now the better.

I was trying to think of something quick and easy, with as little time spent in the kitchen as possible. I keep seeing Strawberry Shortcake popping up everywhere, so I thought I'd share my favorite recipe.

This does require an oven, but it's fast! I promise!

Strawberry Shortcake

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup margarine

3/4 cup milk

Strawberries

Sugar

Whipping Cream

Slice your strawberries and then place them in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Stick them in the fridge while you prepare your cake.

Preheat oven to 450.

Grease 9x12 baking dish.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into pieces and mix into flour mixture.

Pour milk in slowly and mix until lumpy.

Place in dish and bake approximately 15 minutes.

While cake is baking, make your whipped cream.

Pour 1 cup whipping cream into mixer and beat on high.

While beating, add 1 tbsp confectioners sugar and vanilla if desired.

Whip until good peaks form.

Enjoy!

Musical Monday

This week's song is Island in the Sun by Weezer. I love this song, and it's seriously got the cutest music video ever.

Hip hip

Hip hip

Hip hip

Hip hip

When you're on a holiday

You can't find the words to say

All the things that come to you

And I wanna feel it too

On an island in the sun

We'll be playing and having fun

And it makes me feel so fine

I can't control my brain

Hip hip

Hip hip

When you're on a golden sea

You don't need no memory

Just a place to call your own

As we drift into the zone

On an island in the sun

We'll be playing and having fun

And it makes me feel so fine

I can't control my brain

We'll run away together

We'll spend some time forever

We'll never feel bad anymore

Hip hip

Hip hip

Hip hip

On an island in the sun

We'll be playing and having fun

And it makes me feel so fine

I can't control my brain

We'll run away together

We'll spend some time forever

We'll never feel bad anymore

Hip hip

We'll never feel bad anymore

No no

We'll never feel bad anymore

No no

No no

No no

Consumer Reviews

For quite some time, I have been desiring to start posting personal reviews. Be it stores, products, or whatever fits my fancy.

I always do research before making large purchases. Actually, I research small ones as well. Oh heck, I research everything!

Anyway, I love getting other people's opinions on things. Consumer Reports is also extremely helpful, but there really is nothing like a personal review from someone who spent the hard earned money and has it sitting in their house.

I have come across many blogs with personal reviews of various items, and I can't tell you how helpful they have been. It was really priceless to me. So I figured it's the least I can do.

As I side note, I am not being compensated in any way by any company I review. These are purely my own opinions.

With all that said, here is my first review. It started out as a product review but has kind of turned into a company review also.

Starbucks Coffee and Via Ready Brew: Iced Coffee

I don't think it's any secret that I am a very loyal fan of Starbuck's. I know they have gotten a lot of heat, but I can't say enough good things about this company.

Is their coffee expensive? Yes, kind of.

Is the quality decent? Very.

Is it always made correctly? Always.

Are the employees super friendly? YES!

Here's the clincher for me. I know when I walk into Starbuck's that I'm going to get an uber friendly greeting. I also know that my grande iced caramel macchiato is going to be made correctly, it's going to taste like the thousand and one grande iced caramel macchiato's I've ordered prior, and it's going to be delicious.

Consistency is key.

I also know if I walk into Dunkin Donuts it's a coin toss as to whether or not the employee is going to be in a good mood or not, and it's an even bigger coin toss as to whether my iced coffee is going to be drinkable.

Several years ago, after multiple bad iced coffee's from DD, I walked in and started to order another. On a whim, I asked the employee if they would make me another if the one I got was not right. That's always been their problem, they never taste the same. The employee laughed in my face, and informed me they don't hand out samples. Well, I wasn't asking for a sample thank you very much.

True story.

I walked out and vowed from then on I was a Starbuck's girl.

I've been quite happy ever since.

So am I willing to fork out a little extra moolah? You betcha!

I also love that Starbuck's gives back to their employees.

Okay, now on to the specific product I am loving.

Via Ready Brew Iced Coffee.

This stuff is uh-mazing! They are basically little packets of instant coffee, specifically to make iced coffee with.

They run around $6 or so for 6 packets. Plus, I've been able to find several coupons.

You take a 16.9 oz bottle of water, add your ready brew, and shake!

You can then pour your coffee over ice, or just drink it straight from the bottle.

Here's what I like to do…

First I grab my handy dandy re-usable Starbuck's cup. If you don't have one of these you should buy one. Love it!

I add ice, then pour my sweet coffee nectar over top.

I then add a nice splash of Coffee-mate Caramel Macchiato creamer, and a squirt of caramel syrup. We're talking less than two bucks per iced coffee, and you don't have to go anywhere to get it!

Sweet perfection!

Defriended

Okay, Imma be really frank here…why do people add you as a friend on Facebook, then out of the blue just delete you?

I don't get it!

And yes, as I'm sure your inquiring mind is dying to know, I was defriended today. Okay, well maybe not today. I happened to notice it today!

And before you jump to conclusions and think I actively monitor my Friend List and the number therein…I don't.

I was perusing Facebook today and noticed the absence of someone I regularly see posts from. I tried to go to their page, and it was then that I realized I'd been snubbed.

Yes, I took it personally. I really wish it didn't bother me, but it does.

I'm not talking about being defriended by someone you don't really know. Or getting offed by someone who just added you. Although that's weird too! And I'm not talking about someone who's obviously been clearing out their Friend List.

And I'm certainly not talking about a legitimate defriending. Sometimes it is necessary, but I think that's rare.

I'm talking about someone who you personally know. Someone you have mutual friends with, and the mutual friends are still in their Friend List.

Someone with whom you were actively engaged with, commenting with, liking updates, and everything seemed fine.

I really don't get it! What is the point?

I guess it boils down to this. No matter where we are in life, rejection still hurts.

Their loss.

Wordless Wednesday

How'd that get up there!

Tasty Tuesday

Seeing as it is Summertime, and it's hotter than heck out there…I thought I would share one of my favorite fruity drink recipes.

Luscious Slush Punch

2 1/2 cups white sugar

6 cups water

2 (3 oz) boxes strawberry flavored gelatin mix

46 oz pineapple juice

2/3 cup lemon juice

1 quart orange juice

4 litres lemon lime flavored carbonated soda

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water, and gelatin.

Boil for 3 minutes.

Stir in the remaining juices.

Divide mixture and freeze.

When ready to serve, place in bowl and add soda.

I have seen varying opinions on the amount of sugar, and I can't remember how much I used. I believe it was less.

As far as the soda, I always use Sprite.

Also, I have found it easiest to ladle this into quart or gallon sized freezer bags, then freeze. This way, if you are making it just to have around the house, you can pull out just what you need.

Enjoy!

Musical Monday

This week's song is Summertime. I did a little background searching, as I've heard so many people sing this song.

There are approximately 2600 recorded versions of this song! That is crazy!

Billie Holiday's version, which is the one I chose, was the first to reach the US Pop charts, all the way back in 1936. It's still a great song.

It was originally an aria composed by George Gershwin for the opera Porgy and Bess.

Summertime,

And the livin' is easy

Fish are jumpin'

And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich

And your mamma's good lookin'

So hush little baby

Don't you cry

One of these mornings

You're going to rise up singing

Then you'll spread your wings

And you'll take to the sky

But till that morning

There's a'nothing can harm you

With daddy and mamma standing by

Summertime,

And the livin' is easy

Fish are jumpin'

And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich

And your mamma's good lookin'

So hush little baby

Don't you cry