The Here and Now

This post may be a little....well, on the emotional side. A couple of things  happened to me this week, that really got me thinking. Which is usually a little dangerous. Me thinking. Hmmm. No phone calls please, it's not as dramatic as it sounds. Ha. I found a picture of my grandpa, who passed away in 2008. And I really started missing him. I was the oldest grandchild of 5. And I was the only grandchild for about 2 years. Thanks a lot Cheryl. So glad you were born, Cheryl. He used to call me "pooter." I pretty much lived at my grandparents house every.single.weekend. I loved it there. But, what kid doesn't? I have lots and lots of memories of being at my grandparent's house, playing with my cousins, it was just the best time. And so that got me to thinking, those memories are so precious to me, and then I remembered, (like I could forget) I have 3 little girls of my own now, and I want to be focused on making memories for them, with them.
It's so so easy these days to be so caught up in "this life" that we don't slow down enough to enjoy and appreciate the little things. It sounds so cliché, but it really is the truth. We need to be living in the Here and Now. Boy, I sound like I could be preaching on Sunday morning. No thanks, by the way:) And it's not just our kids we need to slow down and appreciate. We need to appreciate every relationship we have. With our spouse, or significant other, our parents, our siblings, our friends. Even our pets. Even strangers. Our life on this Earth is so short. So short. And regardless of your spiritual beliefs, Now is the time to soak up every little thing with those you love. Because it won't last forever. Things happen every day that end relationships. Things that are unexpected. Things that are devastating. Don't live your life with regret. Or with a grudge. This is your one and only shot at living this life. Yes, things are going to happen that make us mad, sad, resentful, hurt, and we are going to have reactions. Human reactions. But, at the end of the day, let's just be genuinely happy, and kind,  and create memories that we want to remember. For ourselves, and those around us. I have a friend on facebook, let's call her "Madge", who has gone through a lot. Ugly divorce, custody, etc, yet she is a shining example of how to live this life and make cherished memories.  I am sure there are times she wanted to give up and say "forget this" but she didn't. She and I weren't the best of friends in high school, just like a "hi" kind of thing when we saw each other, and who would have guessed that 15 years later, she has inspired me by her positive attitude and actions. Funny how things change when we "grow up."  And you know what, she probably has no idea that by just being friends on facebook, she has inspired me. For that, I just want to say thank you "Madge."
So, be a Madge in some one's life. You may never know what kind of impact you will have on them. Love one another, and most importantly, respect one another. You will more blessed than you can ever know by just appreciating the little things and focusing on your relationships with an attitude of gratitude (I'm a poet and didn't know it!! Chris Cross'll make you JUMP! JUMP!, RIP..) :)

New Recipe: Chicken Pot Pie....And it's a good one!

When I normally think of chicken pot pie, I think of those frozen Banquet ones. Don't you?? The ones that take forever to cook, and probably aren't even real chicken?? Eww. I shudder at the thought. Having said that, I ate my share of those growing up, because, well I was a kid, and let's face it, kids don't know what's good and what's not!! At least I didn't. It took me many, many years to even consider eating chicken pot pie, let alone making it. Until I came across a recipe on the internet that had a picture with it. You know that saying "a picture says a  thousand words?" Well, this one did. It said "yummy", "creamy", "real chicken".  It probably also said "not the healthiest for you", but I choose to ignore that. I know, get to the recipe already! Well here it is, and after I share the recipe, I'll tell you some of the substitutions I've made.

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 unbaked pie crust (made from scratch or store bought. I make mine. It's easy. Really.)
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves; cubed. I suppose you could also use a whole chicken, but I loathe dark meat, so I go with the breast. I'm a breast girl. Wait...anyway, moving on..
• 1 cup carrots; sliced, diced, or whatever cut tickles your fancy
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup yellow or white onion; chopped
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 celery seed
• 32 oz chicken broth for boiling (reserve 1 3/4 cups for sauce)
• 2/3 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a pot, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add the carton of chicken broth, cover and boil for 15 minutes. At this point, keep checking to make sure it doesn't boil over :o Remove from heat after 15 minutes, drain, (reserving your broth for the sauce) and set aside.
In a sauce pan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir the reserved chicken broth and milk in. Simmer over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat, and add the chicken and veggie mixture. At this point, you can add more chicken broth if you want a little thinner consistency. Put one crust in a lightly greased dish. I use  a large iron skillet, but any deep dish will work fine. Pour your filling into crust, and cover with top crust. Pinch sides of crust to seal it. Cut 2 or 3 slits in top crust for steam to escape. You may also slather (who thought of that term anyway?) the top crust with softened butter for a crispier, browner crust. Bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Let sit and cool about 7 or 8 minutes before digging in!

Okay, here are the different things I've done with this recipe:
I have cubed the chicken, and also shredded it. Both ways are good, but cubed gives you more of a bite of chicken each time. Make sense? Just depends on your taste.
I usually cut my carrots on the diagonal. I also add one can of green beans (drained) and one can of corn (also drained)  to the mix just before pouring it into the pie shell. I guess you could really add any veggies you like. Or leave out the ones you don't!
When I am sauteing my onion in butter, I also add 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic.
I do not use canned chicken broth. For anything. I make my own with bouillon cubes. I do this because I use the cubes for other things as well, so I always have them on hand, and it's very easy to make. Just boil one cup of water and one cube together, and that makes one cup of broth. When I make it for this recipe, I just add the cubes to the water first, boil them down, then add the chicken and veggies, and then boil for 15 minutes. And as I mentioned, I make my own pie crust. It really is easy. I promise. Someday, I'll post my recipe for that. And one last thing, sometimes, if it's just me and the girls eating, I will halve the mixture, and use part of it, then freeze the other part. It's really nice when you can just pull it out of the freezer and pour in into the pie crust and bake it! And one last, last thing, I have made this where I use 2 crusts, and I have made it just using a top crust. Both ways are good, but if you like crust, go with 2! Oh, ps. I also sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the top crust after I slather (there's that word again!) the butter on!
This is a really good recipe, and my whole family loves it!! You should definitely make it sometime! I've included some pictures of the one I made this week!

 The creamy filling!

All done!!               

oh my goodness, ive created a blog.

Okay, so here it is. My blog. Why? You may ask, well I'm not sure, actually. I've always been a good writer (yes, I'm bragging) and I've always loved to write, and quite frankly, my life is pretty interesting crazy. so I thought id share with everyone (probably, just ONE. thanks, mom.) let me just explain a little about this blog. the name pretty much sums it up. I plan on this being about my life. and what I love. and that is makeup and muffin pans. and everything in between. it will have a little about makeup, a little about baking, a little about my girls. I'll share recipes of things I love, pictures of things I love, and links to things I love. Is that too much love? Eh, oh well.  Some things you should know about me: I am a Christian. I am old fashioned.  I am a slight perfectionist. I love designer things. and I don't apologize for that. Having said that though, I do love a bargain! I don't plan on posting everyday. "Ain't nobody got time for that!" Hopefully, once or twice a week, I can write. So, stay tuned! If you're interested!