Helping a Sister Out

I'm not the cookiest of sisters. I know how to do basics, but my kitchen is sorely lacking in kitchen type equipment and I've not had very many occassions to make any special or big meals. But since Jim now has the job with hours from hell, we now find ourselves alone on the holidays with me as the sole cook.

So I find myself with a Turkey, and no real clue how to actually cook it. I mean, I have a general idea, but I really want it to taste good. Winging it may not do the trick. Plus my $3 pan just confuses me.

Bewildered and looking for a consistant turkey cooking how to's on the net, I logged into Facebook and declared my ineptness. And guess who came to the rescue? Jen! She kindly offered me a phone call and a quick "how to" session to get me cooking with confidence. Thanks Jen!

She also emailed me a recipe for gravy, which I know will be uber helpful and very tasty. Jim loves his gravy!

This year I'm trying something i saw on Biggest Loser this week. It was Rocco's recipe, who I'm guessing is a Food Network guy, but not sure.

Healthy Version - Heba

2 tsp Olive oil
3 cups celery, chopped
8 ounces figs, approx. 20 figs
3 cups onions, chopped
2 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons marjoram
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sage
3 teaspoons black pepper
1 lb. Jennie-O Turkey italian sausage, browned (remove from casings)
1 lb. Ezekial Whole Grain bread crumbs cubes for stuffing
2 Eggs
16 ounces low sodium chicken broth

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Sauté celery and onions in olive oil, add browned sausage and all the seasonings. Simmer three minutes.

3. Put bread cubes in a large bowl. Add the beaten egg and egg whites. Stir in sautéed vegetables, parsley and figs. Add enough of the chicken broth to moisten. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Transfer stuffing to prepared baking dish. Cover baking dish with foil.

5. Bake stuffing 25 minutes.

6. Remove foil; turn oven up to 375 and bake stuffing until top begins to brown, about 10 minutes longer.

So, good luck to all the turkey makers out there, and stop by Jen's blog to read about her 24 pounder ;) Thanks Jen!

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Ack!

This month has been the month of meeting people I "know" but have never met. Or people who know me, from the blog and friends, but I haven't met them ever. But it has been fun and I do plan to blog about it, when I feel up to it.

But right now I'm going to talk about my lunch disaster. I was meeting a person who is friends with my sister, who is a blog reader so knows quite a bit about me (Hi Amanda!) but I have never met her. I saw her briefly on Sunday and liked her immediately. She was visiting from Texas and not leaving until Monday late afternoon. Since I figured she'd be watching Pokemon all day with Logan while HB worked, I thought she might like to meet for lunch. Actually, she and my niece Rachie Roo (who has moved past juice boxes and on to beer) would be watching Pokemon together, so a little lunch time excursion might sound like fun to both of them.

I sent Amanda a list of restaurants that were nearby and let her pick, then met them there for lunch. But not before browsing the menu with my WW buddy and deciding what to pick.

Sister Sassy: What should I pick from here that would be 10 pts or less?

Co-worker chick: Dude, you're screwed. I suppose you could get the Cherry Chicken Salad without the Feta and the walnuts...but then you're not getting much for your money. And there's the whole problem of dressing.

After going back and forth I decided on a turkey sandwich, no mayo and a cup of soup. But when I get there the only soup they have is corn chowder!! Monkey Wrench!

So then the waitress cast a spell on me with a Buffalo chicken wrap special. It was a half sandwich so I got that with the side salad. But...I have a suspicion she gave me a WHOLE one. Not a 1/2! And you know what? I ate it. All. Stupid.

So this is where I find myself Monday Night. Sitting here, having used all my daily points, a couple of my weekly points and having to weigh in on Wednesday. To compensate I am eating Watermelon, grapes and carrots for dinner. Of course I do have a main course, its only 1 pt, but it should satisfy me.

YUM.
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Let Me Help a Sister Out.

Each weekend Logan and I cook a couple new dishes to enjoy throughout the week. We're wild and crazy like that. Plus it passes the time while we wait for his daddy to walk through the door and take us skiing or something.

Last week we made the delicious breakfast casserole that I shared with you. While our mornings weren't completely stress free, they were easier because I didn't have to worry about breakfast. It was already done.

That's not to say there wasn't any drama in the morning. Especially when Logan learned about Brett Favre's retirement and our morning sounded like this: "Whyyyy can't I have a Packers jerseeeeeey." But anyway.

In addition to the breakfast dish, we also made the.best.thing.ever. I like to call it a Little Taste of Heaven. But it's really just Turkey Chili Cornbread Casserole. Could you just cry reading that? I know! Me too.

If you're a mom who works outside the home like Miss Amy, you will want to drive through the snow to Traverse City and give me a hug of gratitude. Because, sister, it warms up so nice and yummy and you'll sit in your office eating this for lunch while reading people.com and feel oh. so good.

If you're like my girl Nester and stay home with your kids, you'll want to pack those twerps up in the back of your mini van and come to my house and snuggle me too. You might even ask if we can braid each other's hair and be BFF's. Because when you put those babies down for their naps and heat this bad boy up, it will be an escape to someplace delightful. A place that doesn't include diapers and dishes and a Nascar Room.

Or, if you're a chiropractic-practicing, home-school-teaching, politics- and-health blogging kind of mom like the Good Doctor M, you will cry like a baby and offer up a thanks of praise in my name.

You're getting a bit impatient with me, aren't you? Are you ready for it? It's really easy. At least when I make it because I take a little shortcut or two. I'm nothing if not a lazy cook.

Here's what you need, and you probably have it all in your pantry and fridge right now. Except for the cute, smart-mouthed kid. He's in my pantry.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus additional for ramekins
1-1/2 pounds ground turkey
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
2-1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
1 can (28 oz.) crushed tomatoes in thick puree
1 box (10 oz.) frozen corn

1 can (15.5 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
Cornbread (This is where I cheated. Instead of making the cornbread from scratch, I used my Jiffy Cornbread Muffin Mix. You do whatever you want. )

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degree F and lightly oil 8 ovenproof ramekins (about 2-cup capacity) or glass dishes. (I did 3 ramekins and put the rest in a casserole dish)

2. Heat oil in a 5-quart pot over moderately high heat. Add turkey and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until no longer pink. Transfer turkey with a slotted spoon to a bowl, leaving fat in pot. Add onion to pot and cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add chili powder and garlic; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add tomatoes with puree, corn, and turkey; simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in beans; salt and pepper to taste.

3. Prepare your cornbread. Do not bake it.

4. Spoon about 1 cup chili into each prepared ramekin and evenly top with a spoonful of corn bread butter. Bake on a sheet pan in middle of oven until corn bread is golden brown and chili is bubbling, about 25 minutes. Makes 8 servings.

Oh, one more thing! The pretty Valarie Lea tagged us this week. I have to choose the book that is closest to me and turn to page #123. Go down five lines and then post the following three lines. So, for your reading pleasure:

"...though more secret agent than crack utility worker. His own father was a meter reader and had been in the hospital four times with dog bites. He had two shiny scars on the calf of one leg and..."




And now I am tagging The Cool Chicks and Saint Seester. And as an added bonus Bringing Up Mary (and it must be told from Mary's perspective!).

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Cooking with Sistah Honey Bunch and her kid.

It's really important to me that my family start their day with a good breakfast. Tom used to think a good breakfast meant a waffle. A frozen waffle. Every. Single. Solitary. Day.

I have since taught him to appreciate the beauty of good old fashioned oatmeal, eggs and toast and bran cereal. (I haven't been able to bring him around to Big Mama Jean's gravy and eggs or grits.)

Much to Logan's great disappointment I am not a pop-tart or sugary-cereal kind of mom. He never fails to remind me how his Uncle Russ and Aunt Sister Big gave him Fruit Loops when he spent the week end at their house.

Every time the commercial comes on I get to hear how I am unfair and basically ruining his life when it comes to his breakfast choices. Whatevah.

I hate crabby mornings and try to avoid them at all costs. We struggle over what to wear (apparently I am awful for not buying my son the appropriate sports jerseys) and what to eat while I am trying to get myself ready for work.

By the time we head out the door to wait for the school bus so I can leave for my office, I realize that I have forgotten to eat my own breakfast. And I am feeling awful that the morning was not peaceful for any of us.

In order to solve this problem AND spend some fun time in the kitchen with Logan, we made a de-li-cous breakfast casserole to enjoy for upcoming week.

We also made blueberry muffins (for a snack in the evenings) and mmmm-mmmm-YUM! Turkey Chili Cornbread Casserole (Stay tuned until next week for this recipe. You'll be glad you did.)

Logan loves to cook. In the grocery line yesterday he told me and his dad that he thinks he just might become a chef. While I think that's fabulous, I wonder how he'll be able to afford the lifestyle I plan on him providing for me in my old age.

Our breakfast casserole will last most of the week and will be so easy to pop in the microwave in the morning while I curl my eyelashes.

The ingredients are simple. The recipe is quick and easy. I'm no P-Dub or Sister Big, thank you very much.

But I am fancy enough to add a little dollop of salsa on top. It's not ready to eat at our house until the hot sauce or salsa has been applied.

It is really good, ya'll. And very easy. If you need a protein-rich breakfast to kick start your day, I highly recommend you make it. It'll let you sleep in an extra few minutes too.

CHEESY SAUSAGE & EGG BAKE

Isn't this a great picture? Sassy took it with my crappy camera while our kids destroyed my house. Hey, as long as they stayed out of the kitchen, I didn't care what they were doing.

1 pound pork sausage cooked (while this was cooking, Logan said the smell reminded him of Mackinac Island. We vacation there every August and I'm not sure if he is referring to the daily breakfast buffet or all the horses on the island. Weird.)

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup green onions

1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 1/4 cups Bisquick mix (See! I told you it was easy!)

1 cup of milk

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon pepper

12 eggs

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease 13x9x2 baking dish. Layer sausage, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and cheese in dish.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Pour over cheese.

3. Bake uncovered 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
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WFMW: Dinner Time and the Working Mom

Good day to all you incredibly stressed, lacking in time mom and dads out there! (can you see me waving, try using your imagination if that isn't shot). So yes, here is another installment of Dinner Time and the Working Mom (parent). Its hard to take myself seriously posting these meal ideas up here because I mostly don't know what I'm doing....I tend to make a lot of things up in the kitchen, just throw this and that together.

For instance last Sunday I took a turkey ham (much cheaper and less fat then real ham) and stuck it in a casserole dish with some cut up carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, onion and about 3/4 cup of water. Stuck it in the oven for about an hour and look, quick easy and yummy! I added crescent rolls to this with some honey and the whole meal was complete.

That same day I did an all day simmer of Split Pea with Turkey Ham soup. This is SO easy to make, OMG. It's crazy how easy it is. I usually just buy some chicken stock if I don't have my own...and who am I kidding, when would I ever have my own?? Ok, I did once, but that was a fluke. So chicken broth works fine, I prefer the low sodium kind especially since I put Turkey Ham in the soup which is salty on its own. As you can see I also put carrots in it, but that is mostly because I think it's so pretty!
I just buy a BIG can of stock, pour it in with the peas and let it cook all day. I gage the soup periodically adding water if I think it seems too thick, a sprinkle of Thyme and I understand Bay Leaf (2) adds to the soup nicely. And, for you hot nuts out there- a couple dashes of your favorite hot sauce actually really adds something nice to the flavor. When I had this for lunch I used someones green garlic hot sauce and it really gave it a nice slight kick with added flavor. Just something to think about.

Also last week I made Lasagna, which Boogs absolutely LOVES. He eats more servings than his daddy on nights I serve this.

When I make this I usually just grab a big tub of cottage cheese-24 oz (small curd), throw in a cup of Mozzarella cheese, one egg and blend well. But today to try to get a little extra veggies in the boys I added Spinach. Yum Yum Give ME SOME! Mix that thawed/fresh or whatever kind of spinach in and you're halfway there.
I'd also recommend that you start browning your meat then put the white concoction together. You don't have to use ground beef, you can use soy crumbles (mimics ground beef), ground turkey or no meat at all. I used meat. Layer that on Oven Ready Lasagna (dude, you don't even have to cook the noodles! How easy is that?) and throw in the oven for about 45-60 min.

Here you see my little helper pretending to assist me. He LOVES to cook even though he doesn't get to help out much. This day I gave him some spices with lids on and he spent a good 5 minutes pretending to shake various this or that on top. I'm certain he's destined to be a great famous Chef! Watch out Iron Chef, here comes my Boogs!!
And here is the finished product. Of course the cheese on top isn't that even, but what do you expect with a 2 year old helping. I made this meal directly after dinner last Wednesday night and let it cook while JimmyEW and I snuggled. Now I had Thursday's meal and lunches for Friday!

In our last installment Charissa suggested the much loved Breakfast for Dinner. This meal is especially popular with JimmyEatWorld since he would eat Breakfast for every meal if he could. However I've had much issue getting Kiki to eat eggs. He always refuses, tells me he doesn't like them and turns his little snotty cute nose up. Well you know what? Daycare Daddy told me he eats eggs over there so in front of Kiki I asked Daycare Daddy how he makes his eggs and when I made these I told Kiki I was following Daycare Daddy's instructions. Which I wasn't lol. But Kiki did eat them :)

I just mixed about 5 eggs with some soy milk and stirred rapidly (what would that be called? Whip? Whisk? I haven't had Home Ec since 7th grade). I added some Tastefully Simple Spinach and Herb Spice, a little salt, a little pepper, chopped onion, some chopped Turkey Kielbasa and shredded cheddar cheese and VIOLA! An egg concoction Kiki will eat!

Trying to be healthy I instructed JimmyEW to purchase Turkey Kielbasa (which I prefer anyway having grown up in the Cult with the "You will die and go to hell so don't touch that OREO" rule). So JimmyEW agreed however he managed to sneak in what he called "real pork sausage" so his unclean meat juices got all over my turkey. Poor turkey. Good thing I'm not in the cult or I wouldn't have been able to touch that meat.

mmmm....sizzle sizzle....

This is me smiling dorkily blissfully in my apparently unstylish character T-shirt as I make JimmyEW his pate. I usually get all their food together while he gets their drinks.
This is JimmyEW's plate (notice the Pig). I also added the amazing Apple Cinnamon pancakes I talked about last issue. This time, thanks to JimmyEW's prodding, I added much more apple. These truly are DE-LISH!

"Well Sassy, thanks for all this help with dinner but what do I do for lunch? And can I mention I'm tired of listening to myself get fatter?" Glad you asked, me too! So this is what I'm doing for lunches this week.

First, I know I have issues getting all my fruits and veggies so I decided if I can't eat them then why not drink them? This V8 Fusion is a full serving of fruits AND veggies PLUS its light. And I have to say, it's good. At least the Peach Mango is good, and this may be the only flavor that comes in light, not sure. "But Sassy, I can't drink my lunch. I need substance. What do I do?"
Well, so do I. This is what I did. I took two tortilla shells heated for 15 seconds so their soft, spread each with a table spoon of hummus. I have Garlic and Chive which I don't like much (I bought it by accident). Notice the Carl Buddig lunch meat...I have NO idea who this guy is so it skeezed me out a bit. I asked JimmyEW if he was a football player or something, he just looked at me like I was weird.I took two tortilla shells heated for 15 seconds so their soft, spread each with a table spoon of hummus. I crumbled cauliflower on top of the hummus, stuck in some lettuce and a few slices of turkey. Doesn't that look yummy? Two of them equal 1 serving and was about 190 calories and 9 grams of fat depending on how much meat you use. Not bad, add a cup of Split Pea soup and you can eat just one and save the other for the next day.

Now that I've given you some good food ideas for dinnertime meals, someone help me out with some quick easy diet versions of foods you love for lunch. I can do lunch time and the working...person :)

AND NOW for someone who actually knows what they're doing, go visit Jen at A2eatandwrite for What's Cooking Wednesday! And go check out more Works for Me Wednesday tips at Rocks in My Dryer!

Another Installment of Dinner Time and the Working Mom

I used to not stress so much about what I was making for my kids to eat, for the most part I felt like it was balanced and always had a veggie so they're good right? Now, you may or may not know that my kids get sick a lot in the winter. They are both in daycare and what kids don't get sick? What does sick kids have to do with cooking? Well, since you asked I'll tell you.

Awhile ago HB and I had a discussion about how we'd tell each other things our children said even if we didn't think the other would want to know. Mostly I was talking about sex and drugs but it can apply across all things.

Anyway, HB told me my Daycare Diva asked her about my carrier monkeys (what I call my sick kiddos) always being sick and asked if I fed them a lot of processed chicken nuggets and stuff. HB said not to her knowledge and shrugged it off.

Then her little Logan happen to tell her that my carrier monkeys are always sick because all I do is feed them junk. HELLO?!! WHAT??!! Sister HB asked Logan where he heard that, and guess what? From Daycare Diva's youngest Parrot daughter. I have no doubt that she said something in front of her and she was parroting it back to Logan. So fine! Whatever! Needless to say I was FLAMING...FLAMING I tell you. But oh well, whatever.

But truly, I don't just shove chicken nuggets in my kids mouth every day and even if I did, who doesn't feed their kids something like that every now and then? Isn't it a toddler staple? Seriously, when you're a working mom sometimes the time you have to cook is so minimal that chicken nuggets just seems like a good option.

Being a working mom and also having a husband that doesn't work your average 8-5pm job sometimes makes it more difficult to meal plan. I leave my job a few minutes after 5pm and drive the 10-12 minutes to daycare. By the time I get the kids in the car and make it back home it's already 5:30pm and they are starved! Plus they got to bed at 7:00pm so there is not a lot of time for cooking, eating and quality time there.

Now because I can't have them snacking on Cheetos and not eating their healthy dinner I toss them a few crackers and let them fight over those while I try to make dinner. But I don't like the mess that comes with two young kids scrapping over crackers so I came up with a plan. Sure this plan sucks up a good chunk of Sunday but when I do this I can dodge the misguided mother guilt bestowed upon me by Daycare Diva plus feed my kids yummy easy meals.

First I cook as many things as I can. I spend probably half the day cooking different things, lagsana, fried chicken, different soups, whatever I can think of that is yummy and not too hard. This is what I spent my Sunday doing.

For breakfast fun I made these Apple Cinnamon Pancakes. I got the idea from Jen and they were fabulous.

That's one Big Pancake. This was an experiment that turned out nicely. I did it because it was breakfast time and the boys were begging for an apple but I was making pancakes so I peeled one yellow delicious apple and cut it up into the batter. The batter was your basic box batter that you just add water too so it was quick and easy and a few shakes of Cinnamon and you're good. JimmyEatWorld liked these so much he even said he'd take them over his usual Chocolate Chip pancakes (which I try not to make since as HB would say "thats just eating a cookie for breakfast"). I like to make a lot of batter so I can make extra pancakes to refrigerate for during the week.

Then for lunch I made this. I got this recipe from HB (she wanted to make sure i gave credit to her) and its super easy.

Mexican Minestrone

• Brown 2 lbs of ground beef. Drain and set aside. You can add some taco seasoning if you want, but its not necessary.


• 3 cans of Rotel tomatoes (2 original and 1 mild for my family)


• 1 lg can of corn


• 1 can of pinto beans drained and rinsed


• 2 cans of condensed Minestrone soup


• some water, I don't know how much. I just put enough so it looks right. I'd guess 1 cup


• Salt and pepper to taste and cook.

And you get what is pictured below. YUMMEE! I made some corn bread to go with this dish and it tastes great on the side or crumbled into your bowl to make one big dreamy soggy goodness. And with making such a large batch JimmyEW and I can take it for lunches. Its perfect to jazz up my boring sandwich and warm and yummy enough to keep me from running across the street and spending $5 at the restaurant there.

Then for dinner I made Shepard's Pie. JimmyEW did NOT want me to make this. He thought this was going to be disgusting but since he was having some flair up issues with his wisdom teeth and needed to eat something soft I said too bad and decided to make it. Mind you, I've NEVER made this before but had it as a child and always loved it.

I found a simple recipe online, because I am very simple so I need simple.

• Start boiling 4-5 potatoes medium sized potatoes. Peel them and I cut them so they cook faster


• Brown 1.5 of ground beef and drain it


• saute onions and carrots in a skillet with 1/2 stick of butter, then add peas and corn. Now I used fresh carrots that I chopped up but I used frozen peas and canned corn. That seemed to work fine.


• Once your veggies are all soft and cooked add it to the meat and combine with about 1 cup of Beef broth. You can add more or less depending on how moist you want it to be.


• Potatoes should be done, drain and whip them with the other 1/2 stick of butter, salt and pepper to taste.


• Pour meat and veggies into a casserole dish and spoon potatoes on top. Use a fork to fluff up the surface, you don't want it to be smooth or else it might not look as pretty as mine. Then bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.


• Broil for another few minutes so the top potatoes will brown and look all pretty like mine.

And this baby will feed us for probably 3 meals plus JimmyEW loved it! Add the hearty soup that can also act as a meal and I've got 4 of 7 meals for the week. Sure it may get boring, but I have to say they both taste better than frozen chicken nuggets and the boys seem to like them.

What are some things you do to make your life easier? Any tips? Share them in the comments section by clicking the little Gimme Me Some Sugar.
BTW, this title isn't meant to lock out any working dads who struggle with what to make for dinner-its just a catchy title. Just thought I should add that :)What's that? You want to comment? Just click on the itty-bitty words below that say "Gimme Some Sugar". Can you see them? Good. We can't wait to chat with you.

We Now Bring You: Dinnertime and the Working Mom

And by "working mom" I mean a mom who has a career outside of raising her family. I am not implying that stay at home moms do not work. I do indeed understand that you are working all day long. Believe me when I say that I know you are not just sitting around the house gossiping with your girlfriends and getting manicures. I know that you are teaching your child and playing with him (or her) in between cleaning up the messes made, dealing with the phone calls and ringing doorbells, getting groceries, doing laundry, figuring out dinner, driving carpool, walking the dog and trying to find time for a shower. I am here to help you as well.

This particular post is NOT for you moms who have a nanny, a cook, and a maid. You don't know from our pain. And we kind of hate you.

I will be writing this from my perspective however. And that is of someone who works outside her home and tries to create time that really counts with her kid before tucking him into bed each night.

After leaving work every evening, I drive to my son's school and pick him up from Latchkey (STUPID name for a really wonderful program). I throw him and his load of "stuff" in the car and we head home. When we get there I have a solid two hours to spend with him before bedtime. That's it. (Hello guilt. My name is Judi. Make yourself at home.)


(But first, I have other things that require my attention. Like going to the bathroom. I'm not sure why, but my bladder demands relief as soon as I pull in the driveway. It's very weird my friends. Then I have to get out of my work clothes before I go completely and totally stark raving mad. Once that's done I can finally focus on my kid.)

If My Sweet Tommy gets home first, he prepares our dinner (and let me tell you, the man knows how to cook!). This gives me time to play a game with Logan, look through his school work or just snuggle.

If Tom isn't home first, then I have to get dinner going and as Sister Big can attest, I'm a little culinary challenged. She has struggled to teach me the basics and was frightened when I had a little breakdown during our meatball lessons. I'll let her tell you about that herself one day.

I am always on the hunt for a recipe that is A) healthy, B) simple and fast, and C) something Logan can help me make. Today, my friend Amanda introduced me to Barbecue Chicken Pie. I heart Amanda. Logan and I had fun making it (he loves to cook as much as his daddy), and by all accounts it was delicious. It smelled divine. My favorite thing about this recipe is you are able to use up the leftovers and scraps you already have sitting in your fridge.

All you need is cooked chicken, a pie crust, cheddar cheese, green onions, barbecue sauce, sour cream and cherry tomatoes. Here are some pictures of our cooking adventures today.

That's right kid. Wash those hands reeeeal good.

What, you're already taking a break? Slacker. And why are you still wearing your snow pants? Is your mother nipping at the wine already?

Watch out for your mama's fingers, pal.

What is he eating? Chicken skin. It's his favorite. That's alright. Means more meat for me and his daddy.

You don't have to bake this dish. It can just be warmed in the microwave. I like to feel like I'm really cooking something good for my family (even if it is a big fat lie). I stuck mine in the oven so when my husband walked in he would smell the barbecue-y, chicken-y, cheese-y goodness and praise me to the heavens. I'm just that way.

Make a nice yummy salad with lettuce, carrots, peppers, cucumbers and dried cranberries to serve with the chicken pie. Mmmm. Mmmm. Yum.

Now, if you are partaking in a big, stupid Ten Week Challenge, you will enjoy a Lean Cuisine entree. Lucky!

The recipe for this easy and delicious Barbecue Chicken Pie is below. It refers to the fancy schmancy gadgets you would use if you owned Pampered Chef products. I do not. I made due with my own fancy schmancy Target Clearance Rack stuff.

What's your favorite easy-to-prepare dinner? Please share with us!

Barbecue Chicken Pie

1/2 package (15 ounces) refrigerated pie crust (1 crust)

4 green onions with tops, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)

1 block (8 ounces) sharp cheddar cheese

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

2/3 cup barbecue sauce

1 container (8 ounces) reduced-fat sour cream

8 cherry tomatoes

Preheat oven to 425°F. Let pie crust stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Place pie crust in Deep Dish Pie Plate, gently pressing dough into bottom and up sides; prick bottom.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown; cool completely.

Thinly slice green onions; set aside.

Thinly slice half of the cheese. Grate remaining cheese using Deluxe Cheese Grater. Set cheese aside.

Place chicken in Large Micro-Cooker®. Add barbecue sauce; toss to coat. Microwave on HIGH 3-4 minutes or until mixture is hot, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup of the grated cheese and half of the green onions.

To assemble pie, line bottom and sides of crust with sliced cheese. Spoon chicken mixture into crust, spreading evenly. Sprinkle top of pie with remaining grated cheese. Using Easy Accent® Decorator, pipe sour cream around edge of pie. Slice cherry tomatoes in half and place on top of sour cream, cut sides up. Garnish with remaining green onions.

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