CHARITY'S HOMEMADE POT PIE

Because you all asked for it, here it is. I never had a recipe for this, I just made it, but because I have been asked...like a hundred times...for this I finally wrote it down as I cooked and measured things out. So here you go, enjoy!

Charity's Homemade Pot Pie
Makes 1 large Pot Pie
By Charity M.

2 frozen pie crusts in pie tins (or make homemade if you like)
2 Large Chicken Breasts (Cut into bite sized pieces)
1 ½ - 2 Potatoes (Cut into bite sized pieces)
1/3 Cup Chopped Onions
1 16 oz bag Frozen Peas & Carrots
½ Can of Corn with water drained (or Frozen Corn)
2 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup (10.5 oz)
1 stem of Celery, chopped (Optional)
1/8 Cup of Water
Parsley
Salt
Pepper

* Set pie crusts out to thaw.

* Chop Potatoes into bite sized squares and place in a boiling pot of water. Cook until tender. Do not let them get soggy, they still need firmness to them. Drain the water and set aside.

* In a large skillet with a small amount of oil, add chopped Chicken and chopped Onions. When chicken is fully cooked add Water, Celery, Peas, Carrots and Corn. Cook until the vegetables are thawed and tender stirring frequently.

* Stir Cream of Chicken Soup into the vegetable mixture, add parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the mixture is warm.

* Pour into one of the pie tins then use the second pie crust for the top of the pot pie. Make 2-4 slits in the top for venting.

* Place the pie on a cookie sheet before baking to prevent spillage.

Bake @ 375 degrees
25 minutes (If the filling is still warm when you bake it)
45 minutes (If the pie is refrigerated before cooking)

HAPPY VALENTINES

I've never been a big valentine's day person, Maybe it is because I never seem to have a significant other to celebrate with, or maybe it is because it is a stupid holiday where the stores bank on the notion that men should show the women in their lives how much they mean to them. I think that is called EVERY DAY.

However, every year for the past 5 years I have held a Valentine party for my nieces and nephews. It started out as just a babysitting gig, then as Emmi got older we turned it into a sleepover party. A night when parents could ditch their kids and ummmmmmm, weeeeeell. Do what parents do when their kids are not there.

Every year we have made tie-dye shirts, watched a movie and had fun (afterwards I downed the Tylenol). This year because my back has been giving me fits since October and I didn't think I could handle it, I decided not to do the sleepover.

So last night 6 of my nieces and nephews came over to party. We made fleece blankets, decorated cookies and watched Iron Man. It sure was a fun night.

OH MY GOSH!

I haven't posted since October.
Oopsy!

Things have been busy and rough since then so I can see how that little slip up might happen. So here is the end of the year in a nut shell.

Halloween was fun. Emmi was a witch and looked so very cute. We did the trick or treat thing and now the bowl is sitting on the counter and hardly ever gets eaten from. It is sad, pathetic and true that every year before we go trick or treating again I have to throw away the previous years candy.

Then there was Thanksgiving, which was at my parents house and yummy as always.

This holiday season was a weird one. It really didn't feel like all the other holidays. I don't know if it was because I was so very busy planning parties or if it was my health or maybe the weird stuff in the world, but I just wasn't in the mood for the holidays and was glad when they were over.

Emmi had a great Christmas and even with the horrible icy weather we managed to get to my parents house and see the cousins. She received some very fun toys and games while I was blessed with a new computer that WORKS and some jewelry.

Hope your holiday was a good one.

BEFORE & AFTER

When I bought my house the family room had these awful colors painted. The previous owner must have liked gold because she painted the wall in a two-tone gold and then painted the baseboards and moldings in a flake gold color.

I knew it was going to be a nightmare to paint the baseboards, but if I only knew just how bad I probably wouldn't have repainted. The baseboards took one coat of liquid sandpaper and three coats of paint. The walls took two coats, although I may have to put a third coat on the gold wall. Here are the before and after pictures, I think the room looks tons better and once I pick out some wall hanging I think it will look wonderful.

BEFORE





AFTER

OOPS IT'S WINTER

I looked at the calendar, and then looked again to make sure it was right.

October 12th, and we got dumped on with 11 inches (so far) of white stuff.

Snow in October is common in Utah, but usually it is just a skiff of snow, or and inch or two that melts really fast. But THIS is ridiculous!

The snow plows aren't out because, well, they haven't hired people yet to drive them, after all the calendar says October 12th.



Emmi calls this her "flower snow-girl" She is a combination of the two seasons we are in. Fall and winter. Up until last night we still had tons of flowers blooming.



The pictures above were taken this morning when we had maybe 5 inches.
Happy Fall-Winter

HAPPY FALL

It has been a little while since I have updated the blog. September just went past too fast. October is now here and Fall has arrived. School is going well for Emmi. Midterms came home and she is getting A's in all her subjects except for one subject.

Next week I'm taking off on a min vacation. I need a break from work, church, etc. The stress has really gotten to me and it is time to unwind. I plan on painting the family room and getting rid of the depressing dark gold color. I'll post pictures if I remember to. Then next weekend Emmi and I are going out of town for a few days. I'm excited for the break.

Last night we pulled up our garden and picked all of the tomatoes. They are now stacked in the window and hopefully will finish turning red. My mom is a great tomato stacker and somehow manages to stach them 12 high. Me, on the other hand, manged to line them all up and then when I started on row two the first row started falling off. LOL! It must be a art. Someday I'll have to have her show me how to stack tomatoes.

Emmi came home yesterday with her new school pictures. They are posted below. Good thing they took them early in the year, because in the past two weeks she has lost two more teeth. She now has the "pumpkin smile" again.