Simple Everyday Food

pumpkin spice puppy chow

Posted by :Amy On : November 8, 2013

Tags:Hershey's Kisses, munchies, no bake, pumpkin, puppy chow

I am no longer allowed to go shopping at Target by myself. This latest time when I shopped there myself, these came out of my kitchen:

I have proven that I have no self control when it comes to that store. It also doesn’t help that there’s a Super Target literally right across the street from our house, which also happens to be on the way home from school.

When Brian and I go, he’s always my voice of reason. “You don’t need that”, “don’t you already have something like that?”, “when would you ever use that?”. He probably saves us a good chunk of money every month by going to Target with me.

When I go by myself, it’s a totally different story. Yes, I make a list of things I need.. and I do try my hardest to stick to only things on that list. But somehow 30 minutes later, I always come out of there spending at least $30 more than what I would’ve spent if I stuck to my list. It’s just so easy to grab a basket, stroll through the aisles, look through the clearance racks, and find things that you absolutely “need” or are too good of a deal to pass up.

Please tell me I’m not the only one that has this problem. Next time I really shouldn’t even grab a basket. Once my hands are full, it’s time to head to the checkout lanes… oh but that’s easier said than done.

Anyway… the other day when I went to Target, I saw these out of the corner of my eye and just had to get them.

Dang you Target, for putting Fall/Halloween candy in the 50% off clearance aisle!

I had the perfect idea – pumpkin spice puppy chow. I know what you’re thinking – it’s already November and pumpkin spice needs to make way for peppermint desserts. It’s true, but I can’t let these Kisses sit on the shelves all by themselves, can I? Someone needs to rescue them…….

I still had some leftover pumpkin pie spice from last month, so it just sounded like a no-brainer. Cinnamon Chex cereal coated with white chocolate pumpkin Hershey Kisses, dusted with powdered sugar with hints of pumpkin spice. Mmm mmm mmm.

Initially I dreaded unwrapping two bags of Hershey Kisses by hand. I thought I would find it tedious and time-consuming. Once I got a system down though, the process went by faster than I imagined. And somehow the melting process also seemed to go a lot smoother than my other puppy chow recipes..

pumpkin spice puppy chow

2013-11-08 17:13:22

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Ingredients

9 cups Cinnamon Chex cereal
1.5 10oz bags of Hershey's pumpkin spice Kissees, unwrapped
2 cups powdered sugar
2 heaping teaspoons pumpkin spice

Instructions

Place Chex cereal in a large bowl, set aside. Then in a medium bowl, add the powdered sugar and pumpkin spice. Stir to combine and set aside.
Using a double boiler, melt the pumpkin Kisses. Pour the melted chocolate over the Chex mix, stir until all the Chex is covered with chocolate. Then gradually sprinkle the powdered sugar mixture onto the cereal. Stir until everything is covered evenly with powdered sugar.
Makes ~9 cups

By Simple Everyday Food

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Although the pumpkin spice Kisses taste a little artificial if you eat them by themselves, these puppy chow don’t taste artificial at all! This is probably because most of my puppy chow recipes already utilize vanilla almond bark or white chocolate, so the white chocolate center of these Kisses were a perfect fit for this recipe! The cinnamon-y, pumpkin-spiced powdered sugar coating is the perfect combination with the subtle hints of pumpkin spice flavoring in these chocolates… It was a hit with all my pumpkin-loving friends!

Now that pumpkin season is unofficially over, it’s now time to move on to one of my top favorite flavor combos – chocolate + mint.

Here are a few more recipes came out of my kitchen this pumpkin season:

Pumpkin n’ spice cream cheese truffles

Ooey gooey pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Glazed pumpkin coffee cake

Pumpkin peanut butter dog biscuits

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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chicken pot pie

Posted by :Amy On : November 2, 2013

Category: Casseroles/Comfort Foods

Tags:chicken, comfort food, pie

Chicken pot pies and I have a love-hate relationship.

I’m absolutely in love with it, but I also know how bad it can be for you… the crust requires butter. The filling also requires butter and some sort of a heavy cream. Annnnddd… it’s super time consuming. But man, is it the ultimate comfort food or what?!

Chilly weather, warm oversized hoodies, fireplaces, and individualized chicken pot pies…. YES please!

Imagine the moment you stick your fork into the light, flaky, buttery crust… you’re greeted by the warm filling filled with all kinds of yummy goodness – chunks of chicken, carrots, potatoes, celery, onions, corn, and broccoli florets. Make sure you get a little bit of everything if possible… as you savor the different textures that’s in every single bite, you can feel the the warmth of the pie filling warming your insides as it makes way to your stomach. This is exactly why I love having a hot bowl of soup in the frigid Minnesota winter.

The past few times I’ve made pot pies, I’ve always made my crust from scratch. However, since I’m typically trying to get six things done at once nowadays, I opted for the easy way out this time and used pre-made pie crust instead… tsk tsk. However, to “balance” out the amount of butter I used, I used skim milk instead of heavy cream… just to make myself feel a little bit better about it.

First I poached the chicken. You can by all means use pre-cooked diced chicken breast if you’re strapped on time, but I find fresh chicken to be better than the processed stuff. Place the chicken in a casserole dish, fill it with 3 cups of boiling water, cover it with foil, and cook it in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Take the chicken out to cool on a cutting board, and use the same water that’s left on the dish to poach/cook your peeled and halved potatoes, about 30 minutes. Dice up the chicken and potatoes once they’re cooled, but keep them in separate dishes.

The reason you keep them separate is because you’ll be covering the bottom of your ramekin with the potatoes. This is because if you add the already cooked potatoes while you’re making and stirring the filling, you’re probably going to mash the potatoes up even more in the process… and no one wants mushy mashed potato/pot pie filling in their chicken pot pies.

While I was cooking/cooling/dicing up the chicken and potatoes, I took out my frozen pre-made pie crust out to thaw. Once thawed, remove the pie crusts from the foil baking dish it came in, onto a floured surface. Roll the dough into a big ball, then roll it out with a rolling pin until it’s about 1/8″ thick. Next, using a bowl that’s slightly bigger in diameter than the ramekins you’ll be using, place the bowl upside down the onto the dough, and trace an outline of it with a knife. This is going to be your pie crust. Use the scraps of dough to roll it back into a ball, and repeat the process until you have about 6-7 pie crusts (we have 8-oz ramekins and two pre-made pie crusts yielded seven 5″ crusts). Stack the crusts together, with either a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap in between each one. Return to fridge to chill while you’re making the filling.

chicken pot pie

2013-10-10 18:32:21

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Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 medium sized russet potatoes, peeled and halved the long way
7 tablespoons butter, divided
3 medium sized carrots, peeled and diced
3-4 stalks of celery, diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and black pepper
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1.5 cups skim milk
1 cup broccoli florets, roughly chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2 frozen pre-made pie crusts (usually a package you find at the store has 2 crusts)
6 to 7 (8-oz) ramekins

Instructions

Take frozen pie crust out to thaw. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To cook the chicken

Place the chicken breasts in a glass baking/casserole dish. Add 3 cups of boiling water to the chicken and cover with aluminum foil. Cook in oven at 400 degrees for 25-35 minutes. Remove chicken onto cutting board to cool, then dice into bite-sized pieces. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

To make the potatoes

Using the same dish with the same water you used to cook the chicken, add the potatoes, cover with foil, and cook at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until fork tender. Transfer to cutting board and let cool. Cut into bite-sized pieces and transfer to another bowl.

Make the pie crust

On a floured surface, remove pie crusts from aluminum baking dishes. Combine the two pie crusts and roll into a dough ball. Using a rolling pin, roll until dough is about 1/8" thick. Find a bowl that's slightly larger in diameter than the ramekins you'll be using. Place the bowl upside down onto the dough, and trace an outline of the bowl with a knife. Combine the scraps of dough and roll it back into a ball. Repeat steps to get as many discs of crusts as you can. Stack the crusts onto a plate, separating each crust with a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap. Return to fridge to chill.

Make the filling

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the carrots, celery, and onion and cook until onions are translucent. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Stir.
Add in the rest of the 4 tablespoons of butter into the vegetable mixture. Once the butter has completely melted, stir in the flour. Stir continuously to make sure the bottom of your pot doesn't burn. Cook flour for 1-2 minutes.
Add in the chicken broth and milk to the vegetables. Cook until mixture starts to thicken, about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add in the diced chicken, broccoli florets, corn, dried parsley, thyme, another 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Continue to simmer until all the vegetables are cooked. Once filling is thickened and vegetables are cooked, remove pot from heat and let cool for 20-30 minutes.

To assemble

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease six 8-oz ramekins. Place ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet.
Add chunks of potatoes onto the bottom of each ramekin, enough to cover the bottom. Spoon the cooled filling mixture over the potatoes, filling each ramekin to the brim. Placed the pie dough you made earlier over the top, crimping the edges. Make several slits with a knife for ventilation.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crust turns golden brown.
Remove ramekins from oven, let cool for 5-10 minutes and serve.

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Simply Scratch

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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See?! Told you pot pies are time consuming. But I promise it’s totally worth it in the end!! :)

It will be important that you cool the filling down a bit before ladling them into the ramekins and topping them with the dough. This is because if the filling is steaming hot, it could melt your dough and your crust won’t be able to hold its shape while baking.

This chicken pot pie is TO. DIE. FOR. The filling is creamy and the crust is buttery and flaky. Although the entire process took about 3 hours to complete, the final product sure didn’t disappoint! I’d happily do that all over again tomorrow if I had the time.

Also, just as a warning – the filling will be super hot when it comes out of the oven, so as difficult as it is to sit and wait and be tortured by the smells, letting it cool for a bit before eating is highly recommended! Burnt tongues ruin the enjoyment of eating pot pies, that’s for sure.

Recipe adapted from Simply Scratch

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10/29/13 the death of a vital kitchen member

Posted by :Amy On : October 29, 2013

Category: Life's Randoms

Tags:others on the side

If you don’t hear from me for a few days, don’t fret! Our refrigerator decided to die on us a few days ago, and our new one isn’t going to be delivered until sometime Friday. Yep, I open my freezer one morning and my ice cream has leaked through the carton and melted into a little puddle. Our milk is warm, and we have water in our ice cube trays..

You know what that means: no fridge = no food = no cooking = no posts! Sad, I know. I was just as sad when I realized we had to toss ALL of our food that was in the freezer and fridge (Brian didn’t want to take any chances). This included a few essential everyday supplies – milk, coffee creamer, eggs, yogurt, ICE CREAM… Oh man, it was a sad, sad day. All our groceries filled two and a half large kitchen garbage bags, and they’re currently residing in a little grocery cemetery at the end of our driveway. Not only do we not have any milk to drink, I also can’t make coffee because I don’t have any creamer! You have no idea how good a large cold glass of milk sounds right now.

You really don’t realize how much you rely on your refrigerator until you don’t have one anymore! How did people survive back in the day before fridges were even invented?!

On the brighter side of things, since we were already planning on doing some major kitchen renovation/upgrades next spring and getting new appliances were one thing on our list, we decided to buy a new stove/range while we were at it too. I think I might be more excited about this new oven I’m getting than the refrigerator – it’s a convection oven! Apparently it creates restaurant-quality desserts… well I guess I’ll just have to make something in it to try it out :)

I’ll be back when I finally get some fresh groceries in my new fridge! Until then, stay warm and enjoy the crisp fall weather before the snow falls!

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10/26/13 Norsemen weekend cupcakes

Posted by :Amy On : October 26, 2013

Category: Life's Randoms

Tags:cupcakes, dessert, others on the side

Every year when the Packers come in town to play the Vikings, Brian and his little buddies have a little boys weekend they call the “Norsemen weekend”. Every year someone plans and makes t-shirts for everyone, then when the weekend finally comes around, they hang out, catch up on Saturday night.. then on Sunday, they tailgate all day and go watch the game at the Metrodome.

When my friends and I tend to either go shopping or go eat when we get together, Brian and his friends, well.. they watch football. I guess it’s what brings guys closer. Whatever works I guess.

About two months prior to this weekend, Brian said to me one day, “You know what you should do this year for our Norsemen trip? You can make us purple and gold cupcakes for tailgating!” So not only do I have to stay at home by myself all weekend, I have to make him cupcakes.

Doesn’t sound like such a good deal for me, if you ask me.

Well, as the weekend came closer, I decided what the heck – I’ve had a baking itch for a few weeks now, so not only would baking Vikings cupcakes satisfy my itch, it’d also be something nice to do for him and his buddies. Even though today would’ve been the only day I could sleep in all week, and despite the fact that I have a gazillion things to do for school, I decided to get up early and make cupcakes.

Just me, the kitchen, and Pandora. It truly was the best therapy.

And let me tell you, these cupcakes turned out to be exactly how I envisioned them to be!

I really should win a Wife Of The Year award for this.

Looking for football game day fingerfoods? Here are a few you might like…

Mini taco cups (my most popular pin on Pinterest!)

Wonton wrapper wrapped mozzarella sticks

Hot cheesy corn dip

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wonton wrapper wrapped mozzarella sticks

Posted by :Amy On : October 23, 2013

Category: Appetizers/Munchies

Tags:appetizer, cheese

Ooooh man. Life has been so busy lately. I need more hours in my day. Along with my new internship, classes, blogging, making food so I can blog about it, and trying to spend time with my family as much as I can, I don’t seem to have a life outside of all that anymore (not saying that I did have a life before anyway…). The Amazing Race and Survivor just started a few weeks ago, and I’m already behind on all my TV shows. I have about 30 episodes of Chopped, 13 episodes of The Incredible Dr. Pol, about 20+ episodes of Criminal Minds (that dates way back to last December), 15 some episodes of Cupcake Wars, along with a bunch of miscellaneous shows that are taking up space on our DVR…. good thing we’ve got two DVRs that can be used at the same time, otherwise we’ll for sure run out of space quickly!

…talk about First World Problems.

On a positive note – I’m truly enjoying this quarter. It’s exhausting and busy, but I feel like I’m learning a ton during my internship, and I absolutely love that everyday is different. Everyday is a surprise and I’m constantly challenging myself to do better.

Okay. Back to food. When I first set out to make this appetizer, I had every intention to bake it in the oven so it’s healthier than the deep-fried mozzarella sticks we usually get at restaurants. Well, that plan failed miserably… somehow the wonton wrappers didn’t brown nor did it crisp up in the oven, and cheese oozed out from all kinds of directions from the holes I managed to create during the wrapping process.

[sigh] It was a sad, sad sight. And needless to say, I was quite disappointed. I would’ve taken a picture of the horrible sad mess that laid there on my baking sheet, but it was just so bad that taking pictures of it seemed like a waste of energy..

Good thing I had a Plan B in mind. If baking didn’t work out, I could at least quickly fry it in a pan. That can’t be as bad as deep frying it, right?

This appetizer can be made within 15-20 minutes, so it’s perfect if you’re craving a quick little snack in the afternoon, or if you need something to munch on during a football game! You can make as many or as little as you need, and they turn out to be cute mini-sized mozzarella sticks, which makes them that much more fun to eat!

You know, just a mozzarella stick chillin’ in the marinara hot tub… no big deal.

Wait, you know what’s even better? Nowadays they make string cheese in different flavors, so you can customize your mozzarella sticks based on what kind of string cheese you buy! No more boring plain ol’ string cheese! In our house, we’re a big fan of anything that has a hint of jalapeno or black pepper, so we used string cheese with cracked black pepper to give it a subtle kick of flavor. They turned out to be amazing!

wonton wrapper wrapped mozzarella sticks

2013-10-10 12:04:00

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Ingredients

3 sticks of string cheese of your flavor, cut in half
6 wonton wrappers
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Marinara sauce for dipping, if desired

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine the egg and the water. Brush a wonton wrapper with the egg wash, then wrap the string cheese with the wrapper, making sure the the wrapper covers the string cheese entirely and there are no holes for the cheese to leak out of during the cooking process. Also make sure the edges of the wrapper are sealed nice and tight with the egg wash. Repeat process for all the string cheese sticks.
In a medium pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Place your uncooked mozzarella sticks in the pan, making sure they're not crowded. Using a pair of tongs, cook cheese sticks on each side for about a minute, or until the wrapper has turned golden brown and crispy.
Transfer mozzarella sticks on a paper-towel lined plate to soak up all the excess oil. Serve immediately with marinara sauce while hot.
Makes 6 mini mozzarella sticks.

By Simple Everyday Food

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

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Creamy, cheesy mozzarella cheese wrapped in a light, crispy wonton wrapper… who knew a healthier version of mozzarella sticks can be so delicious (and addicting)?!

Here’s a couple things to keep in mind while you make these golden crispy appetizers:

The egg wash serves as a glue to hold your wonton wrapper together. Don’t be shy when brushing it onto the wrappers – if you don’t put enough on, nothing’s going to stick and your mozzarella stick is going to fall apart.
Try to make sure that your cheese stick is wrapped nice and tight with the wrapper with no gaping holes. Gaping holes is how the cheese can leak out of the wrapper during the cooking process, leaving you with just an empty wonton wrapper shell…. not good.
These babies cook fast when you have a nice hot pan. I think mine took about 45-60 seconds for the first side to brown up. I then turned them three other times to make sure all four “sides” are nice and crispy. The whole cooking process took maybe less than 3 minutes.

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