Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Every busy mom needs wants to feed there family a yummy and healthy meal and a lot of the time we need it to be a quick to put together meal. Whether you work or stay home with your kids we are all busy mommas! On some nights I have time to spend to make dinner and others I need some that is easy to whip together. So today I am going to share with you a delicious recipe that takes about 15 minutes to put together. I have made this many times and it is pretty forgiving, I am going to share with you how I made it the other night, I had run out of a few things I usually use to make it and did a few substitutes and liked it even better.

You will need:

1-2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Olive Oil and Chicken Seasoning

Cream of Celery Soup

Frozen Veggies, mixed veggie, peas/carrots mix, peas, corn…….what ever combination sounds good to you. I like just peas best!

Bisquick

1/2 Cup Milk

1 Egg

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Heat oil in skillet on med high heat. Cut chicken breast(s) into small cubes and put into heated pan, add chicken seasoning to taste.

2. In a pie plate combine veggies and cream of celery.

3. While chicken is cooking, in a small bowl add 1 cup of bisquick mix, 1/2 cup milk, and egg. Mix until moist.

4. After chicken is completely cooked add it to pie plate and mix together veggies, cream of celery, and chicken.

5. Pour bisquick mix over the top of chicken/veggies.

6. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until top is lightly brown.

I hope you enjoy it as much as our family does!

~Bonnie

Other great recipes by Bonnie

Crockpot Pizza

White Chicken Chili

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Cheese Stuffed Manicotti

Crockpot Chicken Parmesan

As a busy mom I love anything that makes my life easier and saves me time and effort. One of the things I still hate to do after nine years of marriage and over 8 years of motherhood in make dinner. Its really not so much the making part but deciding what to have. I can’t really get out of that part of it but anything to cut down on the amount of time I spend in the kitchen cooking in invaluable to me. So for me the crockpot is one of my best friends when it comes to meal preparation! Today I want to share with you a delicious recipe that your whole family will love, especially if they already love spaghetti. This meal literally takes 5 min to prepare and another 10 or so shortly before eating. We are going to make Crockpot Chicken Parmesan!

What you will need:

1-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I say 1-3 depending on your family size)

1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce or homemade if you are really ambitious!

Grated mozzarella cheese, about 1 cup

Seasoned bread crumbs, about 1/2 cup

Parmesan cheese, fresh is best but powder will do

Italian seasoning, to taste

*Notice how everything is about, or how you  like it, or depending on your family size? There is no set amount of each ingredient, just what looks good to you and what your family enjoys, alter it to your family’s liking.

1. Start by placing the chicken in your crockpot, frozen is fine it will just need to cook longer. Then put on top of the chicken your Italian seasoning, bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese.

2. Next pour your jar of marinara sauce over the top and then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

3. Then I finished it off with a little more parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.

 

 

Shortly before you eat boil some water and cook your favorite pasta, we usually use spaghetti noodle but any kind will do.

Serve your delicious chicken parmesan over past and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and I hope it makes a really easy meal for your family on a busy night!

~Bonnie

Find me on Facebook

Other great recipes by Bonnie:

Crockpot Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Crockpot Pizza

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

White Chicken Chili

Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry

Cheese Stuffed Manicotti

A Healthy Breakfast: Banana Bread

What kid doesn’t love banana bread?!?!?!?

I know mine sure do and with this amazing recipe I found, (on Pinterest of coarse, thanks to 8wks to a Better You Recipe,) it is healthy, delicious, and filling! I just made it the day before so not only did it make a great breakfast the kids had it as a snack too. It would also be very easy to make this on the weekend, with the kids, and freeze until you are ready to use, just take it out the night before and leave to thaw on the counter. Also if you are anything like me you always have plenty of bananas lying around! What really drew me to this specific recipe though is it is made with whole wheat flour, which we have been trying to switch over to, and instead of sugar and oil it uses honey and unsweetened applesauce. Now it was a little blander than most banana bread recipes but not tasteless bland, it was still very delicious!

So here is what you will need:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (I substituted 1/2 cup of flour for a 1/2 cup of ground flax seed)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar free applesauce
• 3/4 cup honey
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 mashed overripe bananas

1.Preheat oven to 350* and grease a bread pan.

2.In a bowl combine flour, (flax seed, if you are using it), baking soda, and salt.

3.In another bowl combine applesauce and honey, stir in eggs and mashed bananas, mix well.

4.Then mix your dry ingredients and wet ingredients until moist, don’t over mix.

5.Pour batter into prepared bread pan.

6.Bake for 60-65 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

7.Cool in pan for 10 minutes, take out and place on wire cooling rack to cool completely.

I hope you and your children enjoy this as much as we did!

~Bonnie

Also follow me on Facebook!

Other great recipes by Bonnie

Banana Bread Muffins

Crockpot Strawberry Applesauce

White Chicken Chili

Cheese Stuffed Manicotti

Making Breakfast Simple Yet Nutritious

As a mom, whether working or stay at home we all want our children to have a good healthy start to their day, especially if they are in school. So one way to be sure I get my children off to a good start is by making them something that will “stick to their ribs” as my mom always said. You may hear me talk about my mom a lot in this 31 day series, the reason for that is not only is she a phenomenal mom she has always been an amazing role model for me. She is why I am a stay at home mom, without her amazing example I wouldn’t be where I am as a mother!

So one thing I always do for my children is get their day off to a great start by making them a healthy, protein filled breakfast.

For those of you moms, especially working moms, who say you just don’t have time I will give you all a few tips to help make this happen more often than not. We all need those quick go to meals for those really tough days but if you set yourself up for success you won’t fail!

Tip #1: Make their lunches the night before. This has been a lifesaver for me! It is amazing how much doing this one thing will completely change your mornings.

Tip #2: Get up at least 10 minutes before waking the children. This will give you the few minutes you need to wake up and get your mind focused on the task ahead. If you are really ambitious get up even earlier and take your shower.

Tip #3: Set the children’s clothes out the night before. This assures no arguing in the morning about what they will wear and one less thing to stress you out.

Tip #4: Always have the same routine in the morning. Get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush hair and teeth. Or whatever works for you but have the same order everyday, that way the kids always know what to expect, no surprises.

So now that we have a few tips for you to set yourself up for success we will get back to healthy breakfasts. Our main go to meal for school days is smoothies! I would say 4 out of 5 school days we do smoothies. There are so many varieties they never get bored with them. Here are some of our favorites!

Some of our favorite ingredients are:

Frozen Blueberries

Frozen Strawberries

Frozen Peach Puree

Frozen Avocado Puree

Fresh Bananas

Greek Yogurt – I always add either this or the Kefir, that’s how it is high in protein and keeps them full.

Kefir – this is a high protein yogurt type drink

Milk

All I do is put 2-4 of the fruits and always one cube of avocado into my Magic Bullet, or a blender would work great too, and blend until smooth enough to drink it from a straw, no chunks. These are just the main fruits I have around at all times, you can really put in any kinds. My kids tend to dislike things like raspberries and blackberries because of the seeds but would also taste great if your kids don’t mind, mine just tend to be a little picky.

Why do we use so many frozen fruits? We use mostly frozen fruits because we like them nice and cold. Sometimes if we only have fresh fruit I will even add ice to make it colder. Its is also easier to keep frozen fruits, they last much longer. If I ever have fruit lying around that I just don’t get to using in time, before it goes bad, I will puree it and the freeze it in ice cube trays, then add it to the smoothies.

What I love best about making the kids smoothies is how easy they are to make, it literally from start to finish takes me 5 minutes. Now what healthy, homemade breakfast can you make in less than 10 minutes? Some of our other favorites are whole wheat pancakes with greek yogurt on the side and scrambled eggs. I also like to make breads and muffins the day before and serve them for breakfast. By using the tips above to make your morning easier it makes it possible to put a little more time into making something healthy.

Good luck!

~Bonnie

More health tips from Bonnie

5 Simple Steps to Get Your Kids to Eat Healthy

Tips to a Healthy School Year

Crockpot Strawberry Applesauce

It is that time of year again where I am feeling like cooking, baking, and cleaning like crazy! I don’t know if its because the big kids are back to school or because fall is near but I am feeling domestic lately! Last year I shared with you a crockpot applesauce recipe that is just amazing and so easy!

If you haven’t tried it yet but would love to check it out here.

I have really been focusing on healthy eating for our family and getting away from processed foods as much as we can. My kids really love applesauce and it is great to throw into their lunches too but I wanted to make it for them instead of buy it and I’m going to be doing this from now on. Not only was it easy but it tastes amazing! It takes about 10-15 minutes of prep time and you are done and have a homemade, delicious snack for your family!

I basically did the same thing as my original recipe just changed up a couple things.

Ingredients:

6-8 Apples (we used our favorite, Gala)

1/2 cup of water

1/2 – 3/4 cup of sugar (this I changed a little, I will share that below)

1 – 1 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen strawberries (I used frozen ones that I had picked this summer)

 

Directions:

1. Peel, core, and dice apples. Place into crockpot.

2. Add strawberries.

3. Lastly, add water and sugar.

4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally. After fully cooked slightly mash with potato masher until desired consistency.

5. Serve warm, cold, and in small containers for lunches.

 

 ~ What’s Different! ~

 

Not only did I add strawberries to our applesauce this time I also added organic pure cane sugar instead of white sugar. I love the taste of it and I love doing something healthier for my family!

After we had it warm with dinner I stored it in small cups for easy snacks for the kids and also to easily throw in their lunches!

Thank you for stopping by! Enjoy!

Bonnie

Other great posts by Bonnie!

Crockpot Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Crockpot Pizza

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

Chicken & Biscuit Casserole

Lose Weight Naturally

Bonnie’s Home Tour

Easy Stove Top Cleaning

White Chicken Chili

If you have been following me for a while you probably have noticed I like to make simple and fast meals. I love using the crockpot to cook and like to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible. Not that I don’t like to cook, its just hard when you have kids to find time to spend in the kitchen. If I am not using the crockpot I like to keep my meals simple and fast to prepare. Today I am going to share with you a very flavorful and delicious chili recipe that is pretty quick to prepare. It is not a typical chili recipe though, I am going to make a white chili with chicken instead of beef. So if you like chili but are looking for a change this is it!

 You and your family will love this!

 

Your ingredients are:

1 Tablespoon oil of your choice, for browning chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 teaspoons chili powder, feel free to adjust according to your taste buds!

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 large onion chopped

1 medium green pepper

1 can cream of chicken soup

3/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups frozen corn

2 cans of white kidney beans (cannellini), rinsed and drained

Shredded Cheese, for a topping

 

Just remember, these ingredients are just a guide line. This recipe is pretty forgiving, you can alter it to your family’s likes and dislikes. For instance, your kids really like green pepper, add more than the recipe calls for. Or you love things really spicy, add more! I prefer to keep it light on the spices and than my husband who can’t get enough, can add more to his liking when he is eating it. I just serve the chili powder on the table for those who want to spice it up.

 

So you need to:

-Heat oil in a sauce pan or skillet over med-high heat. Add chicken, chili powder, cumin, onion, and pepper. Cook until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender, stirring often.

-Stir in soup, water, corn, and beans. Heat to a boil and than reduce to low.

-Cover and cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.

-Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

I would love to hear what you think of my new recipe!

Share in the comments below!

Don’t forget to subscribe above so you never miss a post!

~Bonnie

Did you love this recipe? Want some more great ones your whole family will love? Check out these other great ones!

Crockpot Pizza

Banana Bread Muffins

Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry

Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

Baked Bacon, Chicken, & Ranch Taquitos

Thanks for stopping by! I would love for you to visit me on Facebook too!

Banana Bread Muffins

I have a yummy recipe to share with you today! I have been making a batch of these a week for that last couple weeks, my family is loving them. I tried to alter a few things here and there in the recipe to make them a little healthier too. I think that making things homemade is a great way to be healthier to begin with, you know what is in them, no preservatives or unknown ingredients. I just add a few little extras, I will let you know what they are so you can make them the way you chose.

Here is your ingredient list:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar ( I used an organic pure cane sugar)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup bananas, mashed

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 1/2 cups flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat flour & 1/2 cup ground flax seed)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (I use real salt)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 box vanilla instant pudding

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1) In a mixing bowl or Kitchen Aid, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, banana, and yogurt, mix well.

2) Sift together the dry ingredients and slowly add to the butter mixture just until mixed. Stir in the choco chips.

3) Put batter in muffins cups and bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes. If using mini muffin tins bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly before eating.

Yield 20 muffins or 48 mini muffins

Here is my little helper!

Yummy muffins!

Enjoy!

I would love to hear from you! Comment below and visit me on Facebook!

~Bonnie

Check out these other great posts!

Laundry Room Remodel

Spring Clean your Diet

Meet Bonnie

Crockpot Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Crockpot Pizza

Wash Fruits & Veggies Naturally

Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry

Happy Monday to all! We had a wonderful weekend, we headed north to spend some time with my family! I haven’t been “Home” since Christmas so we headed up late on Thursday and spent a long weekend with my parents and siblings. I think I shared this in a post a while ago but I have 5 siblings, 2 of them are married and have children and I have 1 nephew and 4 nieces up there. It was also one of my younger sisters birthdays, she turned 21! So on Saturday the dads watched the kids and the girls went out to celebrate, it was so fun to get out! We didn’t stay out too late but morning comes early when you have 3 young kids. So now it is Monday and back to reality . I truly love Mondays, the kids are back at school, the hubby is at work, and I am back to cooking, cleaning, and blogging! I love my job!

I love to share with you my favorite recipes, I love easy and fast recipes best. I do share some more complicated ones but I tend to stick with crockpot recipes and others that take very little time in the kitchen. With a houseful I really don’t have too much time to spend in the kitchen, my baby is very needy and doesn’t allow me much time.  So today I am going to share something new with you, it is one of my more time consuming recipes but it is by no means complicated or too time consuming, I would say it takes 20-30 minutes to prepare.

What you will need to make this is:

3/4 pound uncooked lean trimmed sirloin beef, thinly sliced against the grain

2 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup of beef broth, divided

5 cups uncooked broccoli

1 Tablespoon ginger root, fresh, minced

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup water

Directions:

1) On a plate or in a bowl put 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and salt, add beef and toss to coat.

2) Heat oil in large non-stick wok or deep skillet over medium heat.

Add beef and stir-fry until lightly browned and cooked through, transfer to bowl with slotted spoon.

3) Add half a cup of broth in same pan, stir to loosen and bits of food left on bottom of the pan. Add broccoli and cook stirring occasionally until broccoli is almost crisp tender. Do not over cook! Uncover pan and add ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes, stir-fry for about 1 minute.

4) In a cup stir together soy sauce, remaining 1/2 cup of broth, remaining 1/2 tablespoon of corn starch, and water until blended, stir into pan.

Reduce heat and simmer for a minute or two.

5) Return beef to pan and any juices in bowl, toss with other ingredients.

~

Serve over your favorite rice! Ours favorite is an organic long grain brown rice!

Enjoy!

Bonnie

Did you love this recipe? Never miss a post by subscribing to my blog!

Also follow me on Facebook!

 

If you liked this post you may like these too!

Easy Shower Cleaning

Transforming Your Health

Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops

Easy Chicken & Biscuit Casserole

Hot Mamas with Hot Bods!

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

Are you ready for another amazing recipe? This one is to die for! I got this recipe from my sister but I have seen a very similar one on Pinterest too. If you haven’t tried this one yet you really need to! I will warn you to do this when you have a little extra time to cook though. I know most of my recipes are very easy and very little time but this one has a few more steps to it, but I assure you it is worth it.

The ingredient list is pretty simple………

3-4 Chicken Breast, boneless skinless

Salt & Pepper, to taste

1 Cup Corn Starch

2 Eggs

1/4 Cup Vegetable oil or Olive Oil, whichever you prefer for browning the chicken

Sweet & Sour Sauce:

3/4 Cup Sugar

4 Tablespoons Ketchup

1/2 Cup Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

1 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

Preheat oven to 325*.

Clean and cube chicken into bite sized pieces.

Salt and pepper chicken, to taste.

Coat chicken in corn starch then dip into beaten egg.

(I just put this little set up above, right next to my stove and put the chicken in the pan as I did it)

Heat oil in pan and lightly brown chicken, but don’t cook through.

Place chicken on greased 9x13 baking dish.

Mix all sweet and sour ingredients and pour evenly over chicken.

Bake for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes.

Serve over your favorite rice. I used and organic long grain brown rice, it is very healthy for you and tastes really good, even my picky little children love it.

A few things I will let you know about this meal………it is very messy to make, the corn starch and egg will be all over you! Also during the cooking process the vinegar is REALLY strong, you are going to think there is something wrong and your chicken is tainted, it is NOT! Just tough it out, it will turn out just fine. You will not even taste the vinegar when it is all done cooking.

I really hope you enjoy this! It is one of our new favorites! I hope to see you @ From Nature to Nurture on Facebook!

Bonnie

If you enjoy this recipe you may also like these other great posts!

Crockpot Fiesta Chicken

Make Cleaning your Shower A Breeze

10 Random Facts about ME!

Yummy Crockpot Fiesta Chicken

Alright, I think its time for another recipe! I have been so excited to share this one with you, for two reasons. 1, its so easy! 2, its delicious! I dream about this meal, seriously! This is by far my favorite meal right now, I could eat it several times a week but I hold back because I don’t want to get sick of it. There are only 5 ingredients, chicken, cream cheese, corn, black beans, and rotel. My mouth I watering as I type this!!

If you are new to my blog you may not know this but I love to use my crockpot to cook, it saves me so much time in the kitchen. With 4 children we have a very busy life and I do anything to make it easier, if you don’t use your crockpot I really encourage you to start. Whether you have no children and you work or you have lots of kids the crockpot will cut down your time in the kitchen and leave you more time to spend with your family. And who doesn’t want more time with their family?:

So here is your ingredient list:

2-4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can of corn, drained

1 can of Rotel, or diced tomatoes w/green chilis, NOT drained

1 8oz block of cream cheese, cut into chunks

 

Add all five ingredients to your crockpot, cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Stir every hour or two, this helps the cream cheese to melt and mix in.

Now to serve, you have several options. One is to put them in a burrito shell with your favorite topping or two, (my favorite,) is to put it on top of tortilla chips.

Some good topping would be salsa if you like it a little spicier, sour cream, and shredded cheese. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! 

Your next step is to follow me on Facebook, I would love to see you there!

Bonnie

If you liked this recipe you may also like:

Shower cleaning tip

Butterfly footprints

Crockpot loaded baked potato soup