cook it: chicken/vegetable pot pie

This recipe could also be called: is also known as:

"how to use up all those frozen veggies that have been in your freezer for a year (or more)"

or

"how a vegetarian, carnivore and toddler agree on a meal"

ingredients:
4T butter
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced onion
1 cup diced potatoes (preferably the tiny ones)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen green beans
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup flour
3 cups vegetable broth
dash salt
dash pepper (or a couple twists on a grinder)
1/4 cup cream
*shredded chicken beast (or not)
unbaked pie crust

directions:
1) melt butter in a large frying pan and sauté the onion, carrot and potatoes for around 3 minutes (until the onions get translucent)
2) add the frozen peas, green beans and corn.  feel free to toss in any other random frozen veggies you've got on hand (except eggplant---eggplant should only be breaded and fried beyond recognition)
3) sprinkle the flour over the veggies.  toss and sauté for one minute. we gotta get those veggies covered and the flour a little bit browned.
4) add vegetable broth and let it cook to thicken.  this may take a few minutes--this would be a good opportunity to make sure that your pie crust is thawed and not still in the deep freezer.  not that anything like that's happened to me before.
5) add the salt 'n pepper (and sing "push it", but not very loud if you're cooking with your kids)
6) add cream and watch it transform before you eyes (or 2 minutes)
7) this is where it gets tricky if you're trying to cook for a vegetarian, a carnivore and two toddlers.  bless my poor soul, right?  pour some of the mixture into a baking dish--this will be your vegetarian option.  now, toss the shredded chicken in the pot and fold into the mixture.  pour into a separate baking dish.
8) top both dishes with pie crust
9) bake 375 for 25 minutes

notes about dishes:
This recipe could be cooked in one deep dish pie pan if you're all of one eating accord---but we actually split this up at our house into 4 small dishes, two sets of chicken and veggies.  we eat one set and the freeze the other.

notes about chicken:
I have found THE EASIEST way to shred chicken.  here goes:
1) boil a pot of water and toss in chicken breast until cooked (maybe 7 minutes?)
2) remove chicken and put into kitchen aid mixer bowl.  use paddle attachment and set to medium speed and watch it magically shred before your eyes!  total game changer!

cook it: fresh greek salad

I am loving this Indian Summer that we are having out here in Oklahoma.  I've never been one to love hot summer days, but I'll hold on to these warm fall afternoons because I am definitely scared of the winters here!  The wind is something fierce out here (remind me to tell you about the time my shirt was literally almost blown off while running the OSU cross country course) and I have a feeling that I might be spending a lot of time inside.  

This greek salad has been a staple in our house for the past couple of months; it's refreshing, packed with nutrients and super filling.

so bright; always a good idea to eat colorful veggies

i love having the chopped veggies all tossed together, makes
it much easier to eat one handed (while the other is referring
two toddlers--promise me this doesn't just apply to me??)

Ingredients:

Spinach 

1/4 Red Pepper 

2T Sweet Onion 

2T Banana Pepper 

3 Baby Carrots 

1/2 Mini Cucumber 

optional: 1oz/2T Feta 

1) chop all ingredients

2) toss into bowl

3) top with 1-2 tablespoons of your favorite Greek dressing (side note: I have a wonderful recipe, but lately I've been using Newman's Own Olive Oil & Vinegar--it's awesome)

4) plate and serve with a side of hummus (side note: I have a great recipe for this too, but we eat it in such vast quantities and time has been so spare lately that we've been buying it in bulk from Aldi--it's a crowd pleaser for sure)

**note** you can also serve this with a side of warm pita; it's actually really great to line the pita with hummus and then stuff the salad mixture inside (it'll change your life, trust me)