My Favorite Recipes

White Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Pot Pie

Greek Chicken Pitas with Homemade Tzatziki

Roasted Tomato Soup

Granda Lennie’s Cookies

Pumpkin Cookies

Chick Fil A Nuggets

Josephine Brussels Sprouts

Two Ten Jack Brussels Sprouts 

Pork Carnitas Slow Cooker

Pumpkin Cookies:

  • 1 cup shortening

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 1 cup pumpkin

  • 2 tsp. baking powder

  • 1 egg

  • 1 tsp. vanilla

  • 2 1/2 cups flour

  • 1 tsp. baking soda

  • 1/2 tsp. salt

  • 1 tsp. cinnamon

Blend together into a thick paste, dollop on to cookie sheet Cook for 8-10 mins @ 350

Goes best with simple powdered sugar icing: Melt 1 stick of butter in a bowl and slowly stir in powered sugar and small splashes of milk until it turns from yellow to white and tastes sweet. Add a few drops of vanilla to taste. Should be runny like cinnamon bun icing. Drizzle over cookies when they first come out and let it cool.

 

Grandma Lennie’s Cookies

Cream: one cup shortening

Add:

  • 3/4 cup brown sugar

  • 3/4 cup white sugar (not powered, regular)

…and cream until fluffy

Add:

  • 2 unbeaten eggs (one at a time), beating well after each addition

  • 1 tsp of hot water

In a separate bowl, sift together:

  • 1 & 1/2 cups of flower

  • 1 tsp soda

  • 1 tsp salt

Add: sifted mixture to wet ingrediants

Add:

  • 1 cup chopped pecans

  • 2 small packages of chocolate chips

  • 2 cups of plain oatmeal

  • 1 tsp of vanilla

Drop dough balls on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

 

Green Chicken Pitas with Homemade Tzatziki

For the chicken:

Drizzle chicken thighs with olive oil, sprinkle the following spice mixture all over the chicken and toss to coat for 1 hour prior to grilling:

  • Salt

  • Pepper

  • Dried Dill

  • Dried Oregano (greek preferred but italian is fine)

  • Dried Parsley

  • Dried Basil

  • Dried Rosemary

  • Dried Garlic Powder

Grill chicken thighs to internal temperature of 165, remove to rest/cool on cutting board.

For the tzatziki:

  • 1 cup of 0% greek yogurt (also okay if you use the kind with fat in it, will taste great!)

  • 1 tablespoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice

  • 1 minced clove of fresh garlic (be careful, it’s easy to overdo this)

  • 1/2 of an English cucumber, peeled and grated on a cheese grater into the yogurt

  • Sprinkle dried dill, salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together in a serving bowl. Looking for a chunky, but slightly runny consistency, like a ketchup/mustard. If needed, add more lemon juice to thin it out. I make this by taste and keep adding ingredients until it tastes good.

For the pitas:

I buy white pita pockets from the grocery store, and warm them on the grill while the chicken is finishing.

To stuff in the pitas with the chicken I make the following chopped veggie mixture:

  • Kalamata olives

  • Cherry tomatoes

  • The other half of the English cucumber (peeled because I don’t like the skin)

  • Red onion

  • Sprinkled with a little salt and lemon juice and mixed up in a bowl for scooping into the pita

To serve:

  • Slice up the grilled and cooled chicken

  • Put chicken, pitas, veggie mixture, and tzatziki on the counter for an assemble yourself buffet!

  • Serve with store bought hummus (I prefer plain with this recipe because all of the other flavors are enough), and basmati rice or turmeric rice

 

Chicken Pot Pie

  • 3 cups cubed chicken breast or shredded rotisserie chicken

  • 1 cup chopped carrots

  • 1 cup chopped yellow or white onion

  • 1 small bag frozen corn or 1 cup

  • 1 small bag frozen peas or 1 cup (Can add mushrooms, potatoes, celery, etc)

  • 3 cups chicken broth

  • 1 & 1/2 cups whole milk (you can use any %, but whole makes it creamier)

  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour plus a little more if needed for thickness

  • Pillsbury pie crusts dough or canned biscuit dough

  • Garlic fresh chopped

  • Rosemary

  • Salt

  • Pepper

  • Thyme

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Brown the chicken in a large pan with a small amount of olive oil

Salt while cooking the chicken

Add in carrots and cook til soft

Add onions cook til translucent

Add frozen peas and corn

Add chopped garlic last so you don’t burn it

Add seasonings to taste and reduce heat to low

In separate pan, start to boil the chicken broth. In small bowl slowly whisk the flour into the milk, forming a slurry Once chicken broth is boiling, whisk in the slurry mixture, let cook for about 5 minutes until thickened

If using a casserole dish, add the chicken veggie mixture, then pour over the sauce, top with pie crusts or biscuits and cook until the topping is golden brown- approximately 20 min at 375. If using the chicken frying pan, add the sauce and top in the pan, add the topping and cook til golden brown.

 

Risotto

  • 1 cup Arborio rice

  • 2 tablespoons of butter

  • 6 cups of chicken broth

  • 1 cup of white wine

  • 1 yellow onion

  • 2-3 garlic cloves

  • 1 other veggie for flavor: either mushrooms, leeks, or sun dried tomatoes

  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Chop veggies. Simmer chicken broth. In another pan, melt 1 tbls butter, and cook onions/garlic/veggie. Remove veggies from pan and set aside. Melt 1 tbls butter and add rice to pan. Toast the rice in the butter until it starts to become translucent around the edges with a white dot in the middle (2 minutes or so). Add the 1 cup of wine and stir until it is mostly absorbed. Add one cup of the hot chicken broth and stir until it is absorbed. Continue adding chicken broth one cup at a time and continuously stir. All-in it could take up to 30 minutes. You don’t have to use all of the chicken broth, just keep going until the rice is cooked. Stir the onion/garlic/veggie back in and cook for a minute to incorporate. Optional: add 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.