Day 63 - Moravian Inspired Chicken Hand Pies

"Moravian" Chicken hand pie, green beans, squash casserole.

My friend Laura is coming to visit me!  All the way from Texas!  I'm so excited I might explode!  Wooohooooo!

Ok, moment.  Moment over.

Anyway, my friend Laura is coming to visit and I'm, clearly, very happy.  Since she's originally from Winston-Salem and has always talked about Moravian Chicken Pie, I decided in my excitement to try making it myself.  But knowing that I wanted to have some for lunch, I decided to have my own spin and make them into little hand pies!

They are soooooo good.  I'm not sure if they're authentic, but whatever this ended up being was fabulous.  I added some green beans and leftover Squash Casserole, and this was one of the best lunches so far this fall.  And the saltiness was a nice contrast to all that candy I've been eating today...ahem.

My pie filling recipe is heavily inspired from this Moravian Chicken Pie recipe, so try your hand at that if you prefer a whole pie!

Moravian Inspired Chicken Hand Pies

1 package refrigerated pie crust, two sheets (I prefer Pillsbury)
2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used a grocery store rotisserie with the skin removed)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
1-2 tablespoon butter, cut in pieces

In a medium sized pot, heat broth and butter until just simmering.  Add in flour and stir til smooth and thickened.  Stir in chicken, salt, and pepper.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Roll out each pie crust and cut into four wedges (like a pie).  Place 2-3 heaping Tablespoons of chicken mixture on each crust piece and fold over, crimping edges firmly.  Pierce top of each hand pie with a fork.  Place on a parchment lined sheet and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes, or until crusts are brown and crispy.  Serve hot. Pin It Now!

Day 62 - Squash Casserole

Squash Casserole, Clementine, Roasted Chicken

At long last, I found the perfect squash casserole!  It's light and creamy and cheesy and goooood.  So good, in fact, that I had it as my entree for lunch today, along with a little bit of leftover roasted chicken and a clementine.

This Squash Casserole recipe is an almost exact copy of Cooking Light's Squash-Rice Casserole recipe.  The only changes I made were using yellow squash instead of zucchini, and using a wild rice blend.  And, you know, adding more cheese.  Because everything is better with more cheese!  This is a great keeper for those of you collecting holiday recipes!

Squash Casserole

8 cups sliced yellow squash (about 2 1/2 pounds)
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth 
2 cups cooked long grain and wild rice blend
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1 cup Ritz crackers, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Combine first 3 ingredients in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until tender. Drain; partially mash with a potato masher.

Combine squash mixture, rice, 1 cup of cheddar cheese, sour cream, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup crackers, salt, pepper, and eggs in a bowl; stir gently. Spoon mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.  Top with remaining cheese and crackers, then broil 1 minute or until lightly browned.  Serve hot. Pin It Now!

Day 61 - Baked Potato

Baked potato with cheese and sour cream, clementine, rotisserie chicken.

Y'all, I could not come up with an idea of what to bring for lunch today.  So, I brought a baked potato.  I baked it the night before and nuked it for about a minute at work.  In all honesty, it was way better than I thought.  The skin lost its crispiness, but the inside flavor stayed great. 

Threw some cheese and sour cream on the side, rotisserie chicken, and a clementine. 

Self explanatory?  Good. :)  Now go eat some potatoes! Pin It Now!

Day 60 - Rotisserie Chicken and Quinoa

Rotisserie chicken, quinoa, holiday grapes, celery.

So, I splurged this week and got a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.  It wasn't even on sale...I'm living dangerously, y'all.  But it definitely made prepping a few other meals MUCH easier - chicken salad, quesadillas, soup.  So today's lunch was a leg and then some of the leftover chicken, a little quinoa pilaf (quinoa cooked in stock with spices), grapes, and celery.

I'm so tired, that I just typed "celery" as "celergy," and then corrected it to "clergy."  That's just not good.

Anyway, it was a tasty cold lunch.  Nothing to write home about, but still better than a sandwich! Pin It Now!

Day 59 - Roasted Chicken Salad

Roasted Chicken Salad, Holiday Grapes, Celery, Wheat Thins, Laughing Cow Cheese

I had some delicious chicken salad today with chicken salad type sides - crackers, grapes, celery, lettuce.  And a little bit of cheese.  This is my default chicken salad recipe, and it's goooooood.  The recipe below makes two huge servings (four  normal servings), but you can double or triple it if you want!



Roasted Chicken Salad

1 cup roasted or rotisserie chicken, chopped and cooled
1/2 cup red or black grapes, chopped (or sliced, if they're small grapes)
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1 t tarragon
1/2 t red wine vinegar
1-4 T mayo (I use Duke's.  Exclusively)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix chicken, grapes, walnuts, vinegar, and tarragon in a small bowl.  Mix in mayo, one tablespoon at a time until salad reaches desired consistency.  Add in salt and pepper to taste.  Makes about two very large servings (of the size pictured above).  Serve cold. Pin It Now!

Day 58 - Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

 Today was slow cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup!  It's got a lot of the same flavors as a white chili, but it's much lighter.  I did find myself wishing that I had added white beans, but it was pretty darn good as is.  Right amount of heat for me, good broth flavor, tender chicken...just a good, basic soup with a little extra kick.  I'm definitely remembering this one for cold season.

I got the recipe from the blog Bake by Rachel, with a few of my own alterations.   The recipe below is what I made, but I'm sure that her's would be a great option as well.  She gives some helpful hints for shredding chicken, as well.

Pics are obviously from yesterday...I find that my thermos keeps things nice and hot, but since I have to pack it that way in the morning, and there's no sunshine in the morning these days...you know, bad pictures.

Anyway, recipe!:

Chicken Tortilla Soup

3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed
3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken thigh, trimmed
15oz can sweet whole corn kernels, drained
10oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained
6C chicken stock
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 t minced garlic
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 tsp ground pepper, divided
Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Seasoned tortilla strips or chips

Add all ingredients, saving cheese and tortillas, to a slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  Shred chicken with a fork into bite sized pieces.  Skim any fat off the top as desired and serve hot, topped with cheese and tortilla strips.



Does well both in the fridge and the freezer!

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Day 57 - Gnocchi au Gratin

Gnocchi au Gratin

 
Alright, alright, I didn't take this to lunch.  I cooked it at home and it was good.  Decadently so.  And trust me, you want to know about this recipe.  Whether you take it to lunch or not, you'll love it.

Inspired by a number of dishes I've been served recently, I chose to make Gnocchi au Gratin.  If you're not familiar with gnocchi, it's a type of pasta most usually referred to as potato dumplings...potato flour in little grape sized nuggets.  You can buy them frozen or in the regular pasta section of your store, and they cook up very quickly.  They're great with just a little olive oil or a red sauce....or, in a gratin.  Cooking something "au Gratin" means, of course, that you cook it in a gratin dish and it has some sort of breadcrumb type topping that gets brown and good.  And, usually, cheese is involved.  It certainly was this time.

Pictured above is one entree serving, about 1.5 cups.  The recipe below is for twice that...so, either two entree servings or 4 side servings.  I had trouble eating an entire entree size, so be warned...this is very rich.  And good. 

Serve with a big green salad and you are good to go!

Gnocchi Au Gratin

1 lb gnocchi
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup emmental or gruyere cheese
1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs
2 T butter, divided
1 T flour
dash or two of nutmeg, salt, and pepper

Cook gnocchi according to package directions; set aside.
In a non-stick  pot or double boiler, melt 1 T butter.  Whisk in flour until just blended; do not let this mixture burn or brown.  Slowly pour in milk and heat over low heat until thickened.  Now, slowly stir in the cheddar cheese until cheese is melted and well incorporated into the sauce.  Add dashes of salt, pepper, and nutmeg as desired.  Remove from heat and stir in gnocchi.  Transfer into a buttered 3 cup dish or two 1.5 cup dishes.  In a separate pot or pan, melt remaining butter and stir in breadcrumbs.  Stir, over medium heat, until crumbly and lightly toasted.  Sprinkle over gnocchi mixture.  Bake at 375F for 10-15 minutes, or until breadcrumbs are golden and crispy.

Enjoy!  Nap.  Work out. Pin It Now!