I woke up this morning to a dusting of snow, a sick kiddo, and figured a chilly Saturday is the perfect time to share one of my family’s favorite meals – Chicken Pot Pie.
Here’s what you will need:
2 C cooked chicken breast (Cut it to your preference for chopped or shredded. You can also use the dark meat cuts, I simply prefer the chicken breast for the pot pie.)
1 can Cream of Chicken
1 C chicken broth (You can use the boxed broth but I just microwave 1 C water and add the chicken flavoring.)
1/2 C chopped carrots (I do way more than this because my kids love them. I also boil these separately first to make sure they’re tender enough when the meal is served.)
1/2 C peas (frozen is just fine and there’s no need to cook them before putting them in your dish)
2 hard-boiled eggs (if desired)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 1/2 C Bisquick (Don’t use the canned rolls!)
1 C milk
1 stick butter
Directions:
I raise my own chickens so I cook the whole chicken for the day in the crockpot then cut what I need for pot pie. The rest is set aside for a different meal (watch the blog!😊) or chicken salad. You can do this with a whole chicken from the store (which ends up being cheaper) or just buy the cut you want and proceed.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Chop your carrots (it helps to have a super cute helper!) and set them to boil on the stove.
Spray a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray. Combine the Cream of Chicken and chicken broth. Add peas, drained carrots, chopped eggs, and cut up chicken. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir all ingredients together.
In separate bowl, whisk Bisquick and milk together. It will still be slightly chunky. Pour over top of ingredients.
Melt the stick of butter and pour on top. You can use less if you are offended by caloric deliciousness, but I, obviously, am not
Cook at 350 F for ~40 minutes until crust is golden brown.
This is Cameron. Cameron should be turning 6 years old today. He should be waking up, springing out of bed, hearing the Happy Birthday song, and hauling a ridiculous amount of sweet treats to school. Cameron gets to celebrate a different kind of birthday. In Heaven. Cameron passed away on June 16, 2015 due to a type cancer called AT/RT. Look it up if you want, but heed my warning, it’s cruel.
I’m blogging today in honor of this sweet nephew of mine
whose smile was so contagious. Cameron is the son of one of my brothers and his
wife, my best friend. I’m blogging to address something we will all have to do
in life – support those we love going through horrible times.
Without going into a substantial amount of detail, Cameron’s whole journey was quite a whirlwind. He had been displaying symptoms of some type of illness before, but honestly, who suspects cancer in a two year old? His parents tried what they were told – this, that, and everything. Nothing helped. He was diagnosed April 17, 2015 and passed, as I stated, on June 16, 2015. Less than two months.
When Cameron initially started showing his signs of illness,
I think it is safe to say, the Grandparents stepped up their already stellar
game to support my brother and sister-in-law. I still remember my mom sitting
the remaining three of us siblings down and telling us the official diagnosis
of AT/RT. This was our sibling’s child! This our own children’s cousin! What
could we do? What can anyone do? It was at that point the disgusting feeling of
helplessness took hold and slowly began tightening its grip on our already
sunken hearts.
They transferred my nephew to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. This incredible establishment, by all accounts, welcomed them with the love and understanding that they would receive from family at home. Except they were not at home and there is no changing that. They were where they needed to be, getting Cameron the treatment he needed to get. Things briefly got better. And then things got horribly worse.
With the doctor’s prognosis, Cameron’s parents brought him home to surround him with the love he had known since the day he was born. Remember that helplessness feeling I mentioned? It only strengthened.
This is a solid point to shout-out to my better half and my
in-laws. During all of this, we have two children (one of which is only 17 days
older than Cameron) and a farm. My husband and his family were unbelievably
supportive, as I was staying almost full days and well into the evenings at my
brother and sister-in-law’s house.
Suddenly my brother, who was the biggest jokester of our
crew, is well-versed in medication, their time distribution and side effects
and potential interactions. Who was this guy? I’d known him my whole life and
fought him for a solid portion of it, yet he was so utterly changed. That is
was happens when a piece of your heart moves on and leaves you behind.
Cameron passing was a terrible experience. It was an overcooked grief and denial casserole topped with rotten helplessness. I read numerous places that the pain doesn’t get any less, it just becomes your new normal. I suppose that’s true, at least for me. I am still very close with my brother and sister-in-law. You can also rest assured that he and I have resumed our debates.
 I have compiled a list of things that helped me cope during that time, things I wish I would have done, and how I’m working to keep Cameron’s memory alive in my own children.
My suggestions during
the struggle:
Listen {Seriously, just shut up and listen.}
Bring coffee, but push water.
Clean {I’m going give big credit to the sister-in-law on the other side for this. She was amazing.}
Grocery shop, if you can {You stay out of the family space, and provide what they need.}
Walk the dog/take care of the pets. No one is focusing on animals right now.
Buffer for them. Really – sometimes other people can just seem like the worst.
If they are located somewhere away from home, use Google and arrange a meal to be delivered.
Do their laundry. I’ve never seen my own dad do more laundry than this time period.
Find your own outside source to connect and process with. You have to take care of yourself too.
My suggestions after
the struggle {even long after}:
Listen {Seriously, just shut up and listen.}
Cry.
Talk about Cameron. Use his name. {Yes it may be uncomfortable at first, but the parents deserve to hear their child’s name. How horrible for them to already have to deal with a loss and then we can’t even get over ourselves enough to just be real?}
Check in on them randomly. Make a phone call. Make a trip to their house. Think about it – it isn’t until the funeral is over that families really start going through the person’s things. Yet another heart-wrenching occasion.
Check in on them on holidays and the loved one’s birthday. While the calendar continues to tick days theirs stopped long ago.
Stop by their grave. {The kids and I to do this at least twice a year. Each child picks out a new ornament for Cameron’s tree every year, so we go around Christmas. We stopped on my oldest’s first day of Kindergarten, as it should have also been Cameron’s. My children are comfortable talking about Cameron and Heaven and have zero qualms about talking to Cameron while they’re at the cemetery. This is their cousin for goodness sake.}
I am comforted in knowing that Cameron is celebrating in Heaven with Great Grandma Yvette teaching him all of her card tricks and belly laughing the way only SHE does and Great Grandpa Chuck is spoiling him rotten the way only HE does.
If you would like to make a donation to St. Jude to help children fighting cancer and their families, please visit https://www.stjude.org or call (800) 805-5856
**Please note, I only published this after my brother and sister-in-law reviewed it and gave their approval.**
I thought I’d start my first content blog with something sweet!
If you know anything about my family you know we thrive on cookies. We are lovers of all cookies, but especially my chocolate chip cookies. I learned this from my mom but have literally no idea their history as it pertains to these. I do feel like I’ve made 12,000 batches of these since I got married in 2010 and, at least once every two weeks, I make a double batch. They freeze well so you can bulk bake.
These have been my go-to item to bring to work on treat day, to new mamas to occupy them when I snuggle their babe, to new neighbors, to a friend moving into a new home, to myself on a Tuesday morning. You name it, I’ve probably made it for that occasion. They’re delicious!
Here’s the recipe for a single batch:
1/4 C sugar
3/4 C brown sugar
2 eggs
2 sticks of butter, softened (I prefer Imerpial for baking.)
1 pkg. vanilla instant pudding (Do not make it! If you would like Chocolate Chocolate Chop cookies just substitute the vanilla package with a chocolate one.)
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Baking soda
2 1/2 C flour ( I prefer Gold Medal but my MIL swears by Peter Pan.)
1 pk
g. Nestle chocolate chips
Now I would love to tell you that I’ve found the secret order to combine the ingredients to make the cookies magical, but alas I have not. However, for those of you who need a solid recipe to follow to not lose your mind, I will create one.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F.
Combine softened butter, eggs, and vanilla. Add brown sugar, sugar, and package of pudding. Add baking soda. Gradually add in flour until completely mixed. Add chocolate chips.
Scoop into desired size on greased cookie sheet and bake for 9-12 minutes dependent on oven, doneness preference, and size of batch.
Knitty Gritty 