Chicken Pot Pie & Warm Cinnamon Apples

Well, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that I fell off the 31 Days bandwagon. I did try, but we are in an interesting season of life right now that doesn't always leave a lot of room for a blog post at the end of the day. Since this blog is for me and my family, I don't want to feel pressure to post everyday if I can't make it happen. But I really do love blogging and am glad that I was able to complete some of the 31 days because it made me remember how much I do enjoy chronicling our day to day life.

We've also been throwing around the possibility of taking my blog private, which would mean that you would have to sign in with your email address to read. Again, I blog for our family and it makes me feel a little unsettled that anyone with Internet access can read and see pictures of our life. Nothing happened to make me feel this way, but it's something we've been throwing around.

Now, onto the real reason for this post-- food! Was there ever any doubt? On Monday, I made one of our very favorite winter meals-- chicken pot pie and warm cinnamon apples. This meal is comfort food at it's finest! The winter I was pregnant, my friend Emily gave me this recipe for pot pie and it's been a staple in our winter menus ever since. It's so easy and we usually eat the leftovers in a day or so. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Chicken Pot Pie

serves 6-8

12 oz bag frozen mixed veggies

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

14 oz. can chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

3 cups cooked and shredded chicken (I always use a rotisserie chicken for flavor)

2 pie crusts

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan on medium high heat and saute onion for 2-3 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper until bubbly. That will happen quickly. Whisk in the milk, then the broth until smooth. Bring to a boil and let it boil untouched for 1 minute. Stir in the cooked chicken and veggies. 

Put one crust on the bottom of your pie plate. Pour filling into the pie plate and put second crust on top. Cut to vent. Cover edges with foil so the crust won't burn. Bake for 35 minutes or until the crust is golden.

**I have never actually made this pot pie in a standard glass pie plate. This makes a lot of filling, so before I made it for the first time, I went to Target and bought a deep dish pie plate. This pie plate has straight sides, so it's deeper than your average pie plate. I'm pretty sure that mine is the same one in the link and I've gotten my money's worth! I would recommend it for this pot pie. If you don't have one, then I would suggest using a 9x9 square glass baking dish before using a regular pie plate. 

Warm Cinnamon Apples 

via My Recipes

serves 6

4 McIntosh apples (I used Gala because that's what I had-- they were great)

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp butter 

Toss together first four ingredients in a Ziploc bag. Toss to coat the apples well.

Cook apple mixture, water, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cover, but stir occasionally for 8-10 minutes or until the apples are soft.

Bon appetit, friends! 

You Better Watch Out!

The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Karen Bosch, my third grade teacher!! It's weird for me type her first name; I think I will stick to Ms. Bosch! ;) One of my very favorite elementary school memories is Friday afternoons in third grade when Ms. Bosch would play her guitar and our class would sing songs together. She's a great teacher and I'm thankful for her influence in my life! Congratulations on winning! Shutterfly will be contacting you with your code. :)

Christmas is, hands down, my favorite time of year. I know there are a lot of people who share that opinion with me! There's something about the weather, the food, the family and friends, and just the ambiance of the season that makes me so nostalgic and happy. I think Christmas will just keep getting better and better as Griffin gets older. I'm so excited to be able to start experiencing it through the eyes of a child! This will be our second Christmas with him; hopefully he likes Santa a little better this year...

2011 was not a great year for Griffin and Santa. Hopefully 2012 will be better, although somehow I doubt it. And yes, that Santa on the left is pretty creepy. We won't be going back there this year.

I have loved sending out Christmas cards over the past few years. We didn't send any the first year we were married, but we have every year since. I was so excited to have Griffin on our card last year! He was the star of the show.

In my mind, it's never too early to start thinking about your Christmas card and Shutterfly has some amazing photo Christmas card options this year! I've used Shutterfly for our Christmas cards before, as well as using them for some other photo projects, and I've never been disappointed! They have so many different options and their prices are always so reasonable. They've gotten my products shipped quickly and are always running some sort of special offer! Here are a few cards that I've got my eye on this year.

I can't wait to pick out our card this year! I love saving our cards from years past, framing them, and displaying them during the Christmas season. I know I'll find something I love this year thanks to Shutterfly!

What's even better is that Shutterfly is offering one of my blog readers a $50 credit off your total order this season (does not include shipping & cannot be combined with any other promos)! All you have to do is leave a comment with your email address on this blog post by 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, October 24 to enter! That's it! Best of luck friends and Merry Christmas!

**I was compensated with a discount code from Shutterfly for this post, but the opinions were 100% mine. I have always been more than impressed with Shutterfly's product quality and customer service.

 

A Day of Silence

My blog will be silent today in honor of a great man, Matt Turner.

Matt's funeral is today. Please pray for his precious wife, Julee, and his beautiful baby, Preslee.

Julee is a strong woman of God with a deep faith. Never have I seen God so glorified in one person. I know God will continue to use her in mighty ways.

Please pray for the Turner and Bell families today and in the coming weeks and months.

For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

Lamentations 3:31-32

 

31 Days of Haney Life :: Day 9

If you're unfamiliar with my 31 Days topic, please take a moment and visit this post.

Today is October 9, 2012 and Griffin is 19 months old.

As I've been writing out our days, I'm realizing that they probably sound very boring to most people. But to me, they're anything but boring. Some days are long, especially days where Tyler is out of town, but I wouldn't change this season of my life for anything.

This morning, Griffin and I headed out for our stroller exercise class at a local park. When I signed up for this, I seriously thought it would be pretty easy. NOT THE CASE. I almost died the first time we did it, but I really enjoy it now. It's an hour of intense cardio, weights, and stretching and we are moving the entire time. The babies just come along in the strollers and when we do stairs and things that won't allow you to bring your stroller, the instructor stays with them. When we do our mat work at the end, they all get out of the strollers and play together. I always look forward to it! I was pretty proud of myself today because after I loaded Griffin in the car, I went to walk around to my side and stepped in a hole in the grass. I rolled my ankle pretty badly; it still hurts a lot. I sat there for awhile and Tyler came out to help me walk around and I decided to go anyway. I was a little late and had to modify a few things, but I was so glad I went. I felt like a beast! But I'm not. After class, Griffin and I played at the park for awhile. We have some really gorgeous parks here! I love this first picture of Griffin on the swings! He is such a funny little boy; he cracks me up every single day!

He was showing me his sweet Baby Legs leg warmers in this last picture. They were perfect on a really cold morning! After class, we were both a little chilled, so we ended up meeting Tyler for a lunch date at Panera. It was a fun little mid-day pick-me-up. This was the best picture I could get and it's pretty accurate of picture taking with Griffin these days. Haha!

Griffin took a great nap today. He's been doing well at naps lately, which naturally means that since I've now blogged about it, he will go back to taking horrible naps. Maybe we've turned a 19 month corner? I love this picture below. We had a man come out and measure for a new front door today and Griffin just wanted to be one of the guys. He stood there and just watched and listened for as long as the door man was discussing it with Tyler. Such a little buddy man!

Tyler is downtown tonight watching the Reds game and I'm about to finish up some chores that I slacked on today in favor of a relaxing nap time. I'm enjoying documenting our days so much. It's definitely getting me back into the blogging groove.

However, tomorrow I will be silencing my blog with many others in remembrance of Matt Turner. Please pray for Julee as she attends the funeral of the love of her life tomorrow.

If you're interested in reading more in my 31 Days series, please click here!

 

31 Days of Haney Life :: Day 8

If you're unfamiliar with my 31 Days topic, please take a moment and visit this post.

Today is October 8, 2012 and Griffin is 19 months old.

We had a normal, uneventful day. Griffin was in a great mood until about 5:00 pm. Maybe the witching hour is back? The highlight of our day was a long walk to the libarary and the grocery store. I had a book on hold that needed to be picked up and I needed a can of pumpkin for some bread I'm making this week. I'm thankful to live in an area where we can easily walk to places like these! Griffin and I love to go on walks together. I love everything about this picture-- the little hand grasping the snack trap, his buddy, Mickey, the striped pants, everything!

When we were leaving Kroger, we passed an elderly couple taking a walk together. They were each bundled up tight and holding hands. They gave us the sweetest hello as we passed with the biggest smiles and it made my heart so happy. I hope that's me and Tyler someday. I just loved that they were out for a walk together and still holding hands. You can barely see them in this picture that I took. Yes, I'm creepy.

When we got back from our walk, we spent some time playing with bubbles. Griffin loves bubbles but only if he's allowed to blow them. And by that, I mean play with the wand and act like he can actually blow bubbles. I love this video of him and how he tries to do it!

We ended the day with a pot roast from the crock pot. Again, it was just a normal day, but my heart did feel heavy from the moment I woke up. I just cannot get Julee and Preslee off my mind. Please, please continue to pray for them as you feel led. This blogging community is a tight one and I know so many of us are praying for them. Jennifer, Julee's best friend, tweeted this info earlier in case you would like to help the Turners. Any donations can be sent to Preslee Turner College Fund at Summit Bank, Box 965, Arkadelphia, AK 71923.

Have a lovely week, friends.

If you're interested in reading more in my 31 Days series, please click here!

 

31 Days of Haney :: Days 5, 6, and 7

If you're unfamiliar with my 31 Days topic, please take a moment and visit this post.

It was October 5, 6, and 7, 2012 and Griffin is now 19 months old (as of October 6).

Well, here we are a few days in and I'm already behind. I'm not going to let it get me down because this is just a little family blog and I'm blogging for me. I'm getting back on the horse after a great weekend!

On Friday, we had a play date at a local park with a former teacher friend and her little girl. With two very active toddlers, this was the best picture I could get.

I enjoy Ashley's company so much and Griffin and Alyssa play very well together! It's so important to have friends who are in the same life stage as you. I'm looking forward to lots more years of friendship.

Griffin played in the driveway that afternoon while I cleaned out my car. When Daddy came home, he let Griffin "drive the car". This child thought he was BIG STUFF. I think we've discovered a new activity on really fussy days. On Friday night, I was able to go to a movie with a few of my girlfriends. We saw Won't Back Down and I would highly recommend it. It was a great story and there is a part with Viola Davis and her movie son that made me weep for a good ten minutes. If you see it, you'll know what I mean. I am looking forward to watching it again with Tyler when it comes out on DVD!

We woke up and headed out on Saturday morning. We headed to good old Marion, Indiana for our college's homecoming and a mini-reunion with some of my college girlfriends! I had the best time! It was so fun being back on campus and seeing some of my girls. My years at college were so wonderful and I always feel so nostalgic when we're on our way back to Marion.

Of course, the first thing we did was hit up Mi Pueblo for the best arroz con pollo in the WORLD. We would go there in college and eat ourselves sick on this stuff. There would be a huge group of us and we'd all order the same thing! We all said we haven't been able to find any Mexican restaurants that come close to Mi Pueblo since we graduated. I was in heaven with my food, friends, and baby. After we ate, we went to the soccer game. It was pretty cold, but still nice to be out there. We were able to meet up with my brother-in-law, future sister-in-law and Tyler's cousin! I loved seeing all of them.

I love this picture of me and my Stephy. She's my person

After the soccer game, Griffin and Tyler headed home. I was able to stay overnight with my girls and they had a little "guys night". Before they left, we took a few pictures in front of the dorm where we met. It's hard to believe I met Tyler almost 10 years ago! We've been together for 7.5, which is crazy. I'm so thankful for my time in Indiana for so many reasons, but mostly because it gave me my man

Us girls spent some more time on campus and I saw one of my sweet girls from the school where I taught. Before we left, Kristi and I took a great picture in front of the greatest freshman girls dorm of all time. It was there that we had a lot of fun and a lot of embarrassing moments. I love Shatford House and I'm a total dweeb with that thumbs up. At least I embrace it! But seriously, every girl in my wedding lived in Shatford except for my cousin. That should tell you something!

We headed down to Indy and had a great night together! We were able to meet up with our friend, Eric, and we had so much fun together! It also reminded me that I am kind of an old woman now, but it's still fun to pretend to be young every once in awhile. Ha! Check out our photo bombers in the pictures below. Seriously, people? We were annoyed about the girl photo bombers, but the guy in the last picture was a friend of Eric's, so it was cool.

When I woke up this morning, Tyler had sent me this picture of Griffin and typed, "Good Morning, Mommy!" It makes me laugh every time I look at it! He looks so pitiful, but in reality, he had the best time with Daddy! They are two peas in a pod. When I was driving home, Tyler told me that they had gone to Lowe's and then McDonald's. I got prematurely upset about McDonald's (stupid) until T told me that he'd gone through a drive-thru, parked, and that they had shared hot cakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage in the back seat. That absolutely MELTED MY HEART. I am beyond thankful for a wonderful husband who is an equally wonderful father.

It was great to get home to my boys. I'm looking forward to a fresh new week. On one last note, we were doing FaceTime with my dad this afternoon, and I took this screenshot. Every time Griffin talks to one of my parents on FaceTime, he always does three things: asks for whoever he's NOT talking to (if he's talking to Papa, he asks for Mimi, and vice versa), asks for the dog they babysat for a few weeks, and then asks for his beloved ball. They have this huge green ball in the garage that he loves to play with. Today, my dad indulged him and took the phone out into the garage to show him his BAHHHHHH. What a good Papa!

I hope you all have a great week and I'll be back tomorrow. As you start your week, please pray for sweet, precious Julee who lost her beloved husband suddenly this weekend. You won't waste a prayer on her and their baby, Preslee.

If you're interested in reading more in my 31 Days series, please click here!

 

31 Days of Haney Life :: Day 4

If you're unfamiliar with my 31 Days topic, please take a moment and visit this post.

Today is October 4, 2012 and Griffin is 18 months old

We had a very average, normal day today. A lot of our days are like this, I'm finding, but I love the normalcy of life. The highlights of our day included a haircut for Griffin, a special lunch, and playing at the park.

Griffin typically HATES getting his haircut. He had haircut number 8 today-- yes, I said EIGHT-- and he's screamed bloody murder for the last five. It's never pleasant. Usually I take back up because he thrashes around so violently. I even take him to one of those fun children's haircut places even though it's 20 minutes away! I try to make EVERYTHING fun, you know? But he just really hates getting his hair cut.

Today, he really needed a trim before the weekend, and I knew there was no way that Ty could go with us, so I decided to buck up and take Screamer by myself. Imagine my shock when I gave him a lolly pop, stuck him in the "car" (a plastic seat shaped like a car), and put Super Why on the little television-- all things I have done before, mind you!-- and he sat there like a little angel the whole time. He didn't shed ONE TEAR! The sweet woman cutting his hair probably thought I was crazy because I took approximately one thousand pictures of him being cute and happy. I also kept squealing about how proud I was. I probably needed an intervention of sorts.

Oh, he was the SWEETEST. As a reward, we walked over to Panera where we picked up some lunch to go. The baby deserved a macaroni and cheese and boy, did he enjoy it! His mother also might have enjoyed a few bites in addition to her soup and panini. Maybe. Buddy man knows a good thing when he tastes it! What do they put in that macaroni anyway? SO GOOD and only about 1,324 calories per bite.

I was able to both relax and get some things done around the house during nap time. Those are my second favorite kinds of nap time. My first favorite is when I actually get to nap as well. There was no time for that today! After Griffin's nap, we went to a park a few blocks away that we've never actually been to. That's kind of shameful. It's not a huge park, but Griffin LOVED it. I loved it because he had so much fun. There were lots of places to play and lots of room to run. We will definitely be back soon! I just can't believe my baby is old enough to play (assisted) on playground equipment. SO SAD. But how funny is he on that dinosaur?? This picture makes me laugh!

Tonight was taco night and then my sweet husband sent me for a manicure since I was on sick Mom duty for three days this week. Good man. I now have a pretty fall color and I'm ready for the weekend! Oh, and since I know you're all wondering, my ear is feeling a little better today. Praise be to God. Maybe I'll wake up feeling 100% tomorrow!

Can't wait for Parks and Rec tonight! TREAT YOSELF. Best show on television. Happy Thursday!

Previous 31 Days Posts

31 Days of Haney Life :: Day 1

31 Days of Haney Life :: Day 2

31 Days of Haney Life :: Day 3

 

31 Days of Haney Life :: Day 3

If you're unfamiliar with my 31 Days topic, please take a moment and visit this post.

It is October 3, 2012 and Griffin is 18 months old.

Today is going to be a short and sweet post. We had a busy day and were out the door by 9 am. Griffin looked so dapper today in his SheShe Made today. I'm sad because his tractor jon jon is just on the verge of being too small! This isn't the best picture, but when the child is constantly on the move, it's hard to get a clear shot.

We managed to get to story time at the library this morning, which is always so much fun! Griffin loves playing the bells during song time and really gets into it. Maybe he'll play percussion someday! The boy does have some enthusiasm. We're not sure where he gets it. We usually see an old work friend of mine with her daughter at story time, who is a few months younger than Griffin. We had a great time playing with them after the story and are going to see them for a park play date on Friday morning.

When we got home this afternoon, the best surprise was waiting for Griffin-- DADA! That's Griffin's preferred name for Tyler, not mine. I hadn't mentioned this, but T was in Orlando for three days for work. He stayed right outside of Disney, lucky dog. I wish we could've gone with him, but it was a short notice trip, plus I got sick and I wasn't about to take Griffin to Disney World without his dad! I'm so glad Tyler is home. Griffin had a little bit of a rough day today. He was just sort of fussy and ornery. But he sure perked up the moment he saw his daddy! They are best buds.

Tonight, I'm off to my women's group for church. I love this group of women and look forward to meeting with them every month! This warm steak salad just came out from under the broiler. It's one of our very favorite meals, thanks to Kate! Make it soon; you won't be sad about it.

Happy Wednesday, y'all!

Previous 31 Days Posts

31 Days of Haney Life :: Day 1

31 Days of Haney Life :: Day 2

 

31 Days of Haney Life :: Day 2

If you're unfamiliar with my 31 Days topic, please take a moment and visit this post.

Today is October 2, 2012 and Griffin is 18 months old.

I'm going to admit it right up front. Today we stayed in our pajamas all day long. I don't remember the last time we did that and it was glorious! It was a rainy, gloomy day and it felt good to just do nothing outside the house. We had a lot of fun and were super comfy all day. Griffin didn't seem to mind one bit! I started my day with one of my favorite mugs. When we were first married, we really didn't have many coffee mugs, so my parents gave us a few of their old ones. This one always makes me smile because not only does it remind me of my mom and dad, but it is so encouraging! Ha! How can you have a bad day when you're using this mug for your coffee (and pumpkin creamer)?

Griffin and I hung out on the couch while I drank my coffee and we watched his very favorite show, Super Why. I've finally found a television show that he likes. Nothing else keeps his attention, and even Super Why only engages him for about 10 minutes. But I will take those 10 minutes! I knew he was done with old Super Why when he started biting my shirt. It actually made me laugh SO hard until he caught my skin with one bite. At least it took my mind off the pain in my ear for a moment!

We played and played ALL day long. It was so fun. I let the chores go and just hung out with my boy. He rewarded his mother by taking a 2.5 hour nap which is highly abnormal. I'm saying that so that I don't jinx myself. I rewarded myself by relaxing on the couch and being sad about my ear infection. Somebody get me a violin, geez.

That was the gist of our day! We read, we laughed a lot, and we played. He was in a goofy, silly mood today and made me crack up multiple times today. He's such a funny little guy and a great dancer. I had Dancing with the Stars on in the background this morning, and when Melissa and Tony danced, he stopped and just boogied down. When their dance was finished, he kept signing, "more, more!" I rewinded it so many times, but it was totally worth it. He was just full of delight today. I think he's relieved to be feeling so much better after being sick last week.

There are two extra sweet things he's been doing lately. I realize that no one probably cares about these but me and the grandparents, so bear with me. My favorite things he's said lately are turkey, turtle, and Tokyo. He says Tokyo because that's where his Papa is right now. He enunciates his T's so clearly and they are SO sweet. I'll try to get a video.

He's also been saying "AAAAAAMEN" at the end of every prayer. He always wants to hold hands when we pray for meals and he has begun saying "AAAAAMEN" before Tyler or I can say it at the end of the prayer, but totally at the appropriate time. Such a sweet little smart guy. I love when he says it!

Now my little critter is in bed, and I'm about to pull dinner out of the oven. On the menu for tonight are individual margherita pizzas! Here they are before I put them in the oven.

Here's how I make them: I spread pesto (I actually made and froze this pesto from basil I grew this summer!) on a fresh (not frozen) whole wheat naan from Trader Joe's. I layer thinly sliced mozzarella and thinly sliced tomatoes on top. Then I sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Bake them for 10-15 minutes on 425 and you've got a delicious dinner! This is one of my favorites, especially with fresh pesto. YUM.

I'm thankful for a quiet, easy day with my small one. They aren't too common around these parts, so I'm glad when they come. Happy Tuesday!

Previous 31 Days Posts

31 Days of Haney Life :: Day 1