don't spend your whole life waiting for the alarm to go off.

Chicken Pot Pie

Lately I have been experimenting with chicken pot pie. The best is shown here. I made it on Superbowl Sunday. I didn't really follow a recipe. I used a mushroom potpie recipe as a base, but worked mostly from the idea in my head and experience. In other words, be warned that this recipe is not exact .....

Chicken Pot Pie
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (somewhere between 0.5 - 1 lb)
butter or olive oil for sauteing up the veggies
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 cup carrots, chopped or sliced into "bit-sized" pieces
1 cup frozen peas
2 cups broccoli, chopped
2 cups mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 - 2 cups broth [chicken, vegetable, beef all work fine]
a few shakes of Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
1/2 - 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes
[note: I suspect you could also use instant mashed to thicken this. I don't know the amount that would work though]
1 frozen pie crust, thawed [or 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed]

Heat olive oil or butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook until translucent and fragrant. Add carrots and broccoli, saute for a few minutes. Add mushrooms and peas. Cook until veggies are still slightly firm. Increase heat to high. Shake in flour until veggies are covered. Add broth about 1/2 cup of broth and mashed potatoes. Bring to boil. Continue to add either broth or mashed potatoes until desired consistency is achieved. Season with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray an 8x8 square baking dish with cooking spray. Layer cooked chicken in bottom of pan. Cover with vegetable mixture. Cover with pie crust and cut several vents in it. Bake until crust is golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

If using a pie crust [vs puff pastry], you can brush with butter or egg wash (egg white and water) or spray with cooking spray to get a crispier crust.

Enjoy!

Country Girl

I was lucky enough to get affordable tickets to the Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan concert at Xcel Center. I heard there were "cheap" seats going for $300?!? The show was excellent. Totally worth spending the 20 minutes finding tickets before the prices skyrocketed. LOTS of singing was done by me.

Oh, and dinner pre-concert was at Muddy Pig!

One night of good beer, good food and great music. Lucky me.

dog art

Note: No animals were harmed in this process.

Joan's in the Park

In an effort to eat at all the wonderful restaurants in the Twin Cities, Marie and I stopped in for dinner at Joan's in the Park.

It wasn't easy to find. Luckily I lived over in Highland Park for a summer, so I had some idea of where on Snelling it was. Still I made a couple u-turns in order to get there. It was Sunday evening; traffic on Snelling was light.

I had scallops with walnut-maple brussel sprouts. The food was a bit over-priced, but delicious. The dining room is small and the tables are well spaced to give enough room for privacy with the cozy feel of being somewhere special.

Chances I will go back: 65%
** percentage would increase if they had a nice patio in the summer. Snelling Ave isn't exactly what you want to look out on in summer time.

I was beating myself up a bit for not posting more often. And then, epiphany! I am using this for me to document life, so it really doesn't matter if I am consistently posting every day. I would like to, as it will more accurately document the real life, not just the major events.

So, I'll try.

Master this!

Well, the master bedroom has finally been transformed. It is mostly complete. ...almost.

Before:

After:

schedules

Races: I haven't officially signed up for any races, but have some in mind.
June 3: Minneapolis Half Marathon
August 26: Minneapolis Duathlon

Maybe List:
October 7: TC 10 mile
October 20: Big Woods Half Marathon (Trail)

Hmmm. Needs more thought.


Concerts: I am stoked to go to Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan next week! Madonna is coming to Mpls in November, so I am trying to rally some gals to attend. Not much else

there's a new kid in town

He's not mine, but he is cute. Jordy is a golden puppy. He came over to play with Jackson. Jackson didn't like him very much at first. He tolerates Jordy now. ....but they don't play. The closest he will let him get is when they are both sleeping.

Buttermilk Roasted Chicken

Sometimes I cook. And I thank all the food bloggers out there for giving me ideas and recipes.

Smitten Kitchen has an excellent Buttermilk Roasted Chicken recipe. I made it with drumsticks. I pulled the skin off of them before "marinating" in buttermilk and paprika (Hungarian, of course). Tasty.

I pulled the leftovers off the bone and am using in various concoctions (and salads).

It looked like winter here, briefly...

Found: good fish tacos

Where: La Chaya Bistro at 46th and Nicollet

The steak tacos are good too.

You can stop in while rerouting around the Lyndale Ave Bridge closure.

I was hoping to not be in "catch up" mode with the blog, but somehow it happened.

I will refocus on posting something -- even small every day. As it is documenting my life, not brain dumping one every 8 days.