thought i would spice up the title a bit...

so i made a chicken pot pie, homemade, on wednesday. while i was in michigan this past weekend, my mom was talking about it, and it sounded so good that i just couldn't get it out of my mind!  so here's what i did:

ingredients: 
~chicken - i went to the local grocery schnucks and purchased a pre-roasted chicken. that takes alot of work out of it!  ended up getting the herb chicken, brought it home, took all the tasty chicken bits off the bones, and, since it wasn't very large, ended up using all the chicken so we had a very full pot pie.
~frozen veggies - i got a mixed bag of frozen veggies - corn, peas, and beans - 16 ounces.  you don't have to let it thaw - i took mine out of the freezer while i made the crust, so it was starting to thaw a bit when i mixed it all together.
~1 can of cream of chicken soup
~1/2 cup of chicken bullion water mixed with two tbsp of flour - make one chicken bullion cube as suggested, and take a half cup of that and mixed in the two tbsp of flour.
~some thyme - how's that for specific!
~crust - you can make your own like i did (using the infamous lynema homemade pie crust) or buy a pre-made crust. i also found a recipe online that recommends taking 3 tubes Pillsbury's crescent rolls, and press them into the bottom of the pie pan, making sure there are no seams or holes - if you do that, let me know how it turns out!
~1 egg

instructions:
~pre-heat oven to 350 (i think)
~mix the 1/2 cup of chicken bullion water mixed with 2 tbsp of flour with the can of cream of chicken soup.  add chicken and frozen veggies (i used the whole bag - again, for a very full pot pie). add some thyme for added flavor.
~dump the mixture into the crust-lined pie pan.  add a top crust to your pie.
~cut some slits into the top crust, so you watch for juices bubbling up and so your pie doesn't explode.
~if you are using a regular homemade crust, beat up the egg, and brush the egg over the top layer of crust.

i didn't know how long to cook it, so i put it in at 350 for a half hour at first, and then bumped the temp up to 375 and cooked it for another half hour (ended up being a bit of a late dinner).  watch for the top crust to get golden delicious, and for juices bubbling up.

if you are using crescent rolls for crusts, you'll want to make sure your pie innards are warmed up already since you won't be able to cook it as long.  the recipe i found suggested cooking for 11-15 minutes at 300 degrees.

here's what mine looked like when i took it out:

i felt like the insides were a little dry, so when i make it again, i think i'll add more of the chicken bullion water next time - see if i can get some more juices.  but it was delicious!  i will definitely make it again!

 

so my cousin ann has been posting all sorts of recipes on her blog lately, which are a lot of fun to read!  i have yet to try any of them, but i plan to.  and she has inspired me to post a recipe for something delicious that worked out really well, in case any of you want a delicious new recipe to try!

i'm not too much of a cook yet, but i have always enjoyed baking (there's a lot more sugar in baking!).  i am oh-so-thankful to my mom for teaching me how to make an apple pie this past march -i've made one on my own, and tuesday night was my second attempt at a pie! 

i love rhubarb.  i think i could marry it, if it were legal.  but i haven't seen rhubarb available for purchase basically since we moved to st louis, which makes me really sad!  until...this past saturday at the farmers market.  i saw it laying there, and although i had no plans to make anything with rhubarb, i couldn't pass up my chance to buy some.

so i bought it, and promptly invited kyle and i over to a friends house for dinner last night, promising to bring a dessert of some sort for payment.  having the rhubarb, and having also picked up apples, i decided to look for an apple rhubarb pie recipe.  i had never heard of apple rhubarb pie, but rhubarb is good and apple is good, so they must be good together, right?

here's what i found (click me if you want the actual link):

apple strawberry rhubarb pie

Filling:

~3 1/2 cups peeled rhubarb stalks cut into 1/4 inch chunks (i had 1 pound of rhubarb which came to just under 3 cups of it once i cut it up, and i thought it was plenty rhubarb-y. i also cut it into smaller chunks than 1/4 inch slices.)
~2/3 cup sugar
~1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
~grated zest of one lemon (i didn't have this, so i just used some extra lemon juice)
~5 to 6 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples (i think i used maybe 7 apples, mixing gala, granny smith, and one other type of red apple - i used a little more to compensate for having less rhubarb than requested)
~2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
~1/2 cup strawberry preserves

pie crust - i used my mom's secret pie crust recipe, but you could use your own, or a pre-made pie crust. this pie would be delicious with a crumb/crisp-like topping as well, instead of a top crust.

instructions:

1. mix the rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest together in a large mixing bowl. set aside for 10 minutes (or while peeling, coring and slicing apples, which for me was more like 30 minutes).  i was surprised how juicy and delicious this mixture became after sitting for ten minutes, let alone 30!
2. stir the apples and flour into the rhubarb mixture, and then stir in the strawberry preserves.
3. dump into pie crust.  if you're using a top pie crust, lighten moisten your hands with water and smooth over top crust (or glaze with a little bit of milk) and then sprinkle sugar on top.  if you're using a top pie crust, also make sure you cut some slits in it, and put some slits near the edge to check the juices later for doneness.
4.  put the pie on a cookie sheet - very important - it will spill over!  place on the center oven rack and cook for 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 400 degrees. 
5.  after 30 minutes, reduce heat to 375 and bake until any juices bubble thickly (you can see it from the steam vents you made in the crust).
6. let cool for at least an hour before serving.

here's my completed pie!

it was delicious!  very tart (as one of the guys said last night, it goes straight for the canker sores, so watch out!), but i'm definitely a fan.  i'm planning on taking another picture when i get home so you can see what the innards look like - it's a pretty soft red color.

hope you get a chance to try it!  i can't wait to make it again!

 

so i'm back.

and kyle's back.

and life is back to busy!

i have the entire old testament as well as about 1,000 pages to read before june 22.  which bums me out because i have about 628 pictures from my vacation that i want to sort through and post about.  and i'm addicted to looking up and visiting apartments on craigslist that all seem to be not just a little falsely advertised.  i'm not sure how those wants are going to coincide in the next three weeks.

*frantic pant*

guess i'll just have to do one thing at a time.  my first step, make a blog post about being back.  check!

since i don't really have a ton of pictures that i've decided to show you yet, i've decided to whet your appetite with a fun picture from a hike we did in zion national park, called "the narrows".  it's a one mile riverside walk on a paved trail that deadends into the river that carved out the zion canyon.  from there, you have the option (if you have the time and the water isn't too high or out of control), to "hike" in the water for i think 16 further miles!  how awesome!

we didn't entirely realize what this hike was like (nor did we plan on the waters being incredibly high due to the many recent rainstorms), so unfortunately we didn't get to go very far down the river.  we were concerned for two nice digital cameras and rental car keys to a car worth almost twice as much as my annual household income (woah jake and em for the nice rental!).  but we are all wanting to go back a little more prepared, sans backpacks and fragile cameras, and loaded down with plastic baggies for car keys and waterproof disposable cameras.  as it was, we probably hiked mid-to-upper thigh deep in the 50-some degree river and had a blast doing it!

so here's one picture from the narrows.  we made it to the bend in the river when we decided to turn around, since we watched a bunch of people who had been wading waist deep hit a random deep point and sink into the river up to their shoulders.  ha!

more to come...eventually... *sigh*

yeah.  that's a big ol' sigh of relief!

school is done.  our last exam was a killer - not at all what we expected it to be so it ended up taking the whole 3 hours.  i'm very thankful that our profs trust us and allow us to take the exams using a laptop so i didn't have to write it all out!

it's a big relief to be done, but at the same time, i've been so busy since last wednesday that i'm not sure i've really processed it.  thursday was work all day, small group at night, friday i helped my friend doug and lori clean their new apartment, and kyle and i had a low key date night, saturday i helped my friends move all day, and then kyle and i had another low key date night (during which we rented A Time to Kill.  to my surprise, i discovered kyle had NEVER SEEN IT! i couldn't believe it, so i made him watch it as soon as we had the chance.).  sunday we had to play at church in the morning, and then kyle had a meeting for his trip in the afternoon, and i met a friend for coffee sunday night, and then it was monday already!  i'm working 28 hours a week for the next month and a half, so yesterday and today are both longer 8 hour days (which i'm not used to). 

kyle left last night for east asia.  i'm so excited for him to have this opportunity, and i think a little alone time will be good for me too.  thankfully though, i get to go on vacation next week with jake and em - two weeks home alone probably would've been too much for me!  so now i'm excited for that, and i'll probably start organizing and packing for that trip tomorrow.  yay!

tonight though.  tonight i have no plans.  and that is a beautiful thing.  i think i'm going to run (update on running to come later); but i'll have to see how i feel - my calves have been shredded since saturday, helping the friends move from one 2nd floor apartment to another!  i can't even begin to count how many times i went up and down stairs!  so if i'm feeling up to it, i'll run. if not, i'll walk and stretch.  and other than that, i'm just reading through the 2nd book of lord of the rings.  it's great.  and it's gorgeous out here, so i might be able to read outside and not fry or boil over!

and i might do a running update later tonight.  we'll see how motivated i get.   *grin*

loves to all!

 

so massive congrats (still) to my sister for rockin' the boston marathon! lots of proudness and excitement (still) being sent from st louis.

also. lots of motivation! kel's feat of strength has inspired me to consider a feat of my own strength. a marthon seems like more than i could stomach, but after a week's worth of consideration, i've decided to try for a half-marathon!

the most i have ever run (racewise) is a 5k (3.1ish miles), which i enjoyed thoroughly. i've started training 2 times for the 5/3 riverbank run in grand rapids and have had to pull back due to injured ankles or busyness from engagement. while training, i've once run 7 miles, and two or three times i have run 6 miles.

so a half marathon would be quite the increase for me!

but i think i'm geared up for it. literally. i just got new running shoes (very important, since my most recent running shoes have seen months of training for a 3 day breast cancer walk in 2005 and many many miles since then). i gave kel a procrastination tool and she whipped up a kickin' training schedule.

the half marathon of choice? the fleet feet lewis and clark half marathon in st charles (oh, beautiful st charles) on september 13. that gives me about 19 weeks to train. and i'm 2 days in on the training schedule. 136 days to go.

sweeeeeeet...

btw. along with a half marathon is a full marathon, if anyone is up to the challenge.

it feels good to be moving again though! i'm all about it. according to kel's training program (which, btw, she should make these up and sell them to newbie runners for a nominal fee. extra cash is always good for students...consider it, girl!), you should only train for a half marathon for 12 weeks, so that gives me 7 weeks to get to a place where i could be training for a half marathon.

so that's the game plan. i'm sure i'll post about my progress here and there as i go. and when i sign up for the race, start thinking about if you can come to the race and cheer me on!

yay!