Campbell's Easy Chicken Pot Pie

 I've had a taste for something a little hearty now that the weather is cooling down. I came across Campbell's Easy Chicken Pot Pie  

 Campbell's Easy Chicken Pot Pie

• 1 can (10.5 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 cup reduced fat (2%) milk
• 1 package (12 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, green beans, corn, peas), thawed (about 2 1/4 cups)
• 1 cup cubed cooked chicken or turkey
• OMITTED 1 egg   1 cup biscuit baking mix
• SUBSTITUTED one can containing 5 refrigerated biscuits.

Instructions

·         Step 1

Heat the oven to 400°F.  Stir the Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, 1/2 cup milk, vegetables and chicken in a 9-inch pie plate or ovenproof skillet.  Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

·         Step 2

OMITTED Stir the remaining 1/2 cup milk, egg and baking mix in a small bowl.  Spread the batter over the chicken mixture (the batter is thin but will bake up into a perfect crust).

 

SUBSTITUTED

Separated and placed remaining biscuits on top of filling.

 

·         Step 3

         Bake for 20 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.

NOTES: The experiment of working with a bottom biscuit crust worked well for me.  Next time I will buy a larger can of biscuits. 

Instead of 20 minutes, an additional 10 minutes might have made the vegetables a little softer though they'd been precooked a little in the microwave.

This recipe was fast, easy, and delicious. It will be going into rotation.

That's it***

Cottage Themed Planter From a Plastic Jug

 

The Inspiration

Some of the materials including my rendition drawing. The rendition drawing is so that I don't have to constantly refer to the online picture.

MATERIALS USED

washed, empty plastic jug

wrapping tissue paper

school glue

used coffee grounds

house paint sample, acrylic paints

wooden  craft squares

hot glue, contact adhesive

air dry clay

clear coat spray paint

The surface of the jug is covered with tissue paper using school glue. I could have sanded it but, that's labor intensive. This is done to allow the paint to adhere. I mixed coffee grounds with the latex paint painting it around the jug and then  allowing  it to dry overnight.

The top is painted maroon with air dry clay around the top to smooth out the ragged edges. Windows were drawn onto the wooden squares. Doors were made from craft sticks. The other clay pieces were for steps and an awning.

Front

Side

   Back

It took a while to finish the project but, I am pleased with the outcome.  I'm unconcerned with the inside showing since it will be covered by a plant. In my haste, I failed to glue on the door knobs. This will be the home for my coleus plant until the weather warms again. 

That's it🏡🏡🏡

Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup

 

Ingredients

Cutting the carrot and potato

Lentil soup cooking

Leftovers are frozen in this 4 sectioned one cup tray. After freezing they will be removed from this container and  placed in a plastic bag to pull out as needed. 

Lentil Sweet Potato Soup with sour cream and crackers.

This was my first time eating or preparing lentil soup. It won't be my last.😃🙂

Below are a couple of  websites to Lentil Soup and its variances

A Couple of Cooks

itsonly.recipes

NOTE: The end section of the tray shows a mixture of sweet potatoes and carrots that I baked together. I'll use them as a side dish in a future meal, if I don't eat them today. 😁

That's it ***

Two Retro Broccoli Salad Recipes

 You can't get much more retro than to show the handwritten recipe card  taped inside a vintage hole-punched, lined notebook.

The  printed  recipe is taken from a State Farm  magazine *.

By now you should have caught on to me maneuvering the recipes to my own taste.

Salad ingredients included; 

broccoli,walnuts, cheese, bacon bits,raisins, chopped onions, various seasoning powders.

Dressing included; 

mayonaisse, apple cider vinegar, sugar, pinch of salt

I placed my salad on a bed of spinach, sprinkled with parmesan, accompanied by a canned pear half.  It was delicious.

* On a past auto I once had State Farm Insurance. A courtesy magazine, Neighbors Magazine was sent to members quarterly.  It included information and interviews on farm life, as well as a page of  assorted recipes. 

That's it ***

Zucchini and Sausage Skillet

 Zucchini and Sausage Skillet

• 2½ tablespoons olive or avocado oil
• ▢4 fully cooked sausages, sliced into circles ¼ inch thick
• ▢2 medium zucchini, cubed
• ▢1 onion, cut into ¾ inch pieces (close to same size as zucchini)
• ▢1 bell pepper, any color, cut into ¾ inch pieces (close to same size as zucchini)
• ▢½ teaspoon salt
• ▢½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢½ teaspoon dried basil
• ▢¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ▢¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢1 teaspoon garlic, minced

Optional: Fresh basil for garnish. I chose not to use bell peppers in my recipe. I did add Parmesan cheese before serving. 

Instructions 1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add sliced sausage. Sautè, flipping sausage frequently, for 1 to 2 minutes or until sausage slices have some browning. 

• 2. Remove from pan and set aside.
• 3. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining 1½ tablespoons of oil to skillet with the zucchini, onion, and bell pepper. 
• 4. Sprinkle with salt, oregano, basil, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper. Stir. Let cook until the onion is translucent and peppers and zucchini are close to tender, about 5 to 10 minutes.
• 5. Add sausage back to the skillet along with minced garlic. Stir. Cover so everything heats through for 1 to 2 minutes. Taste. Add extra salt if desired. Garnish with chopped fresh basil (optional).
• 
  

It was delicious. 

That's it ***

 

Corn Salad- A SOME Salad

 

Although summer has waned as of this date, (09/27/2026) I found this Corn Salad to be a cooling break from the ordinary. The weather was still hot when I made it on  09/18/2026.

*This is a SOME recipe. I used SOME of this and SOME of that. Proportions were measured by my eye and what I felt was enough.

INGREDIENTS

   1. In a bowl dump    15oz. can of whole kernel corn (drained) ,SOME chopped     tomatoes and avocado chunks. (I also added a little chopped onion, garlic and bell pepper.)

 

   2. In a separate bowl make the vinagarette.     Add SOME olive oil, apple cider vinegar and lime juice, a little  sugar ,salt, pepper -to my taste

 

   3.  fresh spinach as the salad bed

A. Pour vinagarette  into the bowl of vegetables/fruit and mix gently but                 thoroughly.

B. Serve corn salad on a bed of fresh spinach.

Below is a Genuine  Corn Salad Recipe 

 

That's it*** 

😒The computer is being wonky tonight. Tech doing what tech does. 

Internet Cooking 2- Simple Turnip Green Casserole

 I'd heard of all kinds of greens casseroles  and how delicious they are but, had never tasted  or tried one.  As with most recipes, the proof is in the seasonings of the cook.    

The Greens Casserole is good for using any type of leftover greens. I first used leftover kale.

I liked it so much I made it again  but, this time I used canned greens and instant cornbread mix. I like to keep things simple.

    There are numerous recipes out there on YouTube. Many that are pretty elaborate layering the greens with chicken,corn, additional cheeses and other extras.   After viewing various recipes, I developed a  simple recipe that would suit my needs. I might get fancy in the future but not this time.

Simple Turnip Greens Casserole

                    Ingredients

• 1  27 oz. can of Margaret Holmes turnip greens, drained (or use your own leftover  greens approximately  3 1/4 cups

• 2 boxes of  Jiffy cornbread mix (or use homemade)  yielding approximately 4 cups of batter

• 1  8oz. block of cream cheese

•  additional seasonings of your choice 

                                Instructions

Preheat your oven to  350 degrees

1. Drain the juice from your greens and place them in a large mixing bowl.

2. Add the 8 oz. block of cream cheese to the greens. opt. add any additional seasonings to your liking. Mix well. Set aside.

3. In another bowl prepare your cornbread batter. Set it aside.

4. Grease a suitable sized baking pan or casserole dish. (I used a 9 x 9)

5. Pour in an even layer of cornbread batter that goes up to about 1 inch in depth.  

6. Spread your greens mixture evenly across this layer of batter. DO NOT MIX  or STIR  IT.

7. Pour the remaining batter across the greens mixture. DO NOT MIX or STIR IT

 8. Place your casserole inside the 350 degree oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. Check  at 30 minutes to see if the casserole has "set" when you jiggle it and the  cornbread top has browned.

9. Allow the casserole to cool for about 10 minutes giving the filling extra time to set.

10. Cut a square of the casserole, place it on a dish, and serve.

Alternates and Extras

Some views showed a dollop of sour cream on individual servings.

Others showed a strata consisting of cooked chopped chicken, cheddar cheese and corn. All recipes ended with the cornbread topping.

This casserole was also delicious and simple. It's in the "Keep" pile.

That's It ***

Internet Cooking 1- Brown Sugar Cookies

 I come across interesting recipes when scrolling YouTube. Sometimes I'm looking for something quick and sweet. Other times I'm looking for alternate ways to prepare a vegetable.

This time I was looking for something sweet and came across, 3- Ingredient Brown Sugar Cookies at Steph's Stove.   The recipe is as follows;

Brown Sugar Cookies ½ cup butter - softened to room temperature ½ cup packed brown sugar 1 cup All-Purpose flour Preheat oven to 375° In a medium mixing bowl add softened butter and brown sugar. Using a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, on medium speed blend butter and brown sugar until well combined and fluffy. Gradually add the flour (all-purpose flour) to the butter mixture and blend just till combined and the mixture forms a dough without any flour streaks visible. Do not over mix. Using a 1- tablespoon cookie scoop (or your hands), form cookie balls, place onto a parchment or silicone lined cookie sheet, and flatten each cookie ball. This will allow the cookies to be thin and crispy when baked. Place into the pre-heated 375° oven and bake for approximately 8-minutes. The cookies should be golden brown with set edges and the center will appear soft. Remove from the oven and drop the hot pan onto the counter (or hard surface) immediately. This will allow the cookies to spread, create a chewy center, and a crinkle effect on the cookie surface. After “the drop” place the pan onto a wired cooling rack and allow to cool for 5-minutes. Transfer cookies from the pan to the cooling rack after 5-minutes and allow them to cool completely. After the cookies have completely cooled, place in an airtight container, on the counter, and enjoy for up to 5-days. If you would like to create a “just baked” cookie after storing, pop into the microwave for about 8-10 seconds. Enjoy! Tips - For a thicker cookie, chill the dough for about 20-30 minutes before baking.

This recipe was a bust for me. They were thin, hard and ended up more like Peanut Brittle without the peanuts. Human error on my part is possible. I won't be trying this again.   👎😞

That's it***