The Grotto

An early morning visit to the grotto at my sister's house:

Corn Salsa

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, we've been on a make-it-ourselves Chipotle kick.   My daughter loves the burrito bowls and we were curious about the barbacoa pork and beef, but have not ordered it.

So along that vein, I chose Corn Salsa for the Sweet As Pie Cooking club, because corn was in season and I just knew I would use fresh corn from my father's garden.  Well, the corn didn't do well this year so I used canned.  I made Barbacoa Beef to roll in a burrito with the corn salsa.

We liked it.  It would also work well on chips or as a side dish.

Barn Collective

I've been inspired to resurrect the barn photos, take some new ones and link to the Barn Collective!

It's interesting that some of the white frames frame doors and windows yet others seems to frame nothing.  Apologies for the blur.

Somewhere in Arkansas

Chicken Pie

Easy, peasy!  That's what this Trisha Yearwood Chicken Pie is.  And it taste good, so I'm told.  I didn't try it, I gave it away.  The recipe would make a good dish for family reunions, potlucks, or when kids turn up their noses if they see veges in the pot pie!

Speaking of veges, I plan to make this again and have all these yummy garden veges that are coming in for sides.  Like fried okra, purple hull peas, green beans, tomatoes, vidalia onions......

Chicken Poppy Seed Salad

I like chicken salad.  My favorite is the one we made at the sub shop where I used to work...chicken, egg, celery, mayo....a very basic recipe.   So I was happy to see a chicken salad recipe selection on the Sweet As Pie Cooking Club menu.  

My stepson and his wife came over to help trim shrubs and clean out flower beds.   Those two accomplished more in one afternoon than I could do in a week!  I'm so grateful for their help, and I watched our little "happy face" grandson, while they knocked out the jungle that had grown in my flower bed.  

We had this chicken salad with wheat thins for lunch.  Actually we ate about half the bowl and it does make a BIG bowl full!   With what seems like random tasty ingredients...grapes, celery, almonds, poppy seeds...I was surprised that none of the flavors really stand out so it kind of all just blends together.  

Linking with Sweet As Pie Cooking Club

Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup

Oh yum, this is good!  According to the Pioneer Woman, her Sausage, Potato and Kale Soup is based on a soup from the Olive Garden.  I've never tried the Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, but I shared this dish with an Italian friend and the feedback was positive.   Definitely fits in the "comfort food" category with all that cream and potatoes, yet it has a healthy dose of kale.  Next time, I'll cut the kale into smaller pieces.  Yep, I'll likely make this again.

Chicken Cacciatore

A friend of mine has a Pampered Chef party every year.  I look forward to going, even though I never win the door prize!  Sometimes I can't make up my mind what to get, but this time I splurged on the deep covered baker.  This was quite an investment in a container so I need to use it often!  The party lady demonstrated how to use it to make chicken fajita filling (minus browning) in the microwave.   Chicken in the microwave?  Yes, it was not tough and tasted good.  As I recall, it took 18 minutes.  I thought it would be perfect for one- dish recipes that I never seemed to have the right container with a lid to go in the oven.  Like this Chicken Cacciatore Pioneer Woman recipe in the Sweet As Pie cooking club.  

After browning the chicken and sauteing the veges, I put all the veges in the baker and placed the chicken thighs on top.  Oops, the baker wasn't quite big enough and the juices spilled over into the oven, ugh!  Other than that, it worked well and the dish is delish!

I served it over egg noodles.  Everyone loved it and it makes great leftovers.