Skillet Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Apples With Marie Callender's Pot Pie

This Marie Callender’s pot pies shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #WarmthInACrust #CollectiveBias

I am all about comfort food.  I grew up at the time when frozen meals were just hitting the freezer section at the local grocery store. Yes, I'm old...Anywho, during the winter months, nothing warms my heart and takes me back to my youth like a freshly baked pot pie from the freezer.  I'm all about a good flaky crust and that is why I love Marie Callender's Pot Pies the best! They are packed full of veggies and and the gravy is so yummy!  Yep, they are ten times...no a hundred times better than the pot pies I grew up on.

I decided to grab a family size Marie Callender's pot pie the other day when I was shopping at Walmart. The pot pies can be found in the freezer section right by the other Marie Callender's meals.  I figured that was easier to get a family size than trying to decide what flavors Mr. B & his mother might want. They got what I wanted LOL! I also grabbed some apples so that I could make my skillet brown sugar & cinnamon apples to go along as a side dish.

Baking the pot pie is as simple as preheating your oven, making sure to poke some holes in the top crust and placing on a baking sheet in the oven for 1 hour and 35 minutes.

While the pot pie is baking I made up the skillet brown sugar & cinnamon apples.

I peeled, cored and cut up 6 good sized apples. I then melted the butter in a heavy skillet, added the apples and then the cinnamon, brown sugar and some freshly grated nutmeg.

Then just cook until the apples are tender.

By this time, the pot pie is done and it's time for dinner!

Just look at that gravy just oozing out! Oh to the yum!

Tender vegetables, all white-meat chicken and gravy, all packed under a perfectly flaky and golden crust that's made from scratch!

Convenient, fast and the truest sense of homemade, enough to fool anyone! Now that's my idea of comfort food! What's yours?

You can visit Marie Callender’s to learn more about the product and then visit their website for more great recipes. You can also find Marie Callender’s on Facebook at Marie Callender’s Meals.

Skillet Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Apples

1/4 cup butter

6 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg until the apples are tender and golden, 15-20 minutes. Serve warm.

My Mother's Chicken Cacciatore - Recipe

I know I have been sharing mostly recipes lately.

I seem to be finding myself more creative in the kitchen

than in my craft room.

But, once Mother Nature gets her act together, and we stop having blizzards

and start having warmer temperatures, I'm sure that will all change.

In the meantime, I'd like to share a recipe that my mom used to make and I have tried to recreate.

 If you are regular reader then you know that my mother 

passed away over 30 years ago. 

I was just a young woman then. 

Married 2 years and a new mother myself.

When my father and mother married, she did not know how to cook at all!

She was raised by her grandmother and was not allowed in the kitchen.

She learned to cook by trial and error and was helped along by 

The Galloping Gourmet and Betty Crocker.

Over time, she became a fantastic cook. She became inventive in the kitchen given she had a tiny budget and had to stretch every dollar to feed her family of five. 

She also liked recipes that were quick and easy.  

She could not miss a minute of her soaps or of The Merv Griffin Show!

One of my very favorites of her inexpensive meals was her Chicken Cacciatore.

I fondly remember coming home from school and the house smelling like garlic, fried chicken and tomatoes. 

It never occurred to me to get her recipe from her.  

And then, she passed away very suddenly.

For the most part, I can remember fairly accurately what ingredients she may have used and the process it took to make this wonderfully hearty dish. 

Once it is simmering on the stovetop, and I lift the lid off, I am instantly transported back in time to my mother's kitchen.

Easy Chicken Cacciatore

2-3 lbs chicken wings, remove the tips of the wings and discard or save for making stock. Using kitchen shears, or a knife, separate the wings at the joint. 

Vegetable oil for frying

1 cup all-purpose flour

Salt & pepper to taste

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1 medium green pepper, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup red wine

2 15 oz cans Italian Style Diced Tomatoes

Place the flour in a zip lock bag along with the salt and pepper and shake the bag a few times to mix. Add the chicken wing parts and shake well again.  Place in the refrigerator for at least one hour, the longer the better, shaking the bag every now and then.

In a large skillet, heat the oil to about 375 degrees. Place half of the chicken wings into the hot oil and fry until just brown but not cook through, maybe 5-8 minutes. Remove the wings from hot oil to a paper towel to drain and repeat with remaining wings.

Drain most of the oil from the skillet, leaving about 2 tablespoons of the oil and as much of the fried flour in the pan as you can. Toss the onion and green pepper into the skillet and cook until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes, being sure to scrap up all the tasty bits left by the chicken. It should be thick like a roux. Add the garlic and red wine, stirring constantly for one minute. Pour in the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.

Place the chicken wings into the sauce, stir to coat, cover and let simmer for a minimum of 20 minutes but all day is good too, just be sure to give it a stir during commercials...err...every now and then.

Serve over hot white rice and dig in.  The meat should be just falling of the bones.

Once again, a quick, easy and comforting dish from 

when times seemed simpler. 

Enjoy!

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Grandma's Chop Suey Recipe

A few weeks ago I filled in with a guest post over at my friend Jamie's blog,

Love Bakes Good Cakes 

I mean it when I say, Jamie's blog is my go-to when I need to find something amazing to cook or bake for Mr. B.

Jamie was kind enough to cover for me last Fall while I was away at my oldest son's wedding and I was so pleased that I could return the favor! 

Thank you so much, Jamie!

I shared one of Mr. B's favorite meals. Mr. B craves comfort food. 

Comfort food to him means one of his Grandmother's favorite recipes,

and today I am sharing one of those with you, her Chop Suey.

This is such a quick and easy meal to make. It's so much better than take out, you'll find yourself craving it too!

Grandma's Chop Suey

1 pound ground beef

1/4 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 can bean sprouts, drained and rinsed

Pinch of sugar

4 good dashes low sodium soy sauce, to taste

4 cups cabbage, diced

Salt and pepper, to taste

Brown and drain the ground beef and return to skillet. Stir in the onions, celery and bean sprouts. Add the sugar and soy sauce and mix in thoroughly. Top with the cabbage, cover and heat until the cabbage is wilted, stirring often. Serve with the sweet and sour sauce and chow mein noodles.

Sweet & Sour Sauce

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Combine the ketchup, vinegar, sugar and water in a sauce pan and bring to a low boil. in a small bowl, add a little cold water to the cornstarch and mix until you have a smooth slurry. Add the cornstarch slurry to the sauce and stir until thickened.

And there you have it!  A tasty dinner on the table in no time!

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Click here to see where I may be partying this week.
AND
Don't forget to come by on Tuesday's

for the link party.

www.designsbygollum.blogspot.com