Paula Deen has struck again

My mother-in-law gets me a subscription to Cooking with Paula Deen every year for Christmas.  Talk about a gift that my whole family has benefited from!  I love it!  And the January/February issue this year has been the source of my last three recipe posts!  Sooo good!  This is actually a slight variation on her 'Individual Chicken pot Pies'.
As is usually the case, I have been making Chicken Pot Pie for years now, but have not been entirely happy with the outcome.... until now!  All I'm going to preface this recipe with is this, it has bacon in it... I know, right?! 

Chicken Pot Pie
2 T butter
3 1/4 lbs bone-in chicken breasts, skinned (about 3)
1 3/4 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 slices bacon
1 (8oz) packaged sliced baby bella mushrooms
1 t black pepper
1/2 t salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (corn, carrots, peas, green beans)
2 crust pie-crust
1 large egg

Melt butter in large skillet and saute onion and celery.  Boil chicken in water, remove and shred.  Fry bacon, remove and saute mushrooms.  Combine onions, celery, chicken, soup, bacon, mushrooms, pepper, salt, flour and frozen vegetables.  Stir and turn off heat.  Prepare pie plate with pie crust.  Pour in filling, add top crust and brush with egg white.
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.  Watch closely in last 5 minutes to prevent burning.  Let sit for 10 minutes upon removing from the oven.

This Salad is Fantastic!

Once again, I've picked up a recipe from the Pioneer Woman.  This one caught my eye as a break from the norm.  Really awesome.  Not sure how good it is for you with all of the bacon grease, but it might just be worth it : )

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Slow-Cooker Swiss Steak

1 1/2 lbs round steak, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 (8 oz) pkg sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup sliced celery
1 T minced garlic
1 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 (.87 oz)pkg brown gravy mix
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground black pepper

In a 4-6 qt slow cooker, combine steak, mushrooms, onion, celery, and garlic.
In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, 1/2 cup water, gravy mix, salt, andpepper. Pour over steak mixture. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Serve over mashed potatoes with a mixed green salad.

We loved this. It was so hardy! I cannot wait to serve this on a cold evening this fall. I also made rice a few days later and served it over that as leftovers. Also delish : )

Slow-Cooker Lasagna

Made this last week with some bread machine French bread. Talk about an easy satisfying meal! It has options to add different ingredients - I did the fresh mushrooms... mmmmmm.

1 lb ground beef or turkey, browned
1 (25 oz) jar pasta sauce
10 dry lasagna noodles (not oven-ready)
1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese
1 lb sliced mushrooms
2 handfuls baby spinach leaves (optional)
3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced (optional)
8 slices mozzarella cheese
2 cups shredded Italian-style cheese
1/4 cup water

Use a 6 qt slow cooker. Brown the meat on the stove, and drain well. Add the jar of pasta sauce to the meat. Save the jar, you'll need it later.

Spoon some of the meat and sauce mixture into the bottom of your slow cooker. Cover with a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. Smear some ricotta cheese on the noodles, and add some mushrooms, spinach, and some egg slices, if using. Put a few slices of mozzarella on top, and 1/2 cup or so of the shredded cheese. Add another spoonful of the meat and sauce mixture, and repeat the layers until you run out of ingredients, or the crock is full.

Put water into the empty pasta jar and shake. Pour the contents over the assembled ingredients. cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. Check about an hour before serving, and push down the top noodles into the liquid, if they are getting too brown and crispy.

The Lady's Chicken Noodle Soup

I have a Chicken Noodle Soup recipe already, as you can plainly see. But it is very similar to my Chicken and Dumplings (all right, Paula's). Until I had this at my mother-in-law's. It is also Paula's, so I googled it. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE mushrooms?

STOCK
1 (2 1/2 to 3 lb) fryer chicken, cut up
3 1/2 quarts water
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 bay leaves
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

SOUP
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups sliced celery
2 1/2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/3 cup cooking sherry (I omit this, b/c I never have it on hand)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan, optional
3/4 cup heavy cream, optional (this is not optional for us)
Serve with crusty french bread

For the stock: add all ingredients to a soup pot. Cook until chicken is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Remove and discard bay leaves and onion. You should have apporximately 3 quarts of stock. When chicken is cool enough to touch, pick bones clean, discarding bones, skin and cartilage. Set chicken aside.

For the soup: bring stock back to a boil, add carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package. When noodles are done, add chicken, mushrooms, parsley, sherry and rosemary. Add Parmesan and cream, if using. Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if needed, by adding seasoning salt and pepper.