Category Archives: Lunch

Turkey Pot Pie Sandwiches

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We get a small, nine pound turkey for Thanksgiving every year. And even then, we have tons of leftovers. I’m not really a leftover type of person. I wish I were a leftover person. It’d probably save us a couple of bucks here and there if I could eat the last of the mashed potatoes or the leftover pasta we always end up with. But at Thanksgiving, you HAVE to eat leftovers. You can’t not do something with all of the turkey. It’s against the law.

Really.

Usually, I just slice up the turkey pieces and we all just sort of pick at it over time, like a bunch of scavengers. This year, we went with pot pie instead. We had all the vegetables and the turkey so why not? It also made great use of the extra biscuits that were left. This pot pie sandwich was a great way to use up the last of everything we had. Perfecto! Now I have way more room in my fridge!

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Turkey Pot Pie Sandwiches
Recipe type: leftover, dinner, turkey, holiday
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 4
 

Ingredients
  • 2 cups cooked turkey breast, chopped
  • 3 celery stalks, chopped
  • 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup cream or milk
  • 4 Tbsp. butter
  • 2 Tbsp. flour
  • 4 buttermilk biscuits
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. In a pan over medium high, add 2 Tbsp. of butter. Toss in the celery, carrots and onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce head to medium and cover.
  3. In a sauce pan, add remaining 2 Tbsp. of butter. Once melted, add flour. Use a whisk to combine the flour and butter into a paste. Add in turkey and cream and mix well to combine.
  4. Add turkey mixture to vegetable mixture and stir well to combine. Cover and cook 5 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat.
  5. Split buttermilk biscuits and lay them on a plate. Top with pot pie mixture and then place the other biscuit half on top. Serve hot.

 

Cheddar Tater Tots

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Ever since my first experience with homemade tater tots, I’ve been on a serious kick. I want to make them and eat them all the time. I guess it is the kid in me coming out. Either way, homemade tater tots are totally awesome.

We had some for lunch over the weekend after a morning of serious cleaning and grocery shopping. What can I say? We needed the nourishment. I added in some cheddar and they absolutely hit the spot. Even though it made a huge serving per person, I could have eaten more. Tater tots are seriously dangerous. Tater tots loaded with cheddar cheese are even more dangerous. Be aware, you’ll devour.

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Cheddar Tater Tots
Recipe type: snack, appetizer, breakfast, kid-friendly, vegetarian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 4
 

Ingredients
  • 3 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese
  • ½ cup flour
  • generous salt and pepper to taste
  • oil for frying.

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.
  2. In a food processor, slice potatoes into thin slivers. You can also grate them if you choose but I am far too lazy for that. Transfer the potatoes to a large towel. Wrap the towel around all of the potatoes, hold them over the sink and squeeze like a sponge to rid the potatoes of all their moisture. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl.
  3. Add the cheddar cheese, salt, pepper and flour to the potatoes and mix well.
  4. Heat about ¼ to ½ inch of oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.
  5. While the oil heats, form your tots. Take a large teaspoon full of potato mixture and mold it into a tot shape.
  6. Drop the tots into the pan and fry them until golden brown. Flip and repeat with the other side then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
  7. Once all finished, transfer the tots to your baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes. This will ensure they are completely cooked through and will be very crispy.
  8. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot.

 

Classic Fried Chicken Fingers

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If I had to sit and list my favorite foods, we could be here all day. Really, all week. It runs the gamut from sweets to salty to sour to crunchy. Anything with lemon. Anything sweet potato or butternut. All fruity candies except Dots (because really, who likes Dots?). But if I was forced to very quickly, off the top of my head, pick my absolute favorite food, it would be chicken fingers.

Not just any chicken fingers, mind you. Disney World’s chicken fingers. Seriously, if you haven’t had them then you must get there immediately and eat some. They will rock your world. I’m not sure what it is about them, they are just like any other chicken finger. It’s probably the atmosphere. It makes you drunk with excitement. And makes you feel like any food you are eating is the best food in the world. Where can you get a better turkey leg? Or Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream cone? No where. Same goes for the chicken fingers. They are unbeatable.

Sometimes, when I’m feeling like it has been entirely too long since I’ve gotten a fix in ways of my very serious addiction (that’d be Disney World), I’ll try and recreate something from the World. It doesn’t always turn out exactly the same but it definitely gives me the warm and fuzzies. I’m always ok with feeling like I’m in Disney World. Or at least like I should start planning another vacation soon. These chicken fingers do just that. They remind me of my most favorite place to be. Now, if only I could recreate that Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream cone for dessert…

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Classic Fried Chicken Fingers
Recipe type: dinner, game day, easy
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 3
 

Ingredients
  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into strips
  • 1½ cups panko breadcrumbs
  • 1½ Tbsp. ranch powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. black pepper
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • 2 eggs
  • oil for frying

Instructions
  1. In a large dish, whisk your eggs with a little water.
  2. In a flat dish, combine panko, ranch powder, salt, black pepper and garlic powder.
  3. Take your chicken strips and dip them first in egg then in the breadcrumbs. Be sure to coat them well.
  4. Heat up oil in a sauce pan to around 375 degrees. Place in the strips a few at a time. Allow them to get a dark golden brown on one side, then flip. After they are cooked through, remove and set on a drained paper towel.
  5. Repeat until you have cooked all of your chicken.

Notes
– I used our deep fryer for this and it took 5 or so minutes to cook the chicken through. Results may vary if you use a frying pan.

 

Oven Roasted Potato Wedges

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It is fair to say I am in love with french fries. They are one of those things that I love to hate. It’s not like they are great for you or like they make your waist line smaller. But like everything else I love, I can’t avoid them. You  might as well just pour me a giant glass of Pepsi and sit me in front of fries because if I’m going to indulge, I’ll do it right.

We made these fries with some classic fried chicken the other day and they so hit the spot. I’m usually a Chick-Fil-A fries kind of gal and don’t like to deviate. But these may just rival those fries. They are nice and crispy which is, of course, one of the most important elements of a good fry. They can’t be soggy. A little bit of ranch powder sprinkled on gives them a nice kick of flavor. They’re definitely a suitable replacement for my favorite waffle fries!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Oven Fried Potato Wedges
Recipe type: appetizer, snack, vegetarian, side dish
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 3
 

Ingredients
  • 3 large russet potatoes, cleaned and sliced into 1″ wedges
  • 3 Tbsp. flour
  • 1 Tbsp. corn starch
  • 1-2 Tbsp. Ranch powder (you can buy the packet and take what you need)
  • 2-3 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Place your potato wedges in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine flour, corn starch and ranch powder. Sprinkle it over the potato wedges and toss to coat.
  3. Take 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle that over the potato wedges, tossing to coat. Use an additional tablespoon if necessary.
  4. Place the potato wedges on an unlined baking sheet.
  5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, turning every ten minutes to avoid sticking, until golden brown and crisp.
  6. When finished, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

 

Maple Sweet Potato Stacks

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What exactly is a Frankenstorm? Are they calling it a Frankenstorm because it is so close to Halloween? And the bigger question, is it going to cause another multi-day power loss like the one we had this summer that cleaned out our entire fridge? Because I’ll be honest, I really like having power.

Although I could deal with snow. I know it’s October and it’s too early for snow but we were seriously deprived of winter weather last year. Maybe Mother Nature thought she’d take a break on us because of the 3+ feet of snow the year before. Either way, I’m ready for some snowy weather. I just would prefer that NOT come along with power loss. How can I charge my phone or watch TV otherwise? First world problems, right?

Either way, these sweet potato stacks are a really good cold weather treat. I’m convinced it is the fact that they are quite filling. Almost comfort food. I made them along side chicken and polished off two whole sweet potatoes and maybe took one bite of chicken. They’ll be perfect if said Frankenstorm comes along. So long as the power doesn’t go out. Should I mention again that I don’t want the power to go out?

I don’t. Just sayin’.

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Maple Sweet Potato Stacks
Recipe type: appetizer, snack, vegetable, side, fall
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 3
 

Ingredients
  • 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼” thick slices
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup pure maple syrup
  • salt to taste

Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Lay your sweet potato slices flat on a foil-lined baking sheet.
  3. Using a pastry brush, brush all of the sweet potato slices with olive oil. Repeat with the maple syrup. Sprinkle with salt.
  4. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until tender.
  5. To serve, pile the potatoes on top of each other in stacks.