Busy Days

Hello dear readers!

Once again I am lost at where to start.... I have been learning lately that we can plan our days but God indeed orders them! Two Saturdays ago our whole family was looking forward to a peaceful day at home together. We were all feeling relaxed and happy, when an unexpected accident turned our peaceful morning into a horrible nightmare. My little sister Mariah was kicked in the abdomen by a horse and had to be hospitalized for several days. To read the whole story you can go to my momma's blog at http://www.sixoliveplants.blogspot.com/


Here is a picture of Mariah and me right after she got home.


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As you read in my previous post, I am doing Home EC this year in home school. Along with my written work momma has been providing lots of hands on projects! I am now in charge of the meal planning and I am enjoying it immensely!!! I love finding new recipes and trying new things. Yesterday I made Chicken Pot Pie for dinner. Because Momma does not like to buy pre-made pastry I had to make my own. Here are the recipes for the chicken pot pie and the pastry....

Chicken Pot Pie

1 10 oz. package frozen peas and carrots

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup all purpose flour (I used fresh ground whole wheat)

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

2 1/2 to 3 cups cut up cooked chicken

2 premade pastry crusts

This recipe makes 6 servings. I doubled it and we had left overs (and my 13 year old brother ate about five helpings!)

1. Rinse frozen peas and carrots in cold water to separate; drain

2. Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat, Stir in flour, onion salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir one minute. Stir in chicken and peas and carrots, remove from heat.

3. Heat oven to 425

4. roll one of the pastry crust (recipe below) into baking dish. Pour mixture in.

5. Roll remaining pastry. Cut designs and arrange over chicken mixture. *I cut mine in strips.

6. Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Pastry

2 cups all purpose flour (again, I used fresh ground whole wheat)

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup cold butter

4 to 5 Tbs. ice water

Combine flour and salt in bowl. Cut cold butter in with pastry cutter or two butter knives until mixture resembles course crumbs. sprinkle ice water over mixture. Stir with fork just until moistened. Divide dough in half and shape into two balls. Flatten slightly and begin to roll out. * Again, I doubled the recipe.

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Another project that I did to go along with my home EC was sewing!!! Momma and I went every Thursday night this past July and learned how to make pants!:) Here are some pictures of the pair I made. The material was not really me, but I have had fun with the wild print!:)

My family got a good laugh out of this picture:)

~Much Love & Many Blessings~

McKenzie Elizabeth