Homemade is Better: Chicken Pot Pie

I created this recipe last year and made it again this week. Levi loves it. It's easy and delicious! Try it this holiday weekend!

Ingredients

• 3-4 frozen chicken breasts (Fresh would also work fine, but you might only need two since they're bigger. Or you could use a pound of ground beef, which would also taste great!)
• 1 cup chicken broth (if using a crockpot to cook chicken)
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can peas, drained
• 1 bag baby carrots, boiled and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom or something like it if you're using beef)
• salt, pepper, thyme and basil to taste
• 2 refrigerated roll-out pie crusts

Cooking Instructions

Cook frozen chicken breasts in crockpot (with chicken broth) for four hours on high (or cook any other way you like). Remove from crockpot and let cool. While chicken is cooling, boil baby carrots about 10 minutes, drain and cut into bite-size pieces. In a large bowl, combine carrots, drained corn, drained peas and cream of chicken soup.  

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Take pie crusts out of refrigerator to warm a bit before unrolling. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces and mix with vegetables. Add salt, pepper, thyme and basil to your liking (I just sprinkle some across the bowl and stir). Roll out one pie crust into pie plate. Fill with chicken/veggie mixture (it will be full, overflowing-like). Roll out second pie crust over the top of pot pie and tuck under edge of pie plate.

Cut slits in the top pie crust for breathing during cooking. Bake pot pie in 400 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

My Christmas Chair {and Curtains!}

After a whirlwind of Christmas festivities, I finally have a moment to reveal my wonderful living room chair that Levi had recovered as a Christmas gift (yes, it's green!):

There's actually another one of these chairs that we have yet to have recovered, and it will, hopefully, be joining this one in the next few months.

Also, my parents gave me the Pottery Barn curtains I've been pining over for our living room:

The curtains and chair match the pillows we already had on our couch:

Things are finally starting to come together in the main room of our house! I still have several ideas up my sleeve, so stay tuned in the coming months!

My not-so-secret Christmas gift

Levi got one of our living room chairs recovered for me for Christmas and, while I picked out the fabric and know what it will likely look like, he brought it home and wrapped it so I can't see it! I have to wait another whole week!

Hoarders

Levi and I are about the furthest thing from being hoarders, but I noticed tonight that that may not be true in one area of our material lives. As I was looking around the house for something to take to my annual office Christmas party as a dirty santa gift, I found myself looking through the shelves and shelves of books we have.

I found several that, at first glance, I thought we could part with, but then I second-guessed myself every time. Either the book had been signed by the author, I plan to actually read it some day (yeah, right) or I simply like the idea of owning that particular book. I'm definitely not alone, as Levi has even more books than me on the shelves just because he "likes to have them."

We're not book collectors, per say, but it does seem that once we get a book, we struggle to part with it. Come on, people, tell me I'm not alone. What things do you like to hoard?

Christmastime: A photo journal

Sharie's Kitchen Re-do

As mentioned in the last post, Levi and I spent our Thanksgiving break (Wed.-Sun.) at his mom's house with his brother, Jake, and his girlfriend, Becca, fixing up her kitchen and dining room. I'm finally getting a minute to post the results after playing catch-up all week from being gone.

True to form, I forgot to take "before" pictures (I've decided that I get too excited about the projects and just jump right in without thinking to take a picture), but I got better at taking them throughout the weekend.

Sharie's kitchen was covered in your typical 90s fruit/flower wallpaper and "matching" (it wasn't really) border. This design move was not hers, but rather it was pre-existing to the house when she bought it.

Although this project was a lot of work, the four of us had a great time working on it together. We all stayed at the house during the weekend and made waffles together in the morning and dinner at night. It was a lot of fun, but I could do without seeing any more wallpaper for awhile.

We had to do two rounds of steaming to get all the paper off

Primer in the dining room 

Becca did all the texturing in the kitchen while Jake and I painted the dining room (Levi was at work).

Crow's Foot Stomp Brush technique

Finished dining room

Finished kitchen

Curtains are coming

Homemade is Better: Pizza Lunchable

I'm always looking for new lunch ideas for Levi because he packs his lunch every day for work and it rarely varies. Plus, there are several things one must consider when packing a lunch for an EMT.

There must be things that can be eaten on the go without being heated (sandwiches, chips, granola bars, etc.), there can be things like leftovers that need heating (but there's no guarantee that Levi will have time to heat them in a gas station, so that can't be all you pack) and then there are other things that can be eaten on the go that are not sandwiches (we all get sick of those), like lunchables.

Well, since I get a considerable amount of pleasure from saving money and I like to cook/prepare lunches for Levi, I decided to get creative. We were spending about $30 just on lunchables per month, plus probably somewhere around $10-$20 on granola bars, carmel and apple packs, etc., if not more.

The first thing to go were the lunchables. Levi didn't think they tasted that great, plus he said his mom always told him he couldn't eat them because they have too much salt. Since the pizza lunchables are what he usually eats, I had to find a recipe (of course he couldn't like the meat and cheese ones, that would be easy to duplicate). Luckily, I found a great recipe HERE. It makes a tastier, cheaper version of the pizza lunchable, and I can double it to make 5 lunchables at once (in only an hour and 15 min.).

I made the first batch of lunchables today, and I'm looking forward to hearing Levi's review after work. I can almost guarantee you he will love it. Plus, since I made multiple at one time, he can quickly pack them himself in the divided ziploc tupperware I found.

Also today, I sent Levi a small tupperware of ranch dressing with a baggie of baby carrots and a small tupperware of carmel sauce with a Gala apple (his favorite). This will take the place of the pre-packaged carmel and apple packs that he formerly enjoyed (at less than the $1-$2 per pack we paid before!).

It's really kind of ridiculous how excited I get over all this. Next up, homemade granola bars.

A Thanksgiving to Remember

This Thanksgiving was unlike any other. Since Levi had to work from noon to midnight on Thanksgiving, I decided to ride along with him on the ambulance. Thankfully, the company Levi works for lets friends and family members do this whenever they want, as long as they sign up in advance.

I was nervous at first, since I didn't know what kind of patients we might get or how things would go on scene, etc. Our first call came after about an hour of waiting. It was a woman who was having a miscarriage (this was actually a good thing, considering her situation). I stayed in the front cab of the ambulance, but listened as Levi and his partner, Chad, hooked her up to moniters, etc. in the back.

After our first call, we were busy for the next several hours and I loosened up enough to walk into people's houses, sit in the back of the ambulance with patients and follow them into the hospital. The miscarriage was followed by a woman having thoughts of suicide, a young man who was dead when we got there (thankfully, the fire department had arrived first and we didn't have to go in and see him), a woman with "back pain" who had had her pain pills stolen and finally an older woman with a dislocated hip.

Although none of the calls were life-threatening or particularly exciting to Levi, I found it all very exciting. Levi let me turn on the lights and sirens, as well as push the "howler" button that makes everything vibrate (typically used at intersections). I must say I got pretty good at it all. I think I'll have to ride again.

Weekend Project #2: Cape

I've decided that my "Weekend Project" series will include more than just home improvement projects. Last weekend, I worked on a superhero cape for my nephew, Grayson (who's into everything "super"):

I've really got to get better at taking before and during pictures. Basically, I was too lazy to since this awesome online tutorial has them already.

This weekend, Levi and I are staying in Edmond to redo his mom's kitchen for her birthday. This is a huge weekend project (and believe it or not, I forgot to take before pictures this time too), and I look forward to sharing pictures with you soon!

A Housewarming and Treasures from Wanda

This last weekend, Levi and I hosted a housewarming party for our families and a few friends. I made way to much food and it was a fun time. I was extra excited about arranging the food table, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out (thanks, Lin, for letting me borrow the awesome warming tray!).

If you didn't get a chance to stop by, we would be happy to have you any time!

On another note, I'd like to say a bit about how awesome my neighbor Wanda is. I've mentioned her before, but I continue to be in awe of how much she thinks of me and how giving she is. During the 100 days we've lived in this house (I can't believe it's already been that long!), she has given me all of the following and never asked for anything in return (though I have been able to give her a side table, basket, wall cross and some magazines):

A 1940s quilt that Wanda got free from an estate sale she worked

A wonderful old door that was just living in Wanda's shed. I plan to paint it and use it as a headboard in the guest room.

1940s Thanksgiving postcard from an uncle to his niece

A "frog" - apparently it's used to arrange flowers in the bottom of a vase

A sweet little pink chair with a punched-hole star design on the seat

4 panels of sheer Waverly curtains

A collection of old stamps

May I be as selfless and thoughtful as Wanda! God has blessed us so much by living here, and I look forward to all He'll continue to do to build our relationships with our neighbors in the years to come. What a wonderful community!

Last Night's Adventure

Let's start by saying that nothing went as planned last night. After work I had planned to go see my dad at home after his hernia surgery, go to soup night at my mother-in-law's house and then maybe get groceries on the way home. This is what happened instead:

I left from work to go see my dad at the hospital, not at home. He had some non-life-threatening complications and was having to stay longer than expected. Once I got there, he was deciding whether or not to stay overnight and I sat with my parents until the decision was made - he would stay.

My mom had to work today, so she wasn't able to stay overnight at the hospital and there were some things my dad needed (toothbrush, etc.) from the house for his stay, so I volunteered to drop the stuff by on my way back from soup night.

By the time I got to soup night, it was already 8 p.m. I hung out for about an hour until I knew I needed to get going so I could get back to Norman at a decent hour. I got the things my dad needed from my parents' house and headed to the hospital.

After dropping the things off with my dad and walking with my mom out to the parking lot, it was about 10:45 or so and I started on my way home. All was well until I exited on Main St. to stop by Walmart to get gas.

You see, my car had a quarter of a tank of gas when I left Norman after work. I knew the last quarter always goes fast, but I had driven to OKC and back before on E, so I figured I would be fine. Levi can attest to the fact that I'm always pushing the limit with the gas light.

As you can already guess, I ran out of gas on the Main St. off-ramp at the very top of the hill. At this point, it's well after 11 p.m. AND my phone is dead. Great.

Luckily, there was a girl my age right behind me who asked if I was okay and she offered to take me to get a gas can and some gas. Since she wasn't a creepy man, I let her. Unfortunately, the can I bought had an extremely short neck, making it almost impossible to get the gas to flow into the tank. Nevertheless, I did what I could and the car still wouldn't start (remember it's on an uphill slant).

The girl (amazingly, I never thought to ask her name) offered to take me back to the gas station to get more gas so that's what we did. After round two, the car still wouldn't start! At this point I was a little panicky, but I apologized profusely and asked if she would mind just taking me home because Levi would be home from work in about an hour. She happily obliged.

Once I got home, I plugged in my phone to call my mom (who was worried because I had sent her a text about running out of gas and getting help) and then I called Levi to tell him to hurry home. I readied the gas tank we use for the lawn mower (it has a longer neck) and waited.

As Levi and I made our way back to the car about 1 a.m., we noticed a police car behind it right as Levi was getting a call from police dispatch telling him that our car was on the side of the road. When the officer found out it was just a gas problem, he said he'd stay long enough to make sure the car started.

Keep in mind that this whole time, my hazard lights were on because my car was left in a very vulnerable spot - in the dark! After we poured in all the gas we had, the car still wouldn't start. Now my battery was dead from the lights running for almost 2 hours.

Luckily, we had our jumper cables and got the car started again. However, since the accelerator needed to be pressed constantly to get the fuel pump to run the gas through the system and make it up the hill, Levi wasn't able to drive it until the officer told him to drive with both feet (one on the accelerator and one on the brake). Levi said this was an interesting experience, but we made it to the gas station.

What could go wrong now, you ask? Well, the gas station was closed and the pump wouldn't turn on, even when paying with a card. We thought we could get home though, so the officer followed us just in case (I think Levi's work uniform helped us get special treatment).

We made it home safely and took the gas can to another station to fill up the car back at home. We finally had everything taken care of by 2 a.m. and I was up at 7 this morning for work. Whew! It's time for a nap.

And in case you're wondering, yes I did learn my lesson.

Weekend Project #1: Clown Trunk

I had hoped for this to be the first post in a series of tutorials about our weekend home improvement projects. Well, it still may be that, but it's not starting off like I had planned.

You see, we had been wanting a coffee table but hadn't been able to find the right shape/size (albeit we didn't look very long/hard). Our couch is a sectional, but not the typical L-shape (it's more of a hexagon), making it difficult to find the right coffee table.

I had (what I thought to be) a brilliant idea - use the toy chest my mom had used in her classroom. There was a slight problem in that it was covered in clowns, but I felt that would be easily overcome with some paint.

Here comes the tutorial part:

Our starting point

 

We painstakingly taped off all the metal trim.

Primed it so the clown wouldn't peek through the final coat

Spray painted over the primer

Took off the tape and brought it in

It may seem like the project went well. After all, I suppose it did go as planned except for the color we ended up with. That was definitely not the color we had in mind. I mean, does it look anything like the spray paint can lid in the second picture? NO.

After all that, Levi decided we should paint it green (it wasn't me this time!) and I'm not even sure I want to mess with it anymore. Maybe we'll just keep looking for the perfect coffee table.

Roof Transformation

As you can tell from my lack of posts, there hasn't been a lot going on at the Wilkins house lately. We did get a new roof this week (well, actually it was all done yesterday) and I was very impressed with the company that did it: Red Cedar Roofing.

They were considerably cheaper than other companies (which made me a little skeptical of their work) but since my sister recommended them, I decided to go for it. They turned out to be fast, friendly and clean (what I appreciated most). I couldn't believe that they even took care to dust off my front porch chairs!

Our old roof was 15+ years old and we knew it needed to be replaced when we bought the house. In fact, the people who "flipped" our house spray painted the roof black to make it look better.

Here's the transformation:

(It actually looked dark black in person)

I really wish I would have taken a "before" picture (the one up there is just from the real estate site) because you can't really see the transformation. We're happy with the results, though, and are glad we don't have to worry about what bad weather might do now!

2nd Annual Pumpkin Painting Party

This weekend, we had the Second Annual Pumpkin Painting Party with our nephew, Grayson. Last year, he was only about 14 months old when we painted pumpkins with him, so I was excited to see how much his motor skills had improved over the last year. He used a paintbrush instead of his fingers, making the whole event much less messy - a bonus!

Checking out the eyes on Uncle Levi's pumpkin

Picaso in the making

Doesn't he look so focused?

After pumpkin painting, we went to the playground at the school by our house to enjoy the beautiful day! This spiral slide was funny because Grayson would always start out on his bottom and end up on his belly by the time he reached the end.

He's a big boy. Very determined to climb things. Levi's hoping for a future rock climbing buddy.

Sadly, we sent him home with a bump on his head. He was running down the hall and didn't quite make a turn in time, hitting the door frame head-on. Despite the "boo-boo," I think we all had a fun day.