Ingredients

4-5 cups of tomatoes – pureed (I had some leftover fresh tomatoes, so I pureed them in the Vitamix and            stuck them in the freezer for later use) You can also use a 28 ounce can of crushed or diced tomatoes + a 14 ounce can (to equal the 4-5 cups)

1 14 ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes. These are heaven in a can…..

1/4 to 1/3 can of tomato paste (1/3 will make it sweeter than 1/4)

I large sweet onion, or 1/2 of a white onion –chopped

I head of garlic, sliced in half and roasted (you can put some olive oil in a pan and place the 2 pieces of the head face down. Cook on medium/low heat until the garlic is soft and pasty. Set aside and cool. When cool squeeze the garlic out of the shells

1/4 cup of Italian herb better then bouillon

1 bunch of thyme (optional)

1 14 ounce can of coconut milk

¼ cup of brown sugar

Basil (optional)

Chopped bacon pieces (optional)

Cook onions in a splash of olive oil in a soup pan until soft and translucent

Add all tomatoes, tomato paste and roasted garlic.

Stir in the Italian Herb bouillon

Add brown sugar

Add thyme stems (leave whole) you will be removing these after it cooks

Heat until completely blended (20 minutes or so) on medium heat

Remove from heat. Remove thyme.

Pour in Blender (or Vitamix) and blend until smooth

Add coconut milk. Stil until completely integrated. Taste, you may want more brown sugar, if you like it sweeter. You may want more tomato paste, add more to fit your liking.

Garnish with fresh chopped basil, bacon bits, etc.

Enjoy!!

The next time you think your tomatoes are going to go bad, blend them until pureed and stick them in the freezer for a future recipe!!!

When the nights start getting cool,
I think of hearty soups, homemade bread and of course, chicken pot pies!

Chicken Pot Pie is a timeless comfort food. Baking the chicken keeps the kitchen warm in the winter. The
smell, rolling out the pastry….. the goodness of the filling……a wonderful way
to spend the day! But there is a simple way to make these too if you don’t have
the time or just don’t want the fuss!! and the taste is absolutely wonderful!!

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken (or bake your
own) i use the entire chicken because it gives depth of flavor

1/2 sweet onion

1 cup frozen baby peas

1 cup baby carrots rough cut

1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped celery

3 Tablespoons of Better than
Bouillon chicken Bouillon

8 Tablespoons butter

1 cup of chicken bone broth

2 packages of Pillsbury pie crust
rolls (2 per package)

1/4 to 1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
(optional)

2 large cupcake/muffin tins (cups
are 3 1/2 inches wide) ‘

5 inch circle to cut out crust. you
can use a lid, a small bowl – anything that is 5 inches or a little larger.

Process

Preheat oven to 375. set out pie
crusts to get to room temperature (they wont crack when you unroll this way)

de-bone one baked chicken (or fully
cooked in the crock pot) Rough chop in to bite size pieces.

Add butter to a skillet and add
onion to the pan. Saute the onion until it becomes soft. Add celery and
carrots. Add frozen peas. Add the bouillon and bone broth. Cook over low heat
with lid covered until veggies are fully cooked. Add flour slowly stirring
until the broth becomes thickened. Stir in the parsley.

Combine veggie mixture to chopped
chicken and set aside. if it’s to thick, just add more broth

Mama’s Individual Chicken Pot Pies (Hand Pies)Unroll one of the pastries
on a piece of wax paper (or a floured surface) . You can use a mixing bowl with
a 5 inch opening to cut pastry circles to fit the tin opening. Carefully slide
the pastry in to the bottom of opening. Each piece of crust will make 4
circles. Fill with 1/2 cup of the Chicken Mixture. Slice another crust in to
long thin pieces to make the lattice top for each pie. Simply pinch off the
size to fit each part. Brush on egg wash for a beautiful golden brown finish.
or spray with coconut oil. (I did that this time and it worked great)

Bake 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until golden brown. let cool. if you are
freezing these, put the entire muffin tin in the freezer. once frozen, remove
the individual pies to freezer bags or containers. then microwave or heat how
you prefer when you want to eat.

If you love carrots, add more than 1 cup of carrots, if you love potatoes,
add cooked potatoes.

Makes 8 individual deserts

Ingredients

3 bananas – chopped

Pepperidge Farms Chessman Cookies

Salted Caramel sauce (recipe below)

Whipped cream (recipe below)

Pastry Cream (recipe below)

Nilla Vanilla cookie Crumble

Pastry Cream

• 2/3 cup sugar 
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon banana liquor

Make Pastry Cream

• In a medium bowl,  beat eggs with a fork to combine.  Set aside.
• Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan.  Gradually pour in milk, while whisking, to make a smooth mixture.  Cook over medium heat, stirring almost constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils.  Continue to cook and stir one minute.
• Pour several tablespoons of the hot mixture into the bowl with the eggs and immediately stir well.  Pour warmed egg mixture into the pan with the rest of the hot milk mixture.  Return to a slow boil, and cook one minute, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat and stir in butter and banana liquor.  Set aside to cool.  When the pan has cooled, place in the refrigerator to fully cool.  If desired, lay a piece of plastic wrap on the top surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming.
• Cut end of a ziplock baggie and fill with cooled mixture.

Nilla Vanilla Wafer Cookie Crumble

• 1 1/2 cups Nilla Vanilla Cookies
• 1/3 cup butter melted

Make Nilla Vanilla Cookie Crumble

• Crush crackers in a Vitamix or food processor
• Pour crumbs, sugar and melted butter into a bowl and , stir until fully combined. 

Whipped Cream 

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Tablespoon powdered sugar

Make Whipped Cream

Mix Whipping cream with powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Cut end of a ziplock baggie and fill with whipped cream.

Salted Caramel Sauce

1. 1 cup sugar
2. 1/4 cup water
3. 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
4. 3/4 cup heavy cream
5. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
6. 1 1/2 teaspoons gray sea salt, crushed
7. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Boil over high heat until a deep amber caramel forms, about 6 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream, butter and salt. Let the caramel cool to room temperature.

Assemble dessert

• in individual desert cups or 16 ounce canning jars
• Spoon about 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumble into individual serving dishes. 
• Add a layer of pastry cream. 
• Add a heaping tablespoon of chopped bananas.
• Top bananas with a layer of whipped cream.
• Add a drizzle of caramel
• Repeat all layers
• Top with more nilla vanilla cookie crumble, drizzle of caramel sauce
• Insert a chessman cookie.
• Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 3 hours.