Big Taste In Little Bites

I really enjoying baking in miniature.  Mini cupcakes are my favorite, they are just so cute and delicious and when it is small I feel a lot less guilty for eating it!  So, why not bring this idea over to dinner.  Portioning is an issue for many trying to drop pounds, I know it has been a struggle for me.  Minis keep my portions in check without losing great flavors.

Tonight's recipe is:

Pampered Chef - Mini Turkey Pot Pies


Now I took great liberty with this recipe, literally using what I already had in the kitchen.  I am not a "recipe" type cook so you will notice I am always adding or leaving out items in a recipe.  I like to use what I have and what my family enjoys, so feel free to do the same :)  Also, I do as much as I can while creating as few dirty dishes as possible.....if you enjoy doing dishes more power to you!

For my crusts I am using plain old crescent rolls ( 1 had bought two rolls for taco ring and decided to only use 1).  Our pot pie will consist of ground turkey, garlic, peas and chicken stock.  I do not yet have the mini pie tins, so we are improvising with a regular sized cupcake pan.

Ok, here we are....

1 skillet, 1 spatula, 1 crescent roll, 1 lb. ground turkey, 1 can chicken stock, garlic, and garlic press. 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

I  started my ground turkey and fresh garlic mix cooking on the stove top, stirring occasionally.  Between stirring, I cut my crescent rolls in half and started to shape in my muffin tin - this could be an area your children could help you :)  I then popped this pan in the oven for 5 minutes, until just lightly tan. Remove to fill with pot pie mixture.

While my crusts baked, I added frozen sweet peas (my favorite vegetable!) and 1 can chicken broth to my cooked turkey.  I only added a 1/2 can of water to the broth, as my frozen peas will release water upon cooking.  I brought this all to a boil (get those peas warm).  To this I added 1 tablespoon Poultry Seasoning and started to slowly add cornstarch to thicken, 1 tablespoon at a time while stirring briskly, until desired consistency was met.  Remove pan from heat.  I then scooped 1/4 cup of pot pie mixture into each mini pie.

Once all pies are filled, I placed the tin back in the oven to bake for 5 more minutes, and presto....

EASY AND DELICIOUS MINI POT PIES!

This is another easy and KID FRIENDLY, 25 minute recipe!

~Ginger Princess Approved~

Cooking together is just as important as eating together :)

Fabulous Flavor in a Fun Size! Big Taste in Little Bites !

We are cooking up more recipes for next week, so don't go too far.

Mexican Fiesta - Taco Ring Supreme

 Hi, I'm CAKES - a self proclaimed kitchen goddess.  My specialty is ....cupcakes, yes that is how I got the name...but I am always challenging myself to try new, healthy and fun recipes for my family and friends.

Recently I was asked to facilitate a Pampered Chef Bridal Shower.  I wasn't sure what to make. I mean, personally I would make sweets and tea sandwiches, but that is my taste.  I started thinking about what the Bride to be's likes are and decided on a Mexican appetizer as one of the items I will make.

This is the recipe I chose:

The Pampered Chef - Taco Ring

You will see in the link that all Pampered Chef tools for the job are conveniently listed, believe it or not they work...but if you don't have it....DON'T WORRY!!  I don't  have it all either :)

The recipe is simple and we love tacos in our home, so of course we prepared for a test run making only a half batch of the recipe listed.    

Lucky for me I had the help of my adorable Ginger Princess.

I prepared our meat, we use ground turkey as a healthier option in our home.  I also used a few fresh cloves of garlic and used my Pampered Chef garlic press to add the garlic to the pan.  Once the meat was fully cooked, I added the taco seasoning (low sodium) and water, once mixed we also added beans.

My daughter helped me create a circular pattern on a cookie sheet with our crescent rolls, as we don't own the round pizza stone.  I scooped 1 heaping Tablespoon of meat/bean mixture onto each crescent roll.

I then wrapped the loose end of crescent roll over the mixture and baked for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.


While the taco ring was baking we moved on to our toppings.  THIS IS THE PART THAT MAKES IT SUPREME!!  I love a nice fresh salsa or guacamole with any taco meal!  For this evening, I used my Pampered Chef manual food processor (my all time favorite item!) and made a tomato/avocado salsa. I chucked 2 medium tomatoes and 1 avocado and placed in the manual food processor.  My daughter helped me with the processing part, because the mechanism is truly that easy to push and creates over 30mph action in the blades......voila!  SALSA :)   To this mixture I added some cilantro and the juice of half a lime.

When our ring was finished baking, 

I placed a nice lettuce leaf in the middle of the ring to create a bowl for our salsa.  

Now if my husband had his way, we would also garnish with shredded cheese.

I chose corn instead :)

This recipe took me 25 minutes tops to prepare and was a hit with the whole family!  
~Ginger Princess Approved~

Don't be afraid to change up recipes to suit the tastes of your family and friends, experiment with your tastes and  taste combinations and just have FUN!