Pot Stickers…

A favorite in my family is Pot Stickers. When I was a child, my mother would make huge batches of this Chinese appetizer for dinner. There was five us and it was an all day process, pressing one teaspoon of the meat mixture at a time into the wrapper.

When my husband and I got married, my father-in-law thought he won the lottery, when he found I knew how to make these.  My father-in-law wore contacts and traveled several times a month for work. Air travel dehydrated him to the point his contacts would get uncomfortable to wear. He sound found that if he ate pot stickers, twenty minutes later his eyes would not be so dry.

To be honest, I always thought he was pulling my leg and used it as an excuse to get me to make them for him. It was not until I wore contacts, I was able to test his theory. I was surprised to find that my eyes did not feel as dry after eating them. Strange, I know! I would not recommend though you give up eye drops for pot stickers.

Today I made 100 hundred pot stickers for a friend of my husband. A few weeks back, we had them for dinner and my husband took the leftovers to work. There was more than enough so he shared them with his friends. On Thursday, I got a text from husband asking if I would consider making 100 pot stickers for this person.  At first, I laughed off the request until a response came that it was serious request. So I sat watching the Oakland A’s playing the Chicago Cubs and made pot stickers all afternoon.

Click this link for the recipe!

Cindy’s Crock-Pot Chicken and Dumplings

Cindy posted this recipe on Face Book, and it is truly as simple as opening cans. Some of the best recipes are mixing canned goods together. These are quick, super simple and tasty to make recipes that can be thrown into a crock-pot while you are flying out the door to work. When you return not only dinner is ready, but clean up will be quick as well.

Here is the recipe as I got it. It is a true, "I make it so much, I just use eyeball it" recipe.

Chicken breast
cream of chicken soup (big family can)
readymade biscuits (like Pillsbury)
celery
carrots
peas
chicken broth

In a crock pot mix the box of chicken broth with the large can of cream of chicken soup. Season. Put in chicken breasts. Cook on low until chicken is really tender. About an hour or so before you are ready to eat put in vegetables and take biscuits and pinch off small amounts and put in crock pot. Put as many in as you like. Sometimes I cut them in small squares, but I am usually rushing so there is not time for that.

When I made the recipe, I did not have a large family can of soup or chicken broth. I do believe I achieved a close knock off. I do have one suggestion, if you can find the heart healthy or low salt versions of the soup use them. If not, add a raw potato to the pot when you add the biscuits. Using canned soup and vegetables can be a bit salty for those on a restriction diet.

4 frozen chicken breasts

1 10 3/4 ounce can Campbell’s Cream of Celery soup

1 10 3/4 ounce can Campbell’s Cream of Chicken soup

2 10 3/4 ounce can Campbell’s Cream of Chicken with herbs soup

Pillsbury flaky home-style Grand’s Biscuits

½ cup minced onions

½ cup of peas and carrots (frozen or drained can)

4 cups of water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

Paprika

Directions:

Place bouillon cubes and water in glass measuring cup, in microwave heat to a boil

 Place frozen chicken breast, soups and chicken bouillon in Crock-pot, cook on low for 6 to 8 hours

Remove chicken from broth and shred, return to pot with peas, carrots and minced onion

Cut raw biscuits into small pieces, I cut mine into 8 small pieces, as if I was slicing a pizza

Add cut up biscuits to pot and sprinkle with paprika lightly over the entire top.

Cook for one hour.