It is going to start getting chilly and that is when I start craving good old fashioned comfort foods.
My favorite comfort food: Hot beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy. Especially if my mom makes it because then I don't even have to cook it.

What are some of your favorite comfort foods? Post a recipe if you have one!

I love this one on a cool day.

Chicken Pot Pie
9 cups water
1 tablespoons black peppercorns
2 ½ pounds chicken pieces
3 stalk celery, cut into 4 pieces
1 small onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
1 ½ cups red potato, diced and unpeeled
½ cup celery, chopped
½ cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
¾ cup thinly sliced carrot
½ cup leek, chopped
1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
½ cup green peas, frozen
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup 1 % milk
cooking spray
bisquit topping (see recipe below)

Combine first 6 ingredients in an 8-quart Dutch oven or stock pot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, uncovered, 1 hour. Remove from heat.

Remove chicken pieces from broth; place chicken in a bowl, and chill for 15 minutes. Strain broth through a cheesecloth-lined colander into bowl; discard solids. Set aside 4 1/2 cups broth; reserve leftover broth for another use.

Remove chicken from bones; cut meat into bite-size pieces. Discard bones.

Bring 4 1/2 cups broth to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add potato and next 3 ingredients; cover and cook 5 minutes. Add carrot and leek; cover and cook 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and peas; cover and cook 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a bowl. Add milk, blending with a whisk; add to vegetable mixture. Cook over medium heat 3 minutes or until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add chicken.

Spoon into a 13x9x2 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Drop biscuit topping onto mixture to form 16 biscuits. Bake at 400 degrees for 28 minutes or until golden.

Biscuit Topping
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup 1% low-fat milk
1 1/2 tablespoons margarine melted

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl; stir well. Add milk and margarine, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.


Notes
Unless it is a cool weekend day, I skip the part with making the broth and cooking the chicken. It is just as good with store bought chicken broth and then I use a rotisserie chicken.

I dont really have any measurements...I'm a taster, but this is one of my favs!!


For the stock I take and boil down all the chicken fat I have saved fand froze from trimming throughout several weeks or sometimes as long as a month and add all the veggie scraps I have saved up as well and I boil them down adding a bay leaf a head of garlic some fresh thyme and parsley and a touch of white wine....then pouring through a sieve. I freeze this in ziploc bags to have on hand...

Then I take a whole chicken and to it I add sliced carrot, celery and chopped onion and just enough stock to cover. Over medium heat I cook until the chicken is done. Then I remove the chicken, keeping the remainder on low, and let the chicken cool and then debone it and put it back in the liquid and bring to a slow boil. Here I taste the liquid, usually adding pepper, garlic powder, a little bit of poultery seasoning, instead of adding salt I will add chicken builon to taste (increases flavor and salts it at the same time) At this point I add frozen peas and make dumplings using 1 cup bisquick to 2/3 cup of milk and drop by spoonfuls, careful not to let it boil too hard or the dumplings will fall apart. I cook for 10 mins uncovered then reduce heat cover and cook for about 10 more minutes or until the dumplings are done.

*note - The Bisquick will also add to the saltiness so be careful*

Macaroni soup. My grandma used to make this and serve it with P-Butter sandwiches. Whenever its cold and I'm feeling blah I make it and always feel better.

take a piece of round steak or any kind of beef that you would like. Put it in a crock pot or reg pot with water and simmer till tender. Cut up in bite size pieces and put back in broth.
Add some stewed tomatoes, and some crushed tomatoes, onions chopped up small, and some mixed vegetables. add basil and a little garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste.
finally right before you eat add some cooked macaroni and serve with P-butter sandwiches.

Quick, easy and so good. Yup "It's a good thing"

This is to die for and really simple to make

BREAD PUDDING WITH WHISKEY SAUCE


3/4 c. raisins
2 tbsp. dark rum
1 lb. French bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 c. whole milk
1 c. half and half
3 eggs, beaten to blend
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. vanilla

SAUCE:

1/2 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. golden brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp. whiskey (I prefer Jamesons)
Whipped cream

For pudding: Place raisins in small bowl. Pour rum over. Let soak 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 325. Generously butter 9x13 inch pan. Place bread in large bowl. Pour milk and half and half over. Let soak 5 minutes. Whisk eggs with sugar, butter, vanilla and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Pour over bread. Add raisins and rum. Toss to coat. Transfer bread mixture to prepared pan. Bake about 1 hour.

Sauce: Melt butter and both sugars in heavy saucepan over low heat stirring until sugars dissolve. Whisk egg in small bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in some of melted butter mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and whisk until smooth, 1 minute, do not boil. Whisk in whiskey. Spoon warm bread pudding onto plate. Spoon sauce over, top with whipped cream.

Wow! These all sound great!

Yum! I love bread pudding!