Asparagus and Chicken and Cheese, Oh My!

Are your children afraid of the word "asparagus"? Does it give you, as a mom, the shakes? I happen to adore asparagus and am looking forward to having a few of my own in my garden one day soon.  Our bed is on year three and we should finally be able to harvest a real crop.  Until then I will continue to get them from the farmer's market every time they are available. One recipe that I have developed to make them more enjoyable involves something almost everyone loves...cheese and chicken. This comes together alot like a quiche. I originally made it with a refrigerated pie crust and it was great. This time around I made my own crust from scratch using whole wheat pastry flour...I know, I know! Either way it is sure to be devoured. Go collect what you'll need and let's get started.

Asparagus with Chicken

You will need the following:

1/2 refrigerated pie crust or make your own

1 cup milk or half and half

3 farm fresh eggs

2 T real butter

2 T olive oil

1 cup chopped fresh asparagus, use frozen if you must

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1t dry mustard

2 boneless, skinless free range chicken breasts

1 1/2c Monterey Jack Cheese, grated

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 450. Unroll your softened pie crust and roll it into about a 12 inch circle and line your pie pan with it. Use a deep dish pie pan and prick the bottom and sides with a fork. Bake that for 6-8 minutes, remove and turn your oven down to 375.

Melt your butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and saute your onion, garlic, and asparagus for about 3-5 minutes. DO NOT cook them to death! Remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Using the oil that was left in the pan, add the chicken and cook it for about 5-7 minutes. You will want it to be lightly browned. Remove this from the pan and set aside too. In a bowl you will now whisk together the milk, eggs, mustard, and some salt and pepper to taste.

To asssemble this dish you will want to sprinkle about 1 cup of the cheese into the bottom of crust then layer the chicken and vegetables. Pour egg mixture over this and finally, top with the remaining cheese. I am showing two here because I made one to share. Bake for 30-35 minutes until set and allow this to cool 10-15 minutes before you actually serve it.

Presto! You just ate asparagus and lived to tell about it ;)



Enjoying Dixie Living,



Melissa

Anticipating Spring with Homestead Skills

"For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to SPRING forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. --Psalm 61:11

Don't these look fun? I had a customer put in an order for some embellished jeans and I knew these would be just right. I can just imagine her 5 year old hopping about in these.


There is a hand-drawn carrot that I've placed on top of the patchwork applique. I finished them with a simple zig-zag stitch so they'll fray just the right amount to complete the shabby look of these sweet springtime jeans. The double ruffles are extra full and feature a pink jelly bean fabric and the bottom layer repeats the polka dot from the carrot fabric above.

Needless to say, once my little girl saw these she wanted some too but I sent her to get the mailing envelopes instead. We didn't even have to visit the post office, just click, print, and set them in the mailbox. We discussed the verse above and the application it has for her letting righteousness and praise spring forth and she began singing. Her cheerfulness got me in the creative mode again and this is what I am currently working on...

I didn't want to leave her feeling too sad so I let her have some input into what I am working on now. Can you guess what these are going to be? I'll post again when they are finished.  Homestead life is about skills.  Sewing happens to be one I enjoy.  Sometimes it is simply utilitarian, but often I get to use my sewing skills to create beauty and fun.  How about you?

Enjoying Dixie Living,

Melissa