Upside Down Chicken Pot Pie & Candy Bar Brownies

This is another really easy, quick weeknight meal that I adapted from a recipe of Jenny's from Picky Palate (love Jenny's blog - you should check it out if you haven't already. It's perfect for winter - total comfort food. It's also a great way to use leftover chicken.

Upside Down Chicken Pot Pie
adapted from Picky Palate

Ingredients

• 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed (I recommend Pepperidge Farm)
• 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 cup milk
  
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (you could also use cream of chicken or cream of celery, whatever you have on hand or whatever is your preference)
• 1 teaspoon Garlic & Herb flavor Mrs. Dash (or more to taste)
  
• 1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt (or more to taste)

Directions

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cook the chicken breast until done, about 30-45 minutes. After the chicken is done, cube or shred it. Lower the heat to 350 degrees.

While the oven is lowering temperature, gently unfold the puff pastry onto a well floured surface and cut it into 9 equal squares. Place the squares on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

While the puff pastry is baking, prepare the chicken gravy. Pour the soup in a medium saucepan, and add the milk, mixed vegetables, chicken, Mrs. Dash, and seasoned salt to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes or so or until the veggies are tender. You can thin out the sauce with more milk to your desired consistency if you like.

To serve, place 2 puff pastry squares in a bowl and ladle the chicken gravy over it. Enjoy your upside down chicken pot pie!

Next, I have a second super easy dessert recipe for you as a bonus!

This is a great brownie recipe if you need something super quick and easy in pinch. And they look and taste fantastic. No one would ever guess you just doctored up a box mix. Everyone loves these!

Candy Bar Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 box of your favorite family size brownie mix, for a 9x13" pan, prepared according to the directions on the box
  
• 3 large size Hershey's Symphony Bars (I like the ones with toffee and almonds)

Directions

First, prepare the brownie mix according to box directions. Pour half of the brownie batter into a 9x13" pan. Top the brownie batter with the candy bars (three of the large ones should just fit into your pan). Then, top with the remaining brownie batter. Bake according to box directions. Enjoy!

Coming Up....

This Saturday, I spent the entire day baking and I gave away my holiday boxes on Sunday! They contained Cookies 'n Cream Fudge, Neiman Marcus Cookies, Christmas Rice Krispie Treats, and Swirled Turtle Brownies! I hope the recipients enjoyed them. I'm going to do a big post and share all of my recipes soon.

Also, I just finished planning our Christmas Eve menu! This year, Mr. JY and I will be having our own party and exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve, and we'll be spending Christmas Day with our parents. I've decided to make Beef Wellington, Brussels Sprouts Gratin, Carrot Souffle, Homemade Yeast Rolls, and Homemade Butter! And individual chocolate souffle cakes for dessert! It's going to be so yummy. So be on the lookout for an upcoming post about that.

Oh! And also, I wanted to tell you, I WON the cubicle decorating contest at my office! I will be posting about that tomorrow.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

It seems as if I am always making entries like this, but I wanted to say that I'm still alive and apologize for not posting in a while! As you all know, December is just a crazy busy month and, honestly, I haven't done much cooking so far! Mostly, I've been whipping up simple, quick dinners for me and Mr. JY and that's about it. Nothing at all blog worthy. Please don't tell the foodie police, but we ate Velveeta Shells and Cheese that I doctored up the other night for dinner!

Also consuming a lot of my free time is my office's cubicle decorating contest. I know, I know. What a nerd I am! I've been decorating mine like a gingerbread house and I'm going all out. I am defintely going to post pictures here when it's done. The judging is next week.

I'm also a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding this Saturday, so I've been preparing for that and I'm totally excited! This is my first time being in a wedding (besides my own).

Stay tuned, though, because I've got some exciting things coming up! First off, I am planning on doing some holiday gift baking next week - so be on the lookout for that. Easy, foolproof, yet impressive recipes! I am planning on doing 2 types of candy, 1 cookie, and maybe a brownie.

Also, at the end of the month I'll be posting about my very first Daring Bakers challenge and boy is it a doozy! But I can't wait to tackle that one.

Also, I've been planning the menu for Mr. JY and I's Christmas Eve dinner. We visit family on Christmas day, but I am doing our own very special dinner just for us. Any ideas for me?

Thanks for reading and I hope the rest of your week is wonderful!

A Preview & An Announcement

Next Saturday, the 22nd, I am hosting a bridal shower at my home and have come up with a menu that I think sounds really good! Let's just say there's a mocktail, cupcakes, and some really yummy appetizers involved. I will also post about the invitations and decor I decide upon as well. So that should be a really fun post! Look for it some time the week of Thanksgiving.

Also, I wanted to announce that I've joined The Daring Bakers! If you're not familiar with The Daring Bakers, basically they're a group of bloggers that do a recipe challenge each month and post about it on the same day. The recipes are usually very challenging and I'm really looking forward to learning new techniques, trying some new things, and sharing my experience with other food bloggers. I know it's going to be a really fun and humbling experience because these bloggers are just amazing! I am hoping that by joining them I will be able to learn and soak up some of their knowledge and expertise.

So, there's a little taste of what's to come on Mrs. JY! I am also thinking of trying out a cookie recipe from Picky Palate this weekend as well. Stay tuned!

An Update on the Life of the JYs and Upcoming Recipes!

Well, it looks like my "Brief Hiatus" hasn't been so brief. Mr. JY and I have been busy, busy, busy, which makes for a boring blog. It's been a challenge just getting dinner on the table in time for us to eat before flying out the door, much less take pictures and blog about it. I have been cooking and baking a lot.

For now, Mr. JY and I have been focused on our new house. We're really excited to be moving in to our first home together (in just a couple of weeks!), putting our stamp on it, and making it truly ours. I have dreams of tile backsplashes, shiny new appliances, and Anthropologie linens dancing in my head.

I will, however, have many new recipes coming up, including:

- A flopped Nutella cookie recipe. It could've been brilliance in the making, but not-so!
- A long awaited review of one of Mr. JY and I's favorite Nashville restaurant discoveries.
- Paula Deen's Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding. I still can't believe I'm making this super untraditional, almost sacreligious pudding recipe!
- Mr. JY's Birthday Dinner. Oh man. That should be good!

All coming soon!! Stay tuned!!

Brief Hiatus

So, as you can probably tell, I have been on a brief hiatus from updating this blog. I have tons of posts just waiting in my queue to update here! Mr. JY and I have just bought our first home, so that has been taking up pretty much all of our spare time. It was quite the whirlwind, but has been a positive and exiciting experience so far. In the very near future I am looking forward to updating this blog more often and sharing more recipes and stories with you.