Kids & Family Summer Bucket List

 

Skippers Clam Chowder Copycat Recipe

I've searched the interwebs far and wide and no one has a a decent Skippers knock off recipe for their amazing clam chowder. Several "claim" to have something similar yet include bacon or hot sauce which are definitely NOT in Skippers' version. So, I did what I always do, test, test and test and came up with my own version!

Give it a try and let me know what you think. I love reviews! Good and bad. Suggestions are welcome. 

Skippers Clam Chowder Copycat Recipe
1 small yellow onion, chopped or 1 Tbsp. dried minced onion or 1 tsp. onion powder

3 Celery stalks finely chopped

1 Tbsp butter

2 (5 ounce) cans minced baby clams, strained, with juice reserved

1 8oz. jar clam juice OR 1 c water + 3 tsp. clam base

5 medium potatoes, peeled and finely cubed

3 (10 1/2 ounce) cans cream of celery soup

2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon dried parsley

¼ t pepper

Pinch dried dill weed

Add onion, celery and butter to large pot and cook until translucent

Add clam juice from both minced clams and the jar of clam juice.

Add potatoes and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to until potatoes are fork tender, about 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally so potatoes don't stick.

Add clams, soup, cream, parsley, pepper and dill weed. Stir together.

Cook for about 30 minutes on low until heated through. Don’t let it come to a boil or cream separates. Mix occasionally to prevent burning. 

Some of the ingredients are more difficult to find. Here are the brands I use, most can be found at Walmart. The clam base is difficult to find in any store, but of course Amazon carries it all and you can have it delivered to your doorstep too.

Clam juice

Minced clams


Clam base


My favorite cooking pot!

Rebecca's Chicken Pot Pie & Butter Flake Crust

Makes 1 pie with either single or double crust

*Pie crust needs to chill 4 hours before baking. Pre-bake bottom crust and let cool before starting pie filling. *

Pie Filling

3T butter

½ c celery, chopped

½ bag frozen carrots and peas

1-2 medium potatoes, chopped

2-3 t minced garlic

2 c cooked chicken, chopped

1-2 T dried minced onion or 1 small onion, chopped

½ t dried parsley

¼ t dried thyme

¼ t celery seed

¼ t poultry seasoning

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1-2 c water

2 cans cream of chicken soup

Salt and pepper to taste

*if sauce is too runny, add premixed 3T cold water & 3T cornstarch to thicken

In a medium-large pot, saute celery until softened. Add peas and carrots and potatoes and cook 5 min. Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Add chicken, onion, parsley, thyme, celery seed, poultry seasoning, bouillon cubes, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for 5 min. Add cream of chicken soup and salt and pepper. Adjust sauce consistency if needed with cornstarch mixture. 

Butter Flake Crust

Makes 1 crust, make 2 batches separately for a top and bottom crust

1 ¼ c flour

¼ t salt

½ c chilled butter, cubed

¼ c ice water

In a food processor or large bowl, combine flour and salt. Add butter and use two forks or a pastry blender (if not using processor) to mix until coarse crumbs form. Add water a tablespoon at a time until mixture comes together slightly. Don’t over mix, and don’t use all the water if possible. You want little bits of butter not mixed well to make dough flaky. Dump mix onto floured counter top and knead a couple times. Form into a round disc and wrap in wax paper. Fridge 4 hours or overnight.

Dough can be made and baked right away and still turn out fine, it will just be harder to work with. Keep dough in freezer to help it chill faster if baking right away.

Roll out dough into a circle. The edges will be crumbly. Fold edges to center and roll out again. Fold circle in half, then fold in half again. Transfer to deep dish pie plate. Have dough come all the way to pie plate edge and even a slight overhang. The dough shrinks about one inch while cooking. Poke holes with fork all over crust. Cover with parchment paper and fill with pie weights, or rice or beans to weight down. Bake 400 ° for 6-8 minutes until no longer dough looking. Let cool completely while cooking pie filling. Fill pie crust with pie filling. Roll out second disc of dough and transfer to pie. Seal edges well to avoid overflow while cooking. Brush dough with beaten egg. Make several slits to allow steam to escape. Bake Pie at 375° 40-50 minutes until crust is golden brown. Line oven rack with foil or a cookie sheet for any overflow. Let pie rest for 10-15 minutes to let sauce thicken up before serving.

Rebecca's Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice

2 T. olive oil

2 (13 oz.) Kielbasa or Andouille sausage sliced into ½” medallions

Green pepper, finely diced

3 celery ribs, finely diced

2 T. minced garlic

1lb dry small red beans

8 c. chicken broth

1 t. Liquid Smoke, hickory flavored

1 T. Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning

1 Bay Leaf

2 T. dried onion flakes

½ t. parsley

1/4 t. basil

1/4 t. oregano

1 T. Soy sauce

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

In a large frying pan, brown the sausage in 1T olive oil until dark brown and crispy. Add meat to crock pot. In same pan add 1T olive oil, green pepper and celery. Cook on medium high until veggies are cooked through. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Remove from pan and add to crock pot. Rinse beans and check for any stones. Add to crockpot with all remaining ingredients.  Heat on high for 6 hours.  During last 30 min, cook 4 c. uncooked rice in rice cooker. 

While rice is cooking, remove 2 c. beans and place in medium bowl(pick out any meat and return to crock pot). Blend with immersion blender until saucy. Return to crockpot and mix well to thicken.  Serve over rice. Add more Cajun seasoning if you like it spicy! Store in fridge separately from rice to keep rice from getting soggy.

Sisters!

Yellow & Grey Nursery Reveal

Jimmy is 18 months now, but I thought I'd share his cute nursery that we worked (Steven worked) hard on. First getting that darned wallpaper down. It took WEEKS. I swear they super glued the stuff to the wall. We tried glue softener, good ol' scraping, and finally our steam cleaner "kind of" worked at detaching it. It absolutely destroyed the wall coming off so we had lots of patching and sanding to do afterwards.

So, here are a few before pictures:

Steven got all cutesy with the paintbrush :)

And the finished product!

 The curtains are actually tablecloths from target that I attached to curtain rings with clips. I added brown blackout curtains to keep his room dark during nap time.

The BEST Ramen Asian Salad

I love a good ramen salad! This one turns into a full meal packed with protein from the chicken and edamame and just the right amount of sweetness thrown in with some mandarin oranges . Plus, I usually have everything in stock in my pantry so I don't have to take a trip to the grocery store if I get a craving for it! 

You'll want to make the dressing first so it can chill in the fridge while you chop up your other ingredients.

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. rice wine vinegar

2T. soy sauce

¼ t. sesame oil

Pepper

1 ramen seasoning packet (this is purely optional, but I think it adds great flavor and a bit of salt - my one weakness)

Just mix up in a bowl or measuring cup and stick in the fridge. The layers will settle, but just a quick whisk before adding it to the salad will fix that.

1 (16oz.) bag multi colored coleslaw mix (no chopping needed!)

1 can mandarin oranges, drained well

1 c. shelled, cooked and cooled edamame

½ c. sliced green onions

1 can chicken breast (or 2 chopped up chicken breasts)

Next, take your ramen and almonds and spread them on a baling sheet. this step is vital!

½ c. sliced almonds

2 (3oz.) pkg. Ramen, crumbled (best done in Ziploc with a rolling pin)

Broil them until golden brown making them nice and crispy.

 After your ramen and almonds cool, combine everything and toss well so everything gets coated.

Viola! You have an edible masterpiece! Try not to eat it all on one sitting :)

Here is my method of eating this salad for lunch all week. Portion out the salad into containers but keep the ramen and almonds separate so they don't get soggy. Come lunchtime, sprinkle on the topping like croutons and enjoy!

The best Ramen Asian Salad

1 (16oz.) bag multi colored coleslaw mix

1 can mandarin oranges, drained well

1 c. shelled, cooked and cooled edamame

½ c. sliced green onions

1 can chicken breast (or 2 chopped up chicken breasts)

½ c. sliced almonds

2 (3oz.) pkg. Ramen, crumbled (best done in Ziploc with a rolling pin)

Dressing:

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. rice wine vinegar

2T. soy sauce

¼ t. sesame oil

Pepper

1 ramen seasoning packet

Toast almonds and ramen under broiler until golden brown. After cooled, combine all ingredients. Add dressing and mix well. Serve immediately. 

Jimmy turns one!

Jimmy Michael

Well, we've got a baby! He's 4 months old now and our life has been turned upside down since he decided to come three weeks early via c-section.

My blood pressure was dangerously high so they admitted us and got me started on drugs to help me deliver, but then his heart rate starting dropping to they whisked us away to get him out.

Our little turkey came June 13th 2013 at 12:13pm weighing in at 5lbs 5oz, 19 in. long. He came out with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, but other than that, he was perfectly healthy.

You can see how tiny he is compared to Steven's hands! Such a little thing. We didn't have any preemie clothes so he had to drown in newborn clothes for a while.

His favorite place on Daddy's chest :)

A few days old. Not quite fitting into his skin.

Drowning again in his clothes.

He always holds the bottle "position" for a bit after we've taken out the bottle.

This swing is the only thing (other than Steven) that would save my sanity. I could sometimes get him to sleep in it (day or night) other than that, this kid DID NOT SLEEP. Never more than an hour at a time and no more than 8 hours in a 24 hour period. FOR A NEWBORN! Let's just say those first two months of no sleep were the hardest of our lives. This kid is a crier and will not be put down under any circumstances. He has to be held or it's screaming bloody murder all day long.

After we added a head support, it was still too roomy in his car seat. He was such a little guy!

After a month and a few days he started to chunk up a bit and was wearing newborn clothes at last.

 

 It's still SO difficult to get anything done or go anywhere because he's still our little inconsolable screamer who has to be held 24/7. Thankfully he has started sleeping 8 hours through the night so we have our sanity back.

We sure love our little drool monster and wouldn't trade him for the world. Some day soon I'll get back to blogging, but not until this little man gives me some time on a regular basis :)