My Grandma's Pasties

I remember, as a kid, loving to visit Grandma's house, just so I could eat her yummy Pasties!  No, seriously, they were so good!  And no, I'm not being disgusting.  Pasties were a staple for mine-workers, honest!

Since then, we've learned to make them ourselves and are a family favorite.  However, my Grandma would make her dough from scratch.  This is a true art and one that we have not mastered, which is why we decided to not "recreate the wheel" and use pre-made refrigerated pie crusts.  So much less stress and quite a time saver as well...  (Sorry Grandma!)

Ingredient List:

1 lb. Petite Sirloin, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 lg. Potatoes, diced into very small pieces
1/3 C. Onion, finely diced
2 pkgs. Refrigerated Pie Crusts (4 Crusts total)
Salt & Pepper
1/2 stick Butter, diced
1 Egg
1 T. Water

As you might notice, we bought Beef Stir Fry Meat in the image above.  This is a very easy way of cutting up your meat, because the stir fry meat comes in slices already, and tends to be relatively fat free, so you don't lose a lot of the meat you buy.  We also love to use our Pampered Chef Flexible Cutting Mats!

You'll want to dice up the onions and potatoes.  You'll see the Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor works amazingly on the onions.

Next, dice up your potatoes.  Before I started selling Pampered Chef, I have been using the Vidalia Chop Wizard.  If you don't have this in your Kitchen, you are missing out!!!  It is a must have for everyone!  I saw one yesterday at my local Target for only $20.  As you can see below it works splendidly for dicing up Potatoes or anything else you need diced.

Now combine the meat, potatoes and onions in a mixing bowl.  Then season with Salt and Pepper.  As you can see, we're using the Pampered Chef Medium Bamboo Fiber Mixing Bowl.  Have I mentioned yet how I love these bowls?  

Take your pie crusts and cut them in half.  Each half will be a Pasty.  Place about a 1/2 cup of your mixture and place on one side of your dough and top with a few of your butter pieces.  The butter will help give moisture to your Pasty.

Fold your dough over and cut off the excess.  Save the excess dough to make a few more  Pasties.  Below we are using the Pampered Chef Pastry Cutter, which works great to trim your dough.

Now use a fork and crimp the edges of your dough.

Place your Pasties on a baking sheet lined with Parchment Paper.  Next, make an egg wash by beating together one egg and water and brush the tops of your Pasties, in this case the Pampered Chef Silicon Brush works perfectly for this job.

Then cut a couple of slits on top.  We like to season ours with some Kosher Salt and Black Pepper, which makes them look tasty too.

Bake the Pasties at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.  We like to serve ours with Brown Gravy and some Mini Kosher Pickles.

Sheet Pan Cream Puffs

My wife first had these at a pot luck at work.  So she got the recipe and it is now a family favorite!

Ingredient List (Pastry):

1 C. Water

1/2 C. Butter/Margarine

1 C. Flour

1/4 tsp. Salt

4 Eggs

First step, bring water and butter or margarine to a boil in a medium sauce pan.   Then take off heat and quickly stir in the salt and flour.

Transfer mixture to a bowl to cool slightly.  Note: Spreading out the mixture in the bowl will help it cool quicker.   (Shameless Plug Warning!  Pictured below we are using the Medium Pampered Chef Bamboo Fiber Mixing Bowl.  We love these mixing bowls!!!  They come in a set of three.  They don't stain or retain odor and they are dishwasher safe!!!)

Now add the eggs one at a time and beat until well blended.  It'll become the consistency of thick pudding.

Grease a sheet cake pan and pour the mixture into it.  Spread out evenly and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.  (Shameless Plug Warning!  We use the Pampered Chef Large Spreader.  It works the best in making sure the batter stays level for baking.)

You'll want this to completely cool before spreading on the filling, using the Pampered Chef Stackable Cooling Rack.

Ingredient List (Creamy Filling):

2 sm. pkgs. Instant Vanilla Pudding

3 C. Milk

1 (8-oz.) pkg. Cream Cheese, softened to room temperature (Very Important!!!)

Combine the cream cheese and pudding and beat together.  Then slowly add the milk in small increments.  Note: The pudding could be replaced with Chocolate, Banana (and add actual Bananas if desired), Pistachio, or even Lemon!

Spread filling onto the cooled crust.

Ingredient List (Toppings):

Cool Whip

1/2 C. Chocolate Chips

1/2 Tbs. Shortening

Top with Cool Whip.  

Mix the chocolate chips with the shortening and melt in the microwave in 15-30 second increments.  (Shameless Plug Warning!  The Pampered Chef Easy Read Measuring Cups are a staple in our kitchen.  I love them because the labeling is printed between the plastic, so they will never wash away!)

Place chocolate in a small plastic bag and cut off the tip.  Then drizzle chocolate over the Cool Whip and serve chilled.

Chicken Noodle Soup

This is a recipe that my wife has been making for years.  It is perfect on any chilly day and even better yet, it is very easy to make!

Ingredients List:

7-8 cans Chicken Broth
2 ribs of Celery, diced
3 Carrots, diced
1/2 Onion, diced
1 tsp. Garlic, minced
1 lg. can Chicken
1 tsp. Poultry Seasoning
1 tsp. Salt and Pepper each
1 pkg. Egg Noodles (the Country Pasta brand is our favorite Egg Noodles)


The first thing you'll need to do is dice the carrots, celery and onion, making them as small or large as your prefer.  We typically dice ours up pretty small, which allows them to soften up quicker.

Then add them to a small amount of oil and saute until soft.  Next add the garlic, and half of the salt and pepper.

Now add 6 cans of chicken stock. (Shameless Plug Warning!)  We love our Pampered Chef Smooth-Edge Can Opener.  It is very easy to turn, and won't leave any sharp edges on either the lid or the can.  So you can reuse the can for things like a tool holder, or crayon holder for your kids.

Next add the poultry seasoning, canned chicken and the remainder of the salt and pepper to taste. 

Sometimes you just don't have time to mess with cooking chicken, so using the canned chicken comes in real handy for dishes like this one.  (Shameless Plug Warning!)  We always strain our canned chicken in our Pampered Chef Measuring Colander.  You can drain and rinse the chicken and know how much you have all at the same time!

Bring the soup to a boil and then add the noodles.  Let them simmer for about 25-30 minutes or until tender and serve.  Add more chicken broth if needed.  In this instance, we did add one more can of broth since the noodles soaked up a lot of the broth.

Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

When I first tasted this recipe I immediately fell in love.  It's got such a great flavor, with a hint of heat and a hint of sweet.  I put this sauce on all my burritos, chicken or pork.

Ingredient List:

3 Anaheim Peppers, seeded and cut in half

2 Jalapeno Peppers, seeded and cut in half

7 Tomatillos, husked

1 Onion, quartered

1 tsp. Garlic, minced

1 sm. can Diced Green Chilies

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Chili Powder

2 tsp. Cumin

1/8 C. Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 C. White Sugar

1 sm. bunch Cilantro

Place all peppers skin side down on a baking sheet including the onion quarters and tomatillos, and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Flip everything once midway through roasting.  Then turn on boiler and roast until tomatillos and peppers begin to brown.  The aroma in your home will be amazing!

Place all roasted ingredients into a blender and add the garlic, chilies and cilantro.  Puree until well blended.  (Shameless Plug Warning!  The Pampered Chef Measuring Colander is a great tool!  It has Cup Measurement markings and it's a colander too, so you can measure out exact amounts of berries or leafy items, and rinse them all at the same time!)

Add the pureed mixture to a saucepan and add the remaining ingredients.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Green Cilantro Rice

This is a recipe that we've been making for years and is really quite simple to make, but is oh so good!

Ingredient List:

1 Tbsp. Butter/Margarine
3 C. Water
4 tsp. Chicken Bouillon Granules
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. White Sugar
1/2 bunch Cilantro
1/2 Onion, roughly chopped
2 tsp. Garlic, minced
1 sm. can Diced Green Chilies
3 C. Minute Rice, uncooked

First start out by melting the butter in the water over low heat.  This will give you time to prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Next, add the onion, cilantro, garlic, and chilies to a food processor and chop until slightly chunky. 

(Shameless Plug Warning!  Pictured above is the Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor and the Pampered Chef Adjustable Measuring Spoon).  We love ours and if you'd like to buy them for your own kitchen, click the links.)

With the Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor, push repeatedly on the lever, which spins the blade and as you can see creates the perfect chop.  Also works great for just chopping onions, or making fresh salsa at your dining table, but I digress.

Now add the chopped mixture and all the remaining ingredients, EXCEPT for the Rice.

Once everything is boiling, then add the rice, cover and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed.

The final result is a very pretty looking, and best of all, great tasting rice!