Carrot Pie

 This afternoon, I thought it would be a great day to try to turn these carrots into a pie. I hoped it would resemble a pumpkin pie.

These carrots were pretty big. I decided to use the same amount of pureed carrots as I would with pumpkin. I peeled them and boiled them until they were soft.

I decided to break out my homemade vanilla and I also opted to open up the Tung Hing cinnamon that I bought from Penzey's Spices. 

All this deliciousness gets whipped up and mixed with pureed carrots. 

I can't tell the difference by simply looking at it.

I can't tell the difference after it's baked, either. It cracked when it cooled off. 

The consensus is that the texture is just a little bit different. That's all. Other than that one minute detail, I could not tell the difference between carrot or pumpkin in this pie. I'll make more carrot pies in the future, for sure.


Carrot Pie

1 9-inch pie shell
2 cups pureed carrots (about 3 large, peeled and boiled until soft and pureed in a food processor)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
3/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until well combined. Pour into prepared pie shell.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, lower heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 50 minutes.
Pie is done when you can put the point of a knife into the middle and it comes out clean.
Cool completely before cutting. Refrigerate leftovers.

I do not receive compensation from Penzey's spices. This is not a sponsored post.  I just really like their products.

Chicken & Dumplings

 I had Bob buy that rotisserie chicken yesterday. I made enchiladas with half of the meat. To view that  recipe, click here. Tonight's Chicken & Dumplings utilizes the other half of the meat and the carcass. This recipe took me all afternoon to complete and was worth every minute.

I boiled the carcass with all the vegetables that I had that were starting to dry out or look tired. I love that this is a great way to clear out the crisper drawers of stuff that I had just hanging around. I didn't bother to peel anything. I threw in bendy carrots, celery (that was way past its prime), half of a sweet potato. I let it cook down for about 3 hours. 

I strained it out and I was left with some fantastic looking broth. 

This is only the first part of this recipe. Congrats, you're advancing to level 2.

I wanted to do these two recipes to show how economical it can be to buy a rotisserie chicken, especially if you are feeding just 2 people. My sister always jokes with me because I'm not usually one who takes all this time to do things. I usually have several things going on at once. Anyhow, I was watching a YouTube video last night on how to make your food budget stretch and I got to thinking about just how much food is simply thrown away. It's appalling, if you think about it. So, I was determined to get every cent's worth from that rotisserie chicken. 

We just so happened to get our first storm of the year today. I don't think I'd really call it much of a storm, though. There was a bit of thunder and lightening and it did pour down rain a few times. I have to admire the grit of these two fishermen. They were dedicated there on the opposite bank of the river.

I salute them!

The next half of this recipe starts out by boiling the reserved chicken meat and whatever veg you like in the chicken stock that you just made.
There's no right or wrong way to do this because taste is subjective.
I used onion, garlic, celery, carrots and a parsnip. I thought I had another sweet potato, but it was purple and I didn't think that would look so nice. I wouldn't care but I knew I was going to take photos of this for this blog post and purple...not so much.

I let this come up to a boil with everything in it and cook until everything was soft enough to mush against the roof of your mouth with your tongue. 

This is sure comforting on a rainy day, I do have to say!

Chicken & Dumplings


1/2 of the meat from a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket
The carcass of the chicken
Any vegetables that you want to sacrifice to the stock pot
Enough water to cover
Salt and pepper, to taste

Boil all this together in a large pot and strain the solids out and throw those away. Put the rest back into a pot. Add the chopped meat, chopped vegetables, like celery, carrot, onion, garlic and parsnips. Add as many or as little vegetables as you like.
To that, add salt and pepper, to taste, 1-1/2 teaspoons Penzey's Bouquet Garni spice blend, 1 teaspoon dried parsley and some chopped fresh rosemary, optional. I grow it, so I always have it on hand.  Bring all to a rolling boil, lower heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are very soft. Add 3/4 cup of heavy cream to the soup.
Make dumpling dough.

Dumpling dough:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Mix all ingredients together until a dough forms. Drop by spoonfuls into liquid. Cover, cook about 20 minutes or until dough is cooked through.

*Please not that I am not compensated by Penzey's Spices. I just really like their products and use a ton of them.