3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked (I like them poached)
1/4 pound cooked ham cut into bite sized pieces
6-8 slices baby swiss cheese
1 can cream of chicken herb soup
1 cup panko or shredded stuffing
6 Tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon season salt
1 teaspoon dry parsley flakes
Preheat oven to 350º F
Spray an oval casserole dish (or 9x13 pan) with cooking spray. Cut cooked chicken breasts into bite sized pieces and place in bottom of dish. Cut ham into bite sized pieces tossing them on top of the chicken in the same dish. Top chicken and ham completely with cheese slices. Spoon soup over the top of everything spreading it to the edges. Melt butter in microwave toss panko crumbs and seasonings together until well coated with butter. Sprinkle topping over casserole. Bake 45 minutes at 350º F. Remove and let cool 10 - 15 minutes. Serve
Shaarilla's Kitchen: Cooking like love, should be entered into with abandon or not at all.
Pure Vanilla Extract - Home Made
1 sterilized pint jar cap and cover.
6-10 good quality vanilla beans (I use 6 Penzeys Madagascar Vanilla Beans)
1 pint cheap vodka * 80 proof or less
Chop vanilla beans into 1" pieces. Place in sterilized pint sized jar. Fill with vodka. Cover and store in cool dark place. Shake daily for 8 weeks. After 2 months but before 3 months time strain liquid through cheese cloth to remove the vanilla beans themselves. Store at room temperature in a dark cupboard.
*You can also use Bourbon, Rum or Brandy in place of Vodka
Don't toss the beans! Those Vanilla beans can still be put to good use. Let them dry and mix them with a cup or 5 of sugar to make vanilla sugar. The longer it sits the better it tastes.
Depression Cake (No Egg or Dairy) & Butter Cream Frosting
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil (coconut oil works just as well)
- 1 cup water
Spray and flour a square baking pan.
Mix dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Make 3 depressions in dry ingredients. Pour vinegar into one depression, vanilla into another and the oil in the third. Pour water over entire mix. Whisk until smooth. Pour into pan.
Bake in middle rack of oven for approximately 35 minutes. Check with toothpick making sure it comes out clean after inserting into center of cake. Be sure not to over bake this cake.
A sprinkling of powdered sugar is enough to top this cake but if you like frosting (like we do) and don't mind the dairy, we top it with butter cream seen below.
Double recipe for a 9x13 inch cake pan. Bake cake at 35 - 40 minutes.
Butter Cream Frosting
This makes enough to cover a 9x3 pan. Half the recipe for a square cake.
- 2 1/2 - 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup softened at room temperature butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1-3 Tablespoons milk (almond milk works great)
Homemade Dry Laundry Detergent (Safe for use in HE washers)
3 bars Felz Naptha Soap (approximately 16 oz total)
1 Box Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (55 oz.)
1 Box 20 Mule Team Borax (4lbs 12 oz.)
1 Tub Oxi Clean (3 lbs) -optional
1 Box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (4 lbs) - optional
1 Container Purex Crystals (28 oz.) or approximately 8 - 1o drops essential oils - optional
I use my food processor to make the Felz Naptha into a powder. first putting it through the slicer then pulsing it until it's fine. If you don't get it fine it won't mix in very evenly. After that I dump into a 2 gallon container and stir until well mixed. Make sure not to breath in the Borax dust when you pour that into the container or stir it up. Once mixed well I dump it into a covered 1 gallon container.
I use a very small amount of soap. About 2oz for each average sized load. If they are really dirty I use another 2 oz.
Optional Ingredients:
The Oxi is to help get really dirty clothes a bit cleaner. I use this mostly because I have dirty men in the house. I did find that home made detergent did not do as well as commercial cleaners at getting stains out. The Oxi helped with that but I still find I also need to spot treat stubborn stains accordingly.
If you prefer a scent use the Purex Crystals or Essential Oils. I have not done this but I did have Lavender scented Felz Naptha. I do hang outside three seasons so the clothes get that smell. I suspect it's much like using that scent free detergent. I admit I did miss the smell that came from commercial detergents. It took a while but I've mostly gotten used to it. I cannot speak as to which would be less expensive, the essential oils or the Purex Crystals but if you're about environmental causes like I am, I'd probably go with the essential oils regardless of cost.
Of course the additional ingredients will add to the over all cost and then you'd have to recalculate to see if it was worth it for yourself.
1 Box Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (55 oz.)
1 Box 20 Mule Team Borax (4lbs 12 oz.)
1 Tub Oxi Clean (3 lbs) -optional
1 Box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (4 lbs) - optional
1 Container Purex Crystals (28 oz.) or approximately 8 - 1o drops essential oils - optional
I use my food processor to make the Felz Naptha into a powder. first putting it through the slicer then pulsing it until it's fine. If you don't get it fine it won't mix in very evenly. After that I dump into a 2 gallon container and stir until well mixed. Make sure not to breath in the Borax dust when you pour that into the container or stir it up. Once mixed well I dump it into a covered 1 gallon container.
I use a very small amount of soap. About 2oz for each average sized load. If they are really dirty I use another 2 oz.
Optional Ingredients:
The Oxi is to help get really dirty clothes a bit cleaner. I use this mostly because I have dirty men in the house. I did find that home made detergent did not do as well as commercial cleaners at getting stains out. The Oxi helped with that but I still find I also need to spot treat stubborn stains accordingly.
If you prefer a scent use the Purex Crystals or Essential Oils. I have not done this but I did have Lavender scented Felz Naptha. I do hang outside three seasons so the clothes get that smell. I suspect it's much like using that scent free detergent. I admit I did miss the smell that came from commercial detergents. It took a while but I've mostly gotten used to it. I cannot speak as to which would be less expensive, the essential oils or the Purex Crystals but if you're about environmental causes like I am, I'd probably go with the essential oils regardless of cost.
Of course the additional ingredients will add to the over all cost and then you'd have to recalculate to see if it was worth it for yourself.