• Sara on October 22, 2011

  My family loves the chicken pie! It is easy and delicious--I add onion and poultry seasoning to the broth mixture for extra flavor.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Trisha's chicken tortilla soup

  • anya_sf on November 05, 2017

    Makes a ton of soup. Tasty. I made my own fajita seasoning, which I recommend, as you can adjust the spice level to your taste. I used part half-and-half, part milk.

• Spinach salad with garlic dressing

  • julesamomof2 on April 27, 2026

    In an effort to cook from my lesser used books, I picked this recipe as a first try. Only change I made was to sautee the mushrooms, as I dislike raw ones. That did help wilt the spinach a bit, as in this case the dressing goes on cold where I usually see warm dressings in similar recipes.

• Gwen's old-fashioned potato-beef casserole

  • anya_sf on November 05, 2017

    It seems like the pan size is a mistake. There is no way 3 lbs of potatoes plus the beef and cheese sauce will fit in a 6 x 9" casserole. I used 2 lbs potatoes and a 9 x 13" casserole. I also added peas, and wouldn't hesitate to add any other cooked, diced vegetables. My family loved this.

• Meatloaf

  • anya_sf on November 05, 2017

    The onion needs to be sauteed before being added to the meatloaf mixture. Otherwise, there is undercooked onion throughout the meatloaf. I would only try this recipe again if I cooked the onion first.

• Pork chops and rice

  • anya_sf on November 05, 2017

    This was very easy and fairly flavorful, but my pork chops ended up pretty dry.

• Breakfast sausage casserole

  • anya_sf on November 04, 2017

    I used sourdough bread, 12 oz sausage (which was plenty), and a mixture of half-and-half and milk. I think the recipe calls for too much cheese. I assembled it a day ahead. The casserole was a bit salty, but quite tasty; the family enjoyed it. I make savory bread puddings quite often (usually for dinner), using whatever's in the frigdge. This is a decent, basic recipe. I prefer it with some sauteed vegetables added, such as onions and bell peppers.

• Chicken pie

  • anya_sf on November 04, 2017

    Unlike Trisha, I like lots of veggies, so I added a bunch (peas, carrots, beans). There was a lot of sauce and it was rather thin, but flavorful. Overall, it was an easy recipe, which I'd make again, but only with the vegetables added.

• Chicken broccoli casserole

  • anya_sf on November 04, 2017

    This is very rich with the mayonnaise and cheese, but I really liked it. For convenience, I used a bag of frozen chopped broccoli. I did not think there was a enough rice relative to the chicken and sauce - think you could double it. I used brown rice, which worked well here to help cut the richness. I don't see how this serves 10, except as a side dish.

• Fresh green beans (a.k.a Tom Cruise green beans)

  • anya_sf on November 04, 2017

    This is a very basic recipe for cooking green beans - not sure a recipe is really needed. It's simple and good.

• Garlic grits casserole

  • anya_sf on July 16, 2020

    I made 1/2 recipe, which served 4 (I guess could serve 6 with a lot of other dishes). With the Boursin cheese, these were some of the tastiest grits I've eaten. The egg and cheese lightened the texture. I added extra cornflakes on top so they were fully covered.

• Pineapple upside-down cake

  • anya_sf on May 27, 2026

    #pudcbakeoff I had to overlap the slices slightly, but the topping looked fine. Baking time was 45 min. I let the cake sit about 5 min before unmolding and only 1 piece stuck (easy to put back on). This is what I'd call the classic, homestyle recipe. It was pretty easy to make and perfectly enjoyable, but our least favorite compared to the other pineapple upside-down cake recipes we tried. The cake itself was less tender and flavorful than the others.