Harry Potter Pretzel Cheese Brooms

My kids love anything to do with Harry Potter!

They love talking about the movies, the theme park, costumes, the food. So when I saw this idea on Pinterest, posted by many others. I just had to try it myself, knowing my kids would get a kick out of it.

My daughter propped up the brooms. She said it would look cool this way, and I think she is right!

So simple, just take some pretzel sticks, a slice of cheese and a scallion onion sliced very thin length wise. 

Begin by slicing the cheese slice into thirds. Make little slits into cheese to form the bristles, do not cut all the way through, just half way up the cheese. (You get what I mean;)

Wrap bristles around base of pretzel stick and tie with piece of sliced onion.

And that's it! I love this as snacks for well...ANYONE! And it is perfect for a Halloween party appetizers.

My kids loved the flavor and did not mind the onion at all, they actually loved it!

Tell me what you think? 

Chicken Stew

When I think of chicken stew, I think of family. This recipe was taught to me by MaMa Ruby, my mother-in-law, who I consider, as do many, an expert cook. Seriously, anything that little lady cooks, turns to gold. I learned so many recipes from her along the years, like her Famous Fried Chicken to her Awesome Oreo Crust Cheesecake. Her Short Cut Spaghetti Sauce is a family treat, as is her Everything InThe Pot Chili. I will have ALL these recipes and more on here soon, but for now we are going to start with her chicken stew. MaMa Ruby, this is for you!

Ok so first we start by cubing up some chicken, about 4 pieces of boneless skinless chicken breast and set aside.

The first thing we add to the pot is a whole stick of butter to melt. As Mama Ruby always says, "the more butter, the more better."

For this meal, I will be using my favorite le-crueset pot.

Then we add our chicken, finely chopped garlic and a whole peeled onion. "Don't worry" Ma Ma says, "The onion will come out later, we just want the flavor from it!"

Let it cook on medium-high and stir occasionally.

Stir every 5 minutes or so, until chicken is tender and whitened in color.

After about 15 or so minutes add potatoes and carrots. Add more salt and pepper if you like. Stir to combine and cover. Mmmmmm this is gonna be gooood!

Let veggies get tender, then add two cans of cream of mushroom soup. Stir together and lower heat to simmer about 10 minutes.

I served this with yellow saffron rice, but you can pair it with white rice, buttered egg noodles or just plain stew. Either way it's delicious!

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breast

4 lbs potatoes 

1/2 pound carrots

I large onion

I garlic clove

1 cup butter

1 cup water

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Salt

Ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven pot, add 1 cup of butter to melt. When butter has melted add chicken, 1 cup water, finely chopped garlic and 1 whole onion, season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium and cover, stirring about every 5-6 minutes until chicken is tender and white in color, this should take about 10-12 minutes. Add potatoes and carrots, stir to combine. Cover and let veggies do there thing, stirring occasionally about 10 more minutes or until potatoes and carrots are fork tender. Add 2 cans cream of mushroom soup and stir to combine, lower flame to low-simmer and cook about 10 minutes more. Remove and discard onion. Serve with rice or noodles, YUM!