Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

I have to tell you this: I hate pot pie.

As a kid at school when it was served, it seemed disgusting to me. As I have noted in previous posts, I hate peas. I absolutely abhor them to the point where even smelling them will make me throw up if I can not get away from the stench. That's the truth, and so the fact that peas were a common sight in any pot pie I ever saw immediately gave it a negative point in my book.

It wasn't just that, tho. You know those little single serving ones you get at the grocery? Yeah. They seemed even more yucky to me, even as I grew older. It wasn't just the peas. It just.....looked.....disgusting. Maybe it was the fact that those pot pies have dark meat in them, I don't know.

Anyway, pot pies were just one of those things on my 'never eat' list.

In January, my father became ill and subsequently had to go into the hospital. Along with this came food from various angels who considered dinner for my mother and I when we could not think beyond the immediate second with which we were dealing. One of those angels - my mother's sister (and NOT the one actually called "Angel", altho she brought us food as well) - brought us a homemade pot pie one evening along with some fixings.

My thought on pot pie changed in that circumstance. First, it was homemade. Second, when famished and you have a fully cooked meal in front of you, something becomes much more appealing when before it had little appeal at all. Thus, I ate my aunt's pot pie and.....really loved it! It didn't taste or look like the frozen monstrosities I had seen, and learned to loathe, from my past.

I had gone back to my home and gotten somewhat settled after my father's return to HIS home and started to think about that pot pie. I'll bet I can make one. And I can tweak it to include the veggies I like. My aunt's had peas in it, but I had simply eaten around them. But I could leave peas out altogether!!

I searched for recipes and considered several. Below is the one I settled on. I tweaked it some on the second time I made it, and even on the first time I left out the peas and corn. You, however, do not need to do so. It turned out really good, too! I made my own crust, and I will include the recipe for that as well, but two 9 inch refrigerated pie crusts will do just as nicely if you are not inclined to crust making (like me).

The good news is this is an easily freezable dish!


Buttermilk Pie Crust

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable shortening
• 3 tablespoons cold butter
• 1/3 cup buttermilk, or as needed
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1. Whisk the flour and salt together in a bowl. With a pastry cutter, cut the shortening and butter into the flour until the chunks are the size of small peas. Stir in buttermilk and vegetable oil with a fork until the dough is moistened and beginning to gather together. Form the dough into a compact shape.
2. Divide the dough in half, and shape each half into a ball. Roll out each pie crust between 2 sheets of parchment paper.

Chicken Pot Pie
(makes one pie)

Ingredients

• 1 cup diced peeled potatoes
• 3/4 cup sliced carrots
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1-1/2 cups chicken broth, sodium free
  
• 1/2 cup evaporated fat free milk
  
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 2 refrigerated pie crusts, 9 inch
  

1. Place potatoes and carrots in a large saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and set aside. In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, thyme and pepper until blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add the chicken, peas, corn, potatoes and carrots; remove from the heat.
2. Line two 9-in. pie plates with bottom pastry; trim even with edge of plate. Fill pastry shells with chicken mixture. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pies. Cut slits or decorative cutouts in pastry. Place over filling; trim, seal and flute edges.
3. Bake one potpie at 425 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting. Cover and freeze remaining potpie for up to 3 months.

Spinach Salad, Roasted Vegetable Lasagna, Low Fat Apple Bread Pudding

With all the extras from the garden, it's easy to incorporate fresh veggies into your daily diet. Sometimes, you have to figure out ways to get creative with the abundance that comes with a well growing garden.

This is a healthier way to enjoy a family favorite while cutting out the red meat that usually goes into this dish.

Enjoy it!
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Healthy Spinach Salad

Salad ingredients:

• 4 cups baby spinach
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts
• 1/2 cup red seedless grapes, sliced in half lengthwise
• 2 chopped scallions (include ~4 inches of the green part)
• medium coarse black pepper
• ~3-oz mild goat cheese, crumbled

Dressing ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  
• black pepper

Whisk olive oil into the cider vinegar. Add pepper, and perhaps a tad of kosher salt, to taste.

Put all salad ingredients except cheese into a large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Add goat cheese.

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
serves 6

Sauce:

1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
3 minced garlic cloves
1 can 14 oz tomato puree, low sodium
1 4 oz can tomato sauce, low sodium
1 tablespoons minced fresh basil
1 tablespoons minced fresh oregano
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 tspn crushed red pepper flakes

Vegetables
2 cups sliced zucchini
1 1/2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 small onion, diced
1/4 teaspoon pepper
lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions and drained
2 cups shredded, mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

In large pan, cook onion (for sauce) in oil until tender; add garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Stir in puree, sauce and seasonings. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes until thickened.

In large mixing bowl, combine vegetables and pepper. Put in a baking pan and cook at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

Spread 1/4 cup of sauce in a baking dish. Layer with noodles, top with half the sauce, and half the roasted vegetables, and half the cheese. Repeat another layer.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, covered. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes until bubbly. Let cool slightly before serving.


Apple Bread Pudding
9 servings

• 1/4 C. granulated sugar
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 2 C. 1% milk
• 1 C. egg substitute
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 8 slices 100% whole-wheat bread, toasted and cut in triangles
• 2 large apples, cored and diced
• 1 1/2 Pint lowfat vanilla frozen yogurt (optional)
  

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9" square baking dish with nonstick spray. Mix sugar & cinnamon. In a bowl, whisk milk, egg substitute, brown sugar & vanilla extract. Arrange half the toast in baking dish; sprinkle with half the cinnamon-sugar and apples. Repeat layers. Pour milk mixture over top. Bake uncovered 40-50 minutes until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cut in squares; serve with scoops of frozen yogurt.

Vegetable Night! Winter Fruit Salad, Baked Potato, Spinach Casserole, Honey Ginger Carrots,

Folks, it's been very cold here the last few days. I've been making a lot of soups! Yesterday I made Cream of Pea Soup, for my husband to take to work the next day, while also cooking this dinner. I'll not include the recipe at this time, as I believe the last few entries have been soup recipes!! So goes it with the cold! I don't eat peas, but I did give him a sample of the soup last night while it was piping hot, and he did eat it for lunch today, and he claims it hits the spot. So, I will include that in an entry soon.

Last night we had vegetable night. I try to incorporate veggie night in at least once a week. I am not always successful, but it's becoming easier to do with all the different vegetable recipes that I have been able to find and experiment with. My husband is my guinea pig; my kids, not so much! However, I read reviews for this spinach casserole and saw where tons of people claimed that their kids loved it and asked for more. There's hope!! Kids asking for spinach. I shall try it myself soon and see if it works on my picky eaters. It really was very, very good.

For the baked potato, there's nothing to it, really. Pick out the number of baking potatoes that you need to feed your crew. Scrub them and cut a big X across the top, deeply. Rub with oil, wrap in aluminum foil individually and bake at 425 degrees for an hour, or more, depending on the size of the potatoes. If they're especially large, up the degrees to 450 and cook about an hour and a half. Fix them as you please. I like to use a smidgen of butter and low fat sour cream. D eats his plain.

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Winter Fruit Salad

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons diced onion
• 1 teaspoon Dijon-style prepared mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
• 4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 apple - peeled, cored and diced
• 1 pear - peeled, cored and sliced

1. In a blender or food processor, combine sugar, lemon juice, onion, mustard, and salt. Process until well blended. With machine still running, add oil in a slow, steady stream until mixture is thick and smooth. Add poppy seeds, and process just a few seconds more to mix.
2. In a large serving bowl, toss together the romaine lettuce, shredded Swiss cheese, cashews, dried cranberries, apple, and pear. Pour dressing over salad just before serving, and toss to coat.

Honey Ginger Carrots
(this dish is gluten free!!)

• 1 lbs baby carrots
  
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
  
• 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 1 pinch ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add carrots and cook until tender but still firm, about 5 minutes. Drain.
2. In a large skillet over low heat, melt butter with honey. Stir in ground ginger and lemon juice. Stir in carrots and simmer until heated through.

Spinach Casserole

• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
• 3tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
  
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 5-7 Ritz crackers, crumbled finely

1. In a saucepan, cook spinach in a small amount of water for 2-3 minutes; drain thoroughly. Add pepper, cheese, eggs and milk and stir together. Spoon into a shallow baking dish, about 1 qt. Sprinkle finely crumbled ritz crackers over spinach mixture. Drizzle melted butter over top. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until almost set.

(This is a dish that is even tastier cold!)

Maple Glazed Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli-Cheese Casserole

Family dinner bliss! Did you know that families who sit down and eat dinner together all at one table tend to be closer? This has always been something that has been important to me as a mother: to have everyone at the table for dinner. It's not always feasible, but whenever possible I strive for it.

As I've mentioned, I have a picky eater. I really try to have at least one thing on the table that everyone likes, and this is not always easy! Since I plan most meals ahead of time, tho, it's become easier to do it. The kids are not here every single night, as they spend time at their father's as well, and those are the nights that we usually experiment with things the kids would turn their noses up at!

But who doesn't like meatloaf? I mean, other than vegetarians. And cows. There are a variety of recipes for meatloaf, but tonight's is one that happens to be a favorite for my kiddos. Even my autistic one eats it up and asks for more when I make this! It's one of the few beef dishes he'll eat.

Now, it's a bit high in sodium due to the beef bouillon the recipe calls for. This is easily omitted, however, without much sacrifice on flavor if sodium content is something you watch (like we do). The fat content can be manipulated depending on the leanness of the beef you use. We try to use Laura's Lean Ground Beef that is a 96/4 (only 4% fat).

So, Dinner Tonight is:

Garden Salad
Maple Glazed Meatloaf
Mashed Potatoes
Broccoli-Cheese Casserole
Fresh Fruit and Yogurt

Maple Glazed Meatloaf
(6 servings)









Ingredients

• 1 tspn beef bouillon granules
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1 egg, slightly beaten

Glaze

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup maple syrup

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl, dissolove beef bouillon in hot water. Add the remaining meatloaf ingredients' mix well. Form into individual meatballs

Bake in oven for 30 minutes; open oven and pour half the glaze over top of meatloaf. Place back in oven to bake for another 30 minutes, or until beef is thoroughly cooked. Remove from oven and top with remaining glaze. Let stand 5-10 minutes.

Mashed Potatoes

• 5-lbs yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• 1/3 stick of margarine
• salt/pepper to taste

Boil mashed potatoes in large pot until tender. Drain. Add potatoes back to pot and put back on burner for about 30 seconds. Take off burner and add margarine and whipping cream. Beat on high speed with mixer until mashed and fluffy. Add more whipping cream while mixing, a little at a time, if needed.

Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

1 package of frozen chopped broccoli
1stick margarine
1 lb of Velveeta, cut up
1 1/2 stacks of Ritz crackers, crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cook broccoli until tender; drain.

In saucepan, melt one stick of butter, then mix with crushed cracker crumbs.

Grease casserole dish and sprinkle half of the cracker mix over the bottom. Add broccoli.

Add cut up Velveeta to broccoli. Add remaining cracker crumb mix.

Bake 15-20 minutes.