and this post is for the 'foodie' part of me. i love love to cook and this sunday i let brady decide what to eat! (well, i would let him decide more often if he would...i MADE him decide. and i think it ended up being easier than he thought!) he quickly said, "what about chicken pot pie?!" chicken pot pie?? I hadn't had chicken pot pie since my parents went out for the weekend once a year and a babysitter came over. that is the only time we had chicken pot pie--with a babysitter. remember the frozen ones that you put in the oven and then only your mom could turn it over and pop it out without the crust breaking? even the babysitter could never do it...hence i maybe only had one chicken pot pie when the crust never broke. that was part of the fun of chicken pot pie, to see if you could get it out of that little tin without the sauce and peas spilling all over.
i decided to give it a try! i also remembered that since I was probably 8 years old when i ate my last chicken pot pie, calories and fat didn't matter. that flaky crust and rich middle just tasted really good, then off to the next best thing! Probably gummy bears on the big tv. however, now since i am 8 +17 years old, fat and calories mean a tad bit more than they used too....plus, my mom would have to come 2 states away to pop the pot pie out of the crust for me.
so i set out to re-create the 'chicken pot pie' for a grown up where the crust doesn't break and add little drop in calories and fat. i've never made chicken pot pie before but as long as it doesn't involve a whole chicken i think i can maybe hack it. i looked up a recipe and tweaked it a bit and it turned out better than i expected! i, of course, made it more difficult than you would have too....for some weird reason i find joy in adding unique things to my recipes sometimes and it can end up taking a long time in the kitchen. it was a rainy day yesterday, and i had just had a great nap on the couch so i was ready freddy to start cooking!!!
Childhood Chicken Pot Pie
(adapted from allrecipes.com)
1
pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1
cup sliced carrots
1
cup frozen green peas
1/2
cup sliced celery
1/3
cup chopped onion
1/2
cup all-purpose flour
1/2
teaspoon salt
1/2
teaspoon black pepper
1/4
teaspoon celery seed
1/4 tsp thyme
sprinkle of sage
handful of brown sugar
1 tsp butter (or other kind of
fat to sauté onions)
1/4 tsp garlic/herb seasoning
2
cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1 cup coconut
milk + ½ cup skim milk)
1/2 can apricot
nectar (or other juice in your fridge..optional)
2
(9 inch) unbaked pie crusts **(recipe to follow)
Obtain 3 cooking pans….1 saute and 2 sauce pans. Preheat
oven to 425 degrees.
#1: SAUTE
PAN= Saute chicken in about 1 tsp
sunflower oil (or other appropriate oil low in saturated fat). Season with
salt, pepper and sage.
#2: SAUCEPAN= in a small saucepan, sauté onion with brown sugar and butter until onion is
clear. (I also added unsweetened apple sauce in place of some of the butter…for
a ‘free’ sweetness). Once sauted to your liking add flour, salt, pepper and
thyme to onions. Mix and then slowly add chicken broth, milk(s) and juice.
Stirring continually until mixture is as thick as gravy. (Adding more flour if
needed).
#3: SAUCEPAN= in another small saucepan, cover frozen
veggies with chicken broth (I used water and chicken boullion cube). Boil until
veggies soft…approx 8 min?? I like mine a little al dente compared to mushy.
Once done cooking ingredients in all 3 pans, drain liquid
from saucepan #3. Then add all ingredients into one pan and mix.
Place one pie crust in a pie tin. (Or if you are lucky enough you have cute little ramekins to make individual ones...i didn't) Bake the pie crust in oven for about 6 min. to golden the
crust. (if you were to bake it in little ramekins i'm CERTAIN even I could pop it out without the shell breaking...baking it for 6 min makes the bottom crust not soggy.) Pour combined ingredients into crust and top with 2nd crust.
Bake for 25 min. Ah! So pretty!
PIE CRUST RECIPE (healthier…)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup white flour
¼ tsp salt
3 Tbs sugar (brown, white or mixture)
¼ cup oil (sunflower or olive)
¼ cup cold milk
¼ cup water
Combine and chill for about 10 min. Then roll out like normal
and enjoy like a pie crust! It
tastes pretty darn good for having no saturated fats! But of course, if you don’t
want to make this just use frozen pre-made pie crusts.
We matched on sunday...and didn't even plan it!! crazy how you begin to look alike...and dress alike when you live with someone:) and that ugly table you ask?? Restoration Hardware gone bad. they tricked us into buying a poke dot orange TIN coffee table! so we sent it back. And yes that is a harp on the tv. maybe i'll learn the harp someday too...options are endless.
(brady's secret life would involve modeling...i caught him)
