its always sunny by the beach

sometimes on my days off i think...geez how fun would it be to be a foodie. or a yogie. or a dancie. or a flight attendee. OR hoda & kathie lee, getting their hair and make-up done just to sit and discuss gossip and things that don't really matter on national tv--sounds dreamy? ha ha in another life sammi. in this life you are a nurse. (also one of my dreams ps.) its just too bad days aren't 50 hours long so we can do all our dreams! so i will just have to pretend to be all of those other things!

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!!!

(ps, it you like this idea and recipe you wouldn't have to use all the silly ingredients i did....just substitute where you have to! it really is a pretty easy recipe, plus it goes great in the freezer! i think...i'll let you know next month when i use it.)

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 2^nd 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)