Chicken Pot Pie

I LOVE chicken pot pie but I have never tried my hand at it. My friend Sarah always tells me how she makes pot pie about once a week. So I decided to give it a whirl since I had a fridge full of veggies.

I found a recipe but highly adapted it as I didn't like the ones I found. I have made this several times now with a variety of veggies and it always turns out yummy!


Ingredients:

2 pie crusts -I buy the Pillsbury Crust, in the red box.

1 pound (or whatever you have leftover) cooked chicken - cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas or any kind of green veggie. I sometimes throw in broccoli other times green beans.
1/2 cup sliced celery
Sometimes I cube a potato and throw that in too.
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1/2 yellow or red bell pepper or a combination of both
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (I usually use garlic salt)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk (the more fat in the milk the creamier the sauce)

Directions:1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)

2. In a large skillet saute carrots, celery, peppers & other veggies (except broccoli) in olive oil. Cook them until they are tender. Some people boil the veggies but they lose all their vitamins that way so I prefer to saute.

3. Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, cook onions and garlic in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and other seasonings. Let simmer for about 1 minute. You want your flour/butter mixture to bubble a little or it will taste floury. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick, like gravy. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. While above sauce is thickening...Put bottom pie crust in pie plate. Cover with foil and bake for about 5 minutes. Until it just starts to golden. This will help it hold up to the liquid.

5. Mix veggies with chicken and place mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Tips:
It is a good idea to place the pie plate on a cookie sheet or to put foil on the bottom of your stove as pot pie often overflows!

Be creative with the veggies you throw in. I just throw in whatever veggies I have in my freezer and/or fridge. Canned veggies also work but contain salt so be sure to cut back on the salt you add to the sauce or you will get a salty dish. Also, do not saute canned veggies. The main problem with canned is they tend to turn out a little more mushy than fresh or frozen veggies.

My friend Sarah throws in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce to her pot pie.
It adds a yummy Asian type of flavor.

If you make your own pie crust try throwing in some savory herbs for an additional boost in yumminess! (is that a word?)

Don't be afraid to experiment!
Happy Cooking!

I bet you envy my sweet orange countertops! Yeah go ahead, they are sweet & originals from the 70s!

Cajun Chicken Pasta

This was so quick and easy. Plus it was super yummy. I want to make it again and try throwing some shrimp & crab in.

This recipe serves 2 but they are pretty large portions. Throw in some extra pasta and it can feed four.

4 ounces linguine pasta
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, sliced into thin strips
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (I used Tony's)
2 tablespoons butter (I used olive oil)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green onion, minced (I used regular onion cause that was all I had)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguini pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil or butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Then throw in chicken and sprinkle Cajun seasoning on top and toss to coat. Saute chicken until no longer pink and juices run clear, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add green and red bell peppers, and green onions; cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in heavy cream. Season the sauce with basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder and ground black pepper and heat through. If you find your sauce too runny whip in some flour (like you would when making gravy.)

3. In a large bowl, toss linguini with sauce. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Other variations you can try is to add some snap peas or brocolli for a little additional nutrition. Good way to get those kids to eat veggies!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is a super yummy but very easy soup to make.

Those pieces of tortilla chips at the bottom of the bag work great for this recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3+ cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried cumin
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (10.5 ounce) cans condensed chicken broth
• 1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
• 1 cup white hominy (optional)
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained (or basically any kind of cooked beans. I use kidney beans because my husband detests black beans.)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces or shredded
• crushed tortilla chips
• sliced avocado
• sour cream
• shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• chopped green onions

Directions:

1. In a medium pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute chicken in oil for 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Take chicken out and shred or chop it.
2. Saute onion and garlic until soft.
3. Stir in chili powder, cumin, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. (I like to simmer it for 45 minutes to an hour if I have time. It really brings out the flavors.)
4. Stir in corn, hominy, chiles, beans, and cilantro. Simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Ladle soup into individual bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, sour cream and chopped green onion.
6. Enjoy!