My Version Of Chicken Pot Pie

Made some home made pot pie the other day and took pictures so for those who are interested, here goes.

I used to boil my chicken in water and use the water to make the gravy for the pies but I don't do that anymore. I start by frying my chicken on top of the stove (in some butter but you could use coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil) until mostly done.

While frying the chicken I boil potatoes that have been peeled and cut into bite sized pieces.















Once the chicken is mostly done, add flour until all the butter and juice from the chicken has been absorbed and makes a thick paste. Stir the chicken and paste to slightly brown the flour paste.

Once you have browned the flour (maybe 3 or 4 minutes of constant stirring), add milk. I don't know how much. Once you add the milk, you can add more if its too thick or add more flour or
cornstarch if its too runny. This creates a "gravy" of sorts for the filling of your pot pie. You want
it to be on the runny side because it will thicken up as it bakes and you don't want it to be too dry
once its done. Add salt, pepper, and some garlic powder. You can also add onions or onion powder to taste.









At this point, add all your fillings. I cheated when I made mine last and just added a bag of frozen vegetables, cheese and the cooked potatoes. I LIKE to do fresh carrots, celery and whatever else you like but I was in a time crunch. Stir it all together and spoon into a pie crust. I usually home make my pie crust but I bought the roll out crusts from the store this time, again, to save myself some time. Very busy day.

Place your 2nd pie crust on top and trim the excess dough from around the sides of your pie tin.




At this point you can pinch your edges to create that fancy fluting but I've never been able to master that so I use the edge of a fork to seal my edges.



I then cut 4 slits in my top and use the excess pastry and a cookie cutter to make a cute embellishment on the top of my pie. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Usually takes about an hour "ish".

A Twist On Grilled Cheese

Some of you may already do this but I find it spices up grilled cheese just a bit on a boring day. I always spray the outsides of my bread with olive oil instead of using butter or margarine. I don't know if it actually does any good or not but it seems like it would be healthier to get in some omega 3s with it than using butter. Then I put one slice of American cheese, and 2 or three slices of the this sliced low sodium lunch meat along with a little bit of low fat Miracle Whip. Next I sprinkle some Italian seasoning on the inside and fry as usual. It just shakes things up a bit on that afternoon where you don't want the same old same old but you need something quick.

Another Money and Meal Stretching Idea

A few weeks ago we were buying groceries at Aldi and I was comparing the prices of the different cuts of chicken. It was daunting. So all the way at the bottom of the freezer section were the whole chickens. Now, I had never purchased a whole chicken because I didn't really know how to cook them to get a good flavor and I had no idea how to cut them properly. But when I compared the prices, I figured I would figure it out!!!!

I have a perfect glass dish to put the chicken in for baking. I rinse my chicken, cut up potatoes, throw them in the dish and top with about half a bottle of lemon pepper marinade from Aldi ($.99). I bake at 325 for approximately 3 hours with the lid on. When done, there are about 2 cups of chicken stock in the bottom of the dish. I use the chicken stock to create a gravy to make home made chicken pot pie. I accidentally left out the chicken meat a few weeks ago for my "chicken" pot pie but I had used my left over chicken stock and you couldn't tell the chicken was missing!! Use the cut up potatoes for your pot pie, also. That is meal number one from my whole chicken. I then used half of the chicken meat to make chicken salad for the children and I for lunch the next day. For dinner that evening I used the remaining half of the chicken to make a rice, broccoli, and chicken cassarole. You could also use part of the meat for chicken noodle soup. I'm sure you have a gazillion uses for chicken meals!!!

So that is how I get at least 3 meals for my family of 5 (the twins don't eat real food yet) out of one chicken!! Talk about stretching your dollars!!!!

Money and Meal Stretching Tip - French Toast Bites

My family is a little bit picky about bread. If the bread starts to get dry, they aren't fond of eating it. That's okay. Introducing French Toast Bites!!!!! Take your bread that is getting a little stale, obviously no mold, and tear it up into pieces. Make your french toast mixture. I use eggs, milk, and a touch of vanilla in mine. Then, toss your pieces of bread in your egg mixture until completely coated. Fry on the stove top until done. Put on a plate or in a bowl and drizzle with syrup. Voila!!!! French Toast Bites. My kids think they are the greatest and have no idea that mommy has put to use that "dry bread" that they don't like.

Kelly's Mexican Mixture

Anybody that knows me REALLY well knows that recipes are just suggestions and I'm not afraid to play around and create my own food minus the recipe. So, I threw this together one evening and it has become a family favorite. There are a couple minor variations through out that you can play with to suit your family's preferences. This recipe yields A LOT. My family will eat this for a meal one night and then snack on it for several days afterwards.

Cook 3 cups of rice and set to the side.

Brown your choice of meat (I use ground turkey but you could use chicken cubes or beef) adding one package of powered taco seasoning and powdered enchilada seasoning. (Both can be found CHEAP at Aldi) DO NOT FOLLOW PACKAGE DIRECTIONS. Just dump 'em in once meat has been drained. Add one can of drained corn and a small jar of either queso or generic cheese dip also found at Aldi. If you like your food a little spicier, use the queso. Add a large jar of mild, medium or hot salsa per your family's preference. Stir occasionally until warm. Set aside.

At this point I like to fry (no need to add butter when frying) the rice along with a small jar of either diced tomatoes or "diced tomatoes with chiles" if you like more "kick". The rice will brown slightly. When hot, dump the rice in with the meat mixture.

I serve this with nacho chips and use it kind of like a "dip" or hubby likes it scooped onto a soft tortilla.

Let me know if you try it and like it.

Ohio State Buckeyes

I thought I would post my first recipe of many as the holiday season is approaching. And being an Ohio Girl, I'm posting an Ohio tradition as our state tree is the Buckeye Tree. If this is NOT on your "holiday treat" list, you need to add it. I promise it will become a family favorite!

Mix together 3 cups creamy peanut butter, 1 1/2 sticks melted butter, and 2 pounds confectioner's sugar. (Yeh - I know! Nothing "skinny" about this one!!) Form into small balls. Using a toothpick, dip balls into 16 oz melted dipping chocolate until almost covered, leaving some of the peanut butter mixture exposed on the top. Refrigerate and enjoy.