Pot Pie Perfection

Pot pie is such a traditional comfort food, you'd be surprised to know my momma never made it for us. I'm a lot like my momma, but I definitely didn't get my love of cooking from her. She was great at fried chicken, pork chops, and mashed potatoes, but that was about the extent of her repertoire. Now she reads my blog and says, "I'm gonna try that some time!"

The first time I tasted chicken pot pie (besides the single serving frozen ones) was when Ryan's Steakhouse opened up in the next town. I was always so bummed the days when we went and they didn't have it on the buffet!

When I moved to the South, everyone talked about chicken pie, which, best I can tell, is the same thing but without the vegetables in it. Now what is the point of that? This is a perfect dish to hide a bunch of veggies in! Even my teenager loves this dish, veggies included. In fact, she made it all by herself last night and it turned out great. I've tried a dozen different pot pie recipes over the years, and they're all pretty similar, but this is the combination I like the best.

To precook the chicken, I find it super easy to throw some breasts in the Crock-Pot so they are ready to go when I am. This makes the dish come together a lot quicker. I also use pre-made, refrigerated pie crust--the kind with two rolled-up crusts in a package. Now, homemade pie crust is really not that hard, or that time-consuming, but making it just adds more work to my day and even the generic brands taste just fine to me, thank you very much!

This recipe makes two single-crust pies, so you could potentially eat one and save the other for later, but we usually just scarf it all down right away. I haven't tried freezing the second one before baking it, but I'm sure that could work, too. You'd probably have to thaw it first or bake it about 20 minutes longer.  If I ever try that, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Chicken Pot Pie
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 20 min
Serves 8

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup onion, diced (optional)
1/2 cup flour
8 oz chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
3 cups cubed, cooked chicken (or turkey)
3 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 3/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp pepper
2 pie crusts
1 egg, beaten

Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Saute onions if butter. When onions are tender, whisk in flour. Gradually add broth and milk, whisking constantly till smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir 2 minutes or till thickened.

Add the chicken, veggies, cheese and seasonings then heat through.

Divide mixture evenly between two greased pie pans. Spread pie crust over top and press edges of dough to pan. Crimp edges of dough if desired. Cut slits in top of crust to allow steam to escape. Brush crust with beaten egg for a nice, crisp shine.

Bake, uncovered, at 425F for 18-22 minutes or till golden brown.  Let stand 10-20 minutes before cutting to allow filling to firm up--unless you like chicken pot soup!

Ranch-tastic

Have you ever noticed that no matter how much time you have, you always have plenty of chores to fill it all?  I'm a working wife and mother, I'm involved in 4 different ministries at my church, I'm a homeowner, a pet owner, and a blogger, and yet, somehow I manage to get it all done everyday, without having an anxiety attack.  So you'd think that when I get lucky enough to have a few extra hours off work they would be gloriously empty and full of me-time potential.  Yeah, right!

Somehow they always manage to get filled up before I can even think about using them for personal pleasure.  Orthodontist appointments, doctor appointments, pharmacy pick-ups, important phone calls, and a million little errands always seem to eat up every extra minute.  I don't even bother trying to plan some extravagant dinner on those bonus days because I know I won't have an extra minute to make anything time-consuming.  A lot of times, I just throw something in the Crock-Pot and skip "making dinner" altogether!

Today was one of those busy days and what did I do to add even more to my plate?  I invited friends over for dinner on impulse!  What on earth would possess me to do such a thing?

Dinner confidence, that's what.  I knew I had a winner simmering away in my Crock-Pot and all I'd have to do is serve it up and rake in the compliments.  Then I was "free" to spend the rest of the evening relaxing with my besties...planning a baby shower for 60 of their closest friends!

Ranch Chops 'n Gravy
Prep time: 5 min  Cook time: 4 hrs
serves 6

6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick
1 (1 oz) packet ranch dressing powder
1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 Tbs parsley flakes

Place pork chops, ranch powder, and soup into a medium-sized Crock-Pot and cook on high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.  Sprinkle with parsley flakes.  This is great served over mashed potatoes!

404 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

How 'Bout Them Apples?

You'd never guess it based on this weekend, but I appreciate the simple things in life: a good book, a catchy song, simple flavors.  This weekend was complicated.  I took my daughter to her very first concert - the Taylor Swift Red Tour.  That doesn't sound like it should be so complicated, but it required buying the tickets a year in advance, prepping dinner in the Crock-Pot so we could be out the door 20 minutes after I got off work, driving an hour to Raleigh, detouring around the city when a car accident blocked the highway, idling in line for 30 minutes to get a parking spot, forcing our way through a massive throng of people while circling the arena twice in order to find our seats, enduring the nonstop screaming of 14,000 teenage girls, and spending more than $500 on 2 tickets, parking, 2 souvenir shirts and a bucket of popcorn.  All that for a few hours of entertainment!  And, of course, some priceless memories with my munchkin.  After all that, I needed something simple to soothe my frazzled nerves.  What could be simpler than butter, sugar, and apples, simmered for a couple minutes on the stove and sprinkled with a few spices.  These apples are great served up as a side dish for breakfast, lunch or dinner, as a topping for ice cream or pancakes, or even as a simple dessert - call it crustless apple pie and it sounds like health food!  My momma taught me better, but these were so good I couldn't help but lick the plate.

Skillet Fried Apples
link to original recipe
Prep time: 5 min  Cook time: 15 min
Serves 4
 
3 large Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and cut into wedges
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter 
1/4 cup light brown sugar, well packed
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter with the brown sugar. Add the apples and cook over medium until apples begin to release juices. Reduce to medium low and simmer for about 15 minutes or until apples are tender. Sprinkle spices on top and toss until well blended.

207 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Whole Lotta Chipotle

All you friends here in bloggerland know me as Sweet P, but what you probably didn't know is that my friends in the real world occasionally call me by another, less innocent name.  It's a little naughty, so, Mom, if you're reading, you can skip this paragraph!  Believe it or not, the first time I cooked for my bestie Melissa and her husband TJ, I made these sliders and TJ fell in love....with my cooking.  He told me he would do pretty much anything for me if I cooked another meal for him, so Melissa dubbed me his Food Whore, and I've been bribing him with goodies ever since.  In fact, just tonight we were hanging out, and he offered to help me profitize my little blog here in exchange for a big bowl of curry.  I think it's a perfect win-win situation - I make lots of yummy new recipes to pay TJ for promoting my blog, and the recipes get posted on my blog, so my blog gets more page views than ever!  And to think it all started with a tiny little hamburger and a whole lotta chipotles!

FYI: These succulent little sliders are HOT!!!  They are definitely not kid-friendly, and even I start to look like a panting dog about half way through them, but they are fabulous and they disappear in minutes when I take them to parties.  Serve them with a gallon of milk to quench the fire if you must, but definitely try them!

Chipotle Sliders
link to original recipe
Prep time: 15 min  Cook time: 10 min
Serves 10

1 package (12 oz) Hawaiian sweet rolls
1 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp pepper 

8 tsp minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, divided 

1-1/2 pounds ground beef 

10 slices pepper Jack cheese 

1/2 cup mayonnaise

 Place 2 rolls in a food processor; process until crumbly. Transfer to a large bowl; add the salt, pepper and 6 teaspoons chipotle peppers. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 10 patties.

Grill burgers, covered, over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 160° and juices run clear. Top with cheese. Grill 1 minute longer or until cheese is melted.

Split remaining rolls and grill, cut side down, over medium heat for 30-60 seconds or until toasted.

Combine mayonnaise and remaining chipotle peppers; spread over roll bottoms. Top each with a burger. Replace roll tops.

357 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

More Peas, Please!

It's 9pm and I've got the munchies.  Am I craving, like usual, the chips I buy "for Allen,"  the cookies I made "for Rachel," or the 100 calorie popcorn packs I get for myself?  Nope, I'm craving peas.  Yup - raw, cold, peas.  Now, before you think I'm a total weirdo and quit reading altogether, notice I didn't say plain peas.  No, I'm craving the creamy, crunchy, bacon-y pea salad I made a few days ago and have been eating nonstop ever since.  I think any dish that makes me crave vegetables has got to be a good thing, so this salad has become one of my favorite summer side dishes.  Plus, it comes together in practically no time at all and makes a ton so it would be great for a potluck or BBQ, or for your 9pm snack -5 days in a row. = )

Crunchy Pea Salad
link to original recipe
prep time: 15 min
serves 12

1/2 cup Italian dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/8 cup sugar
1 (10 oz) bag frozen peas, thawed
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup chopped red onion
5 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled 

Mix together Italian dressing, mayonnaise and sugar in a medium size bowl. Fold in peas, celery, peanuts, onion, and bacon until well mixed. Refrigerate until serving.

I haven't tried this with lite dressing or mayo, but I think it would probably taste almost as good.  I probably wouldn't sub them both out for lite versions, but maybe one or the other.  I'll update this post to let you know how that turns out if I ever try it!

243 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!