What's for dinner?

Last night was homemade Chicken Pot Pie. Mmmm it was good!

I like to remind my husband that I love him.

I started with this recipe from allrecipes.com then I made adjustments. We are a meat and potatoes family, so I added a few small potatoes, and extra chicken. I tried the chix breasts, but they turned out kind of dry and chewy, so I use thigh meat now instead. Much better. I also omit the bottom crust and just use one crust on top. It saves some calories, and though my husband was skeptical at first, you really don't miss it.

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves thighs- cubed
1 cup peeled & sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1 cup frozen corn
4 small potatoes quartered
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup 1 medium chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed (this really does add good flavor, don't skip it!)
1 3/4 2 cups chicken broth plus broth to cover chicken and veggies in step 1.
2/3 cup milk
2 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

Directions

1.In a saucepan, put a metal strainer, then put combine chicken, carrots, corn, potatos, peas, and celery. Add water  broth to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove strainer (containing chicken and veggies) from broth heat, drain and set broth aside. Put chicken and veggie mix in deep baking dish.

2.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)

3.In a saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in 2 cups of reserved chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

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

5.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.

Yum! You could use store bought crust, but you shouldn't. It's so easy to make from scratch. Just try making it once, if you don't like it, you can always buy it next time. Here's how I made it.

Pie crust
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. vegetable shortening
1/2 t. salt
1/4 - 1/2c. ice water
In a mixing bowl add flour and salt together. Add shortening, and using a fork, mash the shortening into the dry ingredients until the shortening is broken up. Add about 1/4 c. ice cold water, and stir with the fork until it comes together into a rough ball.  Add a little more water if it's dry and crumbly. Flour your counter and rolling pin, then roll out and use right away. If you are making this in advance, keep it in the fridge since it rolls better when chilled. That's it!
 
What are you having for dinner?