Showing posts with label Pie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pie. Show all posts

Friday, May 13, 2011

Chicken Pot Pie

If you are looking for an easy meal to run to a friend in need, or to someone who just had a baby... this is it.  When I had my 2nd baby, a friend brought this to me. It was the perfect dinner.  It's just another one of those comfort foods. The flavors are nice and gentle. And just plain delicious! It almost melts in your mouth.  This would be great to serve with corn bread, or even garlic bread. And maybe a nice bowl of fruit.  It's loaded with veggies and some protein so you have most of the meal covered right there.

This make a perfect freezer meal also.  Make up a couple ahead of time without cooking.  Cover them with foil and freeze.  Just thaw and cook, when you are ready to eat it.

If you are vegetarian or don't like chicken, you can easily leave it out and substitute the cream of chicken for cream of mushroom or something similar.  Although If you want the chicken in it... this is a great way to use your Canned Chicken.

Also, if you don't like a certain veggie, then leave it out. You can fill it with anything you like. My favorite, is the squash. Oh boy it's so good in there! You can use fresh or frozen veggies. When they are cheap and I have a little more time, I like the fresh ones better.  It just makes the dish taste so much healthier.  I put everything in there raw when I am using fresh veggies.  The only thing is, the carrots are still a little firm when it's done, so if you like them soft, just steam them for a couple of minutes and then throw them in. I like them still a little firm.

When using frozen ones, I just put them in straight from the freezer, but you can thaw them if you want. I'm all about skipping any unnecessary steps! One step that I keep, is laying the veggies down separately and then adding the sauce. I like to make sure that each bite has a little of everything. When it's heated, the sauce melts down and coats everything nicely. You can however, just mix it all together and throw it in. That works too.

One more thing... The pie crust, you can get in a box in the refrigerator section near the biscuits. It already comes with a top and a bottom crust. You just need to make sure to have a pie plate.

Chicken Pot Pie

Sauce:
1 small can cream of chicken
1 cup sour cream
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp onion powder (or you could use diced onion)
Dash of garlic salt
Dash of pepper
1/2-1 cup shredded or diced cooked chicken
Vegetables ( fresh or frozen) about 3-4 cups (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, peas, corn, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots etc)
Refrigerated pie crust (a top and a bottom)

Mix your sauce in a bowl and set aside. Lay uncooked pie crust in a 9 inch pie pan. Place vegetables and chicken in next, making sure that each one is distributed evenly. See Pict below.  Fill to the top with vegetables. 

Next, pour the sauce over the veggies, and top with remaining pie crust. Cut off excess crust and crimp the edges.  Cut a "t" in the center and fold back the sections.  See pict below. This allows the inside to cook and release the excess moisture. It makes it look pretty too.


Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Slice and serve.
 

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Chocolate Layer Pie

This cake/pie has many names. Some call it Better than Robert Redford, Other names aren't so appropriate... I was joking that since Robert Redford is so not our generations "hunk" that we should rename it to Better than Justin Bieber or something. Ha ha.  Anyway, I just like the name, Chocolate Layer Pie.

My sweet mother-in-law found this recipe for me one Thanksgiving. Looking back, I don't know how she knew this is what I wanted, with the vague description I gave her.  She was asking what I wanted for my Thanksgiving pie, and I told her I tried this one pie one time that was delicious and gave her about 2 details about what I remembered.  She found the very one for me.  Oh it is so good!!!

The recipe says to use a 9 inch pie pan. This time, I doubled the recipe and did it in oblong pans for a funeral dessert.  Either, way, it still tastes the same! Plain ol' delicious!!!


Chocolate Layered Pie

1/2 cup chopped pecans                          
1 (5.9 ounce) package instant choc. pudding mix
1/2 cup butter, melted                               
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup all-purpose flour                              
2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Directions
1.  Mix together pecans, melted butter, and flour.  Pat into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch pie plate.  Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until lightly browned.  Remove from oven, and set aside to cool.

 2.  In a mixing bowl, blend 1 cup whipped topping, cream cheese, and confectioners sugar until creamy.  Spread into cooled crust.

3.  Whisk together pudding mix and milk.  (You may want to add up to a half cup more milk if you like your pudding really creamy) Spread evenly over cheese layer, and then spread remaining whipped topping on top.  Chill 1 1/2 to 2 hours.


Can crush oreos, crushed Heath bar, toffee pieces or shaved chocolate on top