Chicken Pot Pie

If you're the type that buys pot pies from the store occasionally, if you try this basic recipe (that you can tweak any way you like), I practically guarantee that you won't go back to the store bought ones again. It took me all of 5 minutes to literally throw this recipe together and in the oven and it tasted just as simple and yummy as the store bought itty bitty ones that you need more than one of to feed a "healthy" person.



Chicken Pot Pie
Source: Never trust a skinny cook...

2 pie crusts (dough), uncooked (homemade or store bought)
1 cup shredded chicken breasts or 1-1/2 cups diced chicken*
1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 can of mixed vegetables***

1. Spray pie plate with cooking spray. Roll out one pie crust and fill the bottom of the pie plate and up the sides.
2. Mix together remaining ingredients and fill the crust.
3. Top with second pie crust, pinching edges/seams to seal.
4. Bake according to the pie crust directions (if store bought), until crust is golden brown and no longer doughy. ***I baked mine at 425 for about 30 minutes before it was done.

*I used 1 cup shredded chicken because that's what I had on hand. It's definitely more visually appealing with diced chicken, but still very yummy.

**You can substitute fresh of frozen veggies that have been steamed and add in about 1/4 cup water.

This recipe is very easily customized. Mix up what veggies you use. Change up how you season and cook the chicken that you use. Add in some seasonings that you like to change up the flavor, etc.

*****
11/07/12

I recently made this again and changed things up a bit. I used:

2 pie crusts (dough), uncooked (homemade or store bought)
2 cups shredded chicken breasts
1 large can cream of chicken soup, undiluted (or three small)
3 cans of mixed vegetables (drain 1 can, use 2 undrained)
1 can of diced potatoes, drained

I made this in a 9x11 casserole dish. One crust on the bottom of the pan, one on top of the filling. Worked great and spread the dish even farther. YUMMY!!!


On this pot pie, I cut apart the top crust to fit. You really don't have to do this, but that's why it looks so funky.

Baked Zucchini Chips

These are absolutely yummy!!! My husband (who was requesting fried zucchini) absolutely loved this version (Score for not having to go fried!). Our 33 month old son (who loves veggies) gobbled these up as quickly as he could.


(Only a small amount of what "Bubba" cooked up into)

Baked Zucchini Chips
Source: Never trust a skinny cook...

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup water
1 large zucchini (**don't go for a "Big Bubba" or you'll need to double the dry ingredients)

1. Slice your zucchini into "chips". I used a mandolin slicer for this. Warning: Don't let your husband use your slicer unless you're sure he won't cut himself. (Love you honey!)
2. Mix all of the dry ingredients together.
3. Spray your cooking rack (you want the heat/air to circulate on both sides at the same time, so they cook best on a rack and not on a baking sheet) with nonstick cooking spray or cooking oil.
4. Dip your slices of zucchini into the milk and then immediately in the dry ingredients, making sure to coat both sides. Place on cooking rack in a single layer.
5. Bake at 425 degrees F for approximately 30 minutes or until browned and crisp. Eat right away or they will become soggy. We ate ours with a small amount of homemade pizza/marinara sauce.

*We used a really huge zucchini that I referred to as Big Bubba and I had to double the dry ingredients. This zucchini was about 12 inches long and 3 inches in diameter. If using a "normal" size zucchini, the listed amount of dry ingredients should be fine.

Uncrustable PB&J Sandwiches

"Uncrustable" PB&J Sandwiches

Per Sandwich:
2 pieces of fresh (aka very soft) bread
Peanut butter
Jelly/jam (I use jam because it spreads easier than jelly)

Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on both slices of bread (this keeps the bread from getting soggy on one side), in the middle of the bread slice leaving about 1/4" plain bread all around the outsides. On one piece, spread a layer of jam/jelly on top of the peanut butter. Place the two pieces of bread together with the fillings on the inside. Use an "uncrustable" sandwich sealer to cut the bread crusts off and seal the sandwich - a two step process, but is very easy. I use the "Wonder Sandwich Sealer N Decruster" (bought at Walmart), and with this particular one, there is very little bread lost (I turn the crusts into croutons or breadcrumbs) unlike the round sandwich sealers. I then bag and freeze the sandwiches. I make mine in bulk - at least one loaf of bread at a time, but the last time I made them I made four loaves of bread into uncrustables. It made about 48 sandwiches.

Makes 1 sandwich.


Peanut butter on both sides of bread.


Jam on top of the peanut butter on one side of the bread.


Line up the sandwich sealer and decruster. And press down to first decrust, and then to seal (white first, and then blue second).


Remove the excess bread.


Yummy homemade uncrustables!