Comfort Food at It’s Best….

I seriously need to become a little faster at fulfilling my recipe promises. Today I am sharing a recipe that I promised to the girls in one of my groups almost three weeks ago! First of all I have no idea how three weeks has already passed when it feels like I just mentioned it the other day. Time is passing so quickly we will be looking at spring and summer recipes before we know it!

Today’s recipe is my take on a chicken potpie. I used the 321 pie crust crust just like I did when I made my Pumpkin Tarts and as always it is really yummy! I used ¼ of the recipe, and even made it with light butter, and that is 200 calories in crust bringing the grand totally of a single serve pot pie to 498. If you don’t care, or you have the calories to spend, that really isn’t too bad. BUT if you would like to lighten it up just a bit only use 1/8 of the recipe, just roll the dough a little thinner, you’ll knock the count down by 100 calories, and you can keep that veggie, mushroom, chicken packed potpie all to yourself!

I used ½ a cup of leftover chicken from the chicken I had baked the other day and had thrown in the freezer and mentioned using when I was talking about my Poor Girl’s Chicken Soup. There was also just enough gravy left over from the chicken dinner I had made for one potpie. I couldn’t have planned it better. 😉 I still have just enough chicken leftover for the fruity chicken salad I had mentioned, but I think I might just throw it on some toast with my Sweet & Savory Cranberry Chutney that I posted yesterday. Who said that you have to eat cranberry chutney with just turkey?!

This recipe is perfect for a chilly fall, or winter, day where you need to warm up the house and dive into a comfort food. There is so much filling that it isn’t watery, and there is just the right amount of gravy to hold all the goodness together. A quick tip on the veggies, I could have chopped up my own, but I chose to use a bag of frozen Italian veggies that I had left from another meal. The key to keeping your potpie from getting watery is to thaw the veggies. I did a quick thaw in warm water while I was rolling out the crust, then combined all of the filling ingredients and popped it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Worked like a charm. As I mentioned, I used Italian veggies, but you can truly use any frozen veggies that you have in the freezer. If you are like me and there is always just a little bit left in each bag, combine them all together! But most of all, enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Potpie

By Angie Gouchenour

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 cup of frozen Italian Veggies – Thawed

½ cup chicken breast – shredded or chopped

3 baby bella mushrooms – sliced

¼ cup of chicken gravy – prepared

¼ (200 calories) or 1/8 (100 calories) 321 pie crust (I used light butter and  Truvia)

NOTE: After research I no longer use light butter so the calories will change a bit. And when using frozen veggies please use a trusted brand that hasn’t had a recall in the last year (2016).

Directions

Preheat oven to 400’f

In a bowl of warm water thaw the frozen vegetables (you may have to change the water 2 or 3 times, or microwave for about 60 seconds)

Drain veggies and combine with chicken, gravy, and sliced mushrooms – pour into a 10 ounce ramekin

Roll crust to your desired thickness and place over the top of the ramekin

Use a knife to gently trim the dough all the way around (Save remaining dough for another recipe)

Try and make sure that the dough is covering all of the filling, touching the sides of the dish

Place the ramekin on a cookie sheet in case there is any over flow, and place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes

Remove from the oven. For best results let the pot pie cool for 10-20 minutes before serving

¼ crust with filling – 498 calories

1/8 crust with filling – 398 calories