Super Simple 4-Step Chicken Pot Pie

This is one of Lily and Canon's favorite meals... they loves peas and carrots; and the chunks of tender chicken along with a flaky crust are both easy for them to manage.  There are probably more "sophisticated" ways of making this, but this recipe is for the person who needs to put lunch or dinner together easily and quickly.  Although is is very homey and comforting in the end.

For this recipe, I like to use left-over, cooked chicken that I have in the freezer.  Any time I need to cook chicken for gumbo, dumplings, etc., I cook the whole chicken and freeze half.  This is one of my favorite uses for "the other half."  Cook and prep once, eat twice!

Ingredients:
1 box   Pillsbury rollout pie crust (red box)

½    chicken, cooked and cut into pieces  (** could also use large can of chunk white chicken – Tyson, etc.)

½ - 1 whole bag frozen mixed vegetables – I like Green Giant best

1 can   cream of chicken (or cream of celery) soup

to taste salt & pepper

to taste poultry seasoning

to taste garlic powder (not too much)

* optional - you could also add a little creamed sherry if you want to make it a little more "grown up."

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425F.  Take pie crust out of refrigerator to warm up a bit. If it’s too cold, you won’t be able to roll it out without it breaking.  Once it has softened up, use it as the bottom layer to the pie. Place bottom pie crust in glass pie plate. Just let it fold over the outside.

2. Fill the crust with chicken chunks, then veggies, then seasonings, then soup.

**we like lots of veggies, so I use the whole pack, but you could cut back to half a pack if you are a bigger fan of more meat, less veggies.

3. Cover with top crust. Fold top crust over bottom crust on the edges. Crimp together with your fingers. Push the “crust” down so that it’s even with the top of the plate – helps to keep it from burning. Cut some slits in the crust so steam, etc can escape.

**Time saving tip**

You can cover with plastic wrap at this point and put into freezer (for long term) or refrigerator (for the next day, etc).  Then just pop it into the oven when you get home from work!

4. When ready to cook:  Cover with aluminum foil on the edges. I like to take a square of it, fold in quarters, then cut a quarter circle – then you have a circular cutout in middle when you open it. Place over outside crust to protect from burning. You will remove it for the last 15 – 20 minutes of baking to brown. If you don’t cover the edges, they will burn before the rest of the crust is done.

You won’t be able to see any more “transluscent” areas of the crust when its done. Will all be golden brown. (about 45 min)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425F.  Take pie crust out of refrigerator to warm up a bit. If it’s too cold, you won’t be able to roll it out without it breaking.  Once it has softened up, use it as the bottom layer to the pie. Place bottom pie crust in glass pie plate. Just let it fold over the outside.

2. Fill the crust with chicken chunks, then veggies, then seasonings, then soup.

**we like lots of veggies, so I use the whole pack, but you could cut back to half a pack if you are a bigger fan of more meat, less veggies.

3. Cover with top crust. Fold top crust over bottom crust on the edges. Crimp together with your fingers. Push the “crust” down so that it’s even with the top of the plate – helps to keep it from burning. Cut some slits in the crust so steam, etc can escape.

**Time saving tip**

You can cover with plastic wrap at this point and put into freezer (for long term) or refrigerator (for the next day, etc).  Then just pop it into the oven when you get home from work!

4. When ready to cook:  Cover with aluminum foil on the edges. I like to take a square of it, fold in quarters, then cut a quarter circle – then you have a circular cutout in middle when you open it. Place over outside crust to protect from burning. You will remove it for the last 15 – 20 minutes of baking to brown. If you don’t cover the edges, they will burn before the rest of the crust is done.

You won’t be able to see any more “transluscent” areas of the crust when its done. Will all be golden brown. (about 45 min)