Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie is something I had always been intimidated to make. It seemed quite difficult. I knew, however, that the key to many a heart lay in making this pie. Now I make chicken pot pie on a regular basis. This is what my friends request when they are sick in bed. It is what I recently left for our sweet petsitter to eat while she watched our furry darlings.

I hope you enjoy the following comforting dish as much as I do!

The following recipe was adapted from Ina Garten’s Chicken Pot Pie recipe. I have changed it a little to make it easier. I am sure hers is better, because she is amazing. However, we all know I am lazy and want quick results. Here is a link to her original recipe

Ingredients (this will make two pies)

2 rotisserie chickens (I only dice the breasts on these, you can use all the meat if you prefer. I do not use the skin) (when I double recipe, I buy three rotisserie chickens)
1 cup of diced carrots (this is usually 1/2 pound and I buy the crinkle all ready cut for you carrots in a bag)
1/4 cup diced onions (I use frozen diced onions)
1/4 cup of frozen peas
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 chicken bouillon cubes
5 cups of salted chicken stock (I usually use one quart and one of those little cartons of chicken stock, they come in packs of 4)
1 and 1/2 sticks salted butter
2 packages of 2 refrigerated pie crust (I prefer Pillsbury and it has to be refrigerated, not frozen)
3/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If you have a convection oven, like I do, preheat to 350 degrees on convect bake. Dice up your rotisserie chicken. Set aside.

In a sauce pan, boil the water for carrots. Once boiled, add carrots and boil for 7 minutes.

Drain boiled carrots into a colander in the sink. Return the now empty sauce pan to the stovetop and add the chicken stock and bouillon cubes to it. Bring to a gentle boil. While that is simmering, proceed to the next step.

Take pie crusts out of refrigerator at this time to soften.

In a large pot on the stove, melt your butter over medium low heat. Add onions and sauté until softened. This takes 8-10 minutes. Add the flour and continuously stir mixture for 2 minutes.

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Turn off heat to chicken stock. Pour the chicken stock/Bouillon cube mixture into the pot with onion/flour/butter mixture (the roux).

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Stir continuously until it is beautiful and thick. Turn off heat.

Add carrots and peas and mix together. Add chicken. Add cream. Stir. Taste mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. I hate when recipes say that! Just tell me how much to add! For me, this is usually 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper. Stir together.

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In two pie pans, lay one layer of the pie crust down in each evenly. Pierce with holes. Pour 1/2 chicken pot pie filling in pie tins.

For the next step, you can make the top of your pie crusts pretty, by simply stamping the center of each one with a cookie cutter.

Lay your now pretty pie crust tops on each pie evenly. Pinch together edges. Pierce top with fork to allow steam to escape.

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Place in oven and cook for 45-50 minutes. Mine usually takes 50. Remove from oven once top of pie is golden brown. Turn off heat. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.

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Oh my gosh, now eat that bad boy! So yummy!

Total cost for two pies: $20.47

2 rotisserie chickens $10
2 packages pie crust $3.98
1/2 package carrots $1
1/4 cup frozen diced onions $0
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream $1.75
1 and 1/2 sticks butter .99
1/4 cup frozen peas .25
2 bouillon cubes .66
5 cups chicken stock $1.84

Please let me know if you try this. I love to hear from you!

What A Wonderful World

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For my husband’s 40th birthday, he bought a 1967 Volkswagon Bus. It was what I (I mean he) always wanted. It happened to be sold 40 minutes from us, so it was meant to be. I love the gorgeous green color (I think it may be the exact color of that chest from last Saturday). It drives perfectly and the only thing we really need to invest in is a new headliner.

Anthropologie is currently selling a cardigan with VW bugs printed on it. It is called the Road Game Cardigan. I am wearing it with an older item from Anthropologie; In-A-Moment dress.

I am a dork and wanted to wear this cardigan while posing with our van. I had no idea my husband would be so accommodating and drive it on to our grass. I am sure our neighbors were thrilled!

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I wore this to my daughter’s “orientation into high school” night. Of course, she wouldn’t sit or walk around the campus with us. The Glee Club performed and they had performed two songs before they segued into “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong. That is when I completely lost it. My baby is leaving us in four years! I sat on the high school bleachers with tears rolling down my cheeks. The years have passed so quickly and there is so much that I would want her to learn before she goes. Of course, I was the only parent sobbing. My daughter was probably happy she had not sat with us.

As we left the gymnasium, I pulled that cardigan tighter. It is covered in old fashioned cars and I am an old fashioned girl. I watched my daughter run ahead with her friends, eager to escape the stifling gaze of her parent’s eyes. I visited all of the classrooms she would attend in the coming year. I tried not to make decisions for her, but ultimately could not help it. I do not know how parents do it. How they have done it. It is heartbreaking watching them grow up. I am trying not to fail. And it is unbelievably hard.

“I hear babies cry…… I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more…..than I’ll never know”

WARBREAKER

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One of my favorite books is by Brandon Sanderson. The title is WARBREAKER. When I was shopping at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, the friendly sales associate recommended this book to me. I had told him I had wanted a romantic fantasy. (What girl doesn’t?)

I had previously read Brandon Sanderson’s MISTBORN series and had liked it. This book exists in a single entity. There are no sequels to it. I find that refreshing in a genre where it takes years to wait for a series to be finished.

The story starts off in the kingdom of Idris. The people here live in a land without color. The royal family of Idris can be identified by their hair, which changes color based on their emotions.

The king of Idris must send his daughter to marry the God King. The God King rules in their enemy kingdom of Hallandren. Hallandren is a land that celebrates color.

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The characters in this book are very deep and interesting. Siri is the youngest daughter of the King of Idris. She is the wild heroine. Vivenna is the oldest daughter. She is trying to fix a mistake she feels destiny created for her. Another cool character is Vasher. He is the Drizzt or Darryl (if you do not know these kickass guys, I am sorry) of the story. The singular rogue male who has several tricks and secrets.

But the leading character of this book is the romance. It has a story all of its own. It will break your heart but leave you smiling.

This book has magic, vibrancy, interesting characters and love. I do not want to give anything away. There are several parts in this book that will throw you a curveball. That is what Brandon Sanderson is a genius at. He will always keep you guessing. This book quickly worked its way up my list of favorites.

For my birthday present two years ago, my husband purchased all of Brandon Sanderson’s novels in hardcover from the author. He made sure to have this book specially signed for me. If that is not romance, I do not know what is! Perhaps this book inspired the romantic in him.

Is my hair turning red?

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Happy Birthday “Honey”

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There were two things I craved above all else when I was pregnant. Ice cream and store bought cake. I did not care what form these two came in; whether it was sundaes, shakes, chocolate, or vanilla. All I knew was they could not be mixed.

So, when I was pregnant with my second child, I decided to do something a little crazy. A tad bit more than self indulgent. I decided that what our household needed was a bona fide birthday cake for an afternoon treat.

Here was the problem, it was no one in our household’s birthday. I wracked my brain thinking of something we could celebrate. “Hey, honey. When do you think our cat was born?” Hmmmm. “What day would you say you proposed to me?” “How many months has it been since we put in that dryer?” None of those reasons panned out.

So, I finally decided to just ask my husband to get me a cake from the grocery store.

“Why?” He asked.

“Because I want one.”

Silence. Judgement. Not gonna happen.

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I was desperate. I had to have a birthday cake at any cost. I made up a plan of action.

The next time I was at the grocery store, I casually walked up to the bakery counter.

“How can I help you?”

I stood there paralyzed. Now was my moment of truth. I tried to act casual.

“I would like to order a birthday cake,” I said trepidly.

“What kind and how big?”

Oh no, I had not planned that far in advance. I quickly glanced at the selections.

“I guess I would like a sheet cake.” Ya, that’ll do it.

I started getting into this whole ordering procedure. This wasn’t so bad.

“Can you make it half chocolate and half vanilla with some of that yummy cream inside? And with whipped vanilla topping?”. OHHHH YAAAA!

“When would you like this?”. Hmmm. “Now,” didn’t seem like the right thing to say if I wanted to keep my dignity intact.

“Tomorrow morning,” I replied.

She looked up at me. I could see the quizzical look in her eyes. I retained a poker face.

“What would you like it to say?”

Oh No! It has to say something? Why hadn’t I realized this? I just thought, “Gimme a cake,” would have been to blunt.

WHAT AM I GOING TO SAY?

It was a very long pause. A couple of moments passed and still nothing came to me.

I finally blurted out, “Happy Birthday, Honey. I would like it to say “Happy Birthday Honey.””

Yes, that is what my brilliant mind came up with. I could not even think of a real name.

At this point I knew my jig was up. I kept my head high even as I saw her biting her cheek. I did not care. I had passed all the trials. My reward was coming.

I could barely sleep that night from the excitement.

I went to the store the next day and bought that beautiful cake. “Is this okay?” she asked as she lifted the top to show me my creation.

“Sure. Sure. It’s beautiful. He’s going to love it.” I mumbled. I rushed out of the store with my giant desire.

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Here is the problem. ” Honey” did not know I had ordered a cake. “Honey” did not want a cake. “Honey” was in for a treat.

I came home and proudly lifted the top of the box to show him what I had done. He looked at me like I had grown two heads. “What is this? Who is Honey?”

“It’s a birthday cake. It’s for you. Don’t you want any?”

Again silence. Then “Honey” just turned around and walked away shaking his head.

I did not care. I breathed in the glorious scent of victory. And then I ate it. I ate that cake for breakfast. I ate that cake for lunch. I ate that cake for dinner and dessert and any other meal I could think of. I ate it until it was all gone. My husband never ate one piece of it. He refused to acknowledge its existence.

Yes, I ate a whole sheet cake! All by myself! In less time than it should ever have taken.

“Honey” was very happy indeed.