Operation Frozen Pot Pie Freedom

I went a little overboard with my Chili making earlier in the winter season, causing me to need to find a new cold weather food favorite. About this time I found myself craving a good Chicken Pot Pie. Pot pies were never a favorite of mine growing up. We always had the kind that you pull out of the freezer and pop in the oven. Richard has the same pot pie past as myself, so he was less than ecstatic and very skeptical upon hearing that I was on a mission to find the easiest tastiest Chicken Pot Pie recipe.

After a week of sighs and nasty faces from Richard at just the thought of a pot pie, I started to feel guilty about making it. I actually pushed it back to the very end of the week, making every other meal possible, until I ran out of other options.

The final product...



30 minutes and multiple helpings for Richard later...


Yeah. It was THAT good.


Chicken Pot Pie

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed (I found sliced chicken breast at Kroger, so all I had to do was cut them into cubes. I'm all about easy)
  
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup frozen green peas*
  
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed (we didn't have celery seed on hand and I didn't know what celery seed as, so I figured the actual celery would be enough. See how new I am to homemade cooking :))
  
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
  
• 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts (we used Kroger brand and they were awesome)

*We are not fans of peas, so we kept them out and added more carrots and celery.


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.)
2. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
3. In the saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.