Pot Pie

Pot pie is so delicious and super easy to make, also since you know what goes in it you don't have the calorie shell shock from reading the back of the Marie Callender's package.

You can either buy the pre-packed pie crusts in the refrigerated section at the market, they are usually near the dough and biscuit tubes or occasionally near the cheese.  Or you can make your own pie crust if you feel up to it.  Pie crust is a fine line between easy and a pain because it really likes to be at too cold or too warm for what you need it to do.  My pie crust recipe below.

Heat oven to 400-425 degrees and prep your pie pan with your pie crust.  Place pan with bottom crust in fridge until ready.

For the innards you need a gravy, some veg and a meat.  I usually make chicken pot pie with onion, carrot, peas and potatoes in them.  For the gravy you can use either a can of cream of chicken soup as your base or chicken broth.  If you go the cream of chicken soup route you may want to add some spice to knock out that canned flavor I find a bit of mustard, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce do the job well.  If you use chicken broth you will need to thicken it with a rue and let it cook down to the desired consistancy.  Salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder are all good additions.  I also like to toss in a bit of bouillon or chicken base to bump up the flavor a bit.

1/4 to 1/2 white or yellow onion	diced fine
2 cloves garlic	minced
1-2 carrots	diced fine
1/4 to 1/2 c peas fresh or frozen
3 medium potatoes	Large dice
Appx 10 oz chicken	Diced
1 tbsp butter
1 can cream of chicken soup + 1/2 can of milk Or 1 c chicken broth 1/2 c milk 2 tbsp flour 1 tbsp butter Opt. 1 bouillon cube

Dice your potatoes into bit sized pieces and boil in a saucepan with salted water.  Cook until they are just a bit firmer than you would want for mashed potatoes but soft enough to bite.  Drain.

Get your rue or your chicken soup going in a sauce pan so it has time to thicken.

Place your onion and a couple of cloves of garlic in a large skillet on medium heat.  Add a bit of salt and pepper, when they have sweated down a bit and started to brown add the carrots.  Cook until carrots are softened and add chicken.  When the gravy is of a decent consistency add it to the skillet and let it all cook up together to meld flavors.  Reserve about a 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of gravy.


After everything has cooked up into a relatively unified mass add the peas, if they are frozen they can just go right in no need to defrost and then add reserved gravy and potatoes before pouring into pie pan.  The potatoes will absorb a lot of gravy if you let them so I add them last minute.  Add top pie crust vent for steam and bake for about 40 minutes or until top is golden and delicious.


This is my pie crust recipe it is an old family recipe from my Aunt.  Get the big mixing bowl out if you don't you'll have flour everywhere unless you are much more talented than me.  Yes the recipe calls for lard and yes that is a scary word for many people, my opinion is you don't eat it everyday so it's not a big deal.  I have made it with shortening and it comes out extremely flaky, which is both a good and bad thing.  Make sure you chill the shortening if you want to go that route.

5 3/4 c flour

2tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1 lb Lard

1tsp vinegar

1 egg beat in cold water to make 1 cup

Mix the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder together in mixing bowl.  Stir the vinegar into the water and egg mixture.  Cut in your fat.  Meaning use a pasty cutter or just a couple of butter knifes to slice it down into little pieces in the flour mixture.  Go at it until the fat is worked in and the mixture is kind of crumbly, but work quickly.  If you have a food processor I know that way works great too, but I have never tried it.  You want to stir in the liquid very slowly until the dough clings together.  You may not need all the liquid.  Roll the dough into a ball, wrap well in plastic wrap and toss into the fridge.  

Divide chilled dough into 4 sections.  You get 4 single crusts so 2 tops and 2 bottoms.  I find it easiest to place each section of dough in between 2 pieces of wax paper for rolling out.  Let the dough sit out until it is just soft enough to roll.  Test it by trying to smash the ball like form into a flat like form.  Roll out into a circle for desired pie plate.  

You can pre-roll and refrigerate or freeze remaining crusts if desired.

Garden update

zucchini

 Well so far my IKEA bag idea seems to be working out well.  These are some zucchini plants that are growing like crazy and have been moved into their bag.  I am so happy because they are seeming so content in their new home and have grown a lot already. They are going on their third week now and I am so excited.

carrots

My carrot bag that got totally trashed by my charming puppy have been replanted and are sprouting happily in their new home.  They are about 12 days in. Yay!

spinach

So cheapy planting idea part 2 milk jugs for plants that need to be in a gallon sized pot.  I have these spinach plants moved into these jugs that I have cut the tops out of.  I drilled some holes in the bottom, and spray painted them.  I had some spray paint left over from other projects so the pots cost me nothing. :)  These are super awesome because you can pour the water into the handle of the jug.  I just moved them into their new homes today and I hope that soon they will flourish.

green beans

These green beans have also taken off wonderfully.  I am so excited.  These are also going into their third week and are very happy.

cucumbers

The cucumbers I have moved into these peat  pots that can be transferred straight into the bags when they are ready.  I am keeping those that are waiting to be transplanted in the little green house still.

basil/ parsley

Basil and parsley have also been moved into peat pots while I wait for them to develop a bit more before they move out into their homes.  I am totally going to baby these as long as possible.




There are a few more that are in their little seed thingie still while they develop a bit more.

Fish Tacos

My husband's salsa only tacos.

I've been meaning to post this for a while.  I love fish tacos, they are a California thing and they are so delicious.  Here at Aldi they have these awesome packages of Tilapia in the freezer section for super cheap.  They are great because the fillets are individually sealed so you just pop them in water in the package and in just a few minutes they are defrosted and ready to go.

For my seasonings I used.

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp each pepper, chili powder, cumin and sugar

1/2 tsp each garlic and onion powder

Dash cayenne pepper

Mix all the dry ingredients together and them set the fish in it like a dry rub.  You may want to use more seasonings if you have more than a couple fillets.

Marinating fish.

Then pour in:

juice from 1 lime

2 tbsp OJ

1 tbsp pineapple juice

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tbsp tequila (optional)

Let the fish marinate for at least 30 min to several hours.

Flaked fish.

Heat a skillet and place fish in, pour remaining marinade on top.  Flip when fish lighten in color around the edge.  Using a spatula gently flake apart the fish.

My tacos.

Heat flour tortillas and spoon fish in.  Top with salsa, and to be traditional cabbage and a crema (Mexican sour cream).  I didn't have cabbage so I used lettuce and some queso fresco.  I did top mine with a cilantro salad dressing that I mixed up. (recipe to follow)