Confession

Ok, before I can talk about my dinner tonight I have to make a confession. I love Banquet Chicken Pot Pies and Hamburger Helper Stroganoff. I know....I know....for someone who prides herself on making home made meals these are the total opposite. But I grew up loving them and basically lived on the pot pies when I was pregnant with Summer. Hamburger Helper was probably one of the first meals I ever cooked all by myself. I've searched for years for recipes that taste just like these. I have yet to find a recipe thats as good as the HH Stroganoff. However, I finally came up with one that is just as good as the Banquet Pot Pie. So now I can have my guilty pleasure and still feel good about feeding my family a wholesome meal. If you ever come across a stroganoff recipe that tastes like HH please share!!

So, tonight for dinner I made the chicken pot pie. I'm always at a loss as to what to serve with this though. I mean it already has all your food groups so what could you possibly add? Some fruit maybe? Well tonight I made jalapeno cornbread. Not sure it was my favorite thing to go with it however.

I'm a littly picky about my pot pies. I mean....I want them to taste just like the frozen ones. Two crusts, a creamy gravy, lots of veggies and chicken. Definately pie crust and not biscuits or anything like that. So, after many recipes I finally developed one that is perfect. Like I said...I like the frozen ones so if you don't like those then you probably won't like mine....but hey, to each their own.....Don't judge me and I won't judge you.

Robyn's Chicken Pot Pie
serves 8
1 chicken breast half ( I use the bone in ones just because I think they have more flavor when cooked on the bone. If you want to use the boneless stuff feel free. Use 1 pound boneless skinless and cube it)
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup sliced celery
2 small potatoes, peeled & cubed
1/4 cup butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2/3 cup milk
1 can cream of chicken
3 unbaked pie crusts

Preheat oven to 425.
Place chicken breast in large saucepan and cover with chicken broth. Cover and boil for 30 minutes. Remove from broth and set aside. Add carrots, peas, celery and potatoes to the broth and cook 15 minutes or until tender. (If using the bonesless chicken breast skip the first part and just cook the chicken with the veggies.)

Drain broth, reserving 1 1/2 cups for later. Set veggies aside. In the saucepan, cook onion in butter until soft. Stir in flour and seasonings. Slowly stir in reserved chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat. Stir in cream of chicken and cooked veggies. Remove chicken from bone and shred. Add to veggie mixture.

Take one pie crust and break it in half. Add one half to each of the other pie crusts, so that you have two large balls of crust. Roll one crust into a large rectangle about 11x15. Place in a 9x13 in. baking dish, pressing up the sides. Place chicken mixture in the crust. Roll out second crust to a 9x13 rectangle and place on top. Seal edges. Make several slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

Bake in preheated oven 30-35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.