Chicken Pot Pie

Another cold weather fave! If you are a purist, feel free to make the pie crust from scratch. I usually do make crusts from scratch for holiday pies, or if company's coming, but the rest of the time I'm lazier, and honestly, the rolled-up premade ones you buy at the store are so good I can hardly tell the difference. You can double this recipe if you need to feed a larger crowd than a family of three to four, but you will need to do a bit of cutting and shaping of the pie crusts if you use premade ones. Also, if you're trying to watch your fat intake, 2% milk and margarine taste just fine in this recipe!

Kathy's Pot Pie

1 stalk celery, sliced

4 baby carrots, slivered

3 red potatoes, cubed

3/4 pound boneless chicken, trimmed of fat and cut in cubes

2 Tbsp chopped onion

1/4 cup canned peas

1 can mushroom pieces and stems

1/3 cup butter or margarine

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup flour

fresh ground pepper

2 cups milk

1 rolled premade pie crust

Put the celery, potatoes, and carrots in a medium saucepan, cover with water and boil for 20 minutes. Saute the chicken and onions in a frying pan until the chicken is cooked and set aside. In another sauce pan, melt the butter, then stir in the flour, salt, and a dash or two of fresh ground pepper. Add the milk and stir constanly over low heat until thickened, then remove from heat. In a medium bowl, gently mix together the chicken, onions, celery, potatoes, carrots, and drained mushrooms and peas. Mix in the sauce, then pour into a 9x9 casserole dish. Cover with the pie crust, trimming off the excess. Cook for 1 hour at 350 degrees.