Chicken Pot Pie

I used to look forward to Chicken Pot Pie night as a kid. I don't know why, but I just love them! So when my sister-in-law contributed a recipe for homemade Chicken Pot Pie to our family cookbook, I was so excited! I've made it several times in the last few months, so I thought I'd share it here. The crust is my mom's pie crust recipe, that I've modified to make it more hearty/ healthy for pot pies, but it is a great recipe for all kinds of pies too, including Kristen's famous Pumpkin Pie. (The recipe is for 2 pie crusts, since you need 2 for pot pie.)

Pie Crust:
2 2/3 c. flour (I used 1/2 white whole wheat, 1/2 regular)
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. shortening
4-5 Tbsp ice cold water

With a pastry blender, blend flour, salt and shortening. Add water a little at a time until dough can be formed into a ball. (The more it is blended, the less crumbly it will be.) Divide into 2 balls. [My mom taught me to roll out the dough between a pastry sheet and wax paper. It also works between 2 pieces of wax paper. Roll out to desired thickness/ size. Peel off top layer of wax paper and place on top of pie pan before you peel off the other piece of wax paper/ pastry sheet. This prevents the normal problems of dough sticking or breaking.] Place the first pie crust into the pot pie dish (I use a small deep-dish casserole dish). Roll out the second crust and set aside.

Pot Pie Filling:
4 chicken beast halves, cooked and shredded
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can potato soup
1 (16 oz) pkg frozen mixed veggies (peas, corn, carrots)
1 tsp pepper
1-2 cups fresh green beans, cut into 1" pieces (lightly steam with onions)
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped

Mix chicken, soups, veggies and pepper together in a large bowl. Scoop into prepared pie crust. Top with remaining pie crust, pinch together with bottom crust to seal. Cut several slits in the top, to release steam. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes, until crust is golden. Allow to stand 5 minutes before serving.

Throw-Together Tortellini Salad

This isn't what I would necessarily consider a 'recipe' but I thought I'd include it anyway because it was fun to make, and the pictures turned out nice. :-)

We had people over for lunch last Sunday, and I made Tortellini Soup and a green salad. The package of fresh tortellini was large, and had way too much for the soup, so I tossed the extra (uncooked) pasta into the fridge with the hope of using it for something else this week. Well today, I was not in the mood for a sandwich, so I started looking for what to eat for lunch. The following is the end result.

If nothing else, it serves as a reminder that 1) veggies and pasta are an easy and healthy combination, and 2) Italian dressing can liven up the most boring leftovers! :-)

* I had leftover green salad, with carrots, orange bell peppers, and cucumbers that still looked fresh enough, so I picked out all the lettuce and used the veggies. (I think red peppers would have made a nice addition instead of orange, for colour variety)
* I also had a bunch of chicken breasts that I baked up yesterday (needed to be cooked!) that I plan on freezing for future use... I chopped up 2 small pieces.
* I cooked up the tortellini in salty water until they were just done, and immediately rinsed them in cold water until they were cool.

* While they were cooking, I threw the veggies and chicken into a bowl and lightly tossed it with Italian dressing. Then I added the tortellini, mixed until it was all coated lightly with dressing, and put a light dusting of Parmesan cheese over top.

The peppers ended up being a bit dodgy, so I picked them out,

but all in all, it was a nice, light but filling lunch! :-)

Lemon Coolers

One of the things I realized the other day that I was really missing up here in Canada was Girl Scout Cookies. I used to have them coming out of my ears, or quite literally, out of my freezer, all year long. Every season, I would buy 3 or 4 boxes from the first 4 of my students who asked, and then one box from each other girl selling them at all my schools. Then I would just pop them in my freezer and enjoy them all year, until Girl Scout Cookie time came around again. I was really disappointed the year they told me there weren't Lemon Coolers anymore. They were some of my favorites, along with Thin Mints and Tag-Alongs... Well, the other day, I was sitting here thinking about Lemon Coolers and it hit me-- "I wonder if I could make them?" So I looked around on a few recipe websites, found 3 that seemed good, and set out to try them.
The following is my conglomeration of the 3 recipes, with a few of my own variations as well.
The result: pretty close to what I remember- and really good, to boot.
Enjoy!

[EJ's notes: I didn't have any regular flour on-hand, so I made them entirely with White Whole Wheat Flour. This gave them a pretty hearty texture, but I actually really like it. Also, I was not able to find LEMONADE flavored Kool-Aid, so I used Lemon-Lime flavor instead... its still pretty good. Also, next time, I will add the zest of the lemon I juiced for a little added flavor and color. Lastly, the recipe for lemon sugar made 3 times as much as I needed, so you could easily cut the sugar amount in half, or use this amount for a doubled or tripled recipe.]
Lemon Coolers
Ingredients:
1 cup confectioners (icing) sugar
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup Crisco
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla (generous)
1/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or white whole wheat)
3 tsp baking powder (I was generous because of ww flour)
3 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Lemon sugar:
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 envelope unsweetened Kool-Aid lemonade mix

Directions:
Cream together sugars, Crisco, eggs, and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, and mix into butter mixture. Add 3 Tbsp lemon juice. Dough should be stiff and not too sticky. Chill for 2-3 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325. Pull off bits of dough and roll them into 3/4" balls. (my dough was actually a bit crumbly, but I just kneaded it a bit in my had as I was rolling it, and it was fine) Flatten slightly and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet-- dough will only spread a little. Bake 15-18 minutes.

Combine confectioners sugar and lemonade mix. While the cookies are still warm, roll in the lemon sugar until cookies are well coated. Transfer to cooling rack. Store in airtight container.

Yield: about 4 dozen bite-sized cookies