Sunday Lunch

I tried a new recipe today for our Sunday lunch.  This was a little different for us because we usually have Subway footlongs on Sunday. It has become quite a tradition.  I have discovered the joy of coming home from church, feeding starving children quickly, and not having to clean up the kitchen. It is great!  But, today I returned to our old Sunday lunch tradition and made a recipe worth remembering.  I thought I would type it here so I can reference it later.  Here is a picture.....

Okay, so it wasn't beautiful, but the taste was wonderful!  I don't pride myself in making food look beautiful, just making it extremely edible!  I used this recipe, from The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook as my guide and changed it up a bit....

First Thing:  Make the Pie Crust!

I used this recipe.  It literally took me less than 10 mins and it was Deeeee-Licious!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/p-p-p-pie_crust_and_its_p-p-p-perfect/

Second:  Make the Filling

Ingredients:

3 celery stalks, chopped fine

1 regular bag of frozen mixed veggies

  (mine had carrots, green beans, peas, and corn)

1 large onion, chopped

4 Tbsp. real butter

2 cups cooked chicken

1/4 cup AP Flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. salt

Coarse black pepper

Ok, after you have all the ingredients layed out.  Start putting together.....

Combine celery, mixed veggies, and onion in a large bowl.  It should look nice and chunky like this....

While this is waiting to be cooked, :)  Melt the butter in a nice, big pan.  I use real butter.  It really does make it taste better. Plus, my cholesterol was down and I need to do something about that! :)

Saute all vegetables in the pan until translucent.  This will take about 5 minutes.  Next, add the chicken....
(I used 4 bone-in, skinless chicken breasts for this.  I deboned and shredded with my fingers.  This always seems to make it better!) 
Add the flour and let cook for a few minutes before adding the chicken broth.  This will make a very yummy sauce!

The last steps involve adding the cream and seasonings. The recipe called for specific amounts of seasoning, but I added a little more.  I like LOTS of pepper in mine!  This is what the finished filling looks like.

Step 3:  Assemble and Cook!

I chose to refrigerate both of these until the next day.  It just seems to allow the flavors to develop!

This can also be completely assembled and frozen until ready to use.  This is great for busy moms like me!!

Assembly is simple!  Just remove the prepared crust from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface.  Dump the filling ingredients into two pie pans or one large casserole dish.  (I used 2 pie pans so any leftovers can be used later!)  Top the filling with pie crust.  The crust should completely cover the filling and be sealed off.  Next, make a few slits in the top for the heat to escape.  That's it!  Just cook at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.  The family will love it!!!