Chicken Pot Pie

Alright!  New recipe!  I'm very excited about this one, because it was brand spankin' new to me and sooooo not something I would ever think to make on my own.  Bing has been wanting chicken pot pie for a while now - you know, the frozen kind that most people think is the only way you can actually have chicken pot pie.  Growing up I probably had a handful (if that) of those frozen pot pies because my dad loved them, but my mom always said they were terrible for you.  Well, Maggie, my very awesome and creative friend, tried this homemade recipe for chicken pot pie a few weeks ago and her husband, Jake (who's a bit of a picky eater) loved it.  I figured since its homemade, it doesn't have any preservatives or any of that junk in it so it probably won't be so unhealthy.  I gave it a try tonight, and Bing liked it.  Granted, Bing will eat most things I put in front of him, but you can't go wrong with meat and veggies in a pie.  (Although his request for the next one is Sheppards Pie... We'll see about it!)
I like this recipe because its super easy and I like super easy.  

You will be using a 9 in. round cake pan

 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
1/4 cup Zesty Italian dressing (I used Robusto Italian because they only had Kraft Zesty and I don't like Kraft dressing... It worked out just fine!)
4 oz. cream cheese, also cubed for easier melting
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed 
2 refrigerated pie crusts

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Cook chicken and dressing in large skillet over medium heat for two minutes (or until cooked... You'll have a bunch of liquid in the skillet - don't drain it!)
• Mix in cream cheese, continue cooking, and stir until melted
• Add flour, mix well 
• Add broth and vegetables, simmer 5 minutes 

The recipe says to put the mixture right into the cake pan, but, like Maggie, I like a top and a bottom to my pies (and you can't really buy a single pie crust), so put one pie crust in the bottom of the pan, add mixture, and top with the other crust.

Flute the edges and cut 4 slits to let the steam escape.  Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  I do a lot of guestimating here since its really hard to tell on our oven what temperature you are using so I think my oven may not have been hot enough, and I had to leave the pie in a little longer to cook the crust the whole way through.  No biggie!