Survey says...chicken pie!

Two days ago - in a totally uninspired moment - I posted on Facebook asking what I should prepare for dinner. I had some chicken breasts, a head of broccoli and some mushrooms laying around. The consensus came down to one of two dishes: chicken pot pie or stuffed chicken breasts.

I was feeling the pot pie idea, so I dove in without giving it much thought. The first thing I realized is that it would have been really nice to have some of that pre-made frozen pastry crust around. But I didn't, so I whipped out Betty Crocker and made her quick recipe: basically throw butter, flour and warm water into the food processor and whip until it forms a ball. Done.

Then I moved onto sauteing my chicken with some garlic and onions. When that was done, I dumped it into a bowl and used the same pan to saute the broccoli and mushrooms. While that was all cooking, I rolled out my dough. It was easier to work with than I expected - whew! I stuck the dough in a pie plate, dumped in the chicken and veggies, and then used my same pan to make some gravy. I melted a pat of butter, threw in a few tablespoons of flour, then poured in some chicken broth from a box. I added salt and pepper and simmered until it was a bit thick, then poured it into my pie. With a crust on the top, I just had to throw it in the oven for a half hour.

That whole process took me about 45 minutes, plus a pretty messy clean-up. (I am a horribly messy cook.) The pie was a hit with Paul and I - score 1! - but A was not at all interested - boo. We had plenty for leftovers last night, but I had to figure out a way to get A to eat it. He does love broccoli soup, so I got the idea to throw a bit of pie in the blender with some milk to make it soupy, and then heat it in the microwave.  He ate about a half cup, maybe a little more, which I'll consider a victory because it got some broccoli and chicken into him.  Before he moved onto his huge bowl of watermelon.

Oh, and as a side note, we had lots of pie crust leftover, so I turned that into a little afternoon project for A and I. 

Sidenote: I recently picked up this Ikea step stool at a garage sale.  It's tall enough so that he can reach the kitchen counter quite well. It may be a bit of a falling hazard, but I'm okay with that for now. 

We rolled out the leftover crust together, and then used a juice glass to cut it into circles. We sprinkled with some cinnamon and sugar, and then baked for about 10 minutes.  A LOVED watching the cookies back through the oven window.  He ate four for an afternoon snack, and seemed quite pleased that he had actually made them himself.