Chicken Pot Pie

My mom has been going on and on about this chicken pot pie she made for weeks so I finally bought the ingredients to make it this past Sunday since it isn't really an after work meal since it takes over an hour of cooking time.

After almost a week of the flu bug swirling around the Eddy household, I think Justin was very excited to have a nice, home-cooked, Sunday-kinda meal. And to be quite honest, I seldom make traditional, home-cooked meals like meatloaf or pot pie. So when something like this is on the menu, it's always a treat for the Ju-man.

Since I usually associate with pot pie as being very high-calorie/fat, I was pleasantly surprised to see the recipe my mom used didn't even have that many unhealthy ingredients, so it really wasn't difficult to revise it to get it under 500 calories. I also added some extra veggies since it was an easy way to incorporate them into a meal.

It ended up being a big thumbs up from adults to the kiddos! Both Nick (9mos) & my nephews (7 & almost 2) loved this dish...if Jake would taste anything these days, I am sure he would've, too. I have no doubt that it will be on the menu for when the boys go for their next sleepover at Nonna's!

INGREDIENTS:
- 3c cooked chicken breast, diced (you can grill or boil some chicken breasts or use canned chicken in water)
- 1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium leeks, the bottom white portion only, chopped
- 1/2c flour
- 14oz low-sodium chicken stock
- 2.5c frozen pea/carrot mixture
- 1/2c fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1tbsp water
- 2 pie crusts - I used the Pillsbury regular 2-pack

HOW-TO:

Preheat your oven to 375*.

Coat a pie-dish with cooking spray. Place one of the pie crusts in the pie-dish and set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped leeks & saute for about 3 minutes. Add the flour & the chicken broth & whisk until the mixture begins to thicken, about 3 minutes. Mix in the chicken, pea/carrot mixture and parsley. Pour the mixture into the pie dish.

Slice the remaining pie crust into long pieces and make a lattice (basket-woven) top pie crust on the pot pie. Mix the water & egg & brush on the pie crust.

Bake for about 55-60 minutes, until the crust is golden & the mixture is bubbling. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes before serving.

"Yummy, Mama!"

TIPS:
- This is great as leftovers, so make it on a Sunday to bring for lunch for a couple of days.
- Leeks can have somewhat of a bold flavor, so swap them with celery or skip them all together if you don't like the taste.
- To cute some calories & carbs, skip the bottom pie crust.

Nutritional Info Per Serving (recipe yields 6 servings):
Calories: 459
Fat: 19g
Sodium: 530mg
Protein: 25g
Carbs: 40g