Beef Pot Pie

Whenever I make pot roast, I always have too much leftovers. Dylan isn't a huge fan, and there's only so many days in a row in which I can eat pot roast. That's when I decided that I needed to figure out how to use up these leftovers so I wasn't throwing away food. My first idea was a recipe I remember eating as a kid, Beef and Noodles.

Then, one day, I got a brilliant idea. I love those cheap little beef pot pies that you buy in the frozen section, and I was craving one. Sadly, they aren't the greatest thing in the world for you. So I decided I was going to make my own. My first attempt was OK, though it was pretty bland as I didn't add any salt or other seasonings, assuming the gravy packets and the seasoning from the meat would take care of it. (Spoiler: They didn't.) So here is my improved recipe.

Beef Pot Pie
(Printable Version)

Ingredients

• 2 packages brown gravy mix
• 2 pre-made pie crusts
• 2 organic russet potatoes, skinned and diced
• 2-3 carrots, diced
• 1 cup leftover pot roast, diced
• 1/2 cup mushrooms
• 1/2 cup frozen sweet peas, thawed
• Salt
• Pepper
• Onion powder

Directions

• Put bottom crust in a 9 inch pie pan. Either poke a few holes in the bottom with a fork, or use dried beans or pie weights to keep it from bubbling up. Bake in a preheated 450 F oven for 7-9 minutes or until slightly browned.
• Meanwhile, cook gravy according to packages. Add the potatoes and carrots and simmer for about 15 minutes or until veggies are tender. Add the roast, mushrooms, and sweet peas and mix well.
• Taste gravy and add salt, pepper, and onion powder to taste.

• Pour the gravy mixture into the baked pie crust. Cover with the second pie crust. Put a couple of vent slits on the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 9 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving. 

My Take 

I didn't measure how much salt, pepper, or onion powder I put in. For salt it was probably close to 1/4 teaspoon or more. The pepper and onion powder was only a dash. But take my advice, taste the gravy! Once you put it in the pie crust, you won't have a chance to season it, so make sure you get it right the first time, otherwise you're going to have a bland pot pie.

You also want to cut up your potatoes pretty small. The first time I made it, the potatoes were too big and took over the whole thing.

Because this is a leftover dish, you can use whatever veggies you want. For instance, even though the recipe calls for carrots, I usually use the cooked carrots leftover from my pot roast and add them in when I add in the peas. This time, though, I didn't have any, as my baby carrots went bad. So, I used the frozen pea and carrot combo, and it worked out great. I also didn't have any mushrooms on hand, so I just omitted them. Yet, it still tasted great.

And remember, you can always sub your own homemade crust for the pre-fab ones. I'm not very good at making crusts (a future project of mine) so I just always buy the pre-made ones for now. I'm sure this would taste even better with a homemade crust. :)

Simple Pot Roast with Vegetables

When I think of pot roast, I think of family dinner after church on Sundays. It was a special meal with mashed potatoes and gravy, delicious cooked carrots, and ketchup. (My brother and I apparently didn't have very good taste buds when we were kids). Sadly, my husband isn't a huge roast fan, but I love it, so I've been on the hunt for a good roast recipe. I found several while searching the internet, but all of them used packets of gravy or dressings and it just sounded too salty for me. I also didn't want that much salt, because I was planning on feeding Lucy some.

So I do what I've done recently when I haven't found exactly what I'm looking for: I made something up. And this turned out great. More to follow after the recipe.

Ingredients

• 3-5 pound bottom round roast
• 1 (14.5 oz) can low sodium beef broth
• 5-6 organic russet potatoes, skinned and quartered
• 10-15 baby carrots or 3-4 large carrots cut into bite-sized pieces
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder

Directions

You have to get inventive sometimes to get all the sides brown

• Season the roast with a pinch of salt and pepper. In a large non-stick skillet, brown all sides of the roast. 

• Place the potatoes and carrots in the bottom of your slow cooker. Place the roast on top. Pour the beef broth over the roast and vegetables. Season the roast with a sprinkling of the garlic and onion powders.
• Cook on Low for 8 hours, turning the roast over about halfway through. Roast is done when meat thermometer reads 160°F. Allow the roast to rest for 15-20 minutes before carving, allowing the juices to set.

My Take

I love how this yummy roast can be achieved by just a few simple ingredients. They aren't overpowering and really allows the meat to take center stage.

What I like to do is to take the potatoes out about 30 minutes before the slow cooker is done and use them to make mashed potatoes. I find that when I cook them with the meat, they get a wonderful flavor. And as an added bonus, pot roast makes wonderful leftovers! I also strain the liquid leftover, heat it up in a saucepan with some flour, and make a gravy which I use on the whole meal. Sometimes I do have to add some salt since there isn't a lot added in the cooking of the meat.

Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie

I recently had a couple of boneless skinless chicken breasts hanging out in my freezer that I wanted to use up. I know chicken is healthy for me, but I get burned out on it super fast, and I don't like eating just a chicken breast. So, I scoured the Internet, searching for something I could make with the few ingredients I had on hand (didn't do a good job this week on thinking ahead grocery-wise).

What I came up with was a slow cooker chicken and dumplings. I found a few recipes, and then I noticed some of them added veggies, so to me, it seemed more like a slow cooker chicken pot pie. I thought, "Hey, I have some canned veggies that have been lounging around my pantry for a long time. This'll be a good time to use them! There's also some baby carrots which need to be used up too!" So I did some more digging. I found a recipe that seemed good to me, but I decided to change it to suit what I had on hand. So the following is what I put in mine. In the "My Take" section, I'll let you know what I liked, didn't like, and what I would change next time I make it.

A few of the ingredients you'll need

Ingredients 

• 2 large skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 2 (10.5 oz) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• Garlic salt
• Celery salt
• Ground black pepper
• Mrs. Dash's no-salt original recipe
• Onion poweder
• 1/2 can sweet peas
• 1/2 can green beans
• 1 1/3 cup Bisquick mix
• 6 tablespoons milk

Directions

Throw everything except for the Bisquick mix and milk into the crock pot, just sprinkling the garlic salt, celery salt, ground black pepper, Mrs. Dash's, and onion powder onto the chicken breasts to season them. Cook on Low for 5 hours. After 5 hours, shred the chicken in the crock pot. Cook for 1 more hour on Low. Mix the Bisquick and milk together to make dumplings. Drop the dumplings, spoonful by spoonful, into the crock pot. Cook on High for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Dish is done when the dumplings are cooked all the way through.

After the chicken has been shredded

My Take

I was pretty unsure as to how this was going to turn out, but my fears were proved wrong. This was amazing! I was worried that it would be too salty or the dumplings wouldn't cook right, but nope! I was pretty amazed that the dumplings cooked so well in the slow cooker.

I initially made the dumpling recipe as listed on the Bisquick box, but it didn't look like enough, so I doubled it. I'm glad I did.

People have also used canned biscuits, but since I didn't have any on hand, I just did the dumplings. It's also said that you should cut the chicken into chunks before you put it in the crock pot, but I've found that if you leave the breasts whole, they hold their juices better and stay more moist.

If you love home made chicken pot pie, I highly encourage you to make this. Feel free to substitute your own veggies and add some more. I think next time I make it I may add a bit of water, as I wanted it a bit more soupy. The biscuits/dumplings tend to suck up the moisture once added.

In conclusion, this will be added to my crock pot recipes and I will definitely make this during the winter months. Especially when the temperatures are as cold as they are today: 1 with a windchill of  -2!