Chicken Pot Pie 2 Ways

Not a very pretty picture but this stuff is so good. I made this from scratch. This potpie has spinach, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots and corn in it along with very little chicken. The other pot pie I made had chicken, potatoes, carrots, green beans and corn. Hubby does not eat Spinach or mushrooms. He doesn't know what he is missing.

Since I am on a low sodium diet I made my own sauce. It is not low in fat at all. It is heavy cream, milk, chicken broth, butter and flour.  I looked at my normal  soup and even the low sodium had 600 something milligrams in it.

The crust is up to you. This time I used crescent rolls but I normally either make a pie crust, drop biscuits, or flour milk mix that goes on top and makes a crust.  You don't see any crust on this one as my 6 year old stole it off my plate. It is a carb and I am not supposed to have that many is what he told me.

Recipe for the Spinach Chicken Pot Pie- can be doubled to make a really large pot pie

1 can Popeye's Spinach- rung out
1/2 can corn-drained
1/2 can carrots-drained
2 potatoes -cubed and boiled in broth
one cup chicken breast- boiled
Mushrooms- sauteed in olive oil
1/2 small onion- diced sauteed in olive oil

Mix this and place in bowl. Add cream mixture (recipe below). Place in 8x8 casserole dish. Cover with half can of crescent rolls and bake until the crescent rolls are Golden Brown and delicious.



Recipe for the Regular Chicken Potpie- can be doubled to make a large pot pie

1 cup chicken
1/2 can corn-drained
1/2 can carrots- drained
2 potatoes- cubed and boiled in broth
1 can Allen's green beans- rinsed and drained
1/2 small onion - diced and sauteed in olive oil

Mix this and place in bowl. Add cream mixture (recipe below). Place in 8x8 casserole dish. Cover with half can of crescent rolls and bake until the crescent rolls are Golden Brown and delicious.

Sauce for both pies. Or just one really large pot pie.
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup milk
1 stick butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
chicken broth

Make a rue out of the flour and butter. Once it is combined with out lumps add the cream and milk. Let this thicken and then add chicken broth until you get it to the consistency you want. (Should be like gravy.) Pour half over one pot pie mix and pour the other half over the other pot pie mix.

Variations: This can be vegetarian with the addition of vegetable broth and the leaving out of the chicken. I have made this with hamburger  meat in it instead of chicken. You can use low fat milk and leave out the cream. I really want to play around with this and add curry powder and coconut milk to it but haven't decided what vegetables it needs. This can be made ahead and frozen. If I do that I make it in the little foil pans and freeze them. Then I wrap them in plastic wrap, foil and them put them in a freezer bag.

The Mom Pledge

Here is an important addition to my side bar. It is THE MOM PLEDGE.

"The Mom Pledge is about bloggers standing up, speaking out, and coming together to eradicate online bullying of moms by other moms. The time has come for us to take the power back and own this issue."

 

Here is the web site. http://www.efloraross.com/  Please go by and add it to your blog. It is really important to do this.  We lead by example. There is enough bullying around that our children and people important to us see. We really should stop it now. We are adults, parents, and grand parents. We are watched in every thing we do. There is really no need to bully any one. You don't want to be bullied so we don't need to do it to others.

Thai Peanut Chicken and Egg Rolls

 I got to cheat a little today on my diet. I left the salt out but I did deep fry my egg rolls. Inside them is cabbage, onion, hamburger and tofu. I browned the hamburger and onion. I then drained the grease and added shredded cabbage. I cooked it until the cabbage was tender. When assembling them I added tofu to half of them. I then folded them together and fried them until golden brown and delicious.

Here is a Southern Version of Thai Peanut Chicken. I baked the chicken breast until done. I then made a peanut sauce and poured over them and baked.

The peanut sauce was a little bit of a this and that recipe. I do not have access to fish sauce and probably will never unless someone sends me some. (I live in a food void)  I added 1/4 cup of coconut flakes, one clove garlic, half small onion and about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to a blender and took it for a spin. I then added 3 tepin peppers (Very very hot peppers from Mexico  Thank you @Deray!!!.) 1/2 cup of chunky peanut butter, a tablespoon soy sauce (yes I am on low sodium but this is a must have and a little goes a long way) I blended it until I had a paste. When I put it on the chicken I just brushed a little on the top of the chicken with the back of a spoon. I put the rest in a pint jar. I was going to serve it over noodles but my kid dipped their chicken in it.

Salt free Porkchop, mushrooms and asaparagus

Tonight I had sauteed Mushrooms (in olive oil), pan roasted asparagus in roasted garlic powder, and a pan fried pork chop with cheese and left over salsa from the fish tacos.  This is my main meal for the day.

The up side to eating this way is my blood sugar levels are staying right at 190. Yes that is a little high but it beats 500. I limit my carbs, and no sugar, salt or little caffeine (If I got off caffeine no one could live with me)

I eat a carb for my night snack to keep my blood sugar from crashing at night. (It likes to do that about 2:30 in the morning)

For dessert I try to make sugar free pudding and cool whip. Cool whip has little sugar in it and I can eat something that is sweet. I only do this every once in a while because I am not a big sweet eater.

Here is a dish that is a collaboration from my son, daughter and me. The ratatouille is my daughters. It is eggplant, zucchini, tomato,onion, and garlic. The shrimp are my sons idea. They are grilled with garlic butter. The fish  is cooked in foil with a little coconut oil and a little salt. I felt like the fish needed a little salt to give it some umph. This one is a keeper.

Salt Free Fish Taco

Since I am on a low sodium diet I have to be inventive. Today Rebekka and I made a Salt free Fish Taco. This has sodium in it but no added salt. Just about every thing has sodium in it.

I made salsa with jalapenos (from a jar), onion, garlic, and two cans of tomatoes. (I added no salt but if you are not restricted I would add it.) The fish is pan fried in olive oil and salt free garlic and herb seasoning. (I think it is Mc Cormick but I have several herb mixes that I am playing with.) The cheese is the thing with the most sodium in it. The tortilla is pan fried on one side in olive oil. 

My favorite pick me up to any dish is sriracha. It adds spiciness to my dishes. I always add it after I cook something. The thing I am struggling with is the lack of taste in salt free foods. I found a few low sodium snack foods that I can have.  I am planning on spending extra time at the grocery store this weekend minus kids to look around and hunt some more snack down. I have to eat every three hours to keep my blood sugar regulated. I have a hard time doing that due to the fact I would always skip meals. I don't feel like eating every three hours so I am making my self eat something. Some times it is just a hand full of veggies, or a piece of cheese.

I am planning on going over the low sodium diet restrictions this next week. I will put together ideas and ask for suggestions if any one has any please feel free to comment. If you have a blog post on this subject please let me know and I will put it up for every one to see.

I WIll Return

Yes I have been a very bad blogger. I have not been blogging lately at all. I have good reason I really do. I was in the hospital. When I got out they had changed my diet around so much I had to struggle with what I could eat and what I had to give up. The give up list was so long and the what I could eat list was so short.

Most of yall know that I am a diabetic. Well after getting pneumonia in January I got congestive heart failure in February. When I got out of the hospital I had lost 18 lbs. all that was fluid. I had to hold up my jeans when I walked out of there. Yes instant weight loss is good but fluid is bad.

With all of this going on I had to go thru tons of test. They even drew 13 tubes of blood at one time. They are still running test and trying to find out why I am retaining so much fluid. I am up again by 20 lbs.

With all of this they have taken  off sugar, salt, caffeine, and fat. I have become a white meat vegetarian. I eat alot of vegetables. I can not have processed foods so that means I can not have any thing in a can and alot of stuff from a grocery store. I have comfort in the fact that I can still have my Allen's frozen vegetables. (Remember I am an Allens Ally after all) 

This has led us into planting an even bigger garden this year. We have given up on the hogs for right now. We had the last two taken to the slaughter house. We ended up with 535 lbs of pork. It is going to feed about 8 families. (Ours included) I have started to cook two meals at dinner. Mine and then hubby's. The funny thing is my kids want mine more than his most nights.

So I figure we will all take this journey together in to the world of no salt, sugar, caffeine or fat. We will find taste and struggle with what we have to give up. I will try to be a better blogger and keep yall better informed.