Mini Chicken Pot Pies

chickenpotpie

These little chicken pot pies are perfect for cold winter days. My kids thought that having their own bowl was awesome! Plus the biscuits fit perfectly on top this way. Feel free to make this in one big pan if you don’t want to do personal ones.

Chicken Pot Pie

8 ovenproof bowls or ramekins, about 1 cup each
4 Cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground thyme
2 bay leaves
4 green onions, sliced in chunks
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3 Tablespoons butter
1 Cup diced carrots
1 Cup frozen peas, thawed
1 Cup frozen corn, thawed
5 Tablespoons flour
1 Cup milk
8 Biscuits

  1. Combine chicken broth, pepper, thyme, bay leaves, and onion in a large pan over high heat. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
  2. Add the chicken and continue simmering for another 20 to 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Add enough water to the pot to fully cover the chicken if too much liquid has cooked off.
  3. Remove the chicken and place on a cutting board to cool. Strain the broth. You’ll need 2 1/2 cups.
  4. Cut the chicken into bit size pieces.
  5. In a skillet on the stove, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
  6. Add the peas and corn to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5 minutes.
  7. Stir in the 5 Tablespoons flour just until combined or all the vegetables are coated.
  8. Add 2 1/2 cups chicken broth and the milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. About 5 minutes.
  9. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the chicken.
  10. Preheat oven to 375
  11. Dish out pot pie filling into the ramekins or oven safe bowls and set aside.

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  1. Make biscuits and roll them out to 1/4 inch thick. If you’re using refrigerated biscuits, use half a biscuit.
  2. Place 1 biscuit on top of each ramekin filled with pot pie filling.
  3. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until tops of biscuits are golden brown.

Winter Hacks

So someone on facebook shared these “life hacks” for winter. Actually, if you do a google search you can find them everywhere, and some of them are pretty cool, like kitty litter for if you’re stuck in snow (now, I never have kitty litter so a lot of good this information would do me were I ever stuck in snow). And apparently if you spray your windshield with a vinegar/water mix it will keep the ice from sticking to it – that would be nice, if it works. I like the dry your shoes quickly with newspaper trick and the spray your snow shovel with pan spray so the snow won’t stick – but I never get the paper, I don’t use pan spray, and I don’t own a snow shovel. All very useful tricks if I had something to use them with.

Some of the “hacks” were just downright entertaining.

1. Leave your oven door open after baking so you can help warm up your house – obviously this person is neither clumsy nor has kids. It’s like asking for someone to get burned. Even if I didn’t have kids I would probably trip over the open oven door or do something else to come in contact with the hot oven interior.

2. Place socks on your toilet seat to keep it warm – I can just hear it now “Mom! there’s ANOTHER sock in the toilet!”, “Mom! the toilet won’t flush!”, “Mom! Mom! Mom! come quick, there’s water all over the floor!” Most likely, I would enter the bathroom to see one of my children holding a soggy sock or to see the toilet running over…

3. Try heating a room with tealights – huh? what? how about try burning down your home with tealights? Really, could you heat a room with these? Maybe…but sounds pretty dangerous

4. Use tin foil behind your radiator, space heater, or heating vents to reflect heat back into the house – aaahhh, the aliens are coming! (so, I’ve watched a few too many scifi movies) But, really? Tinfoil in all my rooms?

5. Wear cotton gloves over your hands after you moisturize. This will help lock the moisture into your skin – because I have nothing better to do than sit all day with my hands in gloves…

Gloves

Just back from the mall today and Claire’s has a great sale on winter hats, gloves, and scarves. I just got a lined pair of mittens for $2 and a matching hat for $4.