Tonight's Meal

Awesome dinner this evening. Remember the chicken I had left over...I made semi-home made pot pie. I made the crust from scratch (I'll put the recipe for that at the end of this post. It's so simple), added the chicken I had from the Smoked Chicken I did on Sunday and used a Betty Crocker Chicken and Noodle Hamburger Helper. Now I have figured out the cost of making crust from scratch before and I can make it for about $.30 depending on the brand and cost of flour I purchase. The chicken cost was $1.18 (1/3 of the chicken from Sunday) and the Chicken and Noodle Helper I got back in July (I think) when Krogers was having a Mega Event and I found 4 different flavors of Betty Crocker Hamburger and Chicken Helper marked for $.80. I posted about that back then under the Kroger matchups. You purchased 10 products and got $5 instantly at the register. At the time there were $.75/3 coupons out there and I purchased 5 of the Sloppy Joe flavor and 5 of the Chicken Noodle flavor for a total cost of $8.00. I used the 3 $.75/3 coupons which were raised to $1 and got the $5 off instantly. End result was I got the product free. Needless to say I purchased as much as I could and ended up with 30 boxes of Hamburger and Chicken Helper. So...cost for the Chicken Pot Pie was $1.48 for the whole pie. We cut it into 8 sections which makes each serving roughly $.18. So for about $.72 (yes we both had two pieces each) my husband and I had a dinner with left overs we look forward to eating tomorrow evening. Awesome.

If I could make a suggestion on this dish it is this...when you make the Chicken Noodle Helper the way the instructions state and then pour it into the pie crust, the crust soaks up a little bit of the juice so next time I will add 1/2 cup more milk than the recipe calls for. Will make a bit more gravy so to speak.

Now for the recipe for the pie crust. This is the simplest recipe I have ever found and it is fool proof. In other words, if I can make this then you can too.

2.5 cups flour
3/4 cups shortening
1 tsp salt
6 to 7 tablespoons ice water.

Measure out the flour and put into a large bowl. Add the salt and mix it in good with a fork. Then add in the shortening and using the fork, mix it in until it resembles crumbs. You want a crumbly mixture. Then add in 5 tablespoons of the water. Mix that in with your fork and add more water until the dough all sticks together. The dough should not be sticky, but not to dry either. It always takes about 6.5 tablespoons for me.

Then I roll the dough into a ball and using a sharp knife, I cut the dough in half. Sprinkle some flour (just a little) on your table top or counter top and get out the ole rolling pin and roll away. It always helps to have your pie pan next to you so you can eyeball when you have your pie crust circle the right size. Put the bottom crust in your pie pan and cook at 450 degrees for about 12 minutes. Then pour in the Chicken Noodle Helper mix. Now add the top crust and pop it back into the over for about another 12 minutes or until you crust is as brown as you like it. If you want your crust to be shiny, then brush a little egg white on the crust.

That's all there is to it. In my favorite words...waalaaa you have home made pie crust. Little point here, you don't have to use ice water, but I find it makes a better crust than just using cold tap water. I can't explain it, but it does. So there you have it. Semi home made Pot Pie for $1.48. Yes you could go to the store and purchase pot pies right now at SuperValue I think for $.50, but you'd have to purchase about 8 of them to get as much as this recipe makes and that would cost you $4 versus the $1.48. This recipe taste better, is a lot cheaper and gives you the satisfaction of cooking something instead of just heating something up in the oven.