Chicken Pot Pie

This is a favorite in my house. The recipe yields two 9" pies. I always cook one up and put the filling for the rest in a bag and freeze it for later. When I thaw it out, I warm it up in a skillet with some milk to make it creamy again.


2 cups diced peeled potatoes
1 3/4 cups sliced carrots
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 cup butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp thyme
3/4 tsp pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
4 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
1 pastry for a 9" pie

1. Place potatoes and carrots in a large saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 8-10 minutes or until crisp tender. Drain and set aside. In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, thyme and pepper until blended. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add the chicken, peas, corn, potatoes and carrots; remove from the heat.

2. Fill one 9" pie plate with half the chicken mixture. Reserve rest for freezing. Roll out pastry to fit top of the pie, trim.

3. Bake one potpie at 425 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Land stand for 15 minutes before cutting.

Matt's Chore Chart

I have always tried different ways to gently remind my kids to do their chores. Matt is the one who loves lists. Like mother, like son. So I found, for free mind you, a chore chart system from Notebooking Nook that I love.

I printed out the sheets I would be using and used my handy laminator to laminate each sheet. After I did that, I cut out the cards and put velcro on the backs of each card (I didn't use all cards that were given like the tithes and prayer cards) and on the blank chart.

 

Then every night, after he has gone to bed, I add the chores he needs to do the next day. Each day is something different.

 

When he does a chore, he puts them in this cute little box I got. When I originally posted this over at Homesteadblogger, I was using money to get him to do his chores. At the time he hardly ever used the computer or other gaming systems that we have. Now, he is always on my computer when I am not, so I need to update it to earning time to use my computer. Probably like 10 minutes earned for every chore done.

 

 

Why I love thrift shops

We have this wonderful little thrift shop in town that I go to a lot. Either to donate or to buy clothes for Matt. The other day, I was going through all Matt's winter clothes (it has been getting chilly here in NH) and I noticed that he had hardly any long sleeve shirts. So I headed out to the thrift shop to see what they have.

Let's see if you can pick out which picture of clothes came from the thrift shop. Top picture has 2 polo's, 2 thermal shirts and a fleece sweatshirt. Second picture has a pair of thick camo pants, a sweater and 2 long sleeve t-shirts.

Cost of picture number one was $38.40. It is Walmart brand clothes except the fleece shirt. That is by Starter. Bottom picture cost me $8.00 and consists of L.L.Bean pants, a Walmart brand shirt and two named brand. As you can tell the thrift shop clothes are still in perfect condition and have no stains on them. Matt even noticed that the camo print on the pants is actually paw prints. I had no idea until I really looked at it. hehe.

I have no problem buying from thrift shops and even prefer it to a regular store. I hate spending a ton of money on clothes for Matt when he is going to grow out of them in a few months. I have also bought myself some really nice things at thrift shops too. Not to mention the money I spend there goes back into the community and helps other people.