Along with the relief of getting rid of the pot pies, George A. is home and is going along with the challenge. That may mean he doesn’t do any cooking this week, but I’m glad he doesn’t mind participating.
I made the pot pies that formerly resided in my freezer right after Thanksgiving. With a turkey that fed five people - and probably had enough left to feed at least five more - I did not want it to go to waste. Of course, we all ate the turkey sandwiches almost required after Thanksgiving, but there still was more turkey.
Out of the leftover leftovers I made two turkey tetrazzini casseroles, one Italian turkey casserole, and my three little pot pies. Meat is expensive and I was going to stretch that Turkey as far as it would go. The tetrazzini and the Italian casserole were new for me: Dishes I had never made before and I will definitely make again. The pot pies are a favorite of mine.
The pies I make really aren’t pies. They actually consist of whatever vegetables I have in the house that taste scrumptious warmed up or one of those cans of veg-all that can be found in almost any grocery store for under a dollar. I choose a jar of gravy that goes with whatever meat I’m using. Since I was putting Turkey meat in the pot pies I used chicken gravy. I also added some red pepper flakes to top it off since we like a little heat with most food in our house.
The secret to my pot pies, which makes them super easy and at the same time not really pies, is that instead of pie crust I use biscuits. Homemade biscuits work fine, but I prefer the biscuits that come in a tube (they’re easier).
If you’re baking the pot pies right away you put them in the oven for about fifteen minutes, add biscuits to the top and cook for however long the biscuits require at whatever temperature they require. When the pies are done baking you turn them upside-down onto a plate and there is my version of a pot pie. Kid-friendly, aunt approved and great for the cold weather that surrounds our house right now.
If you want to freeze the pot pies to use at a later date, leave the biscuits off and pop the pot pies into the freezer. The meal will stay good for quite some time. When the craving for pot pies kicks in, thaw them on the counter (or in the fridge overnight) and bake them like you would if they were fresh.
The turkey pot pies have been in my freezer since Thanksgiving because I forget to buy biscuits to go with them once they’re frozen. They’re an easy, heart-warming meal to have any time, but I do not enjoy them much without biscuits. Luckily for me, when I went shopping before this challenge I bought biscuits to go with some meal or another I forgot to use them.
This week, when thinking about what I was going to make for supper and scrounging through the fridge for whatever needed to get used, I came across the biscuits. I know if all else had failed I could have made biscuits from scratch, but that would have taken time and energy I did not want to expend on the meal.
For a side I broke out one of the many packets of macaroni and cheese that sits on the dry-goods shelf of our pantry. After I had the macaroni and cheese boiling on the stove, I went to the fridge to get out the butter and milk the box required. Unbeknownst to me I did not have any milk.
I know I am allowing myself to get milk during this challenge. But I also knew last night that it was freezing out, we were going to eat in less than ten minutes and I did not want to run to the store for a quarter cup of milk. I improvised.
I added a little extra butter to the macaroni when it finished boiling, dumped the powdered cheese that comes in the box and then - for some extra liquid to get the macaroni and cheese creamy - threw in some water. I have to admit, water is probably not as nutritional as milk but it got the job done. No one sitting at the table that evening even missed the milk. Until they read this they probably won’t even realize there was no milk in it.
In the end we had a meal that I wanted out of the freezer and that warmed us up as the wind howled around the house. I didn’t even have to run to the store when my fridge threw me a curveball.
I don’t know if I would have just tried water with macaroni and cheese instead of milk if we hadn’t been doing this challenge. For all I know, especially with as well as it worked, moms across the country have been substituting water for milk for years.
Have you ever changed a recipe, planned in advance or on the fly, to accommodate what you have in your cabinets?
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