Chicken Dinner Pie (Chicken Pot Pie)

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and stays safe. Well, I am now on day three on stock the freezer. I am not cooking tonight, but I went ahead and made two meals to stick in the freezer. This is a recipe that I got from my mom. It is adapted from the 1972 Betty Crocker Cookbook. Mom starting making this when she and dad were first married, because it was a good way to make the chicken last more than one meal. We could all use a lesson in that now. I am using the chicken that I boiled yesterday, so that was a big saver on time. I have adapted the recipe to make two pies. I froze both of them today.

Supplies:
2 aluminum pie plates

2 boxes of roll-out pie crust (in the freezer section)
4 T of butter or margarine
4 T of flour
2 t of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/4 teaspoon of thyme (key ingredient)
1 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of light cream
4 cups of cooked chicken
1 16 oz. bag of frozen mixed vegetables

Chicken Filling:

Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Blend in flour, salt, pepper and thyme. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in chicken broth and cream. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in chicken and vegetables.

Pie Crust:

Roll out one pie crust in the pie tin, forming it to the bottom of the pan. Do this for both pie tins. Spoon in half of the mixture into each tin. Top it off with the other pie crust. Seal of the edges but pinching the the edges from the two pieces together. Put small slits or crosses in the top for it to vent while cooking.

Fresh Pie: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cover edge with 2 to 3 inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning: remove foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 6 servings. (Mom said that the aluminum foil strip is key to not burning the edges!)

Freezer Pie: Cover with aluminum foil, date and label, and place in freezer. Store up to two months. Defrost in the refrigerator the day you plan on cooking it. Follow directions above for cooking.

Up to six meals in the freezer and it is only Wednesday!