Chicken Pot Pie for two

  Today was a day to celebrate. Despite what I thought, I got some great news from my doctor. After eight months of series of blood tests, medications, and dozens of appointments we finally got the results we've been working on. I wanted to have a party with my doctor, but it might have been kind of awkward considering his specialty. Instead, I decided I wanted a little treat tonight. Tonight, I would make pot pie from scratch!

LC's Chicken Pot Pie para Dos


2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced.
1 celery stalk, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
Half of a white onion, diced small
2 cups of 99% fat free reduced sodium chicken broth
1 to 1 1/2 cups of 2% milk, to taste
1/4 cup flour + 2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 cup peas, can be canned or frozen.
2 tablespoons I Can't Believe It's Not Butter light.  (You can use butter instead, but it will add 120 calories)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 small portion pie crust, half of one of the balls from my previous recipe.

  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. For this recipe I will be using two ramekins as my baking dish. One is 7 oz and I believe the other is at least 12-14 oz. Brown the diced chicken over medium heat in a deep skillet. While it is cooking, dice up all of the vegetables. Once the chicken is done browning and looks cooked through, remove it from the skillet and place on a plate for the time being. Melt one tablespoon of your ICBINB, then dump the carrots, celery and onion on top of it. You will add the peas later! Allow the vegetables to cook until the onion starts to become transparent, this takes about 8 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of flour to the vegetables. Stir so it is well combined. Add the chicken broth, stir. Add the milk, one tablespoon of ICBINB and stir. Allow to cook on medium low for five minutes. It should only boil slightly, if at all. Stir frequently, or it will get a bit clumpy. Once the five minutes has elapsed, add the chicken to the liquid mixture as well as the peas, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well.

  Distribute the soup between the two ramekins. You might have a little extra, but thankfully I had a willing helper that was willing to assist with some taste testing.

 Roll out your dough just so it's large enough to cover the top of your ramekin. My ramekin's do not have much of a lip, so I simply crimped around the sides. If yours do have a lip, I suggest going around the corners with a fork to create a nice seal.. and it looks prettier! Cut a couple of vents into the center of each pot pie, or it will burst and boil over. Place onto a baking sheet and cook for 25 minutes or until the crust is browned.

 An ugly pan is a well loved pan. Pot pie doesn't have to be completely bad for you. Portioning with ramekins makes this a nice treat to have every once in a while, and won't even require those extra big pants tomorrow. This is relatively easy to make, and has become another on the list of repeats here. I hope you enjoy it as well!

Breakfast ala Ramekin: Eggs, bacon AND an english muffin for under 250 calories!

  I've always been fascinated with the concept of using a ramekin to portion control. I have a terrible sweet tooth, so I begin to imagine all of these smaller portion guilty baked goods I can make. I simply couldn't bring myself to shell out the money for a set. When we were at Target the other day, my husband bought me two ramekins.

 
 His and hers, respectively. I've been plotting over the past few days what to do first, and what I could do with what I had as far as stuff in my fridge. I love breakfast. There is an understatement. It's easy to go overboard with calories though. Thanks to my ramekins, I was able to tweak a recipe to make a fantastic, filling egg bake for under 250 calories per serving!

  Also before I go on, I apologize for my absence. I've been running around to a lot of doctors, and thus have been making a lot of repeats for dinner in my medical fog. I promise these ramekins will definitely fuel an onslaught. Remember that apple pie I showed a few weeks back? Think that.. but in an acceptable size!

240 calorie Oven-baked Egg with Bacon
Adapted from Epicurious.


1 egg
Half an English Muffin. (The type I used is 60 calories for half, but there are even ones that are only 50.)
2 strips of center cut bacon. (If you use turkey bacon, you can shave another 40 calories off, my husband is just serious about his bacon haha.)
1 tablespoon of heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste.

  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

 Feast your eyes upon my ugly skillet. Just because it's ugly doesn't mean it's not functional! Start to cook your bacon on medium low heat. I'm making two servings of this recipe, thus the four pieces. You will want this to be very crispy since you will be crumbling the bacon later. While you are cooking the bacon, go ahead and toast the english muffin half.

  After cooking the bacon, reserve the fat. Using a baking brush, coat your ramekin with the bacon grease. This will help keep your egg from sticking, and also add a little extra flavor.

  Now that your ramekin has been prepped, place your english muffin within the well, split side up. You can see I substituted a piece of 50 calorie bread for my husband's, since it fits better into the well. Take note you can follow his example if you want a bigger serving size. Using a spoon or your fingers, press a little well into the center of your english muffin. This will help make a space to keep your egg from running away.

  Crumble the two strips of bacon over the top of your english muffin. Both serving sizes shown have only two pieces, and it was sufficient.

 Carefully, crack an egg and place it into the well you created without breaking the yolk. As long as it doesn't break completely, the dish will turn out fine.

  Drizzle a tablespoon of heavy cream over the top of the dish. Salt and pepper to taste. Don't overdo it though. Keep in mind you can add more after cooking. Place into the pre-heated oven and cook for 15 minutes, or until the eggwhite is mostly set.

  Breakfast is served! For how easy this dish is to make, it has a fantastic presentation. I also want to note that prior to baking, make sure your ramekins are oven safe to 400 degrees. This will help prevent some chaos. This dish has changed my perception of breakfast, and is easily one of my new favorites. Enjoy!