The DIY Diet

I had never made chicken pot pie before I ran across the Kraft Foods recipe for Gram’s Chicken Pot Pie Updated.

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I don’t buy commercially prepared meals that contain chicken in any kind of sauce, so when I eat chicken in a sauce, I make it myself. I also didn’t think Chicken Pot Pie would be low enough in calories for me to include in my diet. I was wrong.

I read many of the ratings written by people who have prepared the Kraft recipe. Most everything said about it was positive. It seems that all of the people altered the recipe in some way, and so did I.

 As a result my chicken pot pie is 402 calories per serving versus the Kraft Foods recipe, which is 410 calories per serving. I believe the main difference is that I used two - 7 oz. vacuum-packages of Valley Fresh 100% Natural White Chicken meat instead of cooking 16 ounces of fresh chicken. I think roasting your own chicken would give you the best flavor, however, in the interest of time, I like the convenience of the Valley Fresh packaged chicken.

I also did not use the Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing called for in their recipe. I figured it would be bottled dressing. It wasn’t - at least I couldn’t find it bottled. When I checked the Kraft Foods website I found a dry salad dressing mix called Zesty Italian under their Good Seasons brand name. I was tempted to use an alternate but skipped it altogether. I decided I didn’t want to make a special trip to the store for the dry product.

And I decided to add 1 cup of carrots to my filling. When I make this again I will add some chopped green onions as well as the carrots.

Here’s my recipe, modified from the Kraft Foods Gram’s Chicken Pot Pie Updated recipe:

Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

My niece, Ginger, makes Chicken Pot Pie regularly and if you want to make something that really tastes wonderful, this is the recipe.

It takes a little longer to make if you roast your own chicken first, and it takes a little longer when you make your own sauce, but it is worth it. It is only 68 calories more per serving than the faster Kraft version. I made this recipe recently and decided to add one cup of frozen corn along with the peas and carrots, taking each serving up to 495 calories. It is still under my goal of 500 calories for lunch. Since the pot pie contains vegetables, grain, dairy, and protein, I consider it a good complete meal.

The recipe Ginger uses is one she found in a Betty Crocker cookbook and like most good cooks, she modified the recipe to suit her needs. I tried to find the recipe in one of my Betty Crocker cookbooks and also in the recipes the company offers online to no avail. The recipe she uses calls for enough pastry for a two-crust pie. She uses only a top crust and prefers to use Dufour Classic Puff Pastry which is made entirely with butter. After reading about the Dufour Puff Pastry on the company website I was anxious to try it. I had read many rave comments about it.

There is more puff pastry in the single Dufour package than needed for this recipe. I bake up the balance for use in making my version of Napoleans. I make a filling using fresh raspberries and whipped cream. It’s an elegant dessert for sure and I generally make it when I have friends for lunch.

Ginger buys her Dufour Classic Puff Pastry at her local Whole Foods Market in Denver. It’s a product you’re more likely to find in gourmet-type markets. I called a number of groceries stores in my area. The only one that I found that carries this Dufour product is the Whole Foods Market in Uptown Minneapolis. Kowalski’s, a very fine market in my area, was willing to order it in for me. If you’re trying to locate this product I think your best bet would be to call your area Whole Foods Market first.

Here’s the recipe my niece uses: