Lately I’ve been loving foods that can be thrown together in twenty minutes or less.

Especially with the days seeming shorter than ever and my to-do list never-ending.

It doesn’t help that we’re the family of bad luck, and tend to get hit with every obstacle that can be thrown our way.  For instance, Friday I had wanted to go to a local camera shop and get our passport photos taken, but I had to wait on a delivery of wood for a little project I’m working on (I’ll be sharing my journey with woodworking in another post).  However, the company never gave me a time they’d be delivering – they only said Friday – and ended up not showing up until after 2 o’clock.  So, I scratched the idea and figured we could get our photos taken the following week on Monday (today).  Butttttt, then Audrey got stung by a bee on Saturday.  On her eye.  Because she’s my daughter, so why not? And if you’re wondering why we now had to now wait after the bee sting occurred, Google bee sting on eyelid, and see the incredible amount of swelling that occurs on one’s face.

And while you’d think the event of her getting stung would allow me to take a little break, I’m in the midst of completing these projects and keep needing more materials/tools. Unfortunately, I live out in the middle of nowhere – so I’ve been racking up the miles on my car running back and forth to Lowes – not to mention the time it takes getting out there and back.

And that’s where these twenty minute or less meals come in.  Because when I’m out driving all day, and don’t make it home until 5 p.m., I don’t want to have to resort to dining out.  Especially due to my time management skills – or lack thereof.

However, I suppose I should say this was a slight “cheat” meal, because I used the leftovers of a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken that we ate the night before when I knew I wasn’t going to make it home in time to spare even 20 minutes.  I seem to make a habit of this lack of organization.  Regardless, the dish was delicious.

It’s once in a blue moon that I get to eat this version of chicken pot pie.  If you were to ask my mom to make chicken pot pie, she’d make a soup – that has pie crust squares thrown into the broth.  I suppose that’s what you get when you grow up in Pennsylvania Dutch country.  So, when I had that leftover chicken and some biscuits, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it: make the chicken pot pie I love, without the labor intensive pie making [this may only be labor intensive to me] and the time-consuming process of baking it in the oven.

And I’m pretty sure I succeeded.

And the best part?  It comes together in the same amount of time it takes to bake your biscuits.

Deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 2 c. water
• 5 tsp. chicken base (I used Orrington Farms)
• 1/2 of a rotisserie chicken
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 bags of frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 can of biscuits

Follow instructions on your can of biscuits (or if you have more time to spare – a homemade version would probably be delicious with this!)

Melt butter in a large sauce pan and then add the olive oil and flour.  Allow mixture to cook for a minute to eliminate the taste of flour.  Add water and chicken base and allow to simmer for a few minutes.  Add whole milk and bring the soup to a bowl for a few minutes, or until the soup begins to thicken.

While the soup base is doing its thing on the stove top, shred that rotisserie chicken.  After it’s shredded, add it to the soup base, along with the garlic and mixed vegetables.  Allow mixture to cook on low until everything has heated through.

 

 

Easy, right?