Weight Watchers & Homemade Goodness...

imagesource.com

     January and 2011 has started out pretty good around here, and that makes me feel...well, awesome! The hubs and I are doing well with our renewed commitment to healthy and long lasting weight loss. Ok, back up a second...I guess I should mention my Christmas gift! All I could think of when Rob asked me what I might want for Christmas was the new kit from Weight Watchers.
     This was more difficult than it sounds. Neither of us are members, nor do we have the money to join. (Yeah, yeah. We'd love to, but the whole pay-your-bills thing was more important.) Anywho...we have a few friends at work that are members that we were talking with and were totally willing to pick up a kit for us. Of course, we never got around to coordinating it all. So, I told my hubby all I really wanted was the new PointsPlus kit. I even looked up a local store, but I figured we'd either have to go to a meeting, or have a member get it for us. Those of you who know me know one thing...I don't do meetings. It's the whole public speaking/ fear of groups thing, and frankly, it's a huge problem I'll talk about at some point. Just not now... So Christmas came and I get the most beautiful card from my hubby promising to commit to being healthy and growing old together. And the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus Kit!

imagesource.com

     We officially started our journey on New Year's Day, and I have to say it's great! It was easy the first time, but I tended to crave things. This time around, I have to remind myself to eat! I think my favorite part if that fruit is now "free". I'm much more likely to reach for a banana or grapes as a snack now instead of a granola bar. The wonderful thing is, this new program helps me to manage my protein to carbs ratio and I feel so much better! The first week's weigh in was January 8th and I'd lost nearly 3 pounds, and Rob lost 7.2 pounds. Needless to say, we are two pretty happy campers.
     Because it's easier, and more affordable, to eat at home, I've been cooking even more, so I've been a recipe hound. Also, I'm a sucker for homemade anything! Well, I found this recipe posted on Weight Watcher's Facebook page and stopped cold.
     I love chicken pot pie. No, seriously... I LOVE it. Alas, most all of them are so loaded with fat and calories that they are a huge no no. I was skeptical...Weight Watchers or not, is a light pot pie recipe worth the trouble? Well, I'm here to tell you it absolutely is! I was so excited, I decided to document making it, so get your napkin, it's time for tempting to begin! Here's the recipe link, but I'll list it here for you too. Complete with my advice of course!

The result...I can't tell you how happy I am. That's one more photogenic pot pie!

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

from Weight Watchers

Cooking Spray (I like Pam)

1 tsp butter

1 small onion chopped

2 cups mushrooms, sliced (I cut this...not too big on mushrooms)

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp dried thyme, crushed

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

2 cups frozen mixed veggies

1 cup chicken broth (I like Swanson's)

3 cups roasted chicken, chopped (again, I used Swanson's White Meat canned chicken)

2 TBsp all purpose flour

1/2 cup fat free evaporated milk, divided

4 reduced fat crescent rolls (8 come in a can, I used 6...more on this later)

• Preheat your oven to 375° and find a 9 to 10" pie plate. The recipe calls for a 10" but I used a 9" and it came out just find. Spray the pie plate with your cooking spray and set it aside.
• In a large sauce pot, melt your butter over medium heat then add your onion and mushrooms. Sauté  for about 5 minutes, or until tender.
• Stir in your spices, veggies, broth, and chicken. Cover and simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine 1/4 cup evaporated milk and your 2 TBsp flour in a small bowl. Pour into your sauce pot and mix over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly. ( about 2 minutes)
• Stir in remaining evaporated milk and cook to slightly thickened. (2 or 3 minutes more)
• Remove from heat and pour into your prepared pie plate.
• Unroll the crescent rolls and arrange on top (I put four around the edge, corners touching, then covered the hole with two more. That makes six.)
• Brush top lightly with a small amount of egg white. (I used a teaspoon or so of Egg Beaters)
• Bake in your preheated oven until the crescents are golden brown, and filling is bubbly. Enjoy!

     This recipe makes six servings, and they are huge. Huge! Seriously, it's not a skimpy portion at all, and it is totally worth the Points! Just to put it in perspective...my favorite store bought pie is something like 18 Points...for half the small pie. It's a measly amount of food for the Points, believe me. I get 29 daily Points total. This recipe is 6 Points per serving as they posted it. Adding the two extra crescent squares makes each serving 8 Points, according to some of the comments on their website. Yeah, I was super excited about that...Chicken Pot Pie is my favorite comfort food! I must say, I had one happy hubby on my hands as well, which is always a bonus.
     As you can tell, I love this recipe and I will definitely be making it regularly. I can't wait to try different takes on it, and play around with it a little. I think this would be amazing as a beef dish...I'll let you know when that happens! I'd love to know if you take this recipe for a test drive, too! I'm all about sharing a good thing! For now though, I need to put the leftovers away....in the fridge.