If I were summing up my week with one word, it would be “sick.”  Fortunately, that doesn’t mean demented or ebola, just a head cold and a really terrible sore throat.  Survivable by anyone’s standards.

I didn’t plan my menu around being sick, since I made the meal choices on Sunday and got sick on Monday night, but I must have subconsciously known I was getting sick.  My choices couldn’t have been better.

Turkey fried rice?  Comforting and happy.  Turkey pot pie?  Double comforting and double happy.

So here’s the deal about this recipe… It isn’t from my family.  I don’t have an aunt named Jan.  But some of our friends have an aunt named Jan, and Aunt Jan’s recipe for pot pie eventually got to me.  Here’s why I like this particular recipe for pot pie:

1. It’s surprisingly not that terrible for you.  There are only 4 tablespoons of butter for two standard pie-sized containers full of pot pie.  We got 4 servings out of our first pot pie, so that’s only 1/2 a tablespoon of butter per serving.  Not bad.
2. I know that there are more gourmet ways to deal with the veggies in a pot pie.  You could use fresh veggies and sautee them beautifully with some fancy spice.  But sometimes throwing a bag of frozen mixed veggies into the pan is the best thing I can imagine.  So little work!  So little hassle!  So many healthy veggies!!
3. You can do what you want with this.  You can use frozen pie crust like I do (which makes this a really easy dish to cook).  You can make your own crust.  You can make it gluten-free if that’s what you want to do.  You can add thyme or rosemary or cajun seasoning.  You can make it yours and enjoy all of the comfort factor exactly the way you like it.
4. And of course I like it because it came from a friend.

Aunt Jan’s [Turkey] Pot Pie

10-15 minutes of active prep time, 25 minutes in the oven, makes two 9″ pies

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2/3 cup milk
• 3 cups cubed, cooked turkey (or chicken)
• 4 oz. sliced mushrooms (canned or fresh, either is delicious)
• 16 oz. frozen mixed vegetables–I use peas and carrots (you can use thawed or frozen, just add a few minutes of time in the pan if they go in the pan frozen)
• 1/2 tablespoon (or more if you like) Cajun or Creole seasoning (or thyme or some black pepper… the spice cabinet is your oyster)
• pie crust for two 9″ pies (more if you prefer top and bottom crust)

Directions

Melt butter.  Stir in flour and salt.  Gradually add broth and milk.  Cook until thickened.  Add turkey (or chicken), mushrooms, and vegetables.  Spice it up any way you like–about 1/2 of a tablespoon of Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning for us, or you could use some Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning or anything you want.  Pour into 2 greased pie dishes.  Cover with pie crust, cutting a few slits in the top.  Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or the crust is golden brown and the innards are bubbly.

Or you could use canned biscuits on top like this pretty pretty pot pie:

And then you can pretend that you don’t have a cold, and you’re not going to sit on the couch for the next two hours.  That’s what I did.