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Comfort food is cozy, happy and filled with delicious goodness. I would love for it to be a southern thing, but it totally isn't. I have friends all over the world, when they come to visit, I am in awe of the foods they prepare. It is amazing to taste the different cultures and flavors that come together with simple foods, like a zucchini. A green vegetable that grows crazy and multiplies by the tons! I had no idea that you could not only make bread from it, but all the way to breakfast. I will stop there because you need to see how many ways you too can make a dish from one vegetable.
Chicken pot pie is an easy dish to make and certainly take next door when that neighbor has hip replacement surgery or the neighbor on the other side volunteers to mow your grass. It also freezes well. When you do, cook 3/4 done, then put in the freezer, but when ready to enjoy, thaw and back the remaining time. So, here we go...
Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
2 ready made crusts or the Gluten-free Crusts
2 large cans of cream of chicken soup, gluten free
2 15 ounce cans mixed vegetables, drained and rinsed
4 shredded, baked boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon ground cilantro
1 teaspoon oregano
dash of black pepper
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Directions:
1. Put one crust in a 9" pie plate.
2. Sprinkle the bottom of the crust with 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese.
3. Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly except the cheese.
4. Pour the mixture in the pie crust and spread the remaining shredded cheese over the top of the mixture.
5. Place the second crust over the top of the pie. Trim the edges of the top crust from the sides and press the edges, sealing it with a fork. Then prick the top five times with the tip of the fork to allow air to flow from the pie.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Serve hot.
I have heard a series by a minister called "Seasons of Life." Just like this chicken pot pie, we find comfort in what we know, the food that reminds us of something that is good, warm, cozy or that brings us joy. Sometimes there are moments in our life that it is hard to find joy in situations and moments we are living. Joy comes regardless where we are in life. Nothing can be predicted.
The secret to consistent joy is to carry it with you all the time. When the moments are good, have joy. Meditate on the positive, the good, save it up so that when the bad things come, have stored up the resources to sustain you through the situation. The joy needs to carry you through that time. This minister said that we have to live by faith. I have to add to it that we live by hope.
It is hard to explain the expanse of my reality of living by hope. I had someone once very critical of my ideal of living in hope. Regardless of how teased or ridiculed I was about living in hope, I continued on because I felt that living by faith I was placing my hope in that faith for tomorrow. I wasn't worrying about the present. I knew that at some point my situation would change if I had faith and hope. God can bring good out of your situation when you say, "Here is all I have, take it and do your work with it." Just give it to Him.
Joy comes when we learn to live daily thankful and with gratitude. When we do, it changes the way we look at how we behave standing in line at the grocery store to how we handle abusive relationships. Joy doesn't come in the morning as one song says, it comes now by the choice to grab it and never let go. When we look at our lives through eyes of joy even when we don't feel like it, then it changes the way we see things, people and ourselves. Our joy turns to love, our bitterness turns to forgiveness, and we learn that extending grace not only to others but to ourselves, we give joy away.
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