Portion Control at Point of COOKING!

[Tams]

It just struck me today that the way I make my chicken pot pies (nope, there's no pastry, it's all healthy and from scratch), is actually a cheeky way of making me stick to a certain serving size. I was wishing I could eat more than one, but that's really too much of a guts thing to do and a bit more than I can comfortably eat, so just by cooking them each in an individual ramekin...wella, portion control! Just under what I'd like to eat, but two is just too much both ego-wise and belly-comfort-wise. Plus laziness-wise, there are extra servings that mean I don't have to cook tomorrow

Choose a good sort of sized ramekin I guess!!

[Blitz]

Good idea Tams!
Do you cook up a batch at the same time and portion it out as needed or not?

...And are you going to give out the recipe - so that we can try your healthy chicken pot pies?!!!

Kim

[Tams]

Lol, well, I kinda make them with whatever is in the fridge! And of course because of my food intolerances, what I omit/substitute, may not be to everyone's taste, so always feel free to add what you want. I make up about 5 ramekins - for me and hubby, that's two meals, plus my lunch. Again, due to medical restrictions, I can't eat food over 24hrs old, but even so, I don't think these would freeze very well just because of the veg component.

All right, so here's what I did yesterday:

1 carrot
1 potato
1/2 parsnip

(steam these in the microwave so you cut the cooking time)

6-8 green parts of the spring onion (I can't eat onion - so you could substitute onion if you can eat it)
1/2 stick of celery

(using a wok, sweat these down in a little olive oil and salt- I use garlic infused oil for the flavour, and because I can't eat actual garlic. But you could add garlic if you wanted.)

15 green beans
1/2 broccoli
1/2 red capsicum
1/2 zuchinni

(add to the spring onion and celery and stir-fry to develop flavour. You may need to add a bit more oil - depends on quantity. I use a non-stick wok, so oil can be minimal)

250g chicken

(put the veg into a bowl so you now have an empty wok and QUICKLY stir fry the chicken - don't overcook or it will be dry. There should be enough oil/moisture coating wok already)


Now add everything back into the wok,including both batches of veg. Pour in some stock (or water)- enough to make it as saucy as you want. Add some of the stock to a cup with 2 dssert spoons of cornflour for smooth dissolving. Add the cornflour mix to the wok to thicken your sauce (allow sauce to boil and it will thicken). Season to taste with salt/pepper/herbs. Finished. Just spoon it into the ramekins and now for the topping (which is optional if you are really calorie counting)

Topping:
grated bread (I used 1 slice of spelt bread as I can't eat wheat. If you grate when frozen, it is much easier)
grated cheese (lite, whatever you want. I used a mix of a quality mozzerella and a bog standard cheddar - I don't use lite cheese as I've found the real stuff goes further in melting, with more taste, so you use far less anyway. But each to their own.)
sliced tomato

Pop a couple slices of tomato on the top of each 'pie', then sprinkle over the bread crumbs and cheese. (you'll be surprised at how little cheese you need!)

Now grill until golden on top. Eat (and don't burn your mouth!)

[Tams]

Oh, the ones you don't eat, put in the fridge with glad wrap over the tops. You can reheat them either in the microwave or in the oven for your next meal.

Some people might try putting the un-grilled pot pie in the fridge until wanted, but I don't think I'd want to do that as I suspect the time sitting around in moisture would make the topping cluggy. Grilling immediately you put it on the pot pie makes it crispy - and if you reheat in the oven, it stays crispy.

[DD Diva]

Oh, the ones you don't eat, put in the fridge with glad wrap over the tops. You can reheat them either in the microwave or in the oven for your next meal.

Some people might try putting the un-grilled pot pie in the fridge until wanted, but I don't think I'd want to do that as I suspect the time sitting around in moisture would make the topping cluggy. Grilling immediately you put it on the pot pie makes it crispy - and if you reheat in the oven, it stays crispy.

Awesome!!! Thanks for the recipe Tams....sounds yummy!!!

I'll be sure to give this one a try, though I probably will skip the oil and sweat the veggies in a little stock (I like to cut corners on any unnecessary calories wherever I can)

[Tams]

No problems! And yeah, change it up any way that works for you

[Blitz]

Sounds all good to me...except the garlic infused oil...just don't like garlic anything! But as you say - cook to taste.

Many thanks
Kim