Chicken (and not) Pot Pies

Since Spike and I moved in together I've been doing my best to make great meals for the both of us. As I am a vegetarian and Spike is very definitely not, it's been challenging for me to find things that will keep us both happy. The deal is that I will do the cooking and Spike will do the dishes... something we both agree is working out wonderfully. I don't really like touching raw meat and I'm not really sure how to cook it sometimes, but Spike helps me out when I'm unsure.

So far, I've cooked ground beef in a layered enchilada bake, I've cooked chicken in parchment paper in the oven, microwaved bacon to add to Spike's cobb salad, grilled bison burgers in a frying pan, and made some kickass shrimp scampi (if I do say so myself). Spike is pretty easy to please food-wise, but my worst fear is that I won't do a good enough job, he'll take over cooking, and I'll get stuck with dish duty!

Last night was an adventure in that I think I used more dishes than ever before while cooking dinner (sorry, Spike!). On the menu was a chicken pot pie for Spike and a veggie pot pie for me. I was trying to follow a recipe from Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network, but I think I ended up leaning more toward a Sandra Lee dinner. Oh well... the good news is that they turned out wonderfully and I was very excited. One of the best things about it was that we ate on the porch! It's getting pretty chilly now, but we bundled up and the pot pies definitely helped keep us warm. We also drank a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, which is a rare treat for both of us. For me, drinking on a school night and for Spike, drinking wine at all!

I started out by melting some butter in a skillet and sauteeing onions and garlic. Then I added some flour and veggie stock and let that simmer. Then came the Sandra Lee part, where I added a can of cream of mushroom soup, followed by cans of peas and carrots, mushrooms, and (not canned) potatoes. Meanwhile I cooked the chicken for Spike and cut that up to put in his bowl. I added the veggie mix to both of our bowls and topped with some premade biscuits. Oh my, it was divine!