Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Dinner in a Pie

This is a very hearty meal that is great for using up leftovers.  I had some ground venison on hand, so I browned it along with some onions, garlic, and bell peppers.  Next, you add assorted vegetables and just enough seasoned tomato sauce or a gravy to moisten the meat & vegetables.  You don't want too much liquid as it will cause the bottom crust to become soggy.

Make enough pie crust for a 2-crust pie.  I rolled it out abit thicker than I would for a fruit pie so that the bottom crust would hold together better when I served up the meal.  Line a deep dish pie pan with pie crust.  Fill with the meat & vegetable filling.  Top with the second crust and seal the edges.  Poke holes into the crust to allow steam to vent.

Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for about 1 hour or until pie is bubbly and crust is a golden color.

There are many variations to this pie.  Any combination of meat and vegetables that sounds good to you will work.  These pies can be made vegetarian style or with meat.  Try making the pie with a tamale pie filling and serve with cornbread.  Other simple variations could be: fajita mix, chili with cheese, loaded up with your favorite pizza toppings, chicken/broccoli/cheese mixture, beef stew leftovers, or philly steak/bell peppers/onions/cheese mixture.

For vegetarians, you can make any vegetable and grain combination that you love and bake it in the pies.  The options are only limited by your imagination.  You can use any vegetarian stew recipes and the pie would be great.

For those who do the once a month cooking, this is a great meal that can be frozen for later.  You can also scale down the size to use the small single serving sized pie pans to make your own homemade pot pies.  Prebaked, these would make a great meal to take to work and heat up in the microwave for your lunch.

Enjoy!