One of these active cooking mamas posted her recipe in the morning and I couldn’t stop thinking about it! This was what ate my mind for the day:

Don’t these Chicken Pot Pie Turnover seem to be calling out to you?!

As I didn’t have time to make a trip to the supermarket, the closest i could get was to work with whatever was available. Truth be told, our kitchen ain’t well-stocked so I had to make do with what we had.

My recipe was adapted from Diana’s (click here for her recipe!) and modified as i wasn’t too keen to use canned chicken cream for baby V and I didn’t have puff pastry either. So, here’s my simple rendition!

PRESENTING………

Inspired Fish Pot Pie Turnover!

~ makes 5 pieces

Ingredients:

[Filling]
Small fillet of threadfin, washed and diced
2 florets of broccoli, washed and chopped to desired size
Some carrot, washed and diced

[Sauce]
Fresh milk, enough to melt the cheese and butter – I used Magnolia Fresh Milk
2 – 3 tablespoons of cheese – I used Perfect Italiano Grated Mozzarella
Unsalted butter, a dollop

Method for SAUCE:

1) Mix ingredients for sauce in a saucepan, stirring to ensure cheese is not stuck to the base of pan and butter melts.

2) Allow to simmer and set aside in a clean bowl.

*Note that the consistency of sauce is skewed towards watery instead of chunky. Taste is a mix of sweet and savoury so there’s no need for additional seasoning for the filling (especially the fish) later. Of course, you may use canned cream of chicken for this, so the above preparations can be skipped.

Method for FILLING:

1) Blanch ingredients for filling until nearly cooked (especially fish) and set aside in the same bowl with the sauce that was prepared earlier. It takes less than 5mins or so.

2) Remove the skin of bread slices and flatten with a rolling pin. (Note: Discovered that our rolling pin from the MIL has turned mouldy and promptly chucked it. Had to use a bottle instead. Lol!)

3) Use a teaspoon to scoop ingredients onto flatten bread. And fold opposite ends of bread to join. Use a fork to seal the edges. (Tip: Don’t get overzealous and put too much filling on the bread as it will cause the bread to split due to its bursting sides. LOL!)

4) Brush egg white on the surface of the bread.

5) Place stuffed bread pieces on the baking tray and bake at 180degrees for 10minutes or until tops turn golden brown. The edges char easiest, so do keep a lookout as bread will become hard if baked for too long.

6) Remove from oven and allow to cool before offering your child. Be mindful that the insides will be very hot.

While hands were busy in the kitchen, the inquisitive one kept coming in to see what mama was up to. And I ended up cracking the egg and beating it on the floor, just to show her what I was busy with. LOL! Don’t get me started about carrying her at my hips while trying to get the ingredients in place.

 

So, how did this eager eater take to mummy’s cheat meal of inspired Fish Pot Pie Turnover? Well, she looked at them and carefully picked up a wedge, promptly bringing it to her mouth.

The first step to acceptance – yayness!

Truth be told, she has somewhat developed a dislike for bigger pieces of food that’s placed on her plate and prefers for us to break them up for her (lazy bum!) so she can shove those bite-sized treats into her tiny mouth to gobble.

I’ve also been trying ways at different times to offer her slightly bigger food which requires her to hold and bite off, in a bid towards cultivating independence. So when she did just that on her own, I was truly elated and pleasantly surprised that day! I know it seems so trivial but… this tot is showing her independent skills, and I’m happy yet feeling melancholic about this. Baby, you’re growing up too fast! *sniffs*

Well, I hope you enjoyed this simple, quickie meal. They make yummy treats or in this case, a meal for her, which was accompanied by a bowl of fish soup. The recipe to that simple yet nutritious fish soup is here.

Tips:

• For the sliced bread, you can use your preferred types including wholemeal or soft grains for added fibre and nutrients. We used white bread in this case.
• Ingredients which make up the filling are entirely up to you! This versatile dish allows you to put in whatever you fancy – don’t like fish? Use chicken, pork or beef! Not a fan of broccoli and carrots? Frozen mixed veggies (peas, corn and carrots) are quick, popular choices, or you could add potato, onions, leafy veggies, capsicums. Or simply turn it into a seafood version, if that rocks your bub’s boat. Do watch out for allergies if you’re offering seafood for the first time though.

If you’ve tried experimenting these dishes, do tell us how it went! Hope you enjoy trying out our simple recipes for busy parents :)

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