With the chilly, rainy nights we’ve been having these days, there’s really nothing better than staying at home where it’s dry and warm. To be honest, our apartment is not the furnace that I would like it to be (or we would go broke from the electricity bill and the earth would be unhappy with us). So here’s my secret to staying warm: I look for every excuse to turn on the oven. Yes, I know that the oven still contributes to our PG&E bill and we’re still using up precious natural resources, but for some reason, I can justify it to myself better when food is involved.

Even if you don’t share my love for gratuitous oven usage, you should still try this recipe from 101 cookbooks, courtesy of Heidi (note that I’m not saying she endorses my gratuitous oven usage either).

While I’ve always been a big fan of chicken pot pies, I must admit that my expectations were low, given that the only vegetarian pot pies I’ve ever had are those frozen ones you buy at the ‘health foods’ section of grocery stores (bleh). This pot pie blew me away and just might have convinced me that meat is not necessary for a fantastic pot pie.