Krystal Reyes and her husband Arturo met through a mutual friend in 1997 and have been married for nearly two decades. Arturo is the co-owner of Laredo Mexican Restaurant in Auburn, a family business. Together, Krystal and Arturo have one beautiful, athletic daughter Gabriella (18).
“Gabi recently graduated from Auburn High School in May. This fall, she will be on a full academic scholarship to Southern Union,” Krystal shared proudly. “She will also play on the Southern Union Women’s soccer team. Go Bisons! She plans to study nursing and eventually apply to CRNA school.”
Krystal explained that Gabi has been a dual athlete for the past eight years, playing both lacrosse and soccer. Many nights have been spent at a ball field, and the Reyes trio has also traveled many weeks for competitions all around the state. Everyone is so excited for Gabi to continue to play soccer at a collegiate level.
“This year will look a little different for me since my child is no longer a young child,” said Krystal. “We are now learning how to properly fuel her for all the training she will be doing. This chapter of her life is much different from her past athletic experiences.”
While much is changing for the Reyes family, Gabi has decided to live at home during her freshman year at Southern Union. This makes Krystal and Arturo happy, as a family dinner with Gabi is something they look forward to.
“We cherish our dinner time together, and we laugh and just chat about our day and upcoming plans,” Krystal said. This is why she has decided to share her Easy Chicken Pot Pie recipe with us.
“I chose this recipe because it has simple ingredients, so easy, and very tasty. It’s fairly quick after a long day at work, or a late night at practice,” explained Krystal. She went on to share that this dinner also reheats well, which is great on the nights everyone is pulled in different directions.
When Arturo and Krystal are not working or watching Gabi thrive as an athlete on a ball field, the family enjoys traveling together. In fact, at the end of this year, they will be vacationing in Japan for Gabi’s graduation gift.
Easy Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients:
- 1 package of pie crust (with 2)
- 1 can of veggie-all or frozen mixed
veggies (thawed) - 1 can of cream of chicken soup
- 2/3 cups of cooked chicken
- 1 tsp each of salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion powder & a sprinkle with chili powder
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Heat a little olive oil on medium-high heat in a pan.
- Season the chicken with all the seasonings and place it in a hot pan.
- Cook on a medium high heat until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside and shred or dice the chicken. In a pinch, you could use some leftover chicken/turkey, or you can use shredded rotisserie chicken.
- In a large mixing bowl mix the chicken, drained veggies, cream of chicken soup, & stir well.
- Fill the bottom of a pie pan with one pie crust. Pour in chicken veggie mixture.
- Add the second pie crust and pinch the sides of the crust together.
- Optionally, add egg wash to the crust if you wish for a beautiful golden brown color. You can make an egg wash but cracking one egg into a bowl and adding a tablespoon of water or milk. Whisk vigorously until the mixture is smooth and use a pastry brush to apply it over the top of the crust.
- Next place slits in the top of crust and add tin foil around the edges to prevent burning.
- Bake for approximately 40-50 minutes (ovens vary so watch and don’t let it burn).
- Let the pie sit for 10 minutes.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
