I Tried To Love You ... Trader Joe's Chicken Pot Pie Bites

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:

Trader Joe's expansion into Florida is underway, but no signs of a Tampa location in sight.  With stores already open in Naples, Sarasota and Gainesville and plans for a Pinecrest (Miami) and a Winter Park (Orlando) location underway (probably 2014 opening), I assume the best I can hope for (if Tampa ever does get a Trader Joe's store) is a 2015 Tampa opening or sadly even later.  Sigh ... why do you want to make me so sad, Trader Joe's?  

My pal, the exquisitely sassy Mr. CB formerly of Atlanta and now back to his home roots in Orlando, made sure I knew that he would be getting a Trader Joe's store before me.  Oh Mr. CB - so pretty and yet so cruel!  But on the bright side it gives me more excuses to visit Mr. CB and his lovely boyfriend Mr. DS.  

But until Tampa gets a Trader Joe's of its own, I will continue road-tripping to the other locations.  This past weekend I dropped the top on the convertible and headed down to Bonita Springs for lunch.  Sure, the Sarasota Trader Joe's is much closer to me but I prefer the Naples store.  Plus the world's biggest and fabulously rich mile high coconut cream pie is there!  It was a glorious beautiful warm soon to be summer day in Florida and I was happy to take the drive.

Some of my most popular LilyOnTheLam.com blog posts are my reviews of Trader Joe's products.  I am having some friends over for dinner soon and I thought they'd make fine guinea pigs for more blog posts on Trader Joe's products.  I feel a little Hannibal when I say that.  (NBC better not cancel that show, I'm fully invested in Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lecter.)  So when I was in the Naples Trader Joe's location, I was a girl on a mission!  And when I spotted "Trader Joe's Chicken Pot Pie Bites" in the freezer case, I knew I had found the equivalent of the Holy Grail ... if it were dipped in gravy and wrapped in pastry.

If you are a regular reader of LilyOnTheLam.com you will know that I am a Pot Pie-afficianado.  If you're new to LilyOnTheLam or if you have short-term memory issues, check out this Pot Pie-related blog post:

A Tale of Four Pot Pies

So to spot "chicken pot pie bites" - it was like the angels were singing and throwing Powerball tickets at me.  (I am bitter that I am not the Florida winner!) 

I had told myself I would wait to bake the chicken pot pie bites until my dinner guests arrived later in the week.  I lasted about 18 hours before I baked them.  I was so excited!

Now the box itself says that the picture is enlarged to show detail.  Out of the box, the frozen bites look like this ...

Not exactly the most appetizing looking delights, but I had faith.

Then I read the directions - 55 minutes of baking time and then 5 minutes of resting time.  An hour for tiny little chicken pot pie bites?  These buggers better be good!  I have zero patience!

Once baked the pot pie bites looked like this.  The box said they are stuffed with chicken and vegetables.  I didn't see any vegetables whatsoever.

But how did they taste?  If you like your pot pies with 97% crust and a quarter teaspoon of gravy, you will LOVE these.  If you like a pot pie loaded with chicken, vegetables and gravy with an appropriate crust to filling ratio, you'll be tremendously disappointed.  

I barely tasted chicken.  It felt like there was only one drop of gravy and I didn't taste any vegetables.  I was yearning for some fresh spring peas! 

I am a big time crust lover, but these were even too much for me.  If I were serving these at a party, I would have a bowl of shredded chicken in a light gravy and use these as dippers.  But I guess that's like saying "Do you know what would make this banana pudding taste better?  If you dipped it in really good banana pudding."  These would also make a nice faux-crouton in a big bowl of chicken stew.  But on their own?  Ehhhh ... I'd pass.  

So if you're using the chicken pot pie bites as part of a bigger meal - either with a rich dipping sauce or as a decoration for a stew with chicken and vegetables, you could have a winner on your hands.  But as a on its own appetizer, I would not serve these.  

I thought I could love you, dear chicken pot pie bites ... but like many past boyfriends, you promised much and delivered little!  Trader Joe's, I expected more from you!

P.S. Why, oh why, has Trader Joe's not brought back their awesome smoked sea salt?  No store in Tampa, no smoked sea salt and subpar chicken pot pie bites?  SAD, SAD AND MORE SAD!