Crunchy Chicken Casserole

Last week I offered to bring a girlfriend and her family dinner.  She has an amazing story of God's blessing and provisions.  Her and her husband have 3 children and they are in the process of moving to a beautiful, new house.  I wanted to do something to bless her and her family, because she is always so thoughtful and helps me out with taking Bubbie to school.

When I asked what she wanted, she mentioned that her family loves poppyseed chicken without the poppyseeds.  Her family calls this "Crunchy Chicken".  I had a recipe on my E-Mealz menu from a few weeks ago that I had never made, so I decided to test the recipe out on her family.  That could have been a disaster, huh?!  

Thankfully the recipe turned out really good!  

Crunchy Chicken Casserole

Take 3-4 breasts of cooked and shredded chicken and spread in a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Then combine 8oz of sour cream and 2 cans of cream of chicken.  Let me just stop you here and let you know that this meal has no "redeeming" qualities.  Nothing in it is healthy, low fat or low sodium.  It is absolutely WONDERFUL, but not healthy AT ALL.  Then pour the mixture over the chicken (I actually used a tad bit less than what this made- I just eyeballed it.) Crumble a sleeve of Ritz crackers over the casserole dish.  Pour a stick of butter over the top. Bake on 350 degrees until hot and bubbly.

I split this casserole between her family and mine because I knew they were moving the next day and didn't need any leftovers, so you could easily get two meals out of this dish.

I paired the casserole with some white rice, green beans or broccoli and then a loaf of my husband's homemade bread.

Congrats to my sweet friend on the new home!  

Praying many years of the warmest memories in your new home. 

Friends, Corn and Black Bean Salsa

The other day, my friend Ashley and I invaded Sharon's house for a photo shoot!  Sharon takes wonderful photos and she asked us to come over so that she could get some shots of our baby's hands and feet.  The morning turned into more of a photo shoot of cute baby bums and cloth diapers, but we had fun!

Sharon is such a wonderful host and had some wonderful assortment of healthy snacks!  I was so impressed!  She had a wonderful salsa out to eat with healthy chips (as she called them).  It looked so yummy!  By the time I went and looked at the snacks, it was close to lunch so I just grabbed a few carrots and a cracker, but I went home and told Hubbie about the salsa and decided to make it soon!

Well, I am such a foodie, I couldn't think of anything else that week, food wise, and had Hubbie get the ingredients for me that very night!  I finally made the salsa yesterday and man! it doesn't disappoint!

CORN AND BLACK BEAN SALSA

• 1 can white corn (drained)
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes (do not drain)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
• 1 can black beans (drained)
• 1 bunch of fresh cilantro…finely chopped
• Mix everything together in a bowl and let chill for a couple hours.  This salsa will keep in refrigerator for a few days.
  

I made cheese quesadillas and served them with sour cream, guacaomole and this salsa.  What yummy and cheap lunch!  

And since Sharon suggested marinating chicken breasts in this, that is exactly what I did for Sunday's lunch.  While I was getting the boy's breakfast, I got out the crockpot, sprayed it with PAM and then put a small amount of the salsa in the bottom of the pot.  Then I placed 4 small chicken breasts on top on the salsa.  I then poured a little bit more on top of the chicken breasts with the remainder of the liquid from the storage container.  I set on HIGH so that it would be ready in 4 hrs.  

Once we got home, I shredded the chicken breasts.  I took tortillas and we made burritos with some of the shredded chicken/salsa mixture, sour cream and cheese.  I wished that I had had some green peppers and onions.  It would have been so yummy in the burritos!  We ate these burritos with the other half of our yummy Wholly Guacamole and the remainder of the corn/black bean salsa!  

Thanks Sharon!