It's What's for Dinner

Tonight I cooked dinner for a friend who just had a baby, and I made the same dinner for us too. I decided to make Bennett a little bowl of casserole, veggies, and a roll, just like the rest of us were eating, he actually ate it! He loves to try new foods, but I think he really liked having his own little dish and he really liked the poppyseed chicken casserole! He kept grabbing handfuls and shoving it into his mouth as fast as he could. Jim and I both were smiling and looking at him like, "Who is this kid?" Then, he took the bowl and put it on his face, trying to lick the rest of the casserole out of it!  


I posted this picture on F@cebook and was asked to share the recipe I use so I thought I'd post it here too. It's a popular dish where we live, but it may not be everywhere! 


Poppyseed Chicken Casserole (recipe for 4-6 people) 
1 lb chicken breasts, breast fillets, or breast cutlets 
1-2 sticks of butter lemon pepper seasoning 
1 can cream of chicken soup 
1 can cream of mushroom soup 
8-16 oz sour cream 
1 sleeve Ritz crackers poppyseeds 


Preheat oven to 375*. Place chicken in a baking dish, top with lemon pepper seasoning and butter or olive oil. Bake chicken at 375* for 1 hour. Take chicken out of oven and shred into small pieces. Mix sour cream, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, and poppyseeds with chicken in a new 9x9 glass baking dish. Crush 1 sleeve of Ritz crackers and sprinkle over top of mixture. Slice 1/2 - 1 stick of butter and place in rows on top of crackers. Reduce oven temperature to 350* and bake at 350* for 20 minutes or until bubbly. 


I usually serve this casserole over rice or with mashed potatoes and veggies, rolls, and cranberry sauce. It's a favorite at our house! For dessert tonight, I made a chocolate brownie dessert that's super easy and thought I'd share it too. My friend Renee made a similar one when we were in graduate school, and I have made it many times since then! It's a favorite of ours too!


Chocolate Brownie Trifle 


Chocolate brownies 
Chocolate pudding 
Cool Whip 
Heath bars or pieces -- optional 


Bake brownies. Make 1 large pkg chocolate pudding and place in the refrigerator. When brownies are done, cut into small pieces and mix with the cold pudding. *You can add Heath bars or pieces, but I usually don't. Then, Top with Cool Whip. Then try not to eat the whole thing! ;o) If you put it in a trifle dish, layer the chocolate mixture with the Cool Whip. It's really pretty and so good. For my family, we just do one layer of each.


PS The casserole is so great for Bennett because it's packed full of calories. However, you can make it with reduced fat sour cream and low sodium soups and cut the butter in half or leave it out, and it's good but not quite as yummy :)  It's a great comfort food!