Chicken and Broccoli Bake

Okay, this has fast become a family favorite. Each time I make it, I do not measure anything...so this time I measured it all out! Disclosure: I am aware that this is not a novelty type meal. I know versions of this exist...this is just what I do for my family.

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breasts
2 cups frozen broccoli (16 ounce bag of chopped broccoli is what I used)
2 cups Pepperidge Farms Herb Seasoned Stuffing (or your choice)
2 cups cheese
2 servings Cream of X Soup (or 2 cans Cream of Chicken...I like making mine though)

Instructions:

First dice the chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper

Then toss into a preheated and oiled pan

While the chicken is cooking, take a sauce pan and begin making your Cream of X Soup

Start the roux by melting 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of butter

Once the butter is melted and starts bubbling, add 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of flour

Whisk together and allow to brown slightly

Add your milk and chicken broth - 1 cup of each 

Tip have this prepared before you start the roux...it can go from browned to burned really quickly...

...not that I know that from experience or anything

Stir together until it reaches boiling and then set aside off of heat (I just move it to the back burner)

If the mixture is not thick enough, you can add a little more flour....like a teaspoon of flour at a time...whisk together well and bring the mixture to a boil again....if it is too thick (it won't be) just add some more butter, again, a teaspoon at a time.

Next, in a casserole dish, pour out the bag of frozen broccoli

Okay...so I wrapped my dish in foil so that clean up would be easier, and the bottom ripped while stirring my ingredients, so I would NOT recommend the foil...unless you like fishing out bits of aluminum out of your meal...yuck

Then add your diced chicken. FYI: if you want to add some of your cream of X soup to the chicken while cooking, that is also a good idea...I did that last time and liked how it kept the chicken moist.

 Take your Stuffing Mix of choice:

This is seriously the best.

And add half (1 cup) to dish

Then add half (1 cup) of the cheese. FYI you CAN add more cheese...I almost always do.

and your soup mix

and stir together until combined

Next take the remaining cheese (1 cup...or more) and sprinkle on top, followed by the remaining breadcrumbs (one cup) and sprinkle those on top. 

Then put dabs of butter over the top of your casserole (about 4 tablespoons)

Cook in oven preheated to 375 degrees F for 30-45 minutes (until cheese is bubbly/center is hot)

Serve with corn and enjoy....well, that's how we do it.

Okay, so I have a confession...I was actually worried sharing this recipe with you because when I made it turned out dry........then I realized what happened. For some reason I only added 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour for my roux! I'm so glad THAT riddle is solved. Believe it or not, that extra 2 tablespoons makes a HUGE difference. Now that I know, I am going to stick by this recipe for sure! 

Also, I'm sure you could skip the "cook the diced chicken" part, but then you would want to bake it for about an hour so that all the chicken gets cooked through properly....I do it this way because I like dealing with cooked chicken better...

ALSO you could just add frozen diced chicken (Tyson has this) and skip the cooking part and the raw part! 

Well, that's all for today. I don't have pictures of the kiddos because we haven't had any photo sessions lately. Maybe tomorrow :)

Back to Basics

I have decided something...I want to start making my own bread.

That's right...I said MAKE MY OWN BREAD.

Just looking at this picture makes me want to go grab a slice of the crap I just bought at the store sitting on top of my refrigerator, slather it with some delicious (homemade!) butter and chow down.

But I can't do that. I made the choice to consume a concrete from Freddy's Frozen Custard...I've pretty much ruined my day. As in: I-really-shouldn't-eat-anything-else-the-rest-of-the-day-because-one-food-item-took-up-my-entire-calorie-content kind of ruined day....but we all know I'm really going to eat......back to the buttered bread again. *mmmmm*

Why would I want to make my own bread?

Well, first of all it smells HEAVENLY when it's (almost done) baking.
Second, I know all the ingredients that go into the bread...
Third, it is actually a lot more cost efficient.

Look, I have the time. I'm at home. I love that little fact of life; I'm a stay-at-home mom. I totally fail at my daily responsibilities, but, hey, I have goals (thank you Mrs. Dorrell for your TOTS talk Thursday) and I plan on accomplishing them. Just because I have like three four days of laundry piling up that needs to be folded and put away doesn't mean that I won't have time for bread-making next week!

So I made my own butter (super easy and super fun) and now I need some homemade bread to go with it...I have an entire board devoted to Bread on PINTEREST!

But for now I'll finish the rest of the store bought loaf resting atop my fridge...perhaps this will be my last store-bought loaf ever.........

but somehow I HIGHLY doubt that

<I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. John 6:51>

Homemade Baby Rice Cereal

Okay, something I have always done is make my own baby food. I do buy some baby food from the store, just for those moments of necessity, but most of the time I enjoy the process of steaming and pureeing on my own. One thing I have almost always purchased, however, is the baby rice cereal.

Let me preface this: I HAVE made baby rice cereal by powderizing (I think this is a made-up word, but I'm going with it!) organic brown rice grains in a coffee grinder. However, it does not whip up in a few short seconds...it takes quite a while, actually, because it has to cook all the way through.

With baby #3, however, I had a random (and rare) "ah-ha!" moment. I had purchased some Brown Minute Rice because I thought "how nice to make rice so quickly if I forget to make a carbohydrate for the meal one day" (yeah right...like that could happen with this carb lover *points to self*) and as I was looking in my pantry I suddenly thought..."why not just powderize the minute brown rice?"

What you need (or a variation of seen objects *UPDATE* I actually use my blender first and then finish the grains off in the coffee grinder until it reaches a powdered stage...I burned out my coffee grinder only using it, plus it takes less time and it's really not too bad to clean up):

I set my coffee grinder at "Fine" and I keep holding it "on" until it reaches a fine powdered end.

I tried to show how powdered I meant...think flour consistency...mine is not that fine, but the finer you make it, the better...but it will still work if it isn't that fine, so don't worry.

I tried making the rice cereal three different ways to see what would work out the best.

1) Add cold water to the rice.......that was a major fail. It doesn't get a chance to cook that way...obviously, so it is crunchy and grainy...blech!

2) Added hot (boiling) water to rice (plus an ice cube to cool it down after letting it sit a bit). This worked great, however, it still had probably too much texture for a baby who is just starting out on solids.

3) Put water on stove to boil, added rice, mixed, brought to a boil again, and voila! Perfect consistency for a beginner baby. I added an ice cube to this after I was finished as well. All-in-all this only took like 2 minutes...

Now, I don't really measure things out. I put like a 1/4 cup of water in the pot...so it literally takes a minute to boil...then I just keep adding rice until it thickens up. I'm not too worried about how thick it will get since I add the ice cubes.

It was a huge hit! Plus, it didn't take me 20 minutes to make like the rice cereal I used to make. Now what I want to try to do is parboil my OWN rice...then I can do organic brown Basmati rice (which just happens to be my favorite and can be found in bulk at Whole Foods...whoop!)

Parboiling is very easy, actually, and it will save me money to parboil it at home instead. I am planning on just getting a canister to store the rice in once it is finished drying after I parboil it. Well, if you DO make your own baby food, or have always wanted to give it a try, then I hope this helps you.

Also, sorry that it has been SO long. I actually had planned on writing this a few days ago and I didn't...but, better late then never. I have a couple of recipes I want to put on here that were HUGE HUGE hits with my family (finally......) but I didn't take pictures. I got way too caught up in the cooking process to remember to take pictures! But I will make them again and post pictures then...meanwhile, I hope you all are having a wonderful day!

< Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:24 >