As Requested.....

A couple of the commenters on the previous post wanted the recipe for the Chicken and Chips casserole, so here it is. The original recipe was posted on a blog called something like the Time Traveling Housewife (sorry I wasn't more conscientious about citing my source!); there was a whole dinner menu in that post, including Mint Brownies....I wasn't so ambitious last night!

Chicken and Chips

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup milk

2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped

1 cup crushed potato chips

1 cup frozen green peas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the soup and milk and blend well. Gently mix in the remaining ingredients and pour the mixture in a 2-quart casserole dish. Cook for 25-30 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Easy, eh?

A couple of notes:

• Since this was the first time I was making the recipe, I cut it in half. What I've given you above is the half-recipe. It made just enough for 4 people (my husband might disagree, since he didn't get seconds, ha ha).
• Actually, I put in the full amount of chicken the original recipe called for because we like chunky, meaty things (And I had cooked that extra chicken breast, anyway....)
• When I thought I was making chicken salad, I had started cutting onion into the chicken, so that explains the purplish flakes in the picture above. The onion certainly didn't hurt the recipe, so I might add it again in the future.
• My husband thought the dish needed more salt; I thought it was fine. I suppose the original idea was that the chips would have plenty of salt. Adjust according to your taste.
• I used Lays Wavy chips because that's what I had. I also had some sour cream/onion chips, but I was afraid to try them. However, I think next time I might try some flavored chips to, as Emeril Lagasse would say, "kick it up a notch." (Ha ha, I bet Emeril never made Chicken and Chips!)

The Dreaded Question

I was about halfway home this evening when my phone buzzed to tell me a text had come in. At the next opportune moment, I checked the message. It was from my daughter, and it was the question I think I dread more than any other* - "What's for dinner?"

My answer was, "I don't know." It's been one of those days, when I worked late and had to go to the store for non-food items, so I was getting a late start home anyway. Plus, it's church night. If I had been smart, I would have stopped at Subway or something before heading home. But I didn't.

When I got home, my daughter (who was home sick today) said she finally felt ready for "real food." I had thought I might make sloppy joes (quick and easy), but that's probably not the best fare for someone recovering from a bout of the stomach bug. I had some boiled chicken in the refrigerator, so I announced I would turn it into chicken salad sandwiches. Still quick, but relatively bland and easy on the stomach.

I already had an egg boiling and was cutting up the chicken when I realized I am completely out of a VERY important ingredient for chicken salad - mayonnaise. I'd used the last of it last weekend making something to take to a church potluck. OK. Shift of strategy. I could make Poppy Seed Chicken. I would need more chicken, though, so I put another frozen chicken breast on to boil and searched out the recipe.

I was gathering the ingredients when I realized Plan B wasn't going to work, either - no buttery crackers. Now, I suppose I could have used plain old saltines, but part of the appeal of Poppy Seed Chicken is that yummy topping, and I just didn't want the dish without it.

On to Plan C! I had seen a recipe somewhere once for a Chicken and Chips casserole made with potato chips (I did have about a quarter of a bag on hand). I hunted up the recipe online and finally had everything I needed. I was a little apprehensive, though; what if no one liked it? Oh, and I should mention that the time for church had come and gone by this point.....

The story does have a happy ending. The dish was SO easy to make and pretty quick (once I figured out I was going to make it, ha ha). And everyone liked it. My husband came in to get a second helping only to discover our son beat him to it and emptied the dish. That's a good sign! 

I think I'll start saving the crumbles at the bottom of the potato chip bag so I can have them around for the next time someone brings up that dreaded question. (And I guess I really better get more serious and consistent with planning a menu so I actually have the groceries I need....there's a thought....)

*My other most dreaded question? "Do you have our papers graded?"