Poppy Seed Chicken

O guys, I'm living off casseroles. And not just any casserole, but poppy seed chicken ones. This slightly sinful chicken dish is a frat and sorority house staple at Alabama and I am madly in love with it.

As a matter of fact, I made two 13x9 pans of this stuff yesterday... that's 3 lbs of chicken.

I ate it 4 times yesterday.

It's only 10:12 AM and I've already had a bowl of it...

Hi, my name is Amanda and I'm a Poppy  Seed Chicken A Holic.

hi, amanda
(don't you DARE try and stage an intervention)

Here's what you need:
1 lb. of chicken - boiled then shredded
1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup
8 ounces of sour cream
1/4 cup milk (I prefer whole)
1 tablespoon poppyseeds
1 package Ritz crackers
1/3 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350. Place your boiled and shredded chicken in the bottom of a lightly greased13x9 dish. In a seperate bowl, mix the sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, milk and poppseeds (lightly pepper and salt). Mix well. Pour mixture over the chicken, spreading it evenly. Crush the package of ritz and pour over the top. Drizzle (hate that word) melted butter over ritz and sprinkle a few more poppyseeds.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Carefully remove from oven. Salivate over your casserole dish. Find fork. Stick fork in less-than-obvious place (I recommend the corners). Take a bite. Realize bite is super hot. Administer the "backwards blow" without much success because frankly? The bite is already scalding your tongue and no amount of backwards blowing will do you any good at this point.

Wait 5 minutes and actually serve yourself a big helping.

I feel that this dish is best reheated. It gives the chicken time to take on the tanginess of the sour cream and the other flavors to really mingle. Noteworthy: I actually hate sour cream but this doesn't taste a THING like sour cream.


ENJOY!

General Tso's Chicken Recipe

As promised, here's that yummy recipe for General Tso's Chicken, which can be found at almost any Chinese take-out restaurant.


(Noteworthy: I have no IDEA how to pronounce "Tso". Please leave a pronunciation key in the comments section if you have an education clue, because up until now, I just said General "tzscho" REALLYREALLYREALLY fast when ordering, preceded by the # on the menu. Help.)

To make this recipe, you will need:

1 cup (pre-cooked) white rice

Preparation: In a large bowl, rinse 1 cup of rice under running water. The rice will sink to the bottom, so use your hands to move the rice around in the bottom. The water pouring over the sides will be milky in color - this process removes some of the starch from the rice to make it sticky for Asian Recipes. Rinse for about 3 minutes, leaving some starch in (you don't want it to be one, unmovable bowl of rice, so the water should never be clear).

Anyhooters (I'm not a recipe writer, can you tell?), cook the now partially-rinsed rice as directed. Meaning, boil 2 cups water then add 1 cup rice and reduce heat to low. Cover and LEAVE ALONE (no peeking!!) (ok, I stir once just to make sure there's nothing going on in that pot that I don't know about... unattended rice tend to throw major parties... just so you know...).

Let the water cook out for about 18 minutes (the package will say 20+, but something about rinsing the rice means it takes less time). Then "fluff"... whatever that means...

Put the rice off to the side - it's now done!

Next, you'll need to make the marinade which will later be cooked to make the sauce:

1/2 cup soy sauce

6 tables spoons rice vinegar

6 tablespoons rice wine (*substitute: apple juice - and I think it adds a nice flavor)

1-3 cloves of garlic, minced or chopped finely (more is better in this marinade/sauce)

3 tablespoons of minced ginger (I use the kind in a jar. You can find it in the produce section. MUCH easier than buying ginger and not using the whole thing and SO easy, did I mention easier?)

2 tablespoons of Sesame Oil or Wok Oil (I used the Wok oil)

Red Pepper Flakes (I used about a tablespoon, I like things spicy, but the kids can't handle much more than this)

Mix all these ingredients together. Set aside

Then:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken tenders

Chop this into 1-inch cubes. Place in the marinade. Let sit (in the frig) for at least an hour. I did 2.5 and the chicken was juicy and tender.

After it marinades, you'll need to bread and pan fry the chicken. Take the chicken out of the marinade. Take the marinade and put it in a sauce pan, but one large enough that you'll be able to fit all the chicken and some broccoli in later. (I used a large pan that I use for things like Hamburger Helper. Oh, that's right, I make Hamburger Helper.)

Add to the marinade (that's now in the pan):

4-5 tablespoons Cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

Beat with a whisk until smooth. Turn heat to medium. Watch this closely, stirring often. You want a slightly thick sauce. (I had to turn it down a little about halfway through)

While the sauce is reducing (and you ARE WATCHING IT, remember?)...

You'll need to coat and pan-fry the chicken, so heat 2/3 cup oil in a pan and:

1-2 eggs, beaten (if using extra large eggs, just 1 will do)

1/2 cup of cornstarch

Coat the chicken in the egg. Then, place 1/2 cup cornstarch in a large ziploc bag, and throw in the chicken/egg mix. Shake like crazy. Shake it fast, but watch yourself, shake it face - show em wat your workin' wid.

Add this to the (now hot) oil in the pan. It should take about 3 minutes to cook the chicken, since it's small. You are wanting it to be golden brown.

Check on the sauce, if it's starting to thicken, go ahead and add the cooked chicken to the sauce mix and turn it down to medium-low. (If it's not yet thick, set the chicken on a paper towel to drain).

Now grab 1 cup frozen broccoli florets and at it to the sauce/chicken mix.

Cover and put on low.

Within the next 4-5 minutes, everything should be glazed in saucey goodness and done.

Serve over the rice you made earlier and enjoy!

Yummers.

This makes, easily 4-6 regular servings. Add extra red pepper flakes if it's not spicy enough for you (I sure did!!).

7 Quick Takes: Plus a Half Edition

--1--

Because I am STILL having issues with picking a color pallett for my living room, hallway, master bedroom and master bath makeover (noticed I said "COLOR PALLETT" because, guess what? I also have to buy CURTAINS or DRAPES or LORD HELP ME, CLOTHE TO COVER MY DINING ROOM WINDOWS, sigh)... I found this nifty little "tool" in my desperation.

It's an iPhone app from Benjamin Moore called ben. Really, it's more fun than useful, for me, but I can see where it'd have some practical uses.

Say, for instance, you have a son with the most amazing blue eyes, and you thought it'd be a sweet idea to repaint his room using said color. Well, we can't go scraping corneas out and placing them in the handy color matcher machine, now can we?

No siree.

In the ben app, you can find a picture, tap any point on that picture and it'll match it to a paint swatch from the Benjamin Moore collection.




Conner's eyes happen to be "Athens Blue".

--2--

Since we are on the subject of iPhone apps that rock my face off, or at least my children's faces off - mostly Conner's face... I had a little fun of my own the other day with the sweetest picture of my youngest child:

Might I present to you Chasadrian Alexandria? Heavens, I need to make sure to label this one for "delete within the next 4 years"....

This all stems from some photographs my grandmother brought over to show me just how much Chase and I looked alike as babies - and dudes! We SO do! It's amazing. So, naturally, she gives me the "Chase should have been a girl" speech, and I, in turn, gave him some beautiful golden locks and a precious little bow using Scribble Lite (the iPhone app)

Funny: I showed this to Conner, and he thought it was L. Which, in hindsight, is kinda disturbing...

(For those of you not clicking that link, because I'm a little link and picture crazy today, L. is his puppy crush from Pre-School...)

--3--

Enough about iPhone apps, mk?

Let's talk about how DEEPLY SATISFYING it is to prepare dinner at lunchtime, when you are ALREADY cooking lunch and over the stove? SO SATISFYING.

This past Saturday, while playing short-order cook, I managed to throw together this:

Baked Ziti! Just brown up some hamburger meat, add a large (26 ounce??) can of spaghetti sauce, simmer for a bit. While that's working, boil off half a regular sized box of ziti (make sure to salt the water well!) for 7-8 minutes, as directed. Then, mix it all together in a casserole dish, throw in some Italian Cheese Blend (Publix!), and throw it in the frig. I pulled it out an hour before dinner time, heated the over and baked for 45 minutes under a loose foil at 350.

Delicious (thanks MOM! Loved this dish!)

--4--

For Conner's 2nd (?) birthday, he received Darth Tater:

(Hysterical, no?)

He didn't quite get it then, but nowadays, as many of you know... he's all about some Star Wars.

So, it was no surprise when he re-found his toy. It was even MORE hysterical when he started to become one with the Dark Spud:

(iPhone quality + Jedi speed = blurry pics and one sorry blogger....)

May the Funny be with you.

--5--

Speaking of FOOD! I made General Tso's Chicken the other night, and it was DELICIOUS! I'm going to post the recipe tomorrow after Conner's bday party (or Sunday, whichever). It was so very good, and just as good as anything I could have purchased from take-out!

Here's a preview of my leftovers (sorry about that...)

--6--

I cleaned out the window seals yesterday, is that blog worthy? I feel like anything that has to be cleaned, but can't be seen AND breaks a sweat deserves a shout-out.

Feel free to leave your least recognized and unrewarded accomplishment in the comments section. I'll give you a virtual high-five for it!

--7--

You know who I find amazing? Ellie over at One Crafty Mother and her etsy store, Shining Stones. She's a self-described "former executive, proud SAHM of 2, artist, designer, and recovering alcoholic".

Her jewelry is amazing - SEE:

and her prices will floor you. Her story of recovery is even more awesome, so I'd suggest a gander at her site. Plus, she gives away a piece of her stunning jewelry twice monthly, so while you are there, go ahead and look into that too.

--7 1/2 --

The Church of Amanda post really hit home with a lot of you, and I really enjoyed your comments. If you are visiting from Conversion Diary, go ahead and take a look at that post too. It's all about finding your Church Home and what to do when that search has been exhausted. Let me know your thoughts on the subject.

For more quick takes, please visit the Conversion Diary.

Oh. Food!

Recently, I discovered blogchef.net, which mainly consists of asian-inspired cuisine, delictable desserts, and mexican dish recipes. (Great site, easy recipes, lots of pics... I've made his stir-fry rice [realizing I need to purchase a Wok if I want *perfect* stir-fry], his Crab Rangoons, and his recipe for Sweet & Sour Sauce is great)

Last night, I made these, Mexican Pizzas! It was yummmmmmy. I used a mix of Colby and Jack cheese, and sprinkled a few finely chopped jalepenos on mine. I also prefer all things "not chunky", so I subsituted regular tomatos and salsa (seeing as I am allergic and all...) with my oh-so-yummy staple Ortega Think & Smooth Taco Sauce. Additionally, after browning the meat, I added a packet of Taco Seasoning (following the directions of the packet) to give it a little extra kick.

Oh, and I think I might have cooked rice to add some filler.

You should try these, it was simple and filling!