Comfort Food

The children are home from camp, and they are worn out! They tried to sleep most of Saturday away. I made pancakes again this morning using the recipe that can be found here. We had some blueberries that I needed to do something with before they became food for the chickens. So, I made blueberry pancakes. I put the batter on the griddle and dropped the blueberries in each pancake as it was cooking. My hubby loved them. I actually prefer mine plain, but my kiddos love chocolate chip pancakes. The batter is versatile; I just drop in whatever I or they would like as I'm cooking.

It's Saturday; no one wants to over exert himself. It seems like a great day for some comfort food. There are many types of comfort food. At my house, one type of comfort food is my chicken casserole. To make this dish you need: chicken, mashed potatoes, cream of something soup, cheese, sour cream, and dressing or stuffing. Whether you call it dressing or stuffing depends on how you make it and where you're from. 

So, let's say I come in on a really busy day and I need to throw together a quick meal. I could go to my pantry and pull out a box of instant mashed potatoes, a can of cream of something such as mushroom, chicken, or celery, a box of Stove Top stuffing, and canned chicken breast. From my refrigerator, I need some cheese and a little sour cream.

Or, I could have some leftover chicken, mashed potatoes (from scratch), and stuffing. Or any combination of instant and leftover. I could get a rotisserie chicken and use the meat from that. Whatever I have on hand is what I will use. 

I had some chicken tenders in the freezer. They've been there a while and I need to use them. I thawed them, mostly, and cooked them in some water, about a half of a cup. I added some celery salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. I had mashed potatoes and a box of Stove Top. I also scraped up a can of cream of celery soup. I needed about a half of a cup of sour cream and cheese to cover the potatoes.

Cooking the chicken tenders

I took the mashed potatoes and put them in a casserole dish. They were warm. I had added some chives to them. I covered these with thinly sliced and shredded cheeses. I used what we had. I made the stuffing according to the directions on the box. I then added the chicken that I had pulled apart with my fingers, the can of cream of celery soup, and the sour cream. I spread this mixture on top of the cheese. I put this in the oven at 375° F for about 30 minutes. 

Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Shredded chicken

Assembled and ready to go into the oven

I also made a loaf of bread. I am fortunate enough to have a bread maker. It's a bit old, but someone gave it to me a few years ago when she couldn't sell it at a yard sale. I use it to mix and knead the dough. Then I punch the dough down and put it in a loaf pan. After it has risen, I bake it in the oven. I tried a new bread recipe, and I approve! So did everyone else. They ate the whole thing. Okay, I helped. It was warm fresh bread straight from the oven slathered with butter. Hello!! Who wouldn't want to devour that?

Beginning stage of the dough

Dough in the pan

Finished Product

Yes, the meal was on the starchy side, but most of us associate starches with our comfort food. We had some of the casserole left. It reheats well in the microwave or on a low temperature in the oven. 

The finished casserole

The link for the bread recipe is here. You should try it. Not all bread recipes are created equal. This one was worth my time. Watch the bread at 30 minutes and see what you think. 35 minutes may turn it too brown. 

The recipe for the casserole:

Chicken Casserole by The Investibaker

In case you aren't familiar with Stove Top, here it is.

Try this recipe and let me know what you think!