Poppy Seed Chicken

The first time I ever had Poppy Seed Chicken, if I am not mistaken, was at Stacy's (my fiance) family reunion a few years back. I didn't even know what it was; all I know is that it was good! I always look forward to going to the family reunions, especially for that dish! Here recently I went to a "meat and three" in Wetumpka which is a small town a few minutes from my home. I ordered Poppy Seed Chicken for my daughter not even knowing what in the world I was ordering. When the dish came to my table and I tasted it for Autumn to see if she would like it, I immediately ordered some for myself. Point of the story? I love Poppy Seed Chicken. It has so much flavor and my family loves it.

The first time I made this dish I looked online for a bunch of different recipes, like I always do, and tried to make my own but they're almost all the same. I don't like being the same as everyone else, in case you didn't know, so I tried to come up with a different recipe. The first time was awesome, the second time was better, and the third time was almost perfect!

Here's what I did:

I used the basic recipe with a couple of little twists.

INGREDIENTS:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 cans cream of chicken soup

10 oz sour cream

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp garlic

2- 3 tbsp poppy seeds

3/4 cup melted butter

1 1/2 sleeves Ritz crackers

salt and pepper for taste


PREPARATION:

I first started preheating my oven to 350 degrees and then by cutting my chicken into one inch cubes. Once all the chicken was cut up, I threw it into boiling water and let it cook for about 20 minutes. on med-low heat.  

While my chicken was boiling  I made the sauce that would go over the chicken. I mixed the cream of soups, sour cream, cheese, garlic, salt, pepper, and about a tablespoon of poppy seeds into a small mixing bowl.

Once the chicken was done, I shredded it with my fingers and spread it out into a greased casserole dish. While some people like to keep their chicken cubed, I prefer to cube and then shred mine because I like the chicken in every bite I take once it's on my plate. I learned this time around that cubing the chicken made it easier for me to shred the chicken with my fingers and was less time consuming because the pieces were much smaller to shred!

My next step is to merely spread the soup mixture on top of the shredded chicken.

After all of the soup mixture was spread evenly, I crumbled up a sleeve and a half of Ritz crackers and evenly distributed them over the soup mixture. Once the crackers were evenly spread, I poured my melted butter slowly and evenly  over the crackers making sure to have butter on almost every piece of cracker. 

Lastly, I sprinkled about two tablespoons of poppy seeds on top of the Ritz crackers. I then stuck my dish into my preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Here is my final product. I typically serve my chicken on top of white rice and eat it like that, but this plate was for one of the children who came over to eat so I had to separate it.

This recipe is sure to be a crowd-pleaser! I ended up being able to serve four adults and four children with this dish and still have about two servings left over. It's so good and has become a regular entree in our household. I try not to make it very often because, like every dish, if you eat it too much you're going to get tired of it and no one in my family wants to get tired of this. It's that good! :)

Spinach stuffed chicken

This is one of my absolute favorite recipes and the reason being is because I completely and solely made this recipe on my own with my own imagination, and it turned out great! I came about this recipe for the first time when a friend of mine was telling me how he has stuffed chicken with spinach before. Now to me, just plain spinach in a chicken didn't sound very appetizing so I did a good bit of research to find a recipe that suited my taste, and I couldn't find anything! I finally decided to experiment and I was very happy with the results!

INGREDIENTS:


4    BONELESS SKINLESS CHICKEN BREASTS


3    CUPS (ABOUT) OF SPINACH CHOPPED


1/2 ONION CHOPPED


1 1/2 OUNCE CREAM CHEESE


1/2 TEASPOON GARLIC POWDER


3    TABLESPOONS FETA CHEESE


3    TABLESPOONS PARMESAN CHEESE


8    SLICES OF BACON


1    TABLESPOON OLIVE OIL


SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE




PREPARATION:


Alright, so before I tell you how to properly stuff the chicken breast, I have to tell you how I stuffed the chicken breast the first time I did this recipe. Up until the other day, I was wondering why on earth my food turned out so messy when I stuffed my chicken. It's because I really wasn't even stuffing my chicken to begin with. I was rolling it. Yes, rolling it-- let me explain.


I would start by pounding out my chicken breast with whatever that hammer looking thing is that you use to pound your meats with (don't judge me... my kitchen vocabulary isn't proper, obviously). After I got my chicken really thin, I would spoon the stuffing on into the middle and roll the chicken. (No, I am NOT kidding.) I would then secure the chicken by wrapping it with bacon and poking toothpicks all throughout it. Folks: Don't try this at home! It's disastrous!


Now if you're laughing at me, I certainly don't blame you. The mess I made with that was something I still laugh about now. So I get it! Laugh on!

Now I will tell you the proper way to stuff the chicken breast. It's so much easier and much less messy! :) I start off by sauteing the onions and spinach. Once the spinach has the bright green color (which won't take long at all) , remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Then add the garlic, all cheeses, salt, and pepper. It's okay to taste test this and add until you get to the flavor that you like.

Now for the Rachael Ray way of stuffing chicken. You start by inserting a pairing knife into the fattest, plumpest part of the chicken and going into the chicken about 3/4 of the way down. Next, twist the knife a couple of times so there is enough room to stick your fingers inside of the chicken so that you can loosen it up enough to insert the stuffing. Your hole should look something like the hole in this picture.

After making a hole deep enough and big enough to add the stuffing, I began with a spoon full of stuffing and tried to insert it. For me, it didn't work out well so I just got my hands clean and started stuffing the breast with my fingers. Once the breast is stuffed as much as possible, I wrap the breast with two pieces of bacon.

Once all chicken breasts are stuffed and wrapped, place them in a casserole dish and bake them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Your chicken should be a light golden color and your bacon should be well done.

I also served my chicken with yellow squash and this smashed potatoes recipe from Giada at Home. I must say, this is a very delicious dinner. Everything compliments one another and  the chicken is to die for!