Chicken Casserole

There are times when life is really tough. But usually, at some point, it begins to return to normal - to the life you think of yourself as having. And even though you are scared and part of you feels it's only a matter of time until the other shoe drops, you know it isn't great to walk around afraid all the time. So you let your guard down and allow yourself to start feeling normal again. But sometimes, life becomes tough all over again and being taken off guard can make it seem even harder than the first go-round.

Most of you know that my husband has been dealing with some pretty serious health issues over the last year and while he is doing much better, this last week was difficult. Even though we knew with our heads that it was a minor step back, it felt in our hearts like we were back at square one. Which is a really scary place to be.

During these times, we tend to crave things that are familiar. Things that have never let us down. We hug each other, rely on our families, and eat comfort food.


And this recipe is one of those foods for us. It is not terribly healthy or fussy, and is one of Tom's grandmother's recipes. It is best enjoyed surrounded by the ones you love most.

Chicken Casserole
1 full chicken (about 2 cups)
1 lb frozen broccoli
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup cornflake crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cook the chicken (or you can purchase a rotisserie chicken and make this step a *snap*). Pull apart into bite-sized chunks.

2. Put broccoli into the bottom of casserole dish. Cover broccoli with chicken pieces.

3. In a small bowl mix soup, mayo, lemon juice, curry powder and cheese, until fully combined. Spoon over the chicken. Sprinkle with cornflake crumbs.

4. Cover and bake for 1 hr. 20 minutes. The casserole should be bubbly.

Lemon Roasted Chicken

In my apology last week for dwelling on the sweets, I mentioned lemon roasted chicken. And then, couldn't stop thinking about it. Lemony, garlicy, with some delicious potato chunks thrown in for good measure. Yum!

This is one of those pretty impressive dinners that truly doesn't take much effort. Yes, I basted and turned the chicken every 20 minutes, but other than that it just hung out in the oven and did its thing allowing me to study for my first-ever law final. So it worked out well for both of us. Though in the end the chicken was eaten and I had to sit for 4 hours typing as fast as I could about jurisprudence... so maybe "well" is an overstatement.

Admittedly, the only part of the chicken that had the lemon flavor was the breast, but all of the meat was juicy and full of flavor. And the potatoes! I'm going to sneak to the fridge and get some now, even though it's 7am. Is that weird?

Lemon Roasted Chicken

1 4 lb whole chicken
1 lemon, halved
1/2 head of garlic
salt & pepper
handful of thyme

3 handfuls of new potatoes, quartered
1/4 cup olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Make sure to remove the giblets package from the chicken. Rinse it with cool water inside and out; pat dry with paper towels.

2. Shove the lemon halves, garlic, and thyme inside the bird's cavity. Generously salt & pepper the cavity.

3. Place the bird in your pan breast side up and secure the legs with twine (or one of those special rubber bands made just for this purpose) and spread the potatoes around the pan.

4. Drizzle olive oil over the bird and potatoes and sprinkle the whole thing with salt & pepper.

5. Cook for 1 1/2 hours, rotating the pan a quarter turn and basting every 20 minutes. When the chicken is done, an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the bird will read 165 F. Let sit for 10 minutes so the juices settle and serve.

Curry Chicken Wraps

We have been in money saving mode for well over a year now. Tom and I just got married in April and as of August both of us will be in school, so it goes without saying that we have to be super smart with all of our purchases.

One of the upsides of this is that it necessitates planning out our meals for the week and shopping ahead of time. It has also inspired a lot of creativity, because while I am not going to spend a ton of money on any one dinner, I refuse to compromise on flavor.

I've been hearing every day for the last couple weeks at least that Tom is really craving Indian food, which is totally understandable in my book. I can eat shrimp vindaloo any night of the week. But going out is not part of our budget at the moment, so I was really excited when I found this super simple Ina Garten recipe for Curry Chicken Wraps.

I used the recipe almost verbatim, really just opting for boneless/skinless chicken breast and omitting a few ingredients because I always prefer simple sandwiches or wraps to those that have a ton of different flavors and textures going on.

A definite bonus of this recipe is that all of your work can be done before hand, so dinner was literally spooning the chicken mixture onto the tortillas and rolling it up. Any meal that elicits a "this is the best thing you've ever made" is a-ok in my book. Especially one that is this easy!


Curry Chicken Wraps adapted from Ina Garten
**Note, since posting, I have adapted the amount of "sauce" because it was really too much for the amount of chicken. The change is reflected below.

1 1/2 lbs skinless chicken breast
olive oil salt & pepper to taste

1/4 cup mango chutney
3/4 cups light mayonnaise
1 1/2 tbsps. curry powder
1 tsps. coarse salt
2 scallions, chopped

1 cup whole salted-roasted cashews, chopped
6 tortillas

1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Place the chicken on the sheet pan and rub with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Cook the chicken for 20 to 30 minutes, until just done. Set aside until cool enough to touch. Using a knife and fork, shred the chicken.

3. In a food processor, combine the mayonnaise, chutney, curry powder, and coarse salt. Process until smooth.

4. Combine the chicken with the dressing. Add the scallions and mix well. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to blend.

5. Once ready to eat, add the cashews to the chicken mixture. Fill the center of each tortilla. Fold the 2 sides of the tortilla over the filling so that the sides overlap. Roll the tortilla from bottom to top, and cut in half diagonally.