Frilly Little Details: Recipe Monday: Poppyseed Chicken

Happy Martin Luther King Day everyone! I am in awe of this great American hero. Dr. King was a man of incredible wisdom and extreme courage during such an ugly and awful time in our country's history. I hope everyone enjoys their day off work and spends a little of their free time spreading some good in their community.

"I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin,

but by the content of their character."

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper,

he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted,

or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.

He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say,

here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."

"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.

He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

I've decided to start a weekly post - RECIPE MONDAYS! This way I can bring you something new and yummy to try at the start of each and every week. I don't know about you all, but Brandon and I plan a week long menu every Sunday night. That way I can go to the grocery store with a list of exactly what I need (ie save a little money and don't get halfway into a recipe before realizing I'm missing something) and I don't have to come home and try to quickly figure out what's for dinner! Of course, we don't stick to it perfectly... sometimes we eat out unexpectedly or swap days around to meet time constraints, but having a plan makes my life soooo MUCH easier! You should definitely give it a try if you aren't doing this already.

So for the first RECIPE MONDAY... a can't-live-without favorite at our house:

POPPY SEED CHICKEN

I was introduced to Poppy Seed Chicken while living at the Pi Phi house in college - this was definitely a dinner nobody missed! Everyone looked forward to Poppy Seed Chicken night!! I got the recipe from our awesome cook, Steve. We worked on quite a few party menus together and he was so great! I was always one of the first ones down for breakfast and even at 6am, he was wearing a huge smile. After two years of working on Sorority Row, he had his fill of picky-eating girls and left us for a dude ranch (can't say I blame him!). Cowboy Steve, I don't have a clue where you are and I'm positive you aren't reading my blog, but thanks for the recipe! You were one cool dude!

What you're going to need:

4-5 C Chopped, Cooked Chicken**

1 C (8oz) Sour Cream

1 tsp Poppy Seeds

1 Can Condensed Cream of Chicken

1 1/2 C Crushed Round Buttery Crackers

If you use the fresh stacks, 3 packages is perfect!

1/2 C Butter, melted

*Serving size: 4, but don't expect left overs! This recipe is so delicious B and I pretty much starve ourselves all day so we can eat as much as we'd like!! I actually made two pans of this last week so we'd have some for lunches. You're going to love it!!

**The details on the Chopped, Cooked Chicken:

First off, this recipe fills up a 9x13 pan perfectly... 4-5 cups is almost exactly 2 large chicken breasts or 3 small ones. You can just cook the chicken on the stove and then chop it up and it'll work just fine, but I think the recipe is WAYYY better if you marinate the chicken and then grill it! It takes minimal effort and trust me, it's worth it!

I marinated my chicken by just sticking the breasts in a big ziplock and shaking in quite a bit of Mesquite Chicken Seasoning, Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning, and a bunch of Tony Cachere's Creole (Told you, I use this stuff on EVERYTHING!!). Then I put about 2 or 3 dashes of Lite Soy Sauce and about half a bottle of Italian Dressing (however much it takes to cover all the chicken). Then I just shake it up really good and stick it in the fridge for a few hours. You can use whatever spices you want, these are just a few of my favorites!

What you're going to do:

(1) Preheat the oven to 350