I was possibly influenced by the fleeting full moon, or hadn’t had enough sleep last night, or WHATEVER, but I was not in the mood for the whining and complaining about dinner today. It started on the walk home from school – “What’s for dinner, Mom?” This was my answer:
“Geez, 950 million people NEVER have to ask that question because they HAVE NO FOOD.”
Sign of things to come in my house, I tell ya.
So fast forward to 5pm. I have helped with homework, stood over kids unloading the dishwasher (don’t get me started on the complaints there), done 2 loads of laundry, made my oldest walk the dog and suddenly, it’s time to get some food on the table.
Yesterday, I made some yummy grilled, spice-rubbed chicken breast. I served them over rice for the menfolk in the house while my daughter & I went out to eat. I had four left over and figured I could do something interesting with them. The day was gloomy here, threatening skies, a little cool – a comfort-food kind of day.
My mom once made a wonderful Chicken Divan, and since I had all the right ingredients, I figured, why not? We aren’t generally casserole people, but with three kids in hockey this winter, I think we might have to convert. Then came my dilemma:
NOBODY WAS GOING TO EAT THIS.
I have one who won’t touch broccoli, one who gags at creamy things, another who is pretty well only eating when the wind is right and the last who is (ahem) watching his cholesterol. Since I believe that a happy mom makes for a happy house, I thought, What the heck? I’m making this anyway because it’s what I want.
I did turn to my trusty friend, the Internet, for a quick recipe. I had a general idea, but rightly guessed that a little guidance was in order.
So, thank you, Paula Deen for the recipe. This beautiful Southern woman knows her casseroles. However, I nearly choked when I saw amount of sour cream, mayo and cheese she uses. I quickly thought about my husband (and his cholesterol count) and decided that I needed to shape this up a bit if it was going to suit my family.
So, here’s what I did:
- Used 1 fresh head of broccoli instead of frozen. (Nothing wrong with frozen, I just didn’t have it! Sauteed it with onion, garlic & chicken before adding sauce)
- Halved the amount of chicken, and cut into cubes instead of shredding.
- Used a quarter of the sour cream (no fat) and mayo (Olive oil based).
- I only used 1 can of soup (because I didn’t read the list thoroughly!) I didn’t have it on hand, but next time I would used reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup.
- I did not add any extra salt, figuring that the soup would have plenty. Also, the chicken was nicely spiced, so no extra flavour was required.
- Oh, and because I drank it all the night before, I left out the wine!
- Last, I used crushed whole wheat crackers instead of buttered bread crumbs for the topping.
- Served it over rice (used all my leftovers! Yay me!)
So how did it all turn out? Well… IT WAS AWESOME!
The kids, despite their initial resistance, ate, and one asked for more. The broccoli-hater pushed her evil green bits to the side without complaint. My reflux-boy had no problems and the fair-weather eater? Well, a little more prodding was required (i.e. raw broccoli traded for cooked) but he ate too.
Verdict? This won’t be in regular rotation due to the higher calorie/fat count, but it was delicious. I will consider it whenever I have some leftover chicken lying around, and a hankering to torture my children…
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