Chicken Broccoli Casserole

What kind of Mormon would I be if a casserole didn't make the Rotisserie Chicken Week?! ;) I know a few of you mock the casserole (I'm not gonna name names... you know who you are ), but c'mon... if it gets my kids to eat broccoli, then I say Mock-A-Way!


1. choppin' broccoli
2. washin' broccoli
3. steamin' broccoli
4. layerin' broccoli
5. stir it up (...little darlin', stir it up)
6. saucin' the broccoli



I wish I could say that I follow this recipe exactly, but I don't. Since it's not baking and it doesn't have to be exact, I do my own thing. I love lots of broccoli, lemon juice and curry powder and less chicken. So I mix things up a bit.

The Recipe:

Chicken Broccoli Casserole
(makes 8x8 pan size)
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 Cup Mayo
1/2 Cup Milk (I add extra to make it more thinned out)
1 TBL. Lemon Juice
2 tsp. Curry Powder
2 Chicken Breasts - cooked & shredded (or chicken from a Rotisserie Chicken)
10oz. or more Broccoli (steamed)

Bake @ 350 for 20-30 minutes

Serve over rice - technically Arborio Rice is for risotto, but it's the best.

Quick Tip: Broccoli

I have mentioned this little Quick Tip a while back with one of my favorite salads, but I think it deserves it's own post. I saw this on Good Eats (one of my favorites when I used to be a Food Network Junkie) awhile back, and I've been doing it ever since.

A word about broccoli first: Fresh vs. Frozen

In my opinion, fresh will always beat frozen. You lose control when you use frozen. You end up with too many end pieces mixed in with the flowerettes and the quality... the quality is not as good (soggy). There are only a few vegetables that maintain their quality frozen: peas and corn.



For the Quick Tip:

Once you've cut off all the little broccoli flowerettes, and their floating happily in their water bath. Go to work on those stems (don't throw them out!) Shave off all the tough exterior, to find the soft inside. I love to eat it fresh, right then. Avery loves it too! You should try it!

Rotisserie Chicken Week

When it comes to chicken, I love rotisserie chickens. They are inexpensive, easy and work in so many recipes. Although after I saw Food Inc. and watched it again this weekend (you have to see it... have you seen it?). I looked at chicken (meat - in general) completely different. As much as I love the ease of a rotisserie chicken, I now want to make more of an effort in buying organic - cage free when I can.

Change needs to happen when it comes to the food that we eat in this country. Like they say in the movie... "we each get to vote 3 times a day". Every meal we eat is a vote.

Some pros and cons:

Rotisserie Chicken Pros:
- I love that I don't have to cook them.
- I love that they're usually seasoned well.

Rotisserie Chicken Cons:
- I don't love that the plastic container it comes in is not recyclable.
- I don't love taking it apart - it's messy.





Some things that I do:

-I usually buy 2 at the same time.

-Take the chicken apart (shred it) while it's still warm from the store. It's easier to remove the skin and the fat from the chicken.

-Freeze what you won't use right away. Shredded-cooked chicken in the freezer is a great thing on those days that you are in a big hurry to get dinner on the table.

- Place a paper towel underneath the chicken in the container in the fridge.

I'd love to know, do you buy rotisserie chickens often?

Adoption Book Giveaway Winner(s)... Yep, Plural.

This was by far my most favorite giveaway that I have ever done. With past giveaways, I always love to ask each entry to tell something or answer a question to avoid the same old "PICK ME PICK ME".

Well, I forgot to ask a question for this one, and I loved hearing from so many of you how adoption has affected your lives and the lives of so many of your friends and family. Adoption truly is such a blessing for all those involved. So THANK YOU!

Also a Major Biggie Thank you to Amy (the Illustrator) and Ashley (the Author) who upped the winners from 1 to 2. So nice!

Congrats to the winners: Aimee and Arianne!

Song Of The Week: Red Cape

Priscilla Ahn - Red Cape

I know this album has been out for a couple of years now, but have you cranked this one in your car yet?! My favorite part is at the 1 minute mark... so fun to SOL (sing out loud). This song came to me via Tiffany's Anti-Winter Mix. There's nothing like a random mix from a friend. Thanks Tiff!

Do You Like Pina Coladas?

or getting caught in the rain? Or how about making love at midnight? ;)
(Sorry, I couldn't help myself.)

If you said yes to any of the above, then you must join me today over at A Pina Colada. I'm sharing 10 things that make me happy!

I met Alisa from A Pina Colada at the ALT Conference in January and once we found out that her younger brother Shaun was an old HS friend of mine, we had lots to talk about.

Thanks for having me, Alisa! I'm so glad we met!

Happy Friday!

I ♥ Phil Dunphy, yo.

Do you watch Modern Family?!

If not, you should, it's hilarious! We love it! I look forward to Wednesday nights because it's Phil Dunphy night, yo.

Rose Rings

I'm guest posting for my blog buddy Jen of Tatertots & Jello today. I'm sharing the How To on these rose rings and my love for ginormous rings that make my digits look smaller. Come join me!

ps. One of these days I need to share my collection of big over the top rings, I have some rad ones!

Giveaway: A Book About Adoption

Giveaway Now Closed

Once Upon a Time: An Adoption Story is a darling little book that helps children understand adoption and how much love is involved. Ashley Hansen Bigler (the Author) and Amy Hintze (The Illustrator) have done a wonderful job together in explaining adoption in a simple and very loving way.

My little family has been blessed by adoption. We adopted our son Aiden in 2008, and he has brought so much love to our home. We couldn't imagine our lives without him. This book will help us when it comes time to explain adoption to him. I love that we have simple resources like this to help show him how much love is involved in adoption.



I grew up with the Illustrator, Amy Hintze. She has such a talent, and really has made this book come to life. She included this picture of our kids (from last May) in a collage on the last page of the book. Which makes this book that much more special to me.



Can you find them?


If you or someone you know has been touched by adoption, this book would be such a sweet gift to give. If you'd like to buy it now, you can RIGHT HERE.


If you'd like to enter this Giveaway:
Please comment on this post by 10pm, Sunday March 15th to enter.

for extra entries: (please leave a new comment for each entry.)
1. facebook
2. blog
3. retweet my tweet about this giveaway with a link to this post.

The winner will be announced on Monday morning, March 15th.

Rainbows

Top O' the Mornin' to ya!

I'm over at Make and Takes today, making these Rainbow Cupcake Toppers. Come join me!

The Big 6-0!

We celebrated the big 6-0 with this guy over the weekend; his way. Which was very low key and just how he wanted it. Our family's favorite Mexican, lots of chips and (the best!) salsa and lots of laughs. It was perfect.

I feel so blessed to call him Dad, we all do.


Happy Birthday Dad!

Song Of The Week: Sweet Disposition

This Week's Song: The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition

I've decided to start a weekly post for my song of the week (that can be found at the top left of my sidebar). Last night while watching the Oscars, I heard this song again. Oh how I love it. Good Job Diet Coke! Commercials with great music always get to me. I first heard this song on (500) Days of Summer. Such a cool song.

Have you heard any great music in commercials lately?

Friday Favorites →

image via ivan amezcua

- Sharing a little St. Patty's Day kid craft with Nickelodeon's Parents Connect, this week
- All these Alice in Wonderland inspired ETSY items. I think the Disney version of Alice will always be my favorite.
- The OSCARS this Sunday! Award shows plus Tivo is a matchmade in heaven.
- Shade Clothing's new Health and Fitness Expert. Way to go Ash! They picked the right girl.


This week I've been so inspired by Bloggers:

I have loved Marta's Blog & Business Workshop. You probably already know about this, but if you don't I highly suggest you go get inspired. Thank you Marta for all your efforts and inspiration!

Sarah on Clover Lane with her Photography 101 post. This post had me in tears last night. She is such a great writer. Lately I've had a bit of Mom guilt, that I am not documenting my kids lives very good. This post was such a great reminder for me to just keep it simple and real. Thank you Sarah.

ps. I'm postponing Rotisserie Chicken Week...a week. Lots going on next week. :)

Have a great weekend!

Thrifty Thursdee

The Before: As a bonus this frame came with a picture in it! I love a good open mouth smile, it's way more happy than a closed mouth smile.



And The After:


I really need to get better at printing pictures. I'm way behind (can you tell), unless it's for a Christmas card or a Valentine.

How about you, are you good at printing pictures?

Blue Box

Time now for another try to be wordy...Wednesday:

Wait a minute?! That's not a Redbox! That's a Bluebox. I guess that's what happens when "The Walmarts" get you. Speaking of Redbox, I waited and waited for 500 Days of Summer to come to a Redbox near me, and it never happened. So I had to take matters into my own hands and go to Hollywood video. While inside I asked the cashier how long it had been since our last rental, and she said 2006. Isn't that crazy?! Has it really been four years of being a Redbox customer? Doesn't it make you wish you had invented Redbox?!

Did you know that Redbox has an iPhone app? It's way cool. Try it, you'll like it.

I really liked 500 Days of Summer, (Did you see it?) even though I felt sad for him at the end.

My current song of the week (more like song of the month - oops)is from the 500 Days of Summer soundtrack. I really like it, you should take a listen.

One last thing... this is funny.