Chicken Divan

Well hello friends!  Did you miss me?  I missed writing (and cooking).  Sorry I have been a bit MIA – life has been a tad busy lately.  In short: BIG presentation, wedding dress shopping, Susan visiting, Nielsen friends happy hour, and trip to Louisville, OH for another round of wedding dress shopping and tastings.  Such a whirlwind few weeks and I am exhausted, but had so much fun and have a great report card:

 BIG Presentation: went very well!  And I was less nervous than I thought I would be in front of so many people…now onto the million projects put on the back burner while preparing for this.

Wedding Dress Shopping Round 1 & 2: Ann and I started the day grabbing breakfast at Einstein’s.  I had a feeling that I would be in the running to be her maid of honor, but wasn’t 100% sure what she wanted to do.  That morning she gave me a book she made with pictures of us throughout our life, and on the last two pages was a picture of us at Ann’s first communion and next to it she asked if I would be her maid of honor.  I was SO excited and touched!  I held back the tears and tried to not let my voice crack – I had already expected a little bit of emotion that day, but didn’t expect this.  The shopping, however, was not a great success, but I guess you have to start somewhere.  Ann and I hit up David’s Bridal (wanted to start on the cheaper end) as well as Macy’s on State street (where the lady who was helping us kept burping up her lunch and telling us and then pushed us out right at the hour mark).  We tried to revive ourselves by checking out a place called Glamour Closet, but that was a bigger bust. 

Susan Visiting: A few months back Southwest must have been running a great deal on flights from Denver to Chicago, and I got a text from Susan asking what I was doing the weekend of February 15^th I had nothing planned and she booked the flight.  As usual, it was SOOO great to see her!  Lots of scrumptious food & drinks, fun adventures in the city, and life chats. Needless to say, I was fully exhausted when she left.

Nielsen Friends Happy Hour:  As some of you know, I used to work at Nielsen on the Kraft team here in Chicago and made some great friend despite the craziness we went through.  Many of us have either moved on or changed positions, so we make it a priority to get together every few months for happy hour and catch up.  It was GREAT seeing my old team, sharing the free appetizers we won from our last trivia happy hour, as well as a bottle of wine, or two. 

Louisville, Oh:  Wedding planning is in full force for Ann and Matt, so we headed to Louisville with Karen and Anna (Matt’s sister and niece) and met my mom there for a weekend of more dress shopping (with MUCH better success – Ann said YES TO A DRESS!!), and tastings.

With everything going on the past few weeks I thought I would share my absolute favorite comfort food recipe.  This is a Klindt family favorite and in the permanent dinner rotation when I was growing up. I am sure there are many versions of it, but I will say that ours is THE BEST! 

Ingredients:

3-4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

2 Large heads of broccoli

3 Cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1 Cup Hellman’s Mayonnaise

1 Lemon

2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Brown/White rice

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Boil chicken breasts in shallow water until fully cooked through.  While chicken is cooking, chop broccoli head into small florets (bite size pieces) and lay in the bottom of a 9x13 clear baking dish.  In a separate bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup, mayo, and lemon juice from ½ of a lemon – set aside.  After chicken is cooked through, cut into bite sized pieces and sprinkle over broccoli.  Pour soup/mayo/lemon juice mixture over the chicken and broccoli, spreading evenly.  Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.  Cook for 1 hour (30 minutes covered 30 minutes uncovered to make cheese golden).  While the casserole is cooking, start your rice.  Serve chicken dish over rice.  

Recipe Source: Klindt Family Recipe Box

Picture Source: Matt Schumacher