Sunday Chicken & Dressing Casserole

Last night I made Chicken and Dressing for dinner.  It's a recipe I got from my momma . . . one I had never tried, but she said it was soooooo good.

And as always . . . Momma was right!  It tasted just like the cornbread dressing we have at Thanksgiving with some chicken mixed in! 

Not a great picture - sorry!

 
Here's the recipe:

Sunday Chicken & Dressing Casserole

• 3 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 cup oleo  (I used 4tbsp of margarine)
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can chicken with rice soup
• 4 cups cornbread crumbs
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook onions and celery in margarine until translucent.  Heat chicken broth and soups (undiluted) in pan until mixed thoroughly.  Pour broth/soup mixture over cornbread crumbs.  Add cooked onions and celery.  Mix well.  Season with salt, pepper, sage, and poultry seasoning.

Pour and spread 1/2 of dressing mixture in a greased 3 qt. casserole dish.  Add chicken over dressing mixture.  Top with rest of dressing mixture spreading to cover.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until edges brown and casserole is firm -- not still wiggly in the center.  :)  It took mine about 10 minutes longer before I felt like it was done to the consistency I like.  The longer you cook it, the drier it will be.  To each is own!

The last instruction on the recipe was . . . "and serve it with love."   :)


By the way, my 9 x 13 pyrex dish is a 3 qt size dish.  And "oleo" is margarine for anyone that's not familiar with that term.  Ha!  And I was concerned about the chicken with rice soup -- sounded kind of weird to put in it, but I couldn't even tell it was in there after the casserole was cooked.  It must add some flavor or texture . . . I don't know.  I followed the recipe just like I posted it, and I wouldn't change a thing!

I made this with leftover cornbread from Sunday lunch so although it was a Monday night dish . . . the Sunday cornbread kept it authentic for the "Sunday" part of the chicken & dressing recipe!  Ha!  I kid-you-not when I say this was really good . . . and not hard to make either if you use leftover cornbread from another meal!

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

"Served with love" to you from

                          the Ferrell boys and me 

I'm linking up to

Week of April 16th - Menu Planning Monday

Here's my menu for the upcoming week:

Monday:

Chicken & Dressing Casserole
English Peas
Mac & Cheese
Sweet Potatoes

Tuesday:

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas
Fajita Fixins

Wednesday:

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce
Spaghetti Noodles
Garlic Bread

Thursday:

Crockpot Boston Butt:
for
BBQ Nachos  -- Can you say "Yum!"

Friday:

Mike's Take-out Pizza

I don't plan a menu for the weekend because I like to keep my weekend menus flexible.  I'll be posting some of my recipes later.

I plan to have an easy week of crockpot cooking for

                           the Ferrell boys and me!

I'm linking up to

Menu Planning Monday at

S'more Camping Fun

My parents have gone camping for the first time this year at our local campground.   It is only about 30 minutes from where we live so it is very convenient to visit them while they're camping.

They wanted me to bring the boys over to their campsite for a fun weiner roast and a little bike ride around the campground . . . and with Dave working Thursday night . . . it also provided me with a little something to do with the boys instead of being stuck at home watching tv and cleaning house.  Ha!  Thursday nights are not exciting at Ferrell Farm!  Ha!

The boys were so excited!  They love to go camping!  We haven't been camping in a couple of years . . . The last time we went . . . about a year after having sweet Shane . . . I decided that our camper is too small for all 5 of us!  It was definitely too many Ferrell boys in too small a space for this one momma!  :D

The first thing the boys wanted to do was go for a ride around the campground.

Oh darn!  I forgot my bike!  Ha!  Wonder what I can do?!?

Thanks to sweet Dave I can get on the internet via my phone even while "camping."

I asked Shane if he wanted to take his bike to the river, and he said "no . . . I ride in Nana's basket."

The older boys didn't want to bring their bikes either . . . they wanted to ride their scooters around.

There they all go . . .

After riding around the campgrounds, the boys were ready to eat.  Pawpaw let them help getting the fire going.  Alex and Shane loved thowing wood on the fire.

The boys immediately got to roasting weiners for hotdogs. 

Alex was so sweet and roasted one for me first . . . before doing one for himself . . .

And I was so sweet and actually ate it!  He dropped it in the fire twice!  But I wasn't about to hurt his sweet feelings so I squirted some mustard on the hotdog and enjoyed it remembering the love it represented! 

Shane wasn't interested in hotdogs . . . all he wanted was S'Mores!  So he got started on the marshmallows.

I helped him put the marshmallow, chocolate, and graham crackers together for his s'more . . .

And surprise . . . I did it wrong!  Apparently a s'more is just chocolate and graham crackers . . . no marshmallows!  Ha!  Here he is showing Pawpaw his s'more, just chocolate and crackers!

The S'mores and marshmallows were a big hit at the campfire!  Zach cooked a couple of marshmallows for me.  He tried so hard to get them perfect.

Some of the marshmallows didn't come out too perfect . . .  Some caught on fire!

Some were burnt on purpose . . .  Don't worry Momma . . . I like 'em like that!

But all in all . . . the s'mores were enjoyed by us all!

After enjoying hotdogs and s'mores, the boys were ready to play some more so we went to the playground at the campsite which happened to be just a little ways from Nana and Pawpaw's camper.

Some of the pictures are blurry because the boys were moving so much!

Climbing and sliding . . .

And just hanging around . . .

We had a great time at the river with Nana and Pawpaw!  I hope they invite us back again!

Until then we'll just have to enjoy hanging out at the farm . . . just us . . .

                           the Ferrell boys and me!

Easter Morning With The Ferrell Boys

This Easter was a little difficult for me because my sweet Dave had to work.  It was the first Easter morning that we didn't spend together with the boys . . .

I had thought I would be okay with it, but I wasn't.  It's just not the same without my sweet Dave. 

The older boys woke me up all excited . . .

I used my cricut to put their names on Dollar Tree tubs . . . filled with Dollar store happies. . .

Alex loves legos and the army . . .

Easter happies everywhere . . .

At this point, Shane wasn't even awake . . . at least until the older boys woke him up!

Don't you just love the dinosaur costume crumpled up underneath the table and his cowboy boots left there at his seat . . .  I could have moved them for the picture, but I kindof liked seeing them there.  I don't know how much longer my sweet baby will want to wear his dinosaur costume . . .

What is the first thing he reaches for . . .  Toy Story!

I love the very serious expression he has on his face in these pictures where he is showing me what he got . . .  the much desired fishing pole . . .

He was so matter-of-fact about it all . . . look Mom . . a Toy Story art set . . .

And what is this . . . Toy Story briefs . . .

He loves the art set!  I picked that up for $5 at the Dollar General on Saturday night as a last minute item!  He has played with it everyday!  And yes . . he has colored all the pages GREEN!  Ha!  Can we get a new favorite color?!?

It's amazing the stuff you can get for $1 at the Dollar Tree!

Shane loved all his new toys, but for some reason, he put one of them in a "secret" hiding place . . .  Ha!  He's so funny sometimes!

The boys had a great Easter morning, and I enjoyed watching them go through their "baskets".   I just wish Dave had been here too!

We have been doing several Easter activities with the boys to teach them about the real meaning of Easter and about the Resurrection. 

We made Resurrection gardens and learned the story through the Teaching Eggs. 

This Easter morning, I wanted to have an interactive experience with the resurrection story.  So we made Resurrection Rolls.   I got the recipe and story from one of my favorite blogs, thewillcuttgirls.blogspot.com .  Shannon Willcutt posted about it last Easter, and I saved it in my favorites folders to do this Easter.  I'm so glad I remembered about it!

I had all the ingredients on hand.  I always have crescent rolls in the frig. and marshmallows in the pantry. 

I set the ingredients up on the table in an assembly line and then I demonstrated how to make one of the rolls while I told the resurrection story.  Then I let the boys make the rest of the rolls and tell me the story . . .

The marshmallow represents Jesus' physical body after he was crucified.  Dipping the marshmallow into the melted butter represents the special oils they anointed His body with to prepare it for burial.

Rolling the marshmallow in the cinnamon/sugar mixture represents the spices they rubbed on Jesus' body in preparing it for burial.

The crescent roll represents the tomb that Jesus' body was placed in.  The boys wrapped the marshmallow up in the crescent roll . . . totally covering "Jesus' body" . . .  being sure to seal it up real good by pressing together all the seams . . .

With only 8 crescent rolls in a can, each boy got to make 2 rolls a piece . . . 

which didn't set too well with Shane who wanted to make them ALL!  Ha! 

Look at his face!

I let the boys each take a step in making the last resurrection roll . . . one the butter, one the cinnamon/sugar mixture, and one the wrapping of the crescent roll.   Next year, I'll buy 2 cans of crescents!  The boys had a great time making the rolls, and I loved sharing the story of our Saviour with them again!

We baked the rolls at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.  Remember 12 minutes representing the 12 disciples  . . .     :D  Okay I added that part myself . . .

And when they are done . . . They look a little messy.  I don't know if the boys did a great job "sealing the tomb". 

But when you get your roll . . . Here is the tomb where Jesus was laid . . .

and break through the tomb . . .

You find that Jesus a/k/a the marshmallow is GONE!

The "Tomb" is empty!  Alleluia!

He is Risen Indeed!

We had a great Easter at Ferrell Farm . . . even with sweet Dave at work . . . because we have so much to be thankful for . . . and

on Easter we remember our Saviour and His sacrifice,

and God's Love for us . . .

His Love for You and His Love for . . .

                         the Ferrell boys and me!