Poppyseed Chicken

One of my favorite dishes is Poppyseed Chicken. Everyone I know has their own recipe and this is mine.

What you need-

4 Chicken Breasts- Or you can use 2 12 oz cans of cooked white chicken breast meat
1 26 oz can Cream of Chicken soup
1 10 oz can Cream of Celery soup
about 3 T poppyseeds- I say about cause I never measure
1/2 cup Sour Cream
3 sleeves of Ritz Crackers
5 T Butter
13X8 inch glass pan

Time to get Cooking!!
1. I boil my chicken breasts for about 20-30 minutes in a huge pot. If you use the canned chicken you skip this step.
2. While the chicken is cooking  mix both cans of soup with the poppyseeds and sour cream.
3. Also go ahead and crush all 3 packs of Ritz crackers.
4. Once chicken is done cooking I drain the chicken and allow it to cool. Once its cool enough I shred the chicken and add it to the soup mixture.

5. Combine the chicken and soup mixture very well and pour into your glass pan.

6. Melt your butter and combine it with your Ritz crackers. Place cracker mixture on top of the soup mixture in the pan.

7. Cook uncovered for about 25 minutes at 375.
8. When the crackers are golden brown then its done.

I was going to post a picture of the finished product but we dug in before I had a chance!

I like this served with brown rice and some veggies!

Ashley's Creole Tilapia

This recipe is a nod to a chain restuarant I use to work at. Im going to rename it to Ashley's Creole Tilapia.

What you will need-
4-6 Tilapia Filets depending on how many you are feeding and how big they are
20-30 Medium Pealed and Devained Shrimp (optional)
Creole Seasoning-usually can find this in your spice section at your grocery store
3 lemons
2 T. butter
Preheat oven to 350

For the Sauce-
1 cup milk
2 T butter
2 T flour
1/2 Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Creole Tilapia-
1.I prepped a baking sheet with wax paper for easy cleanup but you can skip this step if you want.
2. Place Tilapia on the baking sheet.
3. Zest 2 lemons and sprinkle that on the fish. Then juice the 2 lemons and pour that over the fish as well.

4. Season your fish using the creole seasoning you can use as much or as little as you like.

5. Put fish in the oven for 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the filets. It will turn white in color when its finished.

Parmesan Cream Sauce-
1. Melt 2 T. butter in a small saucepan.
2. Once melted whisk in 2 T. flour.
3. Whisk over low heat until its a goldish color.
4. Add 1 cup of milk whisking until it thikens slightly.
5. Once it starts to thicken add your 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste. If its too thick add a little more milk.

Creole Shrimp-
1. In a saute pan melt your 2 T. of butter.
2. Once melted add you shrimp. Cook over Medium to low heat.
3. While your shrimp is cooking zest 1 lemon and add the juice of 1 lemon to the shrimp.

4. Cook til opaque and pink in color.

Assembly
1. Place shrimp on top of tilapia and top with cream sauce. Cream sauce is optional you can exclude this if you don't want it. If you exclude the cream sauce just juice some lemon on top and its great by itself.

Sides-
I prepared brown rice according to package directions. Once its done I stir in a can of Rotel and top with shrepped cheese.

Any vegetables would go great with this meal. I used sweet peas but you could use anything from broccoli, green beans, asparagus, carrots, to even a simple salad.

Enjoy!! Let me know if you have any questions!!