The Plan and Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen's Chicken Broccoli Casserole

I will just jump right into this blog post.  There is no way to ease into it gracefully.  Husband Fred thinks that I have a "Grand Plan" to kill him and collect on the insurance money.  I am not kidding one bit.  Let me tell you a little bit about the "Plan". 

I don't know why, but I leave drawers open - sock drawers, T-shirt drawers, silverware drawers, bathroom drawers, any drawer.  I don't know why.  I have no clue.  Maybe I am just lazy when it comes to closing drawers.  Unfortunately, if I leave one open at night, guess who runs into it?  Not me but Husband Fred.  He is always wandering at night to let the cats out or to go the bathroom.  I know he has run into an open drawer when I hear the proverbial guttural primal shout-out!  I won't get into what he shouts out, but you get the picture.  As he throws himself back into bed in pain, he will always mutter "Is this part of the Plan?" 

One night about five years ago, I was having a bout with insomnia.  Of course, Husband Fred was loudly sawing logs at my side.  I can honestly say that I despised him at that moment.  Why does sleep come so easily to him?  As I tossed and turned, I started thinking from a medical background about snoring.  What could I do to stop that horrible noise?  I was in the midst of teaching CPR to my students, and I thought "I will open his airway!"  To do this, you must place one hand on the forehead and one hand on the chin.  You then pull back on the head and tilt it back.  Oh yeah!  So here I go!!  I positioned myself on my knees so that I could perform this technique on Husband Fred without his permission during his slumber.  I got as far as the tilting of the head back!!  Husband Fred opened his eyes which bugged out really far when he saw me perched over him with my hands on his head.  He screamed "Is this part of the Plan?"  He looked so weird that I knew in my heart that he did not believe me when I said "I was just trying to see if I could get you to quit snoring!"  Usually he sleeps with his back to me, but that night, he didn't.  He kept an eye on me.

Just this past week, the "Plan" came into play again.  As I have told you before, Husband Fred colors my hair.  We have the routine down.  I set up a stool in the den and mix the color.  He spends the next 10 minutes trying to get the gloves on.  The gloves come with the color and must be made for a Size 0 woman.   I could do a whole blog post on watching him try to put the gloves on.  I digress.  Anyway, after the color is on, I usually clean up, but I didn't this time.  This means I left the stool out in the middle of the den floor.  Whoops!  We go to bed and around 3:00 am or so, Mickey, the sweetest cat in the world, wants to go out.  As always, Husband Fred gets up without complaint to let him out.  A few minutes later, I hear the weirdest sound.  There is a loud thump followed by the primal groan.  I thought "What now?"  He got in the bed and was rolling around in agony.  I was so tired that I pretended not to hear him because I did not want to get in a discussion about "The Plan!"  That next morning, I staggered into the kitchen, and there he stood.  And out came the words "Was that part of The Plan?"  I played dumb and replied "I don't know what you are talking about dear!"  Through gritted teeth, he responds "Leaving the stool out!  I ran into it, kicked it, and about broke my ankle!  And while I am on the subject of The Plan, why do you have to always take your shoes off on my side of the bed?  I tripped over those as I was getting back into bed after falling over the stool!"  I sweetly replied "Well, at least, I didn't leave a drawer open!"  He did not find that in the least bit funny! 

Fun times!!  On to the recipe.....I am still cooking from Trisha Yearwood's cookbook.  I love this cookbook.  The Eeny game chose Chicken Broccoli Casserole.  You need to run go get the ingredients for this one right now.  It is absolutely beyond delicious!!  Trisha says that Garth eats this for breakfast.  It is that good!!

I forgot two things in the ingredient picture.  Good grief!!  Chicken and rice!!  You will also need cheddar cheese, sour cream, broccoli, cream of chicken soup, lemon, and mayo!!  Look Food Police at all the fat free, light, and Healthy Request choices I made.  I need a reward!!  How about a doughnut!!  Just kidding!!

Grease a 9x13 dish.  This is my favorite!!  Spread 2 cups of cooked rice as the first layer.

Make a second layer with the cooked broccoli.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together including the chicken.  Beautiful picture!! 

Spread that mixture over the broccoli and top with cheese. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.  It comes out smelling and looking yummy!

This is what it looks like when it is screaming to you to take a bite.

Here is the recipe...

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen

Trisha Yearwood

2 C cooked rice

3 C cooked chopped broccoli

1 C sour cream

1/2 C mayonnaise

1 Tbs lemon juice

1 10 ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup

10 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded ( I used Barefoot Contessa's roasting method - 350 degrees for 35 minutes.  Sprinkle with a little olive oil and salt and pepper before roasting - Delicious)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13x2 pan.  Spread the rice as the first layer and then make a second layer with the broccoli. 

In a large bowl, mix the sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, soup, half of the grated cheese, salt, pepper, and chicken.  Pour this mixuter ove the broccoli and top with the remaining cheese.  Bake for 40 minutes and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Now go have a great day.......