Timing Is Everything

Timing is everything, isn't it?

Brent has been home from the University of South Carolina for Christmas break. So old favorites and new meals have been on the County Line menu.

The flurry of cooking was also perfect timing for putting meals in the freezer for Jill and Eric to use as they welcomed little Kinley to the family. I didn't have quite as much time as I'd planned to get meals tucked carefully into foil containers, since Kinley arrived a couple of weeks early. But, as it turned out, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Jill had also been busy stashing freezer meals, so Randy & I played fruit basket upset to get everything tucked away into their downstairs freezer. They could eat out of their freezer for weeks, if they wanted. (Right now, Kinley's Mommy is craving turkey sandwiches. She didn't eat deli turkey for 9 months because of the potential of listeria, a risk during pregnancy. So much for all the fancy meals, right? Though I'm sure she'll be thankful for the meals later. You can only eat so many turkey sandwiches.)

Kinley arrived in time to say hello to her uncle before he headed to the Cotton Bowl and then back to South Carolina for his final semester in his master's program. (He had asked earlier if it was a bad thing for a baby to come a little early. Kinley must have heard him.)

One of the new recipes I served at home and prepared for the freezer was Easy Chicken Bake. I found it on a box of stuffing mix, but made a few changes along the way. And although I know it's not gourmet fare, it was easy and tasty. Enjoy!

Easy Chicken Bake

1 pkg. boxed stuffing mix
1 cup hot water
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup (you can use low fat and/or low sodium)
1/3 cup sour cream (you can use low fat or no fat)
1 bag (16 oz.) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained (optional - I didn't use this)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the dry stuffing mix evenly on the bottom of a 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Set aside. Add water to remaining stuffing mix; stir just until moistened. Set aside.

Place chicken over dry stuffing mix in baking dish. Mix soup, sour cream and vegetables (if desired); spoon over chicken. Top with prepared stuffing.

Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (to 170 degrees F).

Notes:

• We prefer to keep the vegetables separate. I served this with steamed beans and a green salad.
• The original recipe said to cut up the chicken into 1-inch pieces. I used frozen chicken breasts which I had thawed out. I just used them as they were rather than cutting into pieces.