Daily Dose of Sugar Mama

When it is in the negative double-digit temps I find it very difficult to get motivated for anything. And since I work from home, I could easily go an entire week wearing cozy pj bottoms and a big sweatshirt. That’s what I did over Christmas break, and it was marvelous.

One thing I have felt motivated to do while we are dealing with Arctic conditions outside is to find the best comfort foods which usually equal stick to your ribs, full of fat and goodness foods. Sounds great to me!

Chili is always one of my go to comfort foods on a cold day. And I have a great chili recipe (don’t we all) that I’ll post at another time, but today I ventured away from soup and chili and went straight to casserole. A casserole in our home directly means it’s freezing cold outside, because otherwise, we don’t really dig casseroles. Well, I always like a good casserole, but Sugar Daddy isn’t a fan.

The following recipe was shared with me by a friend and I tweaked it some. The key to making any type of soup, chili, or casserole with chicken is to include dark meat. It adds such great flavor and moistness to the dish. To eat dark meat by itself makes me gag, but to incorporate with several other ingredients is delish. I cook the dark and white meat together in  a large pot with a few bay leaves and plenty of Kosher salt. Right now the smell of the cooking chicken is wafting through the house…. and it is speaking straight to my heart. And stomach.

Full of Goodness Chicken Casserole

6 cups cooked chicken (use white and dark meat)

1 large can chicken and rice soup, drain some of the liquid from top

2 cans cream of chicken soup (I use the “healthy” version which is lower sodium and fat… you won’t tell the difference)

1/2 cup diced white onion

3/4 cup French’s Fried Onions (the cheddar ones are also great in this)

3/4 cup chow mein noodles

1 can evaporated milk

salt & pepper to your liking

For crunchy topping:

1 cup Pepperidege Farm stuffing, uncooked

1 cup French’s Fried onions

3 Tablespoons butter

Mix all the first ingredients together and pour into a greased (I use spray Pam) casserole dish. Cover and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Take foil off and top with crunchy topping. Bake another 20-25 minutes.

For crunch topping sauté the stuffing in a small pan with butter, stir in French’s onions.

To offset all the yummy (fattening) goodness we ate this with a salad and Ranch dressing. Because nothing says “healthy salad” like Ranch dressing.

And for a special treat for my family, since my children have been behaving SO well on their third snow day out of school, I made them their favorite cookies. Sugar Daddy will eat this straight out of the pan because we are very proper that way.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Quick Cookies

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup cocoa (I use Ghiradelli’s cocoa powder)

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 cups quick cooking oats

Combine the first five in a saucepan and cook over low heat just until the butter has melted, stir it occasionally. Once the butter has melted increase the heat to medium, bringing to a boil. I only allow it to boil for about 30 seconds, but our air here tends to run really dry. The longer you allow to boil, the dryer the cookies will be. If you live in a moist area than a full minute should work well. Take pan off of heat and quickly stir in the peanut butter and oats. Drop on wax or parchment paper. Use a big spoon to eat the rest straight from the pan.