Opulent Chicken

6 boneless chicken breasts, raw

1 cup mozarella cheese (in slices or shredded)
3 cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 sleeve Ritz crackers crumbled
1/2 cup butter, melted

Place chicken breasts on bottom of 9x13" pan. Place cheese on top. Combine soup, sour cream and lemon juice and pour on top of cheese. Combine crackers with melted butter. Sprinkle cracker mixture on top of sauce.

Bake at 275 degrees for 3 hours.

Serve with rice.

The beauty of this dish is:
1.  How easy it is to prepare.
2.  You cook it for so long the chicken is very tender.
3.  It makes its own gravy. This is my youngest child's most requested meal.

The original recipe was from my Mom's Enrichment night and is Linda Breinholt's recipe. It had swiss cheese, but I found I liked the mozarella much better.

It is the perfect dish to warm you up in the winter time. It is what you crave when you get cold.

Can make 24 hours ahead if needed.

Denise's chicken (Sweet and Sour Chicken)

In a small bowl combine
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

In another small bowl mix 3 beaten eggs

Use 4-6 thawed, chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch squares.
Dip chicken in flour mixture then in beaten egg.
Brown in skillet.
Place in a 9x13 inch glass baking dish.

Sauce:
In a large mixing bowl:
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup white vinegar
2 1/2 cups ketchup
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Stir with wire wisp to combine.

 Pour sauce over chicken.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

If you are making ahead of time, keep sauce separate from chicken until you are ready to cook, to avoid sogginess.
My kids beg me to make this.  I doubled the sauce for you, because that is my kids' favorite part. If you are just making this dish for a small group of four, you probably don't need to double the sauce. This is my sister-in-law's (Denise) recipe and she deserves all the credit.

Simple Chicken Stew

Soup Base:
4 cups water
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1/3 cup Shirley J Universal Sauce
2 Tablespoons Shirley J chicken bullion,
1 Tablespoon Shirley J Pizza Spice
Sprinkling of fresh ground pepper

Wisk this together then add vegetables:
Potatoes
Carrots
Celery
Onion, diced
2 cups cooked canned chicken

Place in a crock pot on high until you see bubbling then turn down to low for the rest of the day.

I use canned chicken just because it is easier to throw in. I usually put it in at the end so it doesn't become too soft while cooking. You could also use raw, but I would brown it first. Raw chicken would need to be in your slow cooker all day with the rest of your soup. This is a mild but tasty soup that young kids will enjoy.  I love Shirley J products but I'm sure you could use what you have on hand.

Shirley J products can be found in a number of stores.  Click here to see the Shirley J store directory.

Easy Chicken Marinade

Yoshida's Gourmet Sauce
Juice of 1 small lime
Weber's "Kickin Chicken" seasonings
Fresh ground pepper.

Place frozen or thawed chicken in a ziploc gallon bag. Marinate overnight. Grill.

I know this sounds too easy to be good, but this chicken always gets the raves reviews. Your summer needs to be as easy as possible and this is the way to make it happen. This Yoshida's is great stuff. It can add some kick to your stir-fry and it is just a fabulous marinade. We always have some on hand. If you want your dinner to be fabulous and tasty try this.
I buy my Yoshida's at Costco.