Spur of the Moment

Spur of the moment.  That's what tonight's supper was.  Well, not really.  I actually pulled chicken out to thaw yesterday knowing I would use it for tonight's supper.  But the chicken was the only thing I had planned.  My son had been begging for cookies with M&M's in them and I remembered seeing a recipe in the cookbook that used M&M's, so I figured we could make those today.  While caring for a sick little girl, the last thing on my mind was a well-balanced meal (or pictures, for that matter, so no pictures this time).  So the menu ended up looking like this:

Menu

Poppy Chicken (p. 161)

Tossed Salad (no recipe)

Monster Cookies (p. 306)

While I was cooking the chicken tenders, we started mixing up the cookie batter.  Now, I didn't have butter OR crunchy peanut butter.  So I called the recipe contributor and asked her opinion about using Crisco instead of butter.  She said that her family always used part shortening in their cookies so to go ahead and try it.  Instead of peanut butter, I used creamy almond butter.  The cookies were probably not as sweet as they would have been had I used peanut butter (since what I used had no sugar in it), but they were plenty sweet enough for us.  Judging from the information I got over the phone, the cookies probably would have been a little softer if I had used butter.  Mine weren't hard or crunchy (except for the second round that I put in to bake after dinner while we were playing a game---and then promptly forgot about.  So those went into the trash.), but neither were they "moist and chewy," as we say in my family.  These are a GREAT cookie to make for special occasions or when you really are craving an all-around good cookie.

After the first batch of cookies came out of the oven, I put in the Poppy Chicken.  I had mixed the rest of the ingredients together while the cookies were baking.  I often make what I call "Poppyseed Chicken," and when I make it, I mix the poppy seeds in with the sour cream and soup.  I also usually use a little chicken broth and put some cayenne pepper in it for seasoning.  This time I made it according to the recipe.  It was good.  We all enjoyed it.  It didn't have the same kick that the one I usually make does (because of the cayenne), but it still had plenty of flavor.  It was also interesting having the poppy seeds on top rather than in the mixture.  Not a big deal either way, just interesting.  If you've never made a chicken casserole like this, I would highly recommend trying it.  It is easy, filling, and has a wonderful texture. 

Now, I think I'll go have a cookie.