Chicken and Dumpling Casserole

The muggy heat has returned. And in typical fashion, our central air worked for a night and has frozen up AGAIN. I think it did this twice a week last summer, which make the dogs and I highly uncomfortable and annoyed. When you and your environment feel sticky and gross, it makes cooking a completely unfun process. Unfun may not be a real word, but it is in my blog...

To make this, I had to boil some chicken, then sauté veggies in butter, then bake it for almost an hour. Maybe I should've just had some ice cream bars for dinner. At least my heat-inducing efforts paid off and it was delicious. I was even a littler nervous about the diced celery and Dan finding it and complaining, but I got a "This is good, even though there's things in it". Success, I got Dan to eat some diced celery and onion. The warmth in the house is making me lose motivation, and making me want to eat all of the Skinny Cow ice cream treats I bought at the grocery store today. Isn't it supposed to rain soon? Maybe that will help cool things down.

The sad thing is, the heat I'm talking about is like low eighties. Which is nothing for a New England summer temperature. In the midst of next month I'll be wishing for it to cool down to this temperature. When it comes to weather I am a whiny brat.

Chicken and Dumpling Casserole
from The Country Cook

3 cups cooked shredded chicken
1/2 medium onion diced, or more if you want more
3 ribs of celery, diced
1 stick butter
1 cup self-rising flour (has to be self-rising)1 cup milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper for seasoning
dried parsley for seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. In a skillet, melt the butter and sauté the celery and onion until soft.
3. Pour into the baking dish and cover with shredded chicken. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Combine the flour and milk and pour over the chicken. Do not mix together.
5. Combine the cream of chicken soup and broth together and pour over the flour mix. Do not mix together.
6. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Sprinkle with dried parsley.

** The mixture will thicken a little as it cools, but I found it slightly too thin to eat on it's own. I served mine over white rice to make it a little more filling. Otherwise, Dan would be back in the kitchen in an hour making a second dinner.