Soul Food Friday

My fellow blogger Jennifer at Almost Gypsy Soul came up with this idea of Soul Food Friday for the last Friday of the month. I told her to remind me this month and I'd link up with her, so here we are! Link up with us if you'd like!

Anything that motivates you, speaks to you or generally gets you excited about life.....share it at Soul Food Friday!

So when I originally saw this post, I thought it was literally talking about Soul Food...and me and food...I believe Forrest Gump said it best, "We's go together like peas and carrots." Peanut Butter and Jelly..A1 sauce and anything...

So today I'm going to talk about my love affair with cooking. I love to cook. Anything and everything. I watch Top Chef, Chopped, and any other cooking show on TV. When I go on Pinterest, my favorite thing to pin is recipes. I preordered both of Pioneer Woman's cookbooks. After I get my Taste of Home magazine every other month, I immediately cut out all of the recipes I would actually cook and file them away in my recipe box. And my idea of a good time is sitting on the couch, bundled up in a blanket with a diet Dr. Pepper and a new cookbook. I wish I was kidding. 

I even submitted a recipe to Healthy Cooking magazine, which is a subsidiary of Taste of Home, and it was chosen to be published in the 2014 Health Cooking Cookbook.

The thing I love about cooking is the hunt for a good recipe. I browse hundreds of recipes, looking for something just right that will fit into my scope of what I like to make. When I find the recipe, I then file it away. When I'm wanting to feel inspired or try something new, I dig through my recipe box, look through  my cookbooks, or browse my Pinterest list. When I find "THE ONE" I write out a grocery list. 

Once I get everything bought and the dish made, I can't describe the feeling of accomplishment I get. I love trying new things, and it's even better when they turn out to be delicious. I take pictures of the stuff, and of course then blog about it or Instagram it :)

I don't know why, but I just LOVE the feeling I get after trying a new recipe and loving it. It's so weird, I wish I could describe it better...kinda like the feeling after you just nailed a presentation at work. It's like I get a natural high from it. I'm an odd duck, it's fine.

So naturally, I'm going to share one of my new recipes that I've tried and like. It's even better because it's a great way to use up some of the leftover ham from the holidays when that time comes around.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Source

I did make some changes to the recipe...I cut the recipe in half since I was only feeding two of us. I also used swiss cheese that I grated myself instead of sliced swiss, and I used leftover Easter ham instead of slices of ham lunchmeat.

•  Coat 13x9 pan with cooking spray
• Spread 2 cups of cooked rice on the bottom of the pan
• Spread 3 cups of cooked chicken over that
• Sprinkle 1 1/2 Cups of grated swiss cheese over the chicken
• Spread 1 Cup of diced ham over the cheese
• Mix 1 can Cream of Chicken soup, 1/4 Cup milk and 1/2 Cup sour cream together and spread on top of the ham
• Crush 15 ritz crackers and mix with 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp garlic salt, and 1/2 tsp parsley. Mix and sprinkle over the soup mix.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes!     

 What feeds your soul?