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Feeding your soul is just as important as feeding your body!

Last month we celebrated many birthdays, my husband’s being one of them. When it comes to my husband’s birthday, life is easy as pie because I always know what he wants for dinner. He has had this dinner for many many years, and his mother used to cook it for him when he was a child. Chicken Divan happens to be an old family recipe that all his 6 brothers and sisters enjoy and I remember how proud and happy PC was when I visited his home for the first time and his mother made this recipe.

To eat it for him is a little slice of heaven. It is comfort food to the maximum and it soothes his soul and reminds him of what is good with the world. Sure, it is based entirely on an old recipe that came on the back of a Campbell’s soup can and sure, I could alter it to “health it up”, but at what cost?

What if it didn’t taste the same? I am sure that would significantly influence the comfort food factor! What would that do to my husband’s enjoyment? Isn’t that the WHOLE point of making a favorite recipe? Enjoyment? Isn’t the LOVE that is put into the making of that recipe FOR the person in question the MOST important part of the meal?

As I have discussed before, people start craving things for two reasons. First, they are nutrient deficient because they eat few nutrient dense foods and fill up on calorie dense foods instead. Second, they do not address the desires of their soul by giving it EXACTLY what it is asking for. When you deny your soul, which, news flash, is the strongest part of your very being and it will get what it wants no matter what you say, you send the signal that you are not worthy of receiving what you need. I for one, will always answer the calls of my soul, with a glass of water and a low fat snack? NO WAY! With exactly what it desires.

For my husband then, with much anticipation, his soul desires some good old fashioned momma cooking, and though I am not his momma, and he rarely sees her on his birthday, I will deliver the goods with love, and exacting precision in recipe following (and you know how hard that is for me!), but I simply cannot help myself in using the best possible ingredients I can while still following the recipe to a T.

Grandma Clark’s Chicken Divan

Serves 4 (Can be doubled for a big group)

Adapted from the Campbell’s Soup Company

4 Cups broccoli florets, cooked

2 Cups pastured boneless chicken pieces cooked and cut into chunks

1/3 Cup raw milk

1/4 cup organic mayonaise

1 Can (10 oz.) Campbell’s cream of chicken condensed soup

2 Tsp. or more good curry powder

1/2 Cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 Tbs. home made bread crumbs

2 Tbs. pastured butter cut into cubes

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Place chicken and broccoli into a glass pie dish or casserole dish (I use an 8 x 8 unless I am doubling the recipe, which I do often). Mix together the soup, curry spices, milk and mayonaise in a small bowl and then pour the mixture over the chicken and broccoli. Using a spatula, turn the mixture into the chicken and broccoli but do not mix thoroughly. You want some of the mixture to get through to the bottom and some to stay on top.

Sprinkle the cheddar cheese over the top of the casserole, then sprinkle on the bread crumbs. Finish by dotting the butter over the top of the casserole. Place casserole in the oven, uncovered and bake for at least 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the casserole is bubbling. Allow to sit for a minute or so before serving.

I absolutely do not have to tell you that this is simple, quick and much loved by my entire family. You can of course “tart it up” yourself if your family has not yet tried it by substituting for the cream of chicken soup concentrate and the mayonnaise, but I can’t. I won’t. The satisfaction in my husband’s eyes when he takes a bite sure looks healthy enough to me!

This recipe is a part of the Hearth and Soul Hop-Volume 23.  Please check out my other featured blog hop recipes.