My Sister's Chicken Delicious

2 chicken breasts, cooked, cooled and cut into bite size pieces
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
3/4 cup celery, chopped
1/2 stick butter, melted
2 cups stuffing mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix chicken, soup, water chestnuts, Miracle Whip and celery; spread into a 9 x 13 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.  Mix melted butter and stuffing mix; pat over chicken mixture and bake 45-50 minutes.

Lillian:  My sister, Lorretta, brought this dish to another sister's home when she was ill.  It was a huge hit and Loretta passed the recipe on to me.  Originally, it did not call for the water chestnuts, but I added them for texture.  I usually do not keep Miracle Whip in the house and, when I don't have it, I just substitute mayonnaise.  It is also good with mayonnaise mixed with sour cream, keeping the same amount called for above.  This can be made in two 8" dishes and you can freeze one.  I take this dish to shut-ins often and have always been asked to make it again.  Thanks, Retta, for this great addition to the chicken recipes that I make.

Martha:  Sis, when I made this dish I was amazed at how moist it turns out.  I thought that cooking it for that amount of time would dry it out but it doesn't.  The first time I made this I was in a hurry.  I had read the recipe so knew how easy it was to make.  Well, I did something I rarely do.  I didn't read the directions again before making.  I ended up combining 'everything' together in a bowl and when I went to see how long it needed to cook I saw that the dressing/butter mix was to be pressed on top of the chicken.  Too late!  I baked it anyway and guess what.  It was still delicious and my food tester never knew that I had made a mistake.  About 5 minutes before my cooking time was up I decided to sprinkled some French fried onions over half giving it another taste and a little crunch.  YUM!

Tips:  I always buy chicken when it's on sale, which means that I keep my freezer stocked.  This also means that whenever I'm ready to cook chicken, it has to be thawed first.  Here is what I've found on thawing chicken safely. 

It takes from 1-2 days to thaw a whole chicken in the refrigerator and about 4-9 hours for cup-up chicken parts.  A little less if the cuts are boneless.  You can thaw chicken a little quicker if you put it in a cold water bath or you can use the defrost cycle on your microwave.  But NEVER thaw frozen chicken by leaving it out at room temperature.  I seldom use the microwave or the water bath but simply put my frozen package in a big bowl, put it in the refrigerator and let it thaw as needed.