Easy Meals for Sailing, Cruising, Boating

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Galley Recipe 
of the Week
Nutty Navy 
Mac ‘n Cheese
 
    Canned mac ‘n cheese is a  time saver in the small boat galley and it’s revived by the addition of crisp-tender vegetables.  Matchstick vegetables are available packaged in the supermarket, or cut your own. The more variety, the better.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 to 3 cups matchstick vegetables (zucchini, sweet onion, bell pepper, carrot, yellow squash. broccoli, etc.)
1 cup whole cashews (or more to taste)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or more to taste)
2 to 3 cans macaroni and cheese
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Small can evaporated milk

    Stir-fry vegetables in hot oil in a roomy skillet or wok. When they are crisp-tender, stir in the cashews to toast them.  Reduce heat to  low and stir in Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and milk to make a creamy sauce. Stir in mac ‘n cheese and more Parmesan as desired. Garnish with more cashews if you wish. Serves 4 to 6  as a vegetarian main dish, more as a side dish.

Tips for the Galley Cook

    * To start stubborn ketchup that won’t come out of the bottle, push a straw through to the bottom, then remove. This should add enough air to break the logjam.

    * To clean stubborn stains in a sink or cutting board, line it with paper towels and saturate with bleach or peroxide. Let stand 30 minutes. Rinse.

    * To loosen a stubborn knot, work in some cornstarch or baby powder.

    *To make homemade cheese spread, cut up a pound of American cheese and heat it with a 12-ounce can of evaporated milk. Stir in 1 tablespoon each vinegar and mustard with a dash of cayenne pepper. Stir and heat until smooth, cool to lukewarm, stir and pour into a crock or jar.  Keep in the reefer  up to three weeks.

    *Shred cabbage for slaw using just a knife and cutting board. Remove leaves individually, roll tightly and slice as thin as possible. 

    * When adding yogurt to a recipe, fold it in carefully. Vigorous mixing breaks it down and makes it runny. 


Pantry Recipe of the Week

    Fresh foods all gone? Dig into your reserve food supply (prepared with the help of Survival Food Handbook) to make a meal with shelf-stable foods from the supermarket. The eggs can be reconstituted powdered eggs or your favorite egg substitute.

Vegetable Bread
    Grab a chunk of this nourishing bread at the helm to eat on the go. It’s more than a bread, not quite an omelet, almost a casserole, virtually a meal.
2 cans mixed vegetables
2 tablespoons diced dried onion bits
4 eggs or equivalent
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 cup biscuit mix
½ each garlic powder and teaspoon dried, crumbled thyme
½ cup grated dry cheese such as Parmesan

    Drain canned vegetables into a small container and soak dried onions. Put drained vegetables in a bowl and stir in eggs. Fold in parsley, biscuit mix, seasonings, cheese and well-drained onion bits.
    Bake in a well greased  9 X 13-inch pan at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until firm. Cut in squares.
    Stove-top method: Grease a heavy skillet, add batter, cover tightly and bake over low-medium heat. Use a flame spread if necessary to keep heat low or it will burn on the bottom. Check after 20 minutes, then every 5 minutes until it’s  firm and springy to the touch. Cut in wedges.
   

Nautical Recipes for Boating, Sailing

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Galley Recipe of the Week
 Mariners Marinade
    Throw bite-size portions of meat, chicken or vegetables in a plastic bag with this marinade and you’re good to go.

3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon dry mustard powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
3 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
4 pounds cubed meat, shrimp, poultry or vegetables

    In a large, zip-top bag, mix all ingredients well. Zip to close.  Refrigerate, changing positions occasionally, 8 to 48 hours. Using tongs, lift out as many pieces as needed each time. Thread pieces on skewers and grill. Discard remaining marinade or bring it to a full boil for 5 minutes to use it as a sauce. 

    Food safety note: when cooking pork or poultry,  test it with an instant-read thermometer. Even though it’s marinated, it should not be under-cooked.





Tips for the Galley Chef

    * My favorite “trays” for heavy weather serving are aluminum 9 X 13 X 2-inch cake pans. They stack for easy stowage. Each is large enough to hold a bowl of food, roll, coffee cup, side dish or two, silverware and napkin. Desert might be a packaged candy bar or Twinkie. From the galley I can hand them around to crew wherever they are wedged in. 

* The best spoon rest is a folded, wet paper towel. It catches drips, wipes up the counter when all is done. 
 

    * Leftover coffee never goes to waste. It makes redeye gravy, flavors doughs and batters, makes iced coffee. Boil 1 cup coffee with 2 cups water and 3 cups sugar plus 2 teaspoons Mapleine to make pancake syrup with a caffeine kick.    

    * If you’ve opted for one of the new natural stove countertop materials in your galley, read maintenance directions. Periodic re-coating may be required. (Give me stainless steel counters any day.)

Pantry Recipe of the Week

    This is this week’s recipe for emergencies when you’re out of fresh food. For a whole prepper cookbook of recipes and how-to’s for using shelf-stable foods, see Survival Food Handbook. This book uses only ordinary supermarket staples, not high-priced survival packs. 

 Risi E Bisi
2 tablespoons olive oil
16-ounce canned ham, drained and diced
2 tablespoons diced dried onion bits
2 cups rice
4 cups water
4 teaspoons low-sodium powdered chicken broth

½ cup Parmesan cheese
1 can small sweet peas, drained

    Sizzle ham in hot oil to brown it. Stir in rice and onion bits to coat. Add water and bouillon. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and cook 15 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in peas and Parmesan. Serves 6. 
    Cook’s note: If you’re on short water rations, use liquid from canned ham and canned peas as part of the water measure to cook rice. They contains salt, so be sure to use  low-sodium chicken bouillon.
    Pressure cooker method: Bring to full pressure for one minute, remove from heat. Let pressure return to normal.  Stir in peas and Parm. Serve at once. 

Skillet Meal of the Week

Whole Meal Potato Salad
4 pieces thick-sliced bacon, cut up
4 medium potatoes, scrubbed and sliced
Medium onion, diced
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
2 to 4 hard-boiled eggs, cut up
1 bunch scallions, sliced
Grated Cheddar cheese

    Cook bacon until it’s crispy, then stir in potatoes and onion to brown them. Cover and cook over low heat until potatoes are tender. Stir in eggs. In a bowl whisk sour cream and mustard. Stir into potatoes.  Heat through, put on plates, sprinkle with sliced scallions and grated cheese. Serves 4. 

    Optional: If you cook this in an oven-proof skillet, sprinkle with cheese and put under the broiler to brown. Then sprinkle with scallions.

Sailing into Delicious Boat Meals

Small boat, small galley? We don't have problems, just challenges

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Galley Recipe of the Week
Grandma’s Apple Cake
 
1 can of pie-sliced apples (not apple pie filling)
1 cup vegetable oil
2  eggs or equivalent
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup brown or white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
  

No oven, no problem. See below.

    Set the oven to 350 degrees. Grease one large, deep baking pan or two smaller ones.  Open the can of apples. Run a sharp knife repeatedly down through the apples to cut them up. In a bowl whisk oil, eggs and vanilla.  Then add remaining ingredients until well blended. Fold in apples and put the batter into the prepared pan(s).
    Bake 45 to 60 minutes or until the cake is firm and springy to the touch, pulling slightly away from edges of the pan. Cool, slice and serve as is or with tinned cream, pancake syrup or a sprinkling of powdered sugar. 
    Stove-top method: Grease a heavy, cast aluminum, 10- or 12-inch skillet or Dutch oven. Put batter in the cold pan, cover tightly and place over a low-medium burner, using a flame spreader if necessary. Check after 25 to 30 minutes and every 5 minutes after that. Cake should be firm and springy to the touch, pulling slightly away from edges of the pan. Top will not brown.

 
Why cast aluminum? For baking on the stove top, aluminum spreads heat more evenly from bottom to sides to top. Cast iron takes longer to spread heat evenly, so foods  may burn on the bottom. Too, iron is heavy to handle and stow, and it rusts.  Check out this handsome, giftable stove-to-table Dutch oven in cast aluminum, offered in many colors. 


Pantry Recipe of the Week
    Each week we publish an attractive, nutritious recipe using only pantry ingredients. No fresh foods needed. Emergencies happen.

Sesame Noodle Salad
    Use many different vegetables to make this salad as colorful as a calico quilt.

12-ounce box of linguine
4 cups drained canned vegetables such as baby peas, whole kernel corn, diced carrots, quartered artichokes, diced tomatoes with green pepper, sliced mushrooms, etc.
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
½ to 1 teaspoon sesame oil (to taste)
2 tablespoons each vegetable oil,  vinegar and honey
1/3 cup sesame seeds

    Cook and drain linguine, saving some of the hot pasta water. Toss pasta  with vegetables. Mix peanut butter, oils, vinegar and honey well and toss with linguine mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serves 6.
Tips for the Galley Cook

* Nuts are one of the best foods to keep on hand. They’re an ingredient in dishes sweet and savory and in a pinch you can make a diet of nuts, crackers and dried fruit. Save money when you buy nuts in bulk. Wild harvested, pesticide free Texas pecan halves, 5 pounds,  https://amzn.to/2DQAKZy
Almonds, cashews, peanuts in bulk  https://amzn.to/2zk33M5


* Stuff old socks with kitty litter and put in deck shoes, boots and sneakers to absorb odor.

    * Make fruity pancake syrup by boiling two cups sugar with one cup unsweetened  fruit juice such as white grape, pineapple, apple, berry, mango nectar.

    * When you accidentally make a soup or stew too salty, dice and add another potato or two. Boil until potato is tender. 

One-Pot Meal of the Week

Pasta a la Pizza

 
    Serve your crew the flavors of  great pizza in a pasta dish made on one burner.
12-ounce box pasta
1 cup finely chopped, low fat, high quality pepperoni
1/4 cup each red wine vinegar, olive oil
1 teaspoon mixed Italian seasoning
10-ounce piece of mozzarella cheese, cut in half-inch dice
1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half

    Cook and drain pasta, saving some hot pasta water. While pasta is hot, toss with pepperoni. Whisk vinegar, oil and seasoning and toss with linguine. Add cheese and tomatoes and toss again, adding pasta water if necessary. Serve at once. Serves 4 to 6.

Meals for Sailing, Yachting, Living Aboard a Boat

Janet Groene's Living Aboard column,  written for all liveaboards power and sail,  cruising or docked, appears in each issue of HOUSEBOAT magazine. Makes a great gift because it keeps coming all year. Subscribe here. 

Blog copyright Janet Groene, all rights reserved. To volunteer $5 a year in support of this blog send via your Paypal account to janetgroene at yahoo.com.  

Left: Janet and Gordon living on board their 29-foot sloop Sans Souci. Right, the Groenes at their galley table. Janet jokes that she can cook a five-course meal in a telephone booth. 


Pantry Recipe of the Week
    While cruising the remote islands of the Bahamas without refrigeration, I cooked for weeks with stored food. Each issue here presents a recipe that calls for no fresh ingredients. Stuff happens, and an ample pantry is good insurance.

Because this recipe can be served with or without heating, it's a double header in an emergency when you're short of time, supplies and resources. 

Peppy Bean Spread

 
15- to 16-ounce can refried beans
Small jar or can salsa (8 to 12 ounces)
Small jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
Small can diced chilies, drained
2 tablespoons chopped chipotle peppers in adobe

    In a bowl, mash beans coarsely. Work in remaining ingredients. Serve on crackers, biscuits, bread, tortillas, what have you. It’s also good served warm over instant mashed potato or biscuits.

Bonus Recipe of the Week
    Turn anything, even plain breakfast cereal,  into a razzle-dazzle treat with a sprinkle of this topping.

Crunch Topping

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 ½ sticks butter
1/3 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk
Pinch salt
2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup dried cranberries or golden raisins

    Bring sugar, butter, milk and salt to a boil until it’s thick, about 3-4 minutes. Spread thinly on a sheet of waxed paper. When it cools and hardens, break it up and chop coarsely. Keep cool and dry. Sprinkle on hot or cold cereal, desserts, pumpkin pie, fruit salad, etc. 

Every recipe in SURVIVAL FOOD HANDBOOK is made with shelf-stable ingredients. Throughout the book find ways to manage in emergencies such as power outage, no refrigeration, flodded bilge,  stove failure when cruising. Puzzled about provisioning? Book has advice, lists, tips, work-arounds. Published by International Marine, it's a great gift for your favorite yachtie. 

Unlike cookbooks for costly survival rations, this book calls only for affordable, familiar supermarket staples. 

                                       
 
Galley Tip of the Week: Make fruit salad from fresh, canned or dried fruits and stir in 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar for each 2 cups fruit. Serve with a sprinkling of coarse sugar. 

Galley Recipe of the Week
Skillet Sausage Stew
    One burner, one skillet, one hearty crew meal.  
 
1 pound of your favorite lean,  bulk sausage
1 teaspoon dried, crumbled rosemary
Large onion, diced
1 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
15-ounce can diced carrots, drained
15-ounce can sliced or diced potatoes, drained
15-ounce can undrained kidney beans

    Fry out sausage In a large skillet, breaking it up as you go. Gradually add onion until it’s limp. Stir cornstarch into cold water. Add mustard and stir cornstarch mixture into the sausage over low heat until it thickens. Stir in vegetables.  Cover, reduce heat and cook to heat through. Serves 4 to 6.
    Alternate method: If you’re using fresh diced potatoes and carrots, brown sausage with onion and rosemary as above.  Add vegetables to brown them too, scraping up brown bits. Add 2/3 cup water, cover and simmer until vegetables are tender. Stir cornstarch into remaining 1/3 cup water and add with kidney beans. Heat gently until it thickens.

Boat Galley Cooking Made Easy

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 Survival Food Handbook is a guide to provisioning your boat, camper or home with familiar, affordable, shelf stable supermarket foods for everyday or emergencies.










Galley Recipe of the Week
Salsa Sausage Burgoo

   
1 pound lean ground sausage
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
15-ounce can refried beans
16-ounce jar salsa (mild, medium or hot)
15-ounce can white or black beans, undrained
1 cup frozen corn kernels (optional)
Water or broth (optional) 

    Fry out the sausage in hot oil, breaking it up. Stir in refried beans, then salsa, beans and corn. Cover over low heat until hot and well blended. Add water or broth if you like. Serves 4 as a soupy stew, or spoon over rice, noodles, pasta to serve more people. 

Pantry Recipe of the Week

    
In this weekly feature we feature a dish that can be made entirely from stored foods.  For an entire book of recipes made from supermarket staples plus tips, lists and how-to information on emergencies see the Survival Food Handbook in Kindle or paperback 

Conchy Green Beans

32-can cut green beans
2 tablespoon diced dried onions
I can mushroom pieces, drained
1/4 cup butter, margarine or butter flavor shortening
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon each dried chives and tarragon
1/2 teaspoon celery seed

    Open  green beans and drain by holding the lid in place, saving ½ cup of the juice. Soak dried onions in this juice. Heat butter and brown mushrooms. Stir in vinegar, herbs and drained onion bits. Gently fold in green beans. Cover and cook over low heat 15 minutes or more to blend flavors. Serves 6 as a side dish.  Goes great with steaks or chops from the grill.

Tips for the Galley Chef

* Before grilling vegetables such as eggplant, summer squash or zucchini cut in half. Then score the cut surface with a sharp knife. Brush generously with a good olive oil vinaigrette. Allow 10 minutes or more for flavors to penetrate. Grill cut side down.

    *Make a sweet, crunchy topping for soup or salad. Chop 2 slices cooked bacon and 2 scallions. Cut corn from one fresh cob. Toss together. Sprinkle on.

* Make fruity pancake syrup by boiling two cups sugar with one cup unsweetened  fruit juice such as white grape, pineapple, apple, berry.

    * When you accidentally make a soup or stew too salty, double every other ingredient, continue with the recipe and freeze the extra half for a future camp-out.


Skillet Meal of the Week

 
Olive Tree Chicken Stew

2 cans, 15 ounces each, whole small potatoes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cans, 10 ounces each, chunk chicken
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup (or more to taste) mixed, pitted olives, well drained and cut up if large
1 tablespoon cornstarch

    Drain potatoes and chicken. Save chicken juice Add water to make 2/3 cup. Set aside. Heat the oil in a  skillet and sizzle potatoes and chicken to brown them. Continuing over high heat, stir in cumin until fragrant. Stir cornstarch into reserved juice, then add to skillet and stir until thick and bubbly. If sauce is too thick add water, broth or white wine.  Serves 4 to 6.  Pass the pepper grinder.

Boating Recipes for Cruising Cooks

Thank you for donating $5 a year in support of this blog. Use Paypal to send to janetgroene at yahoo.com

Janet Groene jokes that she can cook a six-course meal in a telephone booth. She and Gordon lived full-time on the go for 10 years. 

Galley Recipe of the Week

Sesame Noodle Salad
    Use many different vegetables to make this salad as colorful as a calico quilt. To make it a main dish add bite-size, cooked chicken, ham, shrimp, tuna or steak or serve a hard-cooked egg with each portion. It can be served  warm or chilled. 
 

12-ounce box of linguine
4 cups mixed vegetables, cut in matchsticks (green and red pepper, seeded cucumber, carrot, jicama,, celery, zucchini,  perhaps some thawed peas and diced plum tomatoes)
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
½ teaspoon sesame oil (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons each vegetable oil,  vinegar and honey
1/3 cup sesame seeds
    Cook and drain linguine and toss with vegetables. Mix peanut butter, oils, vinegar and honey well and toss with linguine mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Use a spaghetti claw for serving. Serves 6 to 8. 

Pantry Recipe of the Week

 
Each week see a recipe that can be made with ingredients from the pantry. No fresh foods required. Stuff happens, so keep a good reserve of canned and packaged foods. For an entire book about provisioning, food emergencies and delicious recipes using pantry foods, see Survival Food Handbook


 
Dulce de Leche Fruit Pie
    Caramelized condensed milk, or dulce de leche (dull-cha-dee-lay-chay)  is available in the Latin foods sections of  supermarkets. It’s very rich and sweet, so use it sparingly. 

15-ounce can of peaches, pears or pineapple

1 graham cracker pie crust, homemade or store bought
About 2 tablespoons dulce de leche
3 tablespoons fresh, bottled or reconstituted lemon juice
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

    Drain fruit well and arrange in the pie crust.  Using two spoons, dot fruit with small flecks of dulce de leche. Whisk sweetened condensed milk with lemon juice and pour over pie. Chill.  Serves 6 to 8.

Tips for the Galley Chef

    * Bake waffle fries until crispy, sprinkle with Parmesan and serve with ranch dressing as a dip.

    * A spaghetti claw is handy in the galley for many foods and, if you buy a heavy duty metal claw  it’s also good for handling hot briquets in the stern-mounted grill. https://amzn.to/2N5UfND

    * For a change serve corn on the cob with herb butter, honey butter or pimento cheese spread instead of plain butter.

 

   * Rubberized twist ties are reusable and so versatile you’ll use them in the galley for everything from twist ties to a cookbook holder Shape one into a stand for your phone or metbook. Fill gaps in the cupboard. Secure items in rough seas. They are reusable and washable. Get two each 3, 6, 12 and 18 inches for under $12. https://amzn.to/2DBhIXT

    * Hot pan handles? Buy inexpensive, washable potholders. Fold in half and whip with cotton twine to make a tube that slips over handles.


Skillet Meal of the Week
    One burner, one big meal. Mangia!
Turkey Slumgullion

 

 2 cans, 10 ounces each, chunk turkey
Water
1 cup each  diced sweet onion and diced celery
½ cup diced roasted red pepper, drained
Small can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
1 ½ cups raw rice
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
½ cup mayonnaise
1 soup can milk
Freshly ground pepper 

    Drain turkey and add water to the juice to make 1 ½ cups liquid. In a large skillet, spread and break up turkey. Sprinkle with rice, then vegetables. Drizzle with the 1 ½ cups liquid.
    In a bowl whisk condensed soup, mayonnaise and milk. Pour over skillet. Cover, bring to a low boil and cook 20 minutes without stirring. If rice is not done (brown rice takes longer than white) cover and cook until rice is tender. Stir and serve. Pass the pepper mill. Serves 4 to 6.

Easy Galley Meals for Boating and Sailing

Thank you for making a voluntary payment of $5 per year in support of this publication via Paypal to janetgroene at yahoo.com

Planning a long passage/ Living on board? Small budget, small boat,  big appetites? 

 For 10 years I lived full-time on the go in a 29-foot sloop and 21-foot diesel camper. Winters were spent cruising remote islands without an oven or refrigeration. While in the camper, which had a three-burner propane stove, I canned meats for boating all winter without refrigeration. While on the boat, we weren't very good anglers but when we caught the occasional fish that couldn’t be consumed that day, I canned the leftovers. 
        Here’s food for thought. 

Galley Recipe of the Week
Skinny Dipping
    Try white American cheese for a change from cream cheese and yellow cheese. Serve this warm with vegetable sticks and assorted chips for cocktail hour or a light lunch.

1 pound white American deli cheese, cut up
Small onion, chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
10-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilies
3/4 cup skim milk
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
Assorted chips, vegetable sticks, pretzel sticks, what have you.

    Melt everything together over low heat in a saucepan, slow cooker, solar cooker or chafing dish, stirring occasionally. Makes about 4 cups.

Tips for the Boat Cook
   * Clean the coffee grinder occasionally to remove stale oils. Run it with a torn-up slice of bread. 

    * Cook like a down-east Mainer with this cookbook.  https://amzn.to/2Jl9Mbs

    * If you don’t have a spatter screen put a metal sieve or colander over the frypan when cooking bacon. 
   
    * To make burgers cook faster on the grill, poke your finger through the middle to make a hole. It will fill in during cooking.
   
    * To keep pasta from boiling over, add a tablespoon of olive oil or butter to the water.

    * To remove corn silk, run a damp paper towelover the ear.
       
  

Pantry Recipe of the Week
    No fresh ingredients necessary for recipes in this weekly feature. Survival Food Handbook (International Marine Books) is a guide to stocking your boat’s emergency food supply with affordable, familiar shelf-stable foods from the supermarket. Order in paperback or Kindle at http://amzn.to/1WdYqbe
 
Cheeseburger Chowder
    Ready-to-eat  ingredients make this hot ‘n hearty chowder lightning fast. After a long day on the water you’ll have dinner on the table in jigtime. And, in an emergency, you can find all these ingredients on the pantry shelf.
15-ounce can diced potatoes, drained and rinsed
8-ounce can diced carrots, drained
12-ounce can roast beef in gravy
2 1/2  cups water
1 beef bouillon cube
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
12-ounce can evaporated milk
8-ounce package process cheese (such as Velveeta), cut up

    In a saucepan combine potatoes, carrots, beef and 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and stir in bouillon cube to dissolve. In a small cup make a paste with cornstarch, 1/4 cup water and mustard. Stir into potato mixture over medium heat until it thickens. Over low heat stir in evaporated milk and cheese until cheese melts. If chowder is too thick, add water, broth or milk. Ladle into soup bowls. Serves  4. 

 
Skillet Meal of the Week
Poppy Seed Chicken

 
1 deli-roasted chicken about 4 pounds
1 can mushroom slices, well drained
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Medium onion, diced fine
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
½ cup whole milk or half and half
8-ounce carton  sour cream
1 sleeve round crackers (e.g. Ritz)
½ stick butter, melted
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

    Cut chicken into bite size. Crush crackers by squeezing sleeve. In a roomy skillet, sizzle chicken and mushrooms in hot oil, gradually stirring in onion and mushrooms to brown them. Stir in soup, milk and sour cream. Cook over low-medium heat until heated through. In a small skillet, melt butter and stir in crushed crackers over medium heat  until toasty. Stir in poppy seeds and sprinkle over chicken mixture. Serves 4 to 6.