Chicken Nikki

As promised Lins, here are the two recipes I mentioned in my email.

This is my sister-in-law's recipe. It was always a favorite of mine but Brooks never liked it with all the "creamy"....so I never made it. Recently I've been making it anyway because I love it and EVERY ONE of my kids loves it. (MIRACLE!) When the Elders come over they ask for it as well. I have to make two pans when they come over (my family could eat 1.5 pans as it is). This is also the recipe that my SIL entered in her small town of Virginia's cookbook competition and won the maindish category. Her name is Nikki, so that's why we call it Chicken Nikki.
I like it because these are ingredients we almost always have the ingredients around. I think the tomatoes are a MUST since the flavor is TO DIE FOR WITH THEM. But since I'm the only one that likes tomatos I just put them on top of my chicken before I bake them and everyone else's I leave bare. I think if you make it though for SURE do the tomato and take if off if you don't love it after you cook it.

Here it is exactly how she does it:

4 boneless chicken breasts* cut into 1-2" strips
1 c. tomatoes sliced
2 (8-oz) pkg of cream cheese
1/2 c. butter
2 T garlic powder
1/2 t. oregano (opt)
1/2 t. thyme (opt)
1/2 t. marjoram (opt)
(For those last spices I just give a few shakes of my italian spice blend and call it good)

Prehead oven to 375. Place chicken pieces in casserole dish. Top with tomatoes....one tomato per chicken strip. In a mixing bowl combine cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add apices and mix well. Dollop mixture in large spoonfuls on top of chicken. Do not try to spread around, it will melt when cooked. Place in oven, uncovered and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve over rice.

*Note: for all my chicken breasts I always cut it horizontally so one breast would make two. Make sense? My chicken breasts are usually huge so I can probably 4-6 chicken pieces out of each breast for this recipe. It makes the chicken easier to cut the smaller it is. (NOT little pieces though. You will want it no smaller then your tomato slice.