POPPY SEED CHICKEN CASSEROLE

This is our second favorite...we eat A LOT of chicken!!

1 (6.2 oz.) pkg. Rice-a-roni fried rice flavor (I use the chicken flavor). COOKED!
4 cups of shredded cooked chicken
1 cup of reduced fat sour cream
1 can reduced-fat cream of chicken
36 (1 roll) crushed RITZ crackers
6 Tbsp unsalted butter or margarine
1 T poppy seeds

Prep: preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spoon the (cooked) rice in an even layer over the bottom of an 11x17 (2 QT.) baking pan. Combine cooked, shreaded chicken, sour cream and chicken soup in a medium sized bowl. Spoon evenly over the rice. In the same bowl, combine the crackers and butter. Scatter this over the mixture. Sprinkle the poppy seeds evenly on top. Bake the casserole until it is bubbling and the crackers have lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve at once!

--the rice and chicken can both be cooked ahead of time to make dinner prep tons easier, it also freezes well this way (w/o the crackers on top).