Chicken Hashbrown Casserole

This is another one of those times when I needed to scrounge through and see what I could make with what I had on hand. This is when I love using allrecipes.com. If you click on the ingredients link, you can type in a few main things you have on hand and it'll give you recipes including those ingredients. I changed this one around a tad, and it was really good!




Ingredients:

1 2lb pkg frozen hash browns, thawed
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and sliced into bite size pieces
1/2 cup melted butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8oz container sour cream
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup french fried onions

Preheat oven to 350
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except french fried onions and 1/4 cup of the cheese. Bake covered in a 3 qt casserole dish for 30 minutes. In a small bowl, combine french fried onions and cheese. Uncover and top with onion/cheese mix and bake 10 more minutes.

**I made fried eggs to serve on top of this, and it was a really yummy combination, but you can skip that if you'd like.

Pizza Casserole

I came across this on Allrecipes and thought it sounded interesting. It totally tastes like pizza! We all really liked it alot.

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 lb ground beef
1 onion diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup sliced pepperonis
16 oz pizza sauce
4 tbs milk
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350. Cook noodles. In a skillet, brown beef with the onion, garlic and bell pepper. Drain fat. Stir in the noodles, pizza sauce and milk, mix well. Pour intl a 2 quart casserole dish. Baje for 20 minutes, then top with cheese and cook for 5-10 more minutes to melt.

Penne Chicken Pesto

This looked quick and easy - which is what I need on nights when we have TeeBall practice.

Ingredients:

1 head of broccoli cut into florets
1 box penne pasta
2 cloves garlic diced
2 cups cooked chicken (cook your own or buy pre-cooked)
1 - 7oz container Buitoni basil pesto

Bring a large pot of water to a boil Salt and add broccoli and cook for 3 minutes. Sccop out with a slotted spoon and put aside in a bowl. Add pasta to water and cook. Heat 2 tbs olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes. Stir in broccoli, cook 3 more min. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drain pasta. Stir chicken, pasta and pesto into skillet. Cook 2 minutes to heat through.

**My husband dumped a bunch of parmesan cheese on top of his - despite me telling him that pesto has a bunch of parmesan. We all really liked this. It was quick, easy and delicious.

Chicken Salsa Verde Bake

Friday dinner- I am home (I got the day off!), but I want something I can make ahead anyways, so that I can have fun trick-or-treating with the kiddos!

This is a Rachael Ray recipe. Laugh if you like, but I am one of her many fans! She is the reason I started cooking. I was flipping through the TV right after I got married and saw her making a Chicken Chorizo Stoup. I watched her and thought "I could do that", and I did. And it was great! And now I do it everyday. If not for her, we'd be living on Hamburger Helper and meat off the barbeque. Thanks Rachael!

Ingredients:

2 tbs vegetable oil
2 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Two 16-ounce jars salsa verde
One 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup sour cream
3 cups crushed tortilla chips
One 8-ounce bag shredded Mexican-style cheese

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. (***I usually use my Foreman Grill to pre-cook chicken for recipes. It's faster) Let stand until cool, then shred the meat into a large bowl. Stir in the salsa, kidney beans, onion and sour cream.

Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, scatter 1 cup tortilla chips on the bottom and top with half of the chicken mixture and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers and cover with the remaining 1 cup tortilla chips. Bake until the cheese is bubbly, about 30 minutes.

**Photo from www.rachaelraymag.com

Feedback:
This was really good. Spicy, and easy. The kids couldn't eat it with us. I will make this again!

Chicken Tetrazzini

Thursday Dinner-
Haven't tried this one before...hope its good!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup unsalted butter
3/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
4 cups shredded medium cheddar cheese
1/2 pound pasta, cooked, drained - whatever you have on hand (I had macaroni)
4 cups cooked chicken cut into bite size pieces
1 1/2 cups plain bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350F.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Saute until liquid evaporates, about 12 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually add broth and milk, stirring until blended. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, 3-5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Add 3 cups cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Stir in pasta and chicken. Pour into a buttered shallow 3 quart baking dish.

Mix remaining cheese and bread crumbs; sprinkle over casserole.

Bake, uncovered, until bubbly. 35-40 minutes


Feedback:

I made this today before I left for work, and couldn't help but eat a serving for myself. This is super good! I didn't get to try it with the crumb crust of course, but the sauce is cheesy and creamy, and the mushroom sauted in garlic...oh my, oh my! The kids gobbled it up. And my youngest, who has been acting like he didn't feel too well all day, ate a little and then threw up all over his highchair. Poor thing (him AND my husband, who had to clean it up). Hubby hates mushrooms, but he doesn't mind picking them out. I am determined to change his mind about them, so I refuse to take them out of the recipe...not that he had too much of an appetite, after the above mentioned incident.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

This is another recipe that my Grandma used to make. So yummy! This will be for the babysitter and the kids tonight. We both work late. I'm sure they'll love it.

This is another one of those dishes where I have almost everything I need on hand already. I only had to pick up ham for this recipe. I love when that happens!

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked chicken, cubed
3 cups cooked ham, cubed
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chopped onions
2 cups light cream
1 tsp dill weed
1/3 cup flour
1/8 tsp ground mustard
1 cup cheddar cheese

Topping:
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp dill weed
2 Tbs melted butter
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large bowl combine chicken, ham and cheese. Set aside. In a saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add flour, stir to form a paste. Gradually add cream, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute or until thick. Add dill, and mustard. Mix well. Remove from heat and pour over meat mixture. Spoon into a greased 9x13" pan. Toss bread crumbs, melted butter, dill and cheese. Pour evenly over top of casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through.
Serves 8-10

**Picture is of leftovers the next day - I forgot to take the pic same day!

Feedback:
Our babysitter said this was great and that the kids gobbled it up. Even her son, who is much more picky than my hogs! I had leftovers for lunch. So yummy.

I love eating things that remind me of when I was a kid, it's great when food does that to you. I think that is part of the reason why it's so important to me that my family eat at home as much as possible. I want their memories to be like mine - of family around the table eating good food. Not at whatever fast food place we all agreed on that night.