Chicken Casseroles

This dish turned out really well. The original recipe is for individual casseroles, but since I didn't really have containers to make individual ones, I just put it all in an 8x8 casserole dish. It was really tasty and quite hearty. I will probably make this one again but in the winter when one needs a warming meal.

Chicken Casseroles
tastykitchen.com

Serves 3

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 bunch Scallions (white And Light Green Parts), Chopped
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 can Low-sodium Cream Of Mushroom Or Cream Of Chicken Soup (10 3/4 Oz)
½ cups Milk
1 teaspoon Chicken Bouillon Granules Or Better Than Bouillon (or 1 Chicken Bouillon Cube)
½ teaspoons Paprika
½ teaspoons Black Pepper
4 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, softened
1-¾ cup Sharp Cheddar Or Your Favorite Cheese, Divided Use
1 cup Cooked Cubed Or Hash Brown Potatoes (I Use Simple Potatoes Brand In The Refrigerated Section Of My Supermarket)
2 cups Cooked Chicken Cut Into Bite-size Pieces (I Used Leftovers From A Roasted Chicken)
25 Butter Crackers (such As Ritz Or Townhouse), Roughly Broken Into Small Pieces
2 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
1 cup French Fried Onions (optional)
Garnish With Chopped Scallions And Finely Diced Red Bell Pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat a skillet over medium heat with the butter. After the butter has melted, add the scallions and cook about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Add the soup, milk, bouillon, paprika, and black pepper and stir to combine. Heat until the mixture is hot then add the cream cheese and 1 cup of cheddar cheese (reserve the remaining cheddar cheese for the top). Stir until the cheeses melt. Fold in the potatoes and chicken. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.
Spoon the chicken mixture evenly into 3 individual gratin dishes (or an 8×8″ baking dish) that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese on top of the chicken mixture in each dish.

In a medium bowl, break the crackers into small pieces (about 1/2″). Do not pulverize into crumbs. Add two tablespoons of melted butter and stir to combine. Top each gratin dish with 1/3 of the crackers. Place the gratin dishes on a sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and the casseroles are bubbling around the edges. If using the French fried onions, add to the top during the last 4 minutes of cooking. Garnish with chopped scallion tops and finely diced red bell pepper.

Enjoy!

Soy Ginger Glazed Chicken

I'm so sorry it has been so long since I last posted. I really don't have any excuse other than enjoying the lazy days of summer. Needless to say,I have lots of new recipes to post. Inspired by the summer weather and wanting to use our grill, I took this recipe and used it to make chicken kabobs. The glaze was delicious and really made the meal. I hope you enjoy!

Soy Ginger Glazed Chicken
http://cooklikeachampion.blogspot.com/
Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1 1/2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

In a small bowl, mix together marmalade, soy sauce and ginger. Set aside.

Prepare grill or preheat grill pan.

Cook the chicken 5 minutes, then flip and cook an additional 5 minutes.

Brush each side with glaze. Cook 1-2 more minutes on each side, or until chicken is cooked through.

Remove chicken from grill and immediately brush each side with remaining glaze

Chicken-Ham Lasagna

I was wanting to try something a little different, so when I saw this I decided to give it a try. It made a lot but it was worth it! It really wasn't difficult and definitely hit the spot. My husband took the leftovers at work and shared with his co-workers (since there was so many leftovers) and he came home with great reviews. I think this dish would be perfect when entertaining or having Sunday dinner.

(Sorry about the picture, still learning how to take good food pics)

Chicken-Ham Lasagna
http://maryanna-bishop.blogspot.com/
Yield: 8 servings
6 points per serving (without the Mozzarella cheese)

Ingredients
2 cups fat free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces, divided
3 cups 1% low-fat milk
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 ounces)
1 1/2 cups (6-ounces) grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Cooking spray
12 no-cook lasagna noodles (8-ounces), divided
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, divided
8 ounces thinly sliced 96% fat-free deli ham, chopped, divided
Chopped fresh parsley (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

Place broth and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Add chicken; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan with a slotted spoon; set aside.

Combine milk, flour, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl; stir well with a whisk until smooth. Add milk mixture to broth in pan. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Cook 1 minute or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup Parmesan cheese and parsley, stirring until cheese melts.

Spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles over sauce. Spoon 3/4 cup sauce evenly over noodles. Top evenly with one-third ham, one-third chicken, and one-third Mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers twice, ending with noodles. Top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

Cover with foil very lightly coated with cooking spray; bake at 350-degrees for 30 minutes. Remove and discard foil; bake 10 minutes or until the cheese lightly browns. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.


Nutritional Info (per serving, without the Mozzarella cheese): 260 calories; 7g fat; 1.9mg iron; 57mg cholesterol; 295mg calcium; 18g carbs; 740mg sodium; 28.9g protein; 0.8g fiber

Taco Mac

This was another quick, easy and husband satisfying meal. It is one of those meals you can throw together with basic staples you have in your pantry. I was kind of worried about the point value since the original recipe stated it served 4, but as you can tell from the picture that would be some large servings! I measured it out to be 8 1 cup servings which comes to only 7 points a serving! I served this with a side salad for a filling meal.

Taco Mac
tastykitchen.com

Ingredients

1 pound Ground Beef
1 can Diced Tomatoes (15 Ounce Can)
1 cup Frozen Corn
1 package Taco Seasoning (1 Ounce Package)
2 cups Uncooked Pasta (I Used elbow macaroni)
2 ¼ cups Hot Water
2 cups Shredded Taco Or Mexican Flavored Cheese

Cook ground beef in big skillet over medium-high heat until browned. Drain if necessary.

Add tomatoes, corn, taco seasoning, pasta and water. Stir together and bring to a boil. Stir once more, cover and turn down to medium-low heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender.

Turn off heat and add 1 cup cheese and stir. Serve sprinkled with remaining cheese.

Enjoy!

French Dip Sandwiches

As everyone probably knows, I love my crockpot. Roast was on sale the other day, so I picked up two. In attempts to expand my cooking knowledge (I only know how to make pot roast with a roast) I found this recipe for French Dip Sandwiches. This turned out great! It only took five minutes in the morning before work to put it all together and all I had to do was shred and load up on a hoggie when I got home. Now that is a quick dinner!!

French Dip Sandwiches Recipe

by OurBestBites.com

Ingredients

2.5-3 lb. beef roast (I used a frozen roast )

2 Tbsp. olive oil, salt and pepper

2 1-ounce packages dry onion soup mix

2 c. water

2 cans beef broth

6-8 large buns (or more...6 would be VERY generous servings!)

Swiss, provolone, or mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced. (I used mild cheddar slices)

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and rub roast with salt and pepper.

When very hot, carefully place roast in pan and sear on all sides. You're not cooking the meat, you're just browning it quickly on all sides to add flavor and seal in the juices.

Place in crockpot and sprinkle with onion soup mixes. Pour water and beef broth over roast.

Cook 8-10 hours on low or cook 4-5 hours on high and another 3-4 hours on low. It's hard to screw this part up; basically, the longer it cooks, the more tender it will be. But you know it's done when you pop a fork in it and the meat just falls apart. (I put on low for about 10 hours)

When meat is ready, shred with a fork. Place meat in crusty rolls. Top with cheese and broil open-faced in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes, until bread is golden and cheese is melty.

Ladle juices into small cups for dipping and enjoy!

Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole

This recipe was super easy to make and turned out great! I has one of my husband's favorite ingredients-Cream of Mushroom soup. So I knew he would love it. The only bad part is that it does take awhile to bake. While I had it in the oven, I took advantage of the down time and did some reading. It is pretty filling and low in points! Give it a try.

Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole
Recipe and Picture from: http://happytexans.blogspot.com/

6 Servings

Approx 6 points

Ingredients
1 can fat free cream mushroom soup

1 can fat free cream chicken soup

1 can water

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with chilies

1 1/2 c rice1 pkg taco seasoning

cilantro and green onions chopped (optional)

frozen boneless,skinless chicken breasts

shredded cheddar cheese

1. 13x9 in glass casserole dish with cooking spray.

2. Whisk soups, water and taco seasoning in bowl then pour into bottom of dish.

3. Sprinkle rice over soups.

4. Place chicken breasts FROZEN over soup and rice.

5. Pour beans and tomatoes over chicken, cilantro and green onions sprinkled on top.

6. Cover with foil, bake 350 degrees 1 hour,40 min. remove foil, sprinkle shredded cheese over to melt.

Enjoy!

BBQ Meatball Subs

I know, I know-its been forever since I have posted any new recipes. I am so sorry. I really don't have an excuse except I have been on a hiatus of cooking lately. My poor husband! But I'm back and with tons new recipes. This one we just had tonight.
I loved how simple and easy it was to make and definitely was a hit with the husband's taste buds to boot. To be completely honest I am not sure where I got this recipe, but chances are it was from someone on Tastykitchen.com. I love that site! I should also mention that the recipe is really for them to be an appetizer but I decided to make it a meal by putting into hot dog buns. I used turkey meatballs instead of the beef ones to make it a little healthier and point friendly. I served mine on a 1pt hot dog bun and the husband got the regular ol white kind. Per my husbands request, we will be having this one again in the future!

Super Secret Grilled Meatballs
Aprox 4pts (3 meatballs) (*Points will vary with choice of meatballs and buns)

Ingredients
1 cup Your Favorite BBQ Sauce
2 Tablespoons Cajun Seasoning
1 bag (20-24 Oz. Bag) Frozen Meatballs (Plain, Not Italian-style)

Hot Dog Buns

Preparation Instructions
Open the bag of still-frozen meatballs, pour in the bbq sauce and sprinkle the seasoning on top. Close the bag and shake it around to coat the meatballs with the sauce and seasoning. If you need to add more sauce, go ahead now.
Return the bag to your fridge and allow the meatballs to thaw overnight. Turn the bag a few times, if you remember to.
When the meatballs have thawed completely and you’re almost ready to eat, heat your grill to medium/medium-high.
Skewer the meatballs, leaving no space between them.
Cook until the sauce has caramelized, turning once.
Remove from skewers, put on a bun and chow down!