Week 4 - Ben's Birthday Post! Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Yesterday was Ben's birthday, so I was looking for something to make for his birthday dinner. He loves chicken parmesan, but I wanted to make something a little different. I did make something similar to this, but this came out much better.

Chicken Parmesan Casserole - http://www.emilybites.com/2012/12/chicken-parmesan-casserole.html

Ingredients:
2 lbs raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 cups marinara/pasta sauce 
1 ½ cups 2% reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (I used the smallest holed side of my box grater), divided
3.5 oz garlic croutons, roughly crushed, leaving some larger pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Spread the cubed pieces of chicken across the bottom of the baking dish in a single layer. 

Spread the sauce evenly across the top.

On top of the sauce layer, sprinkle ¾ cup of the Mozzarella and one ounce of the Parmesan evenly across the dish. 

Sprinkle the crushed croutons across the top and follow with the remaining cheese. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

I served with pasta and garlic bread. It was very delicious and easy to make!! 

Happy Birthday to Ben!!!

Week 3 - Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie has been on my list for awhile now. I decided to use the idea from this recipe to make a chicken pot pie - http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/upside-down-chicken-pot-pie-10000001911485/

Ingredients:
1 box - 2 pie crusts
10 oz. - frozen mixed vegetables (use your favorite combination)
1 1/2 cup - water
1/2 cup - milk
1 package - knorr pasta sides - chicken
2 cups - cut up cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups - shredded cheddar cheese

I first broiled the chicken so that it was cooked when I was ready to start cooking the pot pie. I actually did this during half time of the Giants game. It took about 25-30 minutes to get the chicken cooked - my chicken breasts were pretty big so it took a bit longer.  Cut your cooked chicken into smaller chunks.

When ready to make your Chicken Pot Pie, preheat oven to 450° . Spray deep dish pie plate with nonstick cooking spray. Push 1 pie crust into pie plate. Bake 10-12 minutes or until pie crust is golden; set aside. Decrease oven to 350° . 

Bring vegetables, water and milk to a boil in medium saucepan over high heat. Stir in Knorr® Pasta Sides™ - Chicken and return to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook covered, stirring occasionally, 8 minutes or until pasta is tender. Stir in chicken and 1 cup cheese. 

Spoon into prepared pie plate, then sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Top with other pie crust and cut slits into dough.  Bake uncovered 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

Let stand for about 10 minutes so it's easier to cut. Serve and Enjoy!

We really enjoyed this meal and I'm glad I found something easy to make! Next time I may try it with the biscuits as the actual recipe suggests.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as we did!!

Week 2 - Baked Spaghetti

Week 2 - Baked Spaghetti

I had a hard time deciding what to make this week. I had leftover ground beef that I wanted to use, so I found this recipe for Baked Spaghetti that was similar to lasanga and baked ziti.  It was super easy to make and really good!!!

I found this recipe on All Recipes.com - http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/177833/baked-spaghetti
This seemed to be the easiest recipe to me, but there were a lot of others online as well with slightly different variations.

Ingredients - this is what I used

1 package cooked spaghetti
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 (15oz) carton ricotta cheese - this was the perfect amount for me
left over ground beef
1 jar tomato sauce - I did not use the entire jar, but use your judgement on how much sauce you need
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Directons
Preheat oven to 400. Spray baking pan with cooking spray.

Combine cooked spaghetti with butter, stir until butter melts and coats spaghetti.  Add 1/2 cup parmesan cheese; stir to coat.

 Arrange spaghetti in an even layer in pan. Spread ricotta cheese over spaghetti. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

Brown ground beef (do this while spaghetti is cooking). Add pasta sauce and heat until bubbly.

Spoon sauce mixture over ricotta cheese. Top with mozzarella cheese (I used enough to cover the sauce) and remaining parmesan.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 15 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

I'm so happy with how this recipe came out. It was really easy to make if you want something a little different. ENJOY!

Sunday Funday 2014 has begun!!!

Welcome back!!!!!!!!!!!!  I can't believe another fall football season is here! I will say I'm excited for the fall weather and some fun cooking!!!

For the first week, I wanted to post an old recipe I've made before along with something new I've been wanting to make.

Taco Dip
This is one of the easiest recipes I know and I always try to keep 1-2 cans of chili in the house.

Ingredients:
1 - block of cream cheese
1 - can chili
shredded cheddar cheese
1 - bag of tostitos or favorite chips

Depending on the size taco dip you want to make, spread your cream cheese in the bottom of your dish. I softened mine slightly in the microwave to make it easier to spread.

Add chili on top of the cream cheese to cover all of the cheese. If I'm making a bigger dip I use the whole can. This time I only used about half.

Spread cheddar cheese on top - again covering the chili (feel free to use as little or as much as you prefer)

Now here is the really easy part.....put in the microwave for 3-5 minutes. When you hear it bubbling, that means it's done!

Serve with your favorite chips. Ellie even tried this and loved it too!!!

Easy Chicken Tetrazzini 

This may not be a true Sunday Funday recipe, but it is something I've been wanting to try for a long time! We enjoyed it, and I hope you do too!!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-chicken-tetrazzini/detail.aspx?src=VD_Summary

Ingredients:

1 - pound cooked and drained spaghetti

5 - chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (I used 3)

2 - cans condensed cream of chicken soup

2 1/4 cup - water

1/4 cup - butter

2 - cubes chicken bouillon (I did not use this in my recipe)

1/4 cup - shredded cheddar cheese

Cook chicken first if you don't already have cooked chicken (some of my friends use the canned chicken for this step as well)

Put cooked spaghetti into 9x13-inch baking dish. Place chicken on top of spaghetti. I added some frozen peas to my casserole to add some color as well.  

In medium saucepan heat together soup, water, and butter.. Bring to a boil and then pour over the pasta and chicken. Put shredded cheese (to taste) on top and press down a bit. **I did have some left over sauce that I didn't end up using. It is up to you on how much you want to use. Just use your judgement.**

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 minutes.

We enjoyed this recipe for dinner and had leftovers as well. Next time, I would maybe just cut the chicken a bit smaller. You can also try this with different soup combinations as well depending on what taste you enjoy best.

Stay tuned for next week....Lets go Giants!!