Colorful Chicken Casserole

Here's one ladies that will make you a proud mom! Lately I have been feeling rather guilty for my kids lack of vegetable intake. So, when I saw this recipe I had to try it out! FIVE different vegetables and the option to mix in whole wheat noodles will give us all the nutrition we need in a tasty way!

1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cup cubed cooked chicken
1 pkg(8oz) elbow macaroni, cooked and drained (you can add more to beef it up)
1 jar(4-1/2oz) sliced mushrooms, drained (optional)
1 cup(4oz) shredded cheddar cheese

In large skillet, saute green pepper, celery and onion in butter until tender. Add broth, peas, corn, salt and pepper; heat through. Stir in chicken and macaroni. Divide between two greased 8-in. square baking pans. Top w/mushroom and cheese. Cover and freeze one casserole (up to 3 months). Cover the other one and bake 350 for 30 min; uncover and bake 10 min longer. To use frozen casserole: cover and bake at 350 for 35 min; uncover and bake 15 min longer.

Horray!!

Hey Beauties!!  The Sept. 25th swap is almost complete and I'm SO exited for all of the new meals!!  Pam, I'm sooo glad you started this a while back - what a great way to get some good food and say hi to great friends!

Hopefully this post will be emailed to several of you, so if you're not on the email list and want to be, just let me know and I'll be happy to add you!  And if you should be on the list, but didn't get it, let me know too and we'll fix it! :D

Can't WAIT to try the new food and see all these great recipes!  (if you need help posting one, check out To Post or Not to Post or just let me know and I'd be happy to post it for you)

Next Swap - November!!

So...is it dinner time yet?

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

4 cups cooked chopped chicken
5 cups frozen broccoli florets
2 cups frozen peas
2 14.5 oz. cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup Best Foods mayo
3 T. lime/lemon juice

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
additional seasoning- salt, pepper, etc.

Mix above ingredients together in a large bowl. Stuff mixture into a gallon sized freezer ziploc bag and flatten/remove excess air to freeze. At serving time, thaw, then reheat in an oven proof 9 x 13 serving dish. Remove to add additional seasoning and 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, then return to oven for additional 10-15 minutes, long enough to melt the cheese. Enjoy over rice:)

Additional notes:
If mixing in bulk to trade meals, I would let the broccoli thaw for maybe 10 min. before starting to put everything together. If it's a little softer, it's easier to measure and mix. I also chopped my chicken relatively small for easier mixing. This kind of casserole is also easy to substitute ingredients. I usually blend up half a can or so of white or great northern beans to substitute for one of the cans of soup. This increases the protein, iron, and fiber in the dish- and no one knows! You can also substitute sour cream, more mayo, or a different creamy soup. The taste will vary a little according to your liking.

Email Me!

If you would like to receive an email each time a new post is posted or a comment is made, just leave a note with your email address here, or message me privately if you don't want your email out there.  That way if you're not a Google Reader user or would like to know about follow up comments without 'subscribing' to them each time and instantaneously, you can have that pleasure :D  Pam & Tepoe, I added you two to both of those lists for now, though I'm sure you can change it if you'd like :)

Also, just FYI, there's a 'subscribe to email' link when you go to make comments.  If you click on that, you will just get any comments made after yours, if you make one, on that particular post.  It would probably be usful for each of us to do that, especially after we say that we're coming to a swap, so we know how many are coming without checking back - just an idea! :D

Hope your email server doesn't get hungry and start eatting all of your yummy email! :D

Chicken Broccoli Casserole is on it's way!

I'm in for Saturday!

HI Beauties,

Sorry for the late response. I am coming on Saturday- and, of course have NOT yet decided what I am bringing. That Mexican Filling looks awesome:) What are you going to pair it with for serving? Or, are we still doing that "entire meal" concept? Oh, I better go re-read old posts.

I'll be back with a post so you know what I am bringing!

Mexican Chicken & Black Bean Filling

Okay ladies! This is what I'm making for this Sat. It think it looks good and there are some options on how to serve it. I hope it's good! There's a link at the bottom for the site I got it from...

Chicken & Black Bean Taco Filling

· 2 T. Extra-virgin olive oil

· 1 1/2 lb. chicken (boneless or not, whatever you have on hand)

· 1 t. cumin

· 1/2 t. salt

· 1/4 t. pepper

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· 1/2 lb. fully cooked black beans (1 can or less)

· 1 bag frozen corn (1 can)

· 1 large jars salsa (or 2 regular sized jars)

· 1/2 c. water

· 2 t. cumin

· 1 t. chili powder

· 1 t. salt

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Season chicken with 1 t. cumin, 1/2 t. salt & 1/4 t. pepper. Add chicken to skillet. Cook for 5-8 minutes, flip, cover skillet and continue cooking until chicken is fully cooked.
2. Remove chicken from skillet. Shred meat and return to pan. Add all remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

*This should make enough for 3 meals, depending on how much you use. It freezes perfectly in a freezer bag and thaws overnight in the refrigerator.

This is great as a taco filling, but there are so many other ways to use it too.

Here are a few of our favorites:
Chicken & Black Bean Nachos

Quesadillas

Mexican Lasagna

And…

· Served over rice with shredded cheese on top

· Mexican pizza topping

· Mexican French bread pizzas (So good!!)

· With scrambled eggs for breakfast burritos

· Taco salad

· Thinned with 1 can tomato sauce and 1 1/2 c. chicken stock, plus some extra spices and tortilla strips for a chicken tortilla soup

http://stolenmomentscooking.com/mexican-chicken-black-bean-filling/