Chicken Biscuit Casserole

This is a long time family-favorite!  I've been eating this as long as I can remember!  A major time saver is to bake and cube the chicken in the morning (or the night before if you won't have time the day of).  This way, you don't have to start dinner an hour early just to cook the chicken, let it cool, and cube it.  I also do this for the bacon and the tomatoes, that way when it comes time to get supper in the oven, I can just throw it all together!  Enjoy! 

Chicken Biscuit Casserole  
Makes 6 servings (my kids eat 1/2 serving each)
9 ww p+ per serving

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 C cooked chicken breast, cubed

5 slices crisp cooked bacon, crumbled

1 (16oz) package of frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained (can be done last-minute by running under hot running water for a minute or two)

1 C fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup 

1 1/2 C Bisquick 

milk, divided 2/3 and 3/4 

1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

French’s Fried Onions (enough to be sprinkled on top)

1/2 tsp onion powder (or to taste) 

Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.  

2. In an 8x12 baking dish, combine: chicken, bacon, vegetables, tomatoes, cream of chicken soup, 3/4 C milk, and onion powder. Mix thoroughly, cover with tinfoil, and bake for 15 minutes. 

3. Meanwhile, combine: bisquick and 2/3 C milk. 

4. Uncover casserole and place bisquick on top, forming 6 biscuit mounds.  Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes.  

5. Remove, top with cheese and sprinkle with onion strings.  Bake an additional 5 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the biscuit comes out clean). 

6. Let stand for 5-10 minutes to cool, and serve! 

Salsa Black Bean Chicken

This is a super fast, super yummy recipe our whole family will eat (and it's easily adaptable to be dairy-free, if you need to go that route)! I got the bare bones of this recipe from a friend and have added to it from other recipes I've seen here and there. I serve it with Zataran's Yellow Rice and frozen peas.


Ingredients:




3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I use frozen)
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 (16 oz) jar of your favorite salsa
1/4 - 1/2 packet of taco seasoning (to taste really)
Shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream as toppings (optional)



Directions:

1. Pour a thin layer of salsa on the bottom of your crock pot, place frozen chicken breasts on top. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 packet of taco seasoning.

2. Pour the can of corn on top, followed by the can of back beans, and the remainder of the jar of salsa.

3. Cook on high for 4 - 5 hours.

4. If desired, sprinkle with shredded cheese and top with sour cream. Serve with rice and peas.

This is how I shred it for the kids and myself. Then, for the kids, I mix it with their rice. It's soooo tender, it falls apart just taking it out of the crock!

This is how the hubby eats it...all separate. And FYI, unless you have super human eating powers, you probably won't be able to finish this whole chicken breast like this. I usually shred up half of one for the three kids to split, and I eat about 1/4 of one myself.

Oatmeal Crasin Cookies

These are super yummy without being over sweet. Plus, they make the house smell soooooo good! You do have to chill the dough for 30 minutes before baking...so just take that into account when you make these!

Ingredients:

1 C butter, softened

1 1/3 C light brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 C flour (all purpose)

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3 C rolled oats

3/4 C raisins

3/4 C dried cranberries (crasins)

1 C walnuts, chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir this mix into the butter mixture.

3. Mix in oats, raisins, crasins, and walnuts. Dough will be very heavy and sticky. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Halfway though chilling, preheat oven to 350.

4. Scoop golfball size cookies on cookie sheet. Place about 2 inches apart and bake for 12 minutes. If desired, flatten cookies with back of spatula when they have 3 minutes left to cook.

5. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, remove to cooling rack to cool completely. Makes about 2-3 dozen.

Hearty Minestrone Soup

This is some seriously fabulous soup! It's quick enough to throw together in 30 minutes, hearty enough to be good as lunch or dinner, and yummy enough to cure my Olive Garden cravings! But the best part is that my kids love it...all three of them!!! On any other occasion, my kids won't even look at half of the veggies in this soup. But with this recipe...they all eat seconds every time! If that doesn't make it a keeper, I don't know what will!

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 onions, thinly sliced

2 cups chopped celery

5 carrots, sliced

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

4 cups tomato sauce

2 cans kidney beans, drained

1 can chick peas, drained

1 can green beans, drained

2 cans diced tomatoes

3-4 cups baby spinach, rinsed

3 zucchinis, quartered and sliced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 box seashell pasta

grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions

1. In a large stock pot, over medium-low heat, heat olive oil and saute garlic for 2 to 3 minutes. Add onion and saute for 4 to 5 minutes. Add celery and carrots and saute for 4 to 5 minutes.

2. Add chicken broth, water, and tomato sauce. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and add kidney beans, chick peas, diced tomatoes, green beans, spinach leaves, zucchini, oregano, basil, and salt and pepper. Simmer for 2 or 3 hours. The longer the better.

3. Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add macaroni and cook until tender. Drain water and set aside. Once pasta is cooked and soup is heated through place desired amount of cooked pasta into individual serving bowls. Ladle soup on top of pasta and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

{This version is modified from one I found on the web...the original recipe can be found here.}

Chicken Enchiladas

This is a recipe I got from a friend 4 or 5 years back, after having had it at her house. It's actually from here (on allrecipes.com - which has since become my now-favorite recipe site!). It is probably Joe-Z's favorite meal ever. And the kids and I love it too! I serve it with Zataran's yellow rice, black beans, and peas (from frozen - never tried it with canned). I know the peas sound weird...but just try them! They really are SO GOOD with this meal!!!

Ingredients

• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon margarine
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers, drained
• 8 (8 inch) flour tortillas
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small bowl mix the soup and sour cream; set aside.
3. Melt margarine in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion and chili powder, and saute until tender. Stir in the chicken, chile peppers, and 2 tablespoons of the soup mixture. Cook and stir until heated through.
4. Spread 1/2 cup of the soup mixture in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas, and place, seam-side-down, in the baking dish. Spoon remaining soup mixture on top, and sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Tater Tot Hotdish

Yummm, yummm! This is always a favorite around here!

Tater Tot Hotdish:

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen tater tots

1 pound hamburger meat

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of celery soup

1 bag (2 cups) shredded cheddar cheese

1 chopped onion (or dried onion flakes in the equivalent amount)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven and bake tater tots according to directions on package. When the tater tots are halfway done, brown the hamburger and onions until hamburger is done through (If I'm using dehydrated onions, I add a bit of water to plump them back up again. The water will cook off if you add too much...).

2. Once the tater tots are done, mix both "cream of" soups and the tater tots (save a handful out as toppers for the top of the casserole) into the hamburger / onion mixture. Make sure it all gets nice and mixed together...the tater tots shouldn't retain their shape anymore! I usually toss a handful or two of cheese in at this point.

3. Top with the rest of the bag of cheddar cheese (or use less, if you'd like...we like it cheesy, muahahahahaha). Randomly place remaining tater tots on the top of the casserole. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until cheese on top is as brown and bubbly as you like it!