Hearty Veggie Lasagna

This is a new favorite dish in our house!  I don't think I'll ever make a lasagna with beef again!  I'm trying to get better at taking pictures...unfortunately I didn't take a picture of this one though.

3 carrots-peeled & chopped
1 broccoli crown, chopped
1/2 celery stalk, chopped
1 medium onion-finely chopped
1 tsp dried garlic
1 tsp thyme
salt & pepper
2 jars spaghetti sauce
8 whole wheat lasagna noodles
16 oz container of cottage cheese (I added a couple sprinkles of Italian seasoning to mine)
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees
-Cook noodles according to package
-Combine veggies & sauce (I sent all my veggies through the food chopper for a couple spins)
-In bottom of casserole dish, spread about a cup of the sauce.  Layer 4 noodles, then sauce, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parm.  Add a 2nd layer. 
-Bake for 15-20 mins or until cheese is melted and bubbly :)
-Serve with a green salad & whole wheat bread sticks! 

YUM!!! 

Beef & Bean Enchilada Casserole

1 lb ground beef
1 can black beans
1 package enchilada sauce (prepared)
6-8 corn tortillas
2-3 green onions-chopped
1/2 red pepper-chopped
shredded Mexican style blend cheese

:::Brown Beef

:::Spray casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray, and line with tortilla's

:::In small bowl combine black beans, beef, and 1 cup enchilada sauce

:::Put beef/bean mixture on top of tortilla's and top with cheese, onions & peppers

:::Warm in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted

*This recipe was super easy and super yummy! The plan was to make enchilada's for dinner, but I got a late start and didn't feel like rolling them.

Easy Chicken Bake

I noticed this recipe on the back of a box of Stove Top Stuffing and the picture looked really yummy, so I thought I'd try it...and I'm glad I did! It was a really quick, easy, & tasty meal!

1 pkg (6 oz. box) of Stove Top Cornbread Stuffing Mix
1-1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup Sour Cream
1 bag (16 oz) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed, & drained

::Preheat oven to 400 F. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package; set aside
::Mix chicken, soup, sour cream & veggies in 13x9-inch baking dish; top with stuffing
::Bake 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

I liked this recipe because it was easy, it was quick, and it required minimal ingredients that you would usually have on hand. I loved how creamy the chicken & veggie mixture was, underneath the moist, yet not mushy stuffing. I let it set up for about 10 minutes after taking it out the oven, before serving and it was the perfect texture!

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken

My sister told me of this recipe, I don't have it written down, I just made it from what I could remember and it turned out really good. The only thing I'd change is I'd serve it with rice instead of noodles, and I added a veggie =)

Chicken Tenders (sis uses the frozen ones, I just bought about 1 lb)
4 oz cream cheese (half of the 8 oz bar you buy at the store)
8 oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup (no water or milk added)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (no water or milk added)
whatever seasonings you'd like I used:
Salt
Pepper
Minced Garlic
Lemon Pepper
Seasoning Salt

Throw everything in the crock pot and let it cook on low for about 6 hours (if you use chicken breasts I'd do it for 7-8 hours)
Just before serving the chicken cook your noodles or rice (I used macaroni noodles this time and it was okay, but I'd save some of the soup, sour cream, cream cheese mixture to mix into the noodles, they were a little dry) I also boiled some carrot match sticks with my noodles to give it a little color and to get my 4 year old another serving of veggies for the day =) That's it! It's easy, and yummy!!!

Potato Topped Chicken Casserole (or Chicken Topped Potato Casserole in my case ha ha)

This recipe was contributed by: Mary Ann Dell from Phoenixville Pennsylvania. She wrote: A friend gave me this easy, fast and delicious recipe. Any cheese you have on hand will work fine. It's perfect for those nights when you want something hearty and homemade.

Yield: 2 casseroles (6 servings each)

4 lbs medium red potatoes, quartered
3 lbs ground chicken
4 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tbs tomato paste
1-1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1/3 tsp minced fresh thyme
1-1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
6 tbs butter, cubed
1-3/4 cups (7 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

::Place potatoes in Dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender.

::Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook the chicken, carrots and onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the flour, tomato paste, salt, pepper and thyme. Add chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 6-8 minutes or until thickened.

::Divide mixture between two greased 13x9 in. baking dishes. Drain potatoes; place in a large bowl. Add milk and butter; mash until smooth. Stir in cheese. Spread over chicken mixture.

::Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Bake the remaining casserole, uncovered, at 400 for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly.

::to use frozen casserole: Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 50-55 minutes or until bubbly.

I still have yet to purchase a dutch oven! So here's how I made this casserole:

I used 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts. Put the chicken, chopped carrots, chopped onion, tomato paste, salt, pepper, thyme, and chicken broth in crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

30 minutes before chicken is done, start the potatoes. I just boiled mine on the stove top for 20 minutes until they were soft. I didn't use butter or milk for the potatoes, I used sour cream!

Drain chicken and shred with forks. I spread the mashed potatoes in the bottom of the casserole dish, topped with chicken, and drained the chopped carrots and onions and added them to the top of the chicken. Topped with cheese and baked at 400 for 15 minutes until the cheese was melted and bubbly.

Our whole family LOVED this recipe! It turned out so yummy! I just made one great big casserole instead of two, and it fed our family of 3 dinner, and lunch for the next 2 days! This is definitely one you HAVE to try and one that I will be making more of and freezing for crazy work days!

Ground Beef Spiral Bake

(recipe by Monika Rahn, Dillsburn Pennsylvania) she wrote:
This recipe is easy to make, tastes just great, and freezes well. This meaty casserole is perfect for big groups since it has classic ingredients everyone loves!

1 package (16 oz) spiral pasta
2 lbs ground beef
2/3 cup chopped onion
1 tsp minced garlic
2 jars (28 oz each) spaghetti sauce
2 tbs tomato paste
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
4 cups (16 oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

::Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, in a dutch oven, (I used a skillet, I have yet to purchase a dutch oven)cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, tomato paste, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes.

::Stir pasta into meat mixture. Transfer to two greases 13-in x 9-in baking dishes. Sprinkle each with 2 cups cheese. Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months.

::Bake the second casserole, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

::To use frozen casserole: Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

****I halved this recipe and only made 1 casserole to make sure we all liked it before I bothered with freezing one for later. Next time I'll definitely be making 2 casseroles and freezing one of them for a quick meal on a day I work. My 4 year old and my husband loved this new concoction so we'll be adding it to our menu more often. It's super easy, and tasty!****

Home-Made Mac & Cheese

I like to make a big pan of this during January. My boys can live on it for a week, and I can take it to work for lunch.

1 box macaroni noodles
1 can Campbell's Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (I like to add more, I like my Mac & Cheese VERY cheesy!)

Boil Macaroni
Spread in casserole dish and add Cheese and Soup
Sprinkle some cheese on top
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted

YUM!

Chicken & Rice Casserole

I stirred up the idea from a dish my mother-in-law made for Father's day. I didn't really measure anything, and I made it a lot differently than I had planned. We cheated on Friday and ended up eating Pizza for dinner after a long, busy day. Which means I didn't have Casserole Saturday for my husband and I to take to work. I ended up taking some soup, and my husband went to subway. Anyway so Saturday when I came home from work at 4:00 a.m. the last thing I wanted to do was think of something, let alone try and make something easy for dinner on Sunday. But I knew if I didn't start something I wouldn't even come close to waking up in time to shower, get dressed, and make something decent for dinner. So when I came home I decided I'd try this casserole, crock pot style! And it was really good! Here's my recipe...or at least the ingredients hahaha!

1 container (16 oz.?) sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups cooked white rice
1 can green beans
Cheese (I used Cheddar-Jack)

I put some (2 table spoons?) sour cream on the bottom of the crockpot, seasoned my chicken with some garlic salt and pepper. Put the chicken in the crock pot and covered with about 1/3 of the sour cream and about 1/2 the can of soup. Then let it cook for 6-8 hours on low. When I woke up I made my 2 cups of rice. I added a little bit of the left over sour cream, and soup to the rice so it would stick together and stay moist, then I added the rest of the sour cream and soup to the chicken, shredded the chicken up and placed it over the rice in a casserole dish. Top that with some green beans & cheese and bake at 375 for about 15-20 minutes or until it's heated through and the cheese is melted!
This was a pretty tasty dish, it was a little bland though, I think next time I'd add some green onion to the top, and maybe cook the chicken with some onion & green pepper or something. But it was pretty good. My husband and son both ate it all up!

Tonight's Dinner

Tonight I quickly threw together some yummy Chicken Enchilada's!

Here's my recipe:

1 1/2-2 lbs Shredded Chicken
1 package of Enchilada Sauce Mix
1 can Tomato Sauce
Green Onion (no measurement)
1 can Olives
About 1 cup of Shredded Cheese (I used Cheddar Jack tonight)
8-10 Corn Tortilla's

I've done this a couple different ways. I'll tell ya how I did it tonight, and then I'll let ya in on a couple other ways I've made Enchiladas.

First you'll cook your chicken, tonight I boiled mine for about 30 minutes so it would shred easily.
While my chicken was boiling I went ahead and started my Enchilada Sauce. I just buy the packets of seasoning and follow the directions on the back. It called for a can of Tomato Sauce and 1 1/2 cups of Water. I like my sauce a little thicker so I only used about 1 cup of water.
When the Chicken is done boiling, shred it with 2 forks, and add about 1/4 of the Enchilada Sauce to the chicken.
Warm up tortillas on a damp paper towel in the microwave for about 45 seconds.
Drizzle some of the Enchilada Sauce on the bottom of your baking dish so they don't stick.
Add your chicken to your tortilla's, roll 'em up and put them in the dish.
Top with Cheese, Chopped Green Onion, Olives, Tomatoes or whatever else you'd like.
Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted!
Add some sour cream or guacamole if desired and ENJOY!


I've also done this in a casserole type meal if I don't have the time or the energy to roll the tortilla's =) All you do is layer your ingredients like you would Lasagna. A little sauce on the bottom of the pan, 2-3 tortilla's (it's easier if you cut them into squares) chicken, sauce, cheese veggies, repeat!

It's also handy to do the chicken in the crock-pot if you know you don't have time to boil it for 30 minutes. Just throw the whole chicken breasts in the crock pot with the Enchilada sauce and let it cook on low for 6-8 hours. This makes it easy to throw the enchilada's together, or whip it up into a casserole! I usually use this method on the weekends when I have to work.

Usually when I make Enchilada's we don't do a side dish. My family isn't big on Beans & Rice but occasionally we'll eat some chips & salsa with it!