Don't Peek Chicken

Don't Peek Chicken adapted from Mr. Food
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 (10-3/4 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10-3/4 ounce) can cream of celery soup
1 envelope onion soup mix (from a 2-ounce box)
1 soup can cold water
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 chicken (3-1/2 to 4 pounds), cut into 8 pieces
Paprika for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together rice, soups, soup mix, water, garlic, parsley, and Worcestershire sauce.
3. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Press chicken into mixture. Sprinkle with paprika, then cover tightly with aluminum foil.

    4. Bake 1-1/4 hours. Do NOT open cover (not even to peek) during baking.



Modifications:
-I used quick cooking rice.

Here's what you'll need:

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the soups, onio soup mix, parsley, and garlic.

Add the water and the worcestershire sauce.

Mix 

Lay the chicken breasts in a baking dish.  Pour the soup mixture over the chicken. 

  

Cover the dish with tin foil.

Place the dish in the oven and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

How can you go wrong, flavor-wise, when you use cream of anything? The combination of the cream of celery, cream of mushroom, and onion soup mix packed tons of rich, comforting flavor.

The chicken was moist and tender and really soaked up the soup. 

I used quick-cooking rice rather than cooking the rice in with the chicken.  It still tasted great.  We just spooned the soup over the rice and then laid the chicken on top of it. 

Hope you enjoy!

April

Easy Beef Casserole

Easy Beef Casserole adapted Mr. Food
1 pound ground beef
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 (16-ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 (32-ounce) package frozen seasoned potato nuggets

Directions:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cook ground beef and salt in a skillet over medium heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink; drain. Spoon ground beef into a sprayed 2-1/2-quart shallow baking dish.Layer frozen vegetables, soup and cheese over ground beef. Top with frozen potatoes.
    
Bake casserole for 30 minutes or until potatoes are golden.

Modifications:
-I added a diced garlic clove.
-I added 1 chopped onion.

Here's what you'll need:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

I "chopped" an onion with my Vidalia Chop Wizard.

Sidenote:  Have you seen these?  I got it for Christmas and it "chops" everything for you in perfect little pieces.  Love it!

Just place it on the grate (comes with 2 different sizes) and close the lid down.

Here's what you get.  You can buy them at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

I switched out grates and then "diced" a garlic clove.

Brown the ground beef, onions, and garlic.

Once browned, put the meat in a baking dish. 

Add frozen vegetables.

Spread the undiluted cream of chicken soup.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Top with diced hashbrown potatoes (or any type of potato you prefer).

Put in oven for 30-40 minutes.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:
This was a good, comforting dish for a cold winter day.  I was a bit skeptical about using cream of chicken soup with ground beef but it added a bit of sweetness that I wasn't expecting. 

This type of recipe is great for slipping veggies onto your kids' plates while masking it with the gooeyness of cheese and potatoes.

Hope you enjoy!
April

Turkey Spaghetti Pie

Turkey Spaghetti Pie adapted from Everyday Light Meals
6oz uncooked spaghetti
5 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup egg substitute
3/4lb lean ground turkey breast
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 medium green pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups meatless spaghetti sauce
1 cup fat-free cottage cheese
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:  Cook spaghetti according to package directions.  Drain well and cool to room temperature.  In a bowl, combine the spaghetti, Parmesan cheese and egg substitute.  Transfer to a 9 inch pie plate coated with nonstick cooking spray and form into a crust; set aside. 

In nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook turkey, onion and green pepper until turkey is no longer pink; drain.  Add spaghetti sauce; heat through.  Spread cottage cheese over crust; top with turkey mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.  Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.  Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Nutrition Facts
One serving (1 wedge) equals
Cal 274
Fat 11g (4g sat fat)
Cholesterol 57mg
Sodium 710mg
Carb 19g
Fiber 2g
Protein 25g

Diabetic Exchanges:  3 lean meat, 1 starch, 1 vegetable

Modifications:
-I just used 3 whole eggs instead of egg substitute (not calculated in the above nutrition facts)
-I did not use a green pepper.
-I did not use the shredded mozzarella cheese.

Here's what you'll need:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Chop an onion.

Brown the ground turkey.

Cook the spaghetti according to package instructions.

Add the onions to the ground turkey

Add the spaghetti sauce to the turkey to warm.

In a separate bowl, pour the Parmesan cheese.

Add the eggs or egg substitute.

Drain the spaghetti, add to the egg/cheese, and mix.

Pour into a coated 9 inch pan.

Spread the cottage over the spaghetti.

Add the meat mixture on top.

Pop in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

My family loved this dish!  Kanin had 3 helpings and even pick Gracie ate it.  The cottage cheese really added an extra gooeyness to the dish but you could also substitute ricotta.

The 2 things I would do different is that I would add more sauce and I would mix everything together and then pour it into the baking dish.  Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing.

Hope you enjoy!

April

Turkey Suizas Casserole

Turkey Suizas Casserole adapted from Everyday Magazine
2 poblano chile peppers
3 Tbsp EVOO
8 tomatillos, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp honey or agave
1 lime, juiced
1-1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2lbs chopped or pulled cooked turkey
1 cup Mexican crema or sour cream
1 1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
1 cup grated Monterey jack cheese
12 corn or 8 flour tortillas, warmed

Directions:  Char the poblanos over burners or under a hot broiler until blackened all over.  Place in a bowl, cover and let sit until cool enough to handle.  Peel, seed and chop.

Preheat the broiler.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO, 3 turns of the pan.  Add the tomatillos, onion, garlic and bay leaf; season with salt, pepper, the cilantro and cumin.  Cook until tender, about 10 minutes.  Discard the bay leaf.  Add the tomatillo mixture, poblanos, honey and lime juice to a food processor and puree.

In the same skillet, heat the chicken stock over high heat.  Stir in the turkey to reheat, then stir in the tomatillo sauce.

In a medium casserole, layer in half of the turkey mixture and dot with the crema.  Top with half of each of the cheeses and half of the tortillas.  Spread the rest of the turkey on top and layer with the remaining tortillas and then cheese.  Broil until cheese is melted.

Modifications:
-I used chicken breast.  Cut it into strips and browned it.
-I used sour cream instead of crema.

Here's what you'll need:

I cut up the turkey breast.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the poblano peppers on the burner to blacken.  (The pepper will start to pop and sizzle). 

Once the peppers blacken, put them in a bowl and cover them until they cool off.  About 10 minutes or so.

Chop up the tomatillos, cilantro, and garlic.

Chop up an onion.

Cook the tomatillos, onion, and garlic until softened.

Add the cilantro.

While the tomatillos are cooking, de-seed and chop up the peppers.

Put the peppers, tomatillos, onion, garlic, and cilantro into a food processor to puree.

Brown the turkey in a pan.  Once the turkey is cooked add the tomatillo puree.

Add some chicken broth.

Put half of the mixture into a baking dish.  Add the sour cream and the cheese.

Lay tortillas on top.  Keep layering.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Here is our revised version.

Our Thoughts:
This dish had so much flavor and we loved it. 

This was my first experience cooking with tomatillos and if you haven't had them before they taste a little like a green apple and they are delicious.

After having made this dish the way the recipe called for it, we quickly realized that it was too runny so we ended up taking tortillas and rolling the mixture in the tortilla.  This made it much easier to eat.

I want to revisit this recipe with the following changes:
 1. I would probably use ground turkey or may even a rotissierie chicken.  The cut up turkey breast cubes were too large.
 2. I would make this dish up until it was time to put into a baking dish.  I think at this point I would then put it into a crockpot and just let it simmer.
 3. I would let everyone serve themselves.  Great for a football party.

You could also make this hotter by adding a jalapeno in with the peppers.

Hope you enjoy!
April