Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

Since I actually do consider this to be a "food blog," I figured it was about time I actually shared a recipe.  It's been a little while.  This is one of my posts from my WordPress blog.  I've really been slacking on moving those over lately.  So please, enjoy.  :)

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I was trolling my "I Love Food" board on Pinterest to see if I could make anything with ingredients I already had in the house since I haven't put on "real" pants since Christmas didn't want to go to the store. While my recipe isn't exactly the one from the pin, I was able to tweak it and use things I had here in the house!

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits

Ingredients

• 1/3 c. butter
• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 c. chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• salt & pepper (to taste)
• 2 T butter
• 3 small cooking onions, diced
• 8 oz. canned mushroom pieces
• 4 cups shredded, cooked chicken*
• 1 heaping c. frozen mixed vegetables**
• 1 heaping c. frozen peas **
• 1 can biscuit dough

*Confession: I love chicken, but I HATE cooking it. Chicken I cook myself never comes out with the flavor I'd like, and it's usually dry. Fortunately, Scott & I had gotten a rotisserie chicken when we went grocery shopping last Friday. I thought this recipe would be PERFECT to use the rest of it!

**These were the frozen veggies I had sitting in my freezer. I had about 1/2 of each 10-12 oz. bag left. I just used it all because I didn't have any potatoes like the original recipe.

1. Preheat the oven to 425* F, and begin to prepare the filling.
2. Melt 1/3 c. butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the 1/3 c. flour and whisk constantly for 1 minute.

 

 

3. Gradually add chicken broth and milk whisking constantly 6-7 minutes (I went 7.) or until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste. (I didn't add salt & pepper here. I added it to eat my meal. So I would recommend adding it to the recipe.)

 

4. Melt 2 T. butter in a frying pan and add onions and mushrooms. Saute for 10 minutes or until tender.

 

5. If you haven't done it already, while they are cooking, shred the chicken.

6. In a large bowl or pan, add onion & mushrooms, chicken, vegetables, and sauce. Stir to combine.

 

7. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 9" x 13" casserole dish.

8. Bake filling for 15 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, open biscuits. (I used the can of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits that I had here. There were only 5 in the can, which required a little pulling apart and/or stretching. If you would like to completely cover the top of your casserole you will need more. See picture in next step to see what I mean.) And while we're on this subject, keep this in mind:

 

10. After 15 minutes, take the casserole out, and place the biscuits on top.

 

 

11. Bake for another 25-30 minutes. (The baking time here will depend on the biscuits you use. Mine got a little dark and I took the casserole out at 20 minutes.)

 

 

 

I was really worried for some reason that this wouldn't be very good. PROBABLY because I freak out a bit when I don't follow a recipe exactly. I definitely needed a guide, and I've seen recipes like this that use biscuits before. It turns out that I was worried for nothing. Other than needing to add salt and pepper to the meal because I didn't add it during cooking, this was quite good. Scott didn't like the biscuits on it. I thought that was the best part! haha. To each his (or her!) own.  :)

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Pizza Casserole

Today, I'm moving another recipe over from my WordPress blog.  This dish is entirely of my own creation. NOT that it hasn't been done before. It has. But it's SOOOOOOOOO easy, and it's pretty quick, too. (Oh yeah, and it's also really good.)

Pizza Casserole

Ingredients

• pasta
• spaghetti sauce
• mozzerella cheese
• pepperoni

Boil pasta according to package directions.

 

I used this kind:

BUT penne, bowtie, rotini, or whatever pasta suits your fancy would certainly be fine!

 

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and shred the cheese.

By the way, I did not use THAT much cheese.  I would say you will probaby need 2 cups.  (It all depends on how cheesy you want your pizza casserole!

 

While the pasta continues to boil, select your sauce.

We love this sauce. Three cheese is my favorite flavor, and I thought it went well with pizza casserole. Use whatever sauce is your favorite. Francesco Rinaldi has a variety of flavors and can be found at Martin's (Giant) or Weis. We like to stock up when they have them on sale 10 for $10, which means we tend to have A LOT of sauce on hand. By the way, I didn't use 2 full jars. I used one whole jar and a little less than half of the second. I love sauce, so does Hubby. You may want less. Just be warned that not using enough sauce could cause your pizza casserole to dry out!

 

Put pasta into the baking dish and mix with the sauce and cheese. I then added pepperoni, more sauce, and more shredded cheese and mixed it up. Before putting it in the oven, I covered the top layer with cheese.

 

Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

And this is your pizza casserole.

Delicious.

You can thank me later.

Potato Casserole

Today I'm sharing a recipe that I got from my aunt.  It is a requirement to make for family get togethers because everyone LOVES it. My cousin and I have more or less told her that if she doesn't make this (or her delicious taco dip) that she is not necessarily welcome to attend! ;) haha So, I don't know where she got the recipe, but I had to get it from her because she wasn't coming to one of our summer family events, and someone had to make potato casserole....

Potato Casserole

Ingredients

• 32 oz. bag frozen hashbrowns, thawed, rinsed, drained
• 3/4 cup butter, melted (save 1/4 cup for topping)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 16 oz. sour cream
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1-2 cups corn flakes (for topping)

1. Mix all ingredients, except 1/4 cup of the butter and cornflakes in a large bowl and spread in greased casserole dish.
2. Crush cornflakes and mix with 1/4 cup of butter for topping. Sprinkle on top of casserole.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Is it THAT easy? Yes, it is THAT easy. The casserole looks very similar coming out as it did going in. Essentially, the cornflakes are browned a bit, and no, I didn't really crush the cornflakes here. I thought I had all the ingredients because I had picked up a couple of things at the store a couple days before. I realized that I forgot the cheese, and I had to run to the store to pick that up. When I got home, I realized that I also needed a can of cream of chicken soup. Went back to the store. Luckily, the grocery store isn't that far away at all.

In closing, it is always easier to make things when you have everything you need......