Good Zucchini Casserole

This is a yummy way to use up extra zucchini during the summer. When I made this the other night I didn't have a surplus of zucchini, but I sadly was using up the last of our garden zucchini. So I am sorry for the lousy timing of this recipe, but it is just as good with store bought zucchini.

Good Zucchini Casserole

6 C Zucchini, diced into 1/2" pieces
1 C Carrots, same size dice

1 Onion diced

Combine and boil until carrots are tender, about 10 mins. Drain water and set aside.

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup (I use the Healthy Request kind)
1 C Sour Cream (light)
2 - 3 Chicken breasts, cooked & diced

Add to boiled vegis. You can end up using a ton of bowls or you can just add it all to the same pot you used to cook the vegis in.

2 C Stuffing Mix (don't add the water)
1/2 C Butter Melted, or spray top with spray butter

Place 1/2 the stuffing mix on the bottom of a baking dish that has been sprayed with non stick stuff. Add the vegetable mixture on top and top with the remaining stuffing mix. Spray top with butter flavoring if not using melted butter.

Cook in a preheated 350 oven for 30 mins or until heated through.   ENJOY!

This recipe works great with fat free substitutes but if you're feeling indulgent go ahead and use the full fat versions. I can't say if it would taste better because I have never made it that way.

I got this recipe when I was first married from a kind lady I worked with named Jana. Apparently she was worried my new husband might starve if she didn't share her knowledge :) which I am glad she did!

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

This was originally a Sandra Lee recipe that I have tweeked to make my own. It is way easy and everyone always loves it when I make it. You can easily make a larger batch if you need to feed a crowd, or just want more left overs.

3 chicken breasts or a store bought roasted chicken

1 pack onion soup mix

2 cups diced carrots

2 leeks diced

1 box chicken stock

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 T fines herbs (mix of parsley, chives, chervil & tarragon)

salt and pepper

1 package Grandmas Egg Noodles

Put chicken breasts in crock pot and sprinkle onion soup mix over top and add a couple cups of water and cook on low for 8 hours. Once chicken is cooked take it out and shred it into large chunks. If you used a store bought roasted chicken you can skip this first part and just shred the chicken. Save the liquid that is left in the crock pot. In a large pot add box of chicken stock and liquid left over from cooking the chicken, carrots & leeks, make sure you wash the leeks good they hold a lot of dirt in them, boil until the carrots are soft. You can also use less leeks and add some onion and celery if you want. Once carrots are soft add cream of mushroom soup and fines herb and shredded chicken. Boil the noodles in a separate pot otherwise they will soak up all the liquid in the soup, and then add the to the soup and taste of salt and pepper. You can use any kind of noodles but the Grandmas Egg Noodles taste home made, they are in the frozen food section and are in a red and yellow package, they can be a little tricky to find sometimes but they are totally worth it if you can find them, I stock up when I see them. If the soup seems to thick after you add the noodles you can add water or more chicken stock until it is the consistency you like.

Lettuce Wraps

I have been craving lettuce wraps like crazy lately. I searched for recipes, and then took the stuff I liked from several and combined them to fit my tastes. What I came up with was super tasty and I got lots of compliments on it.

Chicken Marinate
3 tbs lime juice
1 tbs curry powder
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbs crushed garlic

Mix all together and marinate for at least 4 hours.

2 heads lettuce, romaine or butter
4 chicken breasts

1 pkg mushrooms, diced
1 lg onion, diced
1 can water chestnuts, diced
1 bunch green onions, just the green partsB sliced
1/4 c hoisin sauce
2 tbs crushed ginger
2 tbs crushed garlic
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil

Toppings
Fried rice noodles
Thinly sliced carrots
Hoisin sauce
Sweet chili sauce
Chopped cashews

Remove chicken from marinate and discard the remaining marinate. Rough chop the chicken and place 1 breast at a time in the blender and pulse until its nicely chopped up. Heat pam or cooking oil in a large skillet and brown chicken. Remove chicken and set aside. Add onions and mushrooms to the same skillet, cook until onions are soft. Add garlic, water chestnuts, and ginger, stir and add soy sauce, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the sesame oil and green onions.

Scoop into lettuce leaves and top with your favorites.

Cheesy Chicken Potato Soup

So, I am trying to get back into doing the house-wife duties... Having a little trouble, 5 out of 7 of the meals I made this week were NASTY! But I did make some really yummy soup, its so darn cold here all I can think about is hot chocolate and warm soup. Most the time I want to wear my coat and gloves in the house! I don't think Rikard mentioned this when he asked me to move to this country, its just not right...How cold it is!

Anyway onto the recipe!


Ingredients:
 - 4 medium potatoes diced
- 1 qt. Chicken broth (you can use water, I just like the richness of the broth)
- Butter (as much as you want... I prefer at least a stick)
- 4 Tbs. Flour
- 1 Cup Milk
- 1 1/2 Cup shredded cheese (We don't have orange cheese here in this country so I used a pizza mix so what ever you have in the fridge)
- 1 Onion Diced really small
- 2 Sticks Celery
- Paprika
- Salt and Pepper
- Chopped Chives

Directions:

- Boil the potatoes in the chicken broth until tender, don’t drain.
- In frying pan cook onions, celery and butter until soft.
    -Add flour and mix
    -Add milk and stir until it thickens and remove from heat.
    -Stir into the potatoes and broth.
    -Add shredded chicken.
- Season with paprika, salt, pepper, and season salt.


I added ½ cup of sour cream just to make it a little creamier. Rikard says it’s the best he has ever had… and really simple. By now I am sure he is getting sick of all my soups but I am tackling Chicken noodle tomorrow! YUM!

Love,



Dawnie

Chicken Tortilla Caserole

This is a family staple. I cannot say that I came up with it myself. It is one that my mom made when I was a child, and now I make it for my children. It changes a little every time I make it, but it has a few key ingredients.

8 Whole wheat tortillas torn into pieces
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup - preferably low fat or Healthy Request
1/2 container Sour Cream - I use fat free
1 can of diced green chilies

2 cups Chicken - cooked and diced

2 cups Shredded Cheese
1 can Black Beans (optional)

Start by tearing the tortillas into pieces. If you do not have any leftover chicken (or turkey) cook 2-3 chicken breasts, dice them and set aside. Mix together the Cream of Chicken, Sour Cream, and green chilies. In this picture I did not have green chilies so I used some green salsa. Like I said, it changes a little every time depending on what I have in my pantry.

Spray the bottom of a casserole dish with non stick spray, and spread enough of the soup mixture on the bottom to just cover it. Cover the bottom of the pan with a layer of tortillas. Just overlapping the edges by a little bit. Layer half the chicken and black beans on top of the tortillas. Place 1/3 of the soup mixture on top of the chicken and beans. It does not need to be spread out evenly, just little dollops here and there will be fine.

Sprinkle with 1/3 the shredded cheese. I do not eat cheese, but my family loves it so I only cover half the pan with cheese. Repeat the layer process one more time, and on the last layer time, only cover with tortillas, soup mixture and cheese.

Finally cover with foil and cook at 425 for 25 mins (or until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbling around the edges)

This recipe also freezes very well. When I freeze it I do not add the final layer of cheese. I let it defrost in my fridge if I have the time. If I have not thought ahead (which is most of the time) I just put it in the oven at a lower temp for a longer period of time. 300 - 325 for 1 1/2 hours. I usually uncover it in the last 30 mins and sprinkle with cheese.