Doin' Some Cookin'... Chicken Parmesan Casserole

If you are looking for a kid friendly dinner that comes together super quick and bakes up in under 30 minutes then look no further. This Chicken Parmesan Casserole was a big hit with Little Man. He requested a second serving and also wanted more the following night for dinner.

If you are following a low carb diet feel free to leave the pasta out and serve the chicken over zucchini or other veggies instead. It's delicious on it's own.

This casserole became an instant family favorite and new comfort food.

Next time I'm going to serve this with a caesar salad. Already looking forward to making this one again.

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

Adapted From: Thriving Home

Makes 8 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 1 lb cooked chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 (28 oz) jar marinara
• 4 cups cooked bowtie pasta
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• handful of fresh parsley, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste

And Action:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Grease an 8x8 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. 

Toss the chicken, noodles, and marinara in the casserole dish until incorporated. Top with both cheeses until the top is covered.

In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, olive oil, parsley, salt and pepper. 

Sprinkle the seasoned breadcrumbs on top.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden on the top and bubbling on the sides. Enjoy!

Freezer Meal:

Put the casserole together following the steps above and freeze before baking. Make sure the casserole dish is freezable. 

When ready to bake, thaw in the freezer overnight, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Doin' Some Cookin'... Breakfast Casserole Muffins

I place an importance on making sure Little Man heads off to school every morning with something in his belly even if it's just a nibble of something if he's really not that hungry. Rare when that happens. His go to breakfast is peanut butter toast or cereal (not the sugary kids kind either). I offer to make him other items but he usually will pass and stick with his usual.

I'm always trying to get Little Man to branch out and try new things so I figured I would give these Breakfast Casserole Muffins a try and not give him any other option for breakfast. Well well well... that plan worked because he loved these.

My only complaint is that there was too much bread in our muffins and not enough of the other yummies. Next time around I will clean out the fridge adding any meats and veggies that need to be used up and might make them healthier by omitting the egg yolks and replacing the bread with some cooked potatoes at the bottom of the tin cups.

We had plenty of leftovers for breakfast for the week. Such a time saver on rushed work and school mornings.

Breakfast Casserole Muffins

From: Thriving Home

Makes 12 Muffins

Stars of the Show:

• 3-4 slices whole wheat bread, torn into small pieces
• 4 slices deli ham, chopped
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 8 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• dried parsley

And Action:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tin well.

Fill muffin tins about 1/2 way with the bread. 

Sprinkle ham and egg evenly in each tin. 

Whisk the eggs, milk, mustard, and ground pepper. 

Pour the egg mixture evenly in each tin. 

Sprinkle dried parsley to taste on each top.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden brown on top and cooked through the middle. Enjoy! Preferably with some hot sauce like Cholula. It kicked this up a notch. 

Freezer Meal:

Bake according to the directions above and then cool completely. Place in a single layer in a freezer container or bag. Seal well, squeezing out excess air, and freeze.

To reheat, wrap a muffin in a moist paper towel and microwave for 30 second increments until heated through. Or thaw in the fridge and warm in the microwave. 

Doin' Some Cookin'... Pizza Casserole

My company was hosting their annual potluck of "homemade" dishes only this year.

Ugh! I don't mind picking something up from the store but cooking for the entire office. Hmm...

I get cooking anxiety when cooking for people for the first time. Hell, I have a hard enough time cooking for my biggest critic, Little Man. So I end up doing a run through of the recipe ahead of time to make sure it turns out okay.

The potluck was today and I made this recipe on Tuesday, however, while it was absolutely delicious it was incredibly heavy and didn't settle well on my stomach. I couldn't risk serving this gut bomb to my coworkers so I ended up opting out of the potluck.

Little Man loved everything about this dish and polished off his bowl of pasta for the two nights of leftovers. That is a win for me! He exclaimed, "It tastes like Papa Johns but with pasta!"

This was an incredibly easy dish to make on a busy work night and came together fairly quickly. You can customize the toppings to include your family's favorite pizza flavors. I'm thinking next time ham, pineapple, and red onions for a Hawaiian version. Yum.

Pizza Casserole

Adapted From: Taste of Home

Makes 12-14 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 1 package (16 oz) of rigatoni
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 package of hot Italian sausage
• 1 package (8 oz) pepperoni, sliced
• shredded mozzarella cheese or pizza blend, to taste
• 2 cans (15 oz) pizza sauce
• 1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup

And Action:

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside. While the pasta cooks, brown the beef and Italian sausage. Drain the fat. 

Add the pasta to the meat mixture, add cheese, pizza sauce, mushroom soup, and pepperoni. Stir to combine. Heat over medium until sauce is heated through and cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Doin' Some Cookin'... Beef Enchilada Bake

I love casseroles because you get your meat and veggies in one flavorful bite.

While making this I only dirtied two dishes, I am so down with meals that don't leave me in the kitchen standing at the sink for hours cleaning up.

With following the Whole30 program for the last 15 days I've had a few food cravings I've had to fight. When invited to a Mexican restaurant I watched the table stuff their faces with chips and salsa and then their entrees had beans and rice and dishes served with tortillas. Gah!

When meal planning I came across this recipe for a Beef Enchilada Bake and saw that it was diet compliant I knew I had to make it.

A couple of things about this recipe that I would change next time... use half the amount of cauliflower unless you really freakin' love it (it's the flavor profile that stood out the most) and go heavy handed on the spices. I didn't quite taste the "enchilada" but it still made for a satisfying lunch with plenty of leftovers and no guilt.

Because of the easy clean up I get to lounge around on the couch watching TV and just relax before the busy workweek begins.

Beef Enchilada Bake

Adapted From: Just Jessie B

Makes 4 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 1 head of cauliflower, shredded
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeds removed and minced
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp garlic
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper, to taste

And Action:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Saute ground beef and onion powder in a large pan until meat is no longer pink. Drain the fat.

Stir in the bell pepper, jalapeno, and tomato sauce and all seasonings into the meat, combine well. Add the cauliflower into the pan and crack the eggs into the pan as well, stir gently to coat and break up the eggs until they are no longer visible. 

Coat a 9"x13" baking dish with nonstick spray. 

Dump the mixture into the baking dish and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until browned around the edges. 

Let it cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!

Doin' Some Cookin'... Green Bean Casserole, Hashbrown Casserole, and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I've been out of my mom's house for 10+ years, I've been a mom for 6 years, and in that time I haven't been responsible for making Christmas dinner. For the holidays we would travel to Ohio for two weeks. Being a houseguest meant I wasn't expected in the kitchen. These were women who ran their kitchens with no other hands stirring the pot but expected you to pull up a girl and stir the pot with you mouth and join in the gossip. But... times have changed and now it's spent at home in Texas, and somewhat alone since I have to share Little Man. Don't feel bad for me though. I'm in the middle of enjoying 11 days of an empty nest with 6 of those being working days and two back to back 4 day weekends. The 4 day weekends was a gift enough to help recharge my batteries... definitely experienced burnout by the end of the year.

Little Man was set to be picked up around noon by his dad and wanting to do the traditional Christmas festivities I made sure we would cover everything.

On Christmas Eve we got into our cozy clothes, drove around town checking out the Christmas lights, watched Christmas movies, made hot chocolate, and tracked Santa's flight. Once he made it to New York Little Man knew that meant it was time to fall asleep before Santa's arrival at our place.

Christmas morning we opened presents, had biscuits and gravy for breakfast, played with his new toys, and then had our Christmas dinner before he had to go.

There are some dishes we've come to expect for Christmas: Smoked Ham, Green Bean Casserole, Hashbrown Casserole, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and rolls.

Slapping myself a high five here! I recreated the Christmas classics in under an hour. It wasn't perfect and I will need to continue searching for the right recipes but it was still delicious. Part of that was me rushing to get dinner on the table in time and not following directions correctly. I didn't realize the green beans needed to be cooked ahead of time so they had a slight crunch, I enjoyed it this way surprisingly but not what I was expecting, the store was out of the french fried onions, ugh! the part I crave, and my mashed potatoes were not as creamy as we prefer.

The one recipe that will appear on the menu next year is the Hashbrown Casserole but may add bacon and some diced jalapeño peppers to spice things up. This was exactly what I was craving for Christmas dinner and the perfect comfort food dish.

Looking forward to continue setting certain expectations for Little Man and making the holidays super special for him.

Green Bean Casserole

Adapted From: Campbell's Kitchen

Makes 6 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• dash of black pepper
• 4 cups green beans

And Action:

Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, and green beans in a casserole dish. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Enjoy!

Hashbrown Casserole

Adapted From: The Loveless Cafe

Makes 6 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 1 (30 oz) bag shredded hash browns
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 1 (8 oz) bag shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 (16 oz) container sour cream
• salt and pepper, to taste

And Action:

Mix all ingredients well in a well greased casserole dish covered with foil. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove cover and return to oven for 30 minutes until brown. Enjoy!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Adapted From: Martha Stewart

Makes 8 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 4 lbs red skinned potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
• garlic powder, to taste
• sea salt, to taste
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup butter

And Action:

In a large pot boil water, add the potatoes, and add 1 tbsp salt. 

Return to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes. 

Drain the potatoes and return to the pot to dry them out about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Add the milk, butter, garlic powder, and salt. Mash until smooth. Enjoy!