Creamy White Lasagna w/Chicken & Artichoke (Easy)

I thought my days of making an entire lasagna dish were over because of a recipe I found on Pinterest for lasagna roll-ups until I found this recipe through Pinterest and fell in love again with another way to make lasagna. This meal is so stinkin delish! If you don't believe me, make it yourself. You will have to agree. This dish will produce 12 pieces, approximately 6 servings depending on what you add for sides to it. I just added a fresh salad and had two slices. I started out with one trying to be a good girl but I just had to go back for a second piece. It made a great breakfast as well for me the next day!

Recipe credit: Tasty Tidbits by way of Taste of Home

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts (I boiled mine then cut them up into small, bite-sized cubes)
• 1 can (14 oz.) artichoke hearts in water, drained, chopped
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese with a TOUCH OF PHILADELPHIA, divided
• 1/2 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (I found these the HEB store brand at HEB)
• 2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat)
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 cup tightly packed fresh basil, chopped, divided (I did not have fresh so I used dried and eyeballed how much I wanted to use)
• 12 lasagna noodles, cooked

Directions:

1. HEAT oven to 350°F.
2. COMBINE chicken, artichokes, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan and tomatoes. Beat cream cheese, milk and garlic powder with mixer until well blended; stir in 2 Tbsp. basil. Mix half with the chicken mixture.
3. SPREAD half the remaining cream cheese mixture onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of noodles and chicken mixture twice. Top with remaining noodles, cream cheese mixture and mozzarella; cover.
4. BAKE 25 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining basil. Let stand 5 min. before cutting to serve.

Yum! Look at that close up of white, layered yummy goodness!

My dinner plate or so I thought until I had to go back for seconds!

Chicken Tamale Casserole (Easy)

So easy to throw together and make! Your first bite actually reminds you of eating a tamale! Loved it! The entire meal did not even last 24 hours in my house including leftovers! I ate the last two pieces for breakfast! I will definitely be making this dish again. It has a bit of a sweet taste and that is because of the corn muffin mix and the creamed corn. It was just a perfect combination of yum in my mouth. This recipe makes 8 pieces. One adult could easily eat 2 in one meal.
Serves 4, 2 pieces each.

Recipe from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided into 1/4 and 3/4
• 1/3 cup low-fat milk  
• 1/4 cup egg substitute  
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin  
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne) 
• 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn  
• 1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix  
• 1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained  
• Cooking spray  
• 1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)  
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (I boiled 3 breasts and cut them into small bite-sized cubes) 
• 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13x9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

All the ingredients you will need minus the chicken and sour cream.

9x13 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray first then the crust mixture poured in.

After the initial 15 minutes of baking the crust, remove from oven, pierce the crust with a fork all over, the crust will stick to your fork, don't worry it will cook fully after you put it back in for the extra 15 minutes of baking. The reason you pierce the crust with a fork is so that the enchilada sauce will seep in for more flavoring. After your pour the enchilada sauce on the crust, sprinkle your cooked chicken on top, then top with remaining shredded cheese and bake for 15 minutes.

Fully baked.

My slice. I skipped the sour cream but that doesn't mean you have to.

Greek Spaghetti (Easy)

I didn't realize this meal was more like a casserole when I stumbled upon it at Taste of Home's Makeover recipe's site until I prepared it.  It was very easy to throw all the ingredients together then bake.  I found it lacking a bit in the flavor department, bland is the word I would use. I think adding some feta cheese on top instead of mozzarella and some kalamata olives sliced in half would do the trick for more flavor, after all it is called Greek Spaghetti but I found there was no Greek taste to be found in this dish.  It makes a lot! It is a great potluck dish. Yields 10 servings.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Makeover-Greek-Spaghetti

Makeover Greek Spaghetti Recip Ingredients

• 1 package (16 ounces) spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces (I broke the noodles into thirds for the 2-inch pieces)
• 4 cups cubed cooked chicken breast (I first boiled 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts whole, then cut them into bite-sized cubes)
• 2 packages (10 ounces each) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) reduced-fat reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 3/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream (I used Greek yogurt instead, hey it's Greek spaghetti! LOL!)
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 jar (2 ounces) diced pimientos, drained
• 1 jar of pitted kalamata olives, sliced in half (my suggestion for more flavor)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt-free lemon-pepper seasoning
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1-1/3 cups fat-free milk
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (I would skip the mozza and replace with 4oz. crumbled feta cheese)
• 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain. Return spaghetti to saucepan (forget about that, unless you used a huge and I mean huge saucepan, I needed a very large mixing bowl to mix all the ingredients). Stir in the chicken, spinach, soup, mayonnaise, sour cream (or Greek yogurt), celery, onion, green pepper, pimientos, kalamata olives (if you choose to use them) and lemon-pepper. 

In a small saucepan, whisk flour and milk until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in bouillon. Pour over spaghetti mixture and mix well. 

Transfer to a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray (dish will be full). Top with mozzarella cheese (or crumbled feta instead), bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 10 servings.

My family does not really like wheat pasta so I use this brand instead that is enriched with fiber. I first broke up the entire box into 2-inch pieces in a bowl then dumped it into the boiling water.

Ready to go in the oven!

Looks nice after the 30 minutes of baking uncovered.

 

Sweet Potato Casserole (Easy)

I made this sweet potato casserole for the first time this Thanksgiving and it was very well received.  My family and I were invited over to a friend's house for Thanksgiving and I offered to bring a sweet potato casserole.  I doubled this recipe and baked it in a 15x9 inch Pyrex glass baking dish.  It was huge!  In two days time it was completely devoured including the other guests kept some as well for their families to go with the turkey leftovers.  I did share the leftovers the day after Thanksgiving but the day, day after that, it was in hiding!  LOL!  The original recipe did not call for adding nutmeg or cinnamon to the casserole and I added that as noted below.  I also cut the amount of white sugar in half,  added a bit more vanilla and some dashes of cinnamon to the crumb topping. 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-potato-casserole-ii-3/detail.aspx

Ingredients:

• 4 1/2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (approximately 5-6 medium sweet potatoes)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup white sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used 1 tsp)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Crumb topping:

• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• couple dashes of cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with some cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together mashed sweet potatoes, 1/2 cup melted butter, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and eggs.  (I mixed mine with an electric mixer to make them creamy and blend all the ingredients together.)  Spread sweet potato mixture into the prepared baking dish.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, and couple dashes of cinnamon.  Cut in the 1/3 cup of softened butter until the mixture is crumbly.  (I used an electric hand mixer to blend the butter with the flour, sugar, and cinnamon)  Once the mixture is crumbly, stir in the chopped pecans. 
4. Sprinkle pecan mixture over the sweet potatoes.
5. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

This is a huge bowl because I doubled this recipe and I mixed it with an electric hand mixer to cream it up.

The crumb topping, again I doubled mine for a larger group of people.

Ready to be baked in the oven  This more than served 16 people with leftovers!

Golden baked and ready to dig in! So good! So good!

Pesto-Chicken Penne Casserole (Easy)

My first bite made me think of lasagna but instead of beef in lasagna, chicken. I could call this meal chicken lasagna easily. I have to warn you, it is fattening, have a single serving which is about 1 1/3 cups worth, have a green salad on the side and if you like perhaps some crusty bread. It was very easy to prepare and this meal makes two casseroles, heat one up for dinner and freeze the other for a later date when you are in a crunch for time but still want a home cooked dinner. Another suggestion is preparing this on the weekend and freezing both casseroles ahead of time, kind of like saving for a rainy day. What is also nice about this is you can make one for your family and one for someone else, like say, a new baby, an upcoming surgery, just getting back from vacation and not having any food in the house to eat but then you remember, 'I have my casserole in the freezer'. If you don't want to go through the trouble of  preparing the chunk chicken, you can try using canned chicken breast chunks sold on the aisle with the canned tuna. I, myself, prefer boneless, skinless chicken breast, boiled and then cut up but again, I am suggesting this when you are in a time crunch.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Pesto-Chicken-Penne-Casseroles

Ingredients

• 1 package (16 ounces) penne pasta
• 6 cups cubed cooked chicken (I use boneless, skinless chicken breast and boil it then cut it up into cubes and I use 4 chicken breasts)
• 4 cups (16 ounces) shredded Italian cheese blend
• 3 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatoes
• 1 jar (15 ounces) Alfredo sauce
• 1-1/2 cups 2% milk
• 1 jar (8.1 ounces) prepared pesto
• 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a very large bowl, combine the chicken, cheese blend, spinach, tomatoes, Alfredo sauce, milk and pesto. Drain pasta and add to chicken mixture; toss to coat.
• Transfer to two greased 8-in. square baking dishes. In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and oil; sprinkle over casseroles.
• Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly.
• To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes or until bubbly. Yield: 2 casseroles (6 servings, 1 1/3 cups each).

All finished baking, ooey and gooey with cheeses.

My dinner!