• Food,  Holidays

    Green Bean Casserole (Gluten Free!)

    Green bean casserole has always been one of my favorites on Thanksgiving. Fun fact – it was also the topic of my informative speech during public speaking class in college – how to make a green bean casserole – ha! But once I started getting funny about cream of whatever soups (trying to avoid MSG), I thought my relationship with green bean casserole was over. Until I found Alton Brown’s Best Ever Green Bean Casserole, that is. What I love most about his recipe is the homemade cream of mushroom sauce that makes the casserole. I’ve made this several times, first exactly as he wrote it, then I tweaked it…

  • Food

    Chicken Parmesan Casserole

    The last stop on my cooking marathon yesterday was this dish – Chicken Parmesan Casserole! I love the idea of deconstructing a traditional dish and turning it into a casserole (see also Chicken Cordon Bleu Mac and Cheese). So I thought I’d do something similar to this Italian classic. The fact that I love fried chicken helped to add this to my dinner rotation for the week too. I have to say that it turned out great and every bite was definitely reminiscent of the original dish. Some of the breading from the chicken gets mixed in with the pasta and sauce and continues the flavor throughout. Yum, yum! I…

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    Tuna Casserole

    I feel like folks either love or hate tuna casserole… I love it. Turns out my little guys love it too. This is a pretty easy weeknight recipe… it took me a little over 45 minutes, but 30 minutes of that was “casserole in oven” time. It’s pretty classic comfort food, from scratch. Hope you enjoy! Tuna Casserole 12 ozs egg noodles (I used medium width) 4 tbsp butter 1 medium onion, diced 8 ozs mushrooms, sliced 1 tsp minced garlic 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1/4 cup flour 1/2 cup chicken stock 1 1/2 cup half and half 1/4 cup parmesan cheese 1 cup frozen peas 2 cans…

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    Chicken Tetrazzini

    I’m not sure I had ever actually had chicken tetrazzini until just recently. We had an assortment of pasta dishes at the shower I helped host this weekend, and one of the other hostesses put this dish on the menu. Ever since Saturday night I’ve had the itch to make it, and while I knew it would be ambitious for a week night meal, Blake was home tonight and so I thought what the heck. Totally worth it. This is a Giada De Laurentiis recipe. I stayed pretty true to the original, but due to some of the quantities I had on hand (and the fact that I messed up…

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    French Toast Casserole

    Breakfast casseroles are a must-have during the holidays. We enjoyed this French toast casserole at my in-laws this Christmas and it turned out delicious! It was really easy to make – we were able to make this the night before and throw it in the oven in the morning. This was my first time making this but it won’t be my last! French Toast Casserole 1 loaf crusty sourdough or French bread, cut/torn into 1″ to 2″ cubes 8 eggs 2 cups whole milk 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 3/4 cup brown sugar 2 tbsp vanilla extract Topping 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon (plus more…

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    Sweet Potato Casserole

    This is my grandma’s sweet potato casserole. I’ve been eating it for as long as I can remember. It is by far, the best sweet potato dish I’ve ever eaten… and I recognize it’s hard to be objective about grandma’s recipes – but for real, this is great! I made this a couple of years ago for my Thanksgiving lunch at work and some of the ladies in my office adopted this as their go-to sweet potato recipe. And so now that I can’t make it (with my son’s tree nut allergy), I’m happy that they’ve got this recipe down and I can continue to enjoy one of my favorites.…

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    Squash Casserole

    More of the Thanksgiving fare… squash casserole. I got this recipe from Blake’s Aunt June and first tried it at a family get-together. I was impressed by the flavor, the fact that it was not made with cream soup and how easy it is to throw together. It’s made it into my Thanksgiving all-star roster and I make it every year. Enjoy! Squash Casserole 2 1/2 lbs squash, sliced (see pic below) 1/2 medium onion, diced 1 egg 1 sleeve saltine crackers, crushed 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 stick of butter, melted Salt and pepper 1.) Steam squash and onion for about 10 to 12 minutes (or until…

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    Broccoli and Blue Cheese Casserole

    Next up on the Thanksgiving recipe line up… Broccoli Casserole. But this one has a little something special – blue cheese. I got this recipe from my aunt and have been making it for years. Even before I was a big blue cheese fan, I have loved this casserole! It’s a great from-scratch recipe with no cream soup but a whole lot of flavor. I served this at our office Thanksgiving lunch today and they ate it up! Broccoli and Blue Cheese Casserole 3 bunches of broccoli (about 9 stalks – see pic below) 4 tbsp butter 4 tbsp flour 1 tsp salt 8 ozs cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup…

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    Mexican Lasagna

    I was in the mood for Mexican today, and since I hadn’t made one in a while, I decided on Mexican lasagna.  This is not your typical Mexican lasagna – it’s full of black beans, corn and fresh salsa. This freshness works well with the taco sauce coated chicken and cheese so you’re left with a very balanced dish.  I slow cooked my chicken and shred it, but if you used a rotisserie chicken (Mojo flavor, maybe?) or made the chicken ahead of time, the rest of this dish is pretty simple and could certainly be week-night worthy.  I paired it with my Spanish Rice and it was the perfect…

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    Chicken Cordon Bleu Mac and Cheese

    Disclaimer:  If you are on a diet or counting calories, I would stop reading now.  It is indulgent.  It’s in my top 5 favorite meals I’ve ever made.  It’s that good.  So I’ve been thinking all week about making some sort of Chicken Cordon Bleu dish – I had bought some ham and Swiss cheese this weekend, but just wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it.  And then this morning it hit me like a ton of bricks – make a chicken cordon bleu inspired mac and cheese!  Yes please!  I ended up staying home with a sick kid today, so the afternoon nap gave me the…