Tag Archives: casserole

Creamy Mushroom, Green Bean, Chicken and Rice Casserole

3 Jul

Now that Katie is moving up a level in American Heritage Girls, she wants to do the next level of the Cooking badge. One of the requirements of the badge is to plan a meal for your family using a casserole as a main dish, checking the food pyramid to balance the meal. So, Katie decided she wanted a casserole with that was a mix of green bean casserole and chicken. To have a grain, she decided to add in rice. It was easy to put together, and quite tasty!

Creamy Mushroom, Green Bean, Chicken, and Rice Casserole

Creamy Mushroom, Green Bean, Chicken and Rice Casserole

What you need:

3/4 cup long grain uncooked rice
3/4 cup water
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
2 cans green beans or 4 cups fresh green beans
1 can French’s fried onions
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ pieces

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with olive oil or with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together rice, water, cream of mushroom soup, milk, green beans, fried onions, garlic salt, and black pepper. Pour into the baking dish. Carefully mix in the pieces of chicken.

Cover dish tightly with foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking for 15-25 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and rice is tender. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes.

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Ground Beef and Potato Pie

30 Jun

One of our old favorites, is Sausage & Potato Pie, but I don’t always think to get Italian sausage for it. I do always have ground beef in the freezer, so I decided to try this out with ground beef instead. The trick is seasoning the ground beef so it’s not too bland. This blend turned out really well, and I’m glad to have a back up for the sausage.

One other variation that we’ve really liked is to substitute chevre (soft goat cheese) in for the mozzarella. It really goes well with the sausage or ground beef and potatoes. We would buy it at our local farmer’s market so it was nice and fresh.

Ground Beef & Potato Pie

Ground Beef and Potato Pie 

What you need:

2.5 lbs potatoes, I prefer Yukon gold
1 large egg, beaten
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 ground black pepper
1/4 lb fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes OR 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley OR 1 Tbsp dried parsley

How to make it:

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Spray a 9 inch deep dish glass pie pan.

Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and cook at a gentle boil until potatoes are soft. Drain, and return to pot. Blend egg into potatoes until smooth.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, break up the ground beef and cook until browned. Add onion to the pan and cook until onions are translucent. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix in to the potatoes.

Add in mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan, and parsley, and mix well. Spoon the mixture into the pie pan, forming a smooth, flat surface on top. Sprinkle the 1 Tbsp Parmesan over the top.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.

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Cheesy Sausage, Onion, and Pepper Breakfast Casserole

29 Jun

It has been a while since I’ve made a breakfast casserole. I’ve had the breakfast sausage for a while in the freezer, and while at the grocery store, my girls picked out red, orange, yellow, and green bell peppers. Along with an onion, milk, eggs, and Bisquick, I knew it would make a delicious breakfast casserole! Plus, it was really pretty too, very colorful!

Prepping the breakfast casserole

One great thing about a casserole like this, you can make it up ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours before baking it. So, you can make this the night before, wake up, take it out of the refrigerator, preheat your oven, and then bake it.

Also, if you are hesitant about bell peppers, substitute in other vegetables that you like! I would do this again with broccoli or spinach and mushrooms, maybe even spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes. Or, change out the sausage for bacon or ham. Whatever you would eat in an omelet or you like with your eggs, try in this casserole!

Cheesy Sausage, Onion, and Pepper Breakfast Casserole

Cheesy Sausage, Onion, and Pepper Breakfast Casserole

What you need:

1 pound breakfast sausage (if there are casings, remove them)
1 small red onion, diced
2 bell peppers, diced (I used 1/2 red, 1/2 orange, 1/2 yellow, and 1/2 green)
2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese
1 1/4 cups baking mix, such as Bisquick
1 cup milk
9 eggs
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with olive oil or non-stick cooking spray.

In a large skillet, break up and brown the breakfast sausage. Add in diced onion and bell pepper. Cook until onions and peppers have softened. Drain the excess grease from the pan, and pour the sausage, onions, and peppers into the casserole dish. Spread the 2 cups of shredded cheese on top.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the baking mix, milk, eggs, paprika, salt and pepper. Pour evenly into the casserole dish.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown on top and a knife comes out clean from the center.

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Ham and Broccoli Pie

5 May

I actually made this a few weeks ago, just after Easter, but finally have the time to share it. I had made a 10 pound Zaycon ham for Easter, so we had plenty leftover. I decided I wanted a breakfast casserole, so went on a hunt for ideas. This recipe originally used chicken, but ham fit in perfectly. We all really enjoyed it, but next time, I’ll make the crowd size version!

Ham and Broccoli Pie

Ham and Broccoli Pie

What you need:

2 cups chopped broccoli
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped cooked ham
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray.

Sprinkle the broccoli, 1 cup of the cheese, the ham, and onion in the pie plate.

In medium bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk, salt, pepper, and eggs with wire whisk or fork until blended. Pour into pie plate.

Bake 35 to 38 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake 1 to 2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Crowd size version:

Double all ingredients listed above. Use a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan instead of a pie plate. Increase baking time to 45 to 48 minutes.

 

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Eggplant Lasagna

24 Jan

I’ve always wanted to try Eggplant Lasagna, but just hadn’t gotten to it.  After we got eggplant at a recent Market on the Move event, I decided it was time to try it.  Now, I have made Moussaka, so I know how to prepare the eggplant.  Then, I decided to take my favorite Lasagna recipe from Daily Cynema, use the meat sauce and cheese filling, subbing the roast eggplant in place of the noodles. We did a row of 4 slices of eggplant for each layer.  I didn’t get a real good picture showing how the eggplant looked, but you can almost see how in the 2 pictures here.

My older daughter enjoyed working on this with me, and we all enjoyed eating it!Layering the Eggplant Lasagna Eggplant Lasagna

Eggplant Lasagna

What you need:

2 large eggplants, sliced lengthwise into 1/2″ slices, outer peel removed, if desired
Salt
Olive oil
1 pound ground beef**
1 small onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)
1 large jar (45 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 egg
1 15 oz container ricotta or cottage cheese
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 teaspoon oregano

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Sprinkle eggplant slices with salt and set on paper towels for 15-20 minutes to let them drain.  Pat tops with a paper towel.  Spray or brush each side of the eggplant slices with olive oil and lay in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake in oven for 10 minutes, flip slices over and bake for another 10 minutes, until they are tender and slightly brown.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat.  Add the onion and bell pepper, and continue to cook until soft.  Pour in all but 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce.  Reduce heat to low, and simmer.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg.  Mix in ricotta or cottage cheese, spinach, 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella, 4 tablespoons of the grated Parmesan, and the oregano.

In a small bowl, mix the reserved 1 cup of spaghetti sauce with the remaining 1 cup shredded mozzarella and 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan.

Pour 1/3 of the meat sauce into a 13 x 9 baking dish.  Put down 1 layer of the roasted eggplant.  Next, spread 1/2 of the cheese/spinach mixture over the eggplant.  Then, spread the next 1/3 of the meat sauce.  Lay down another layer of roasted eggplant.  Spread the other 1/2 of the cheese/spinach mixture over the eggplant, then the last 1/3 of the meat mixture.  Lay down the final layer of roasted eggplant.  Spread the sauce and cheese mixture over this final layer.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35 – 40 minutes, or until bubbly.  Let stand for 10 minutes.  Slice and serve.

**Note: If you would like to make this meatless, use diced mushrooms or zucchini/yellow squash in place of the ground beef.

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Baked Cheeseburger Spinach Macaroni

26 Dec

I came up with this on a night that my older daughter wanted Spinach Bacon Shells and Cheese.  I didn’t have any bacon thawed, but I did have ground beef thawed, so I made the shells and the cheese sauce like in that recipe, and then seasoned ground beef like I did for the Bacon Cheeseburger Soup I made recently.  She and I were both happy with the results!

Baked Cheeseburger Spinach MacaroniBaked Cheeseburger Spinach Macaroni

What you need:

1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup diced red or yellow onion
1 cup beef broth
3 cups whole grain medium shells, uncooked
2 cups fresh spinach, slightly chopped
2 Tbsp. flour
1-2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, if needed
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
 
How to make it:
 
Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
 
In a large skillet, mix together ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, and pepper.  Brown meat over medium high heat.  Stir in diced onion, and cook until soft.  Pour in beef broth and reduce heat to low to simmer while you work on the other parts.
 
Cook shells as directed on package, adding spinach in to cook for the last minute.  Drain.  Return to pot.
 
In another large skillet, melt 1-2 Tbsp butter or margarine.  Add flour; cook and stir until bubbly. Gradually stir in milk.  Bring to boil, stirring constantly; cook 3 to 5 minutes,  or until thickened.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese and the Parmesan cheese; cook and stir until melted.
 
Pour ground beef mixture and cheese mixture over shells and spinach in the large pot; mix well.  Pour into a greased 2-1/2 qt casserole.  Top with the remaining shredded cheddar cheese.
 
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until it is bubbling and the cheese on top is melted.

 

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No-Can Green Bean Casserole

29 Nov

This was a new recipe I tried out this year.  Before, I would just used canned green beans, canned cream of mushroom soup, and canned fried onions to create this yummy casserole.  However, I had a desire to ditch the cans and make it all from scratch.  I have been making my own “cream of” soup base for some other casseroles, so I was confident about that part.  Then, I found this recipe that used pan fried shallots in butter in place of canned fried onions.  I used that idea, but used onions instead of shallots.  I don’t have a great picture of the finished casserole, but you can see it in the bottom of this picture of our dinner, toward the left.  We all really enjoyed it, and this will be how we make it from now on.

Thanksgiving dinner spread with green bean casserole

Green Bean Casserole

What you need:

Cream of mushroom soup base:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup diced mushrooms
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk

2 pounds fresh green beans, washed and cut as desired
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 small onions, thinly sliced into rings
4 tablespoons butter

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a 3 quart sauce pan, melt 3 tablespoons butter for the cream of mushroom soup base over medium-low heat.  Stir in mushrooms, and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Mix in flour, and cook for 3-4 minutes to lightly brown the flour.  Next, whisk in the chicken broth and 1 cup milk.  Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened.

Meanwhile, prepare  a large pot of boiling water and a bowl of ice water.  Blanch green beans in the boiling water for 5 minutes, then remove and place in the bowl of ice water for 5 minutes.  Drain water from green beans.

Add the blanched green beans to the pot with the thickened cream of mushroom base.  Stir in 1/2 cup milk, Worcestershire sauce, and ground black pepper.  Continue to cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

While that is simmering, melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet.  Add onions, and toss in melted butter.  Cook onions in the butter, until they become a golden color.  Remove to a paper towel to cool.

Onions fried in butter

Mix in half of the cooked onions in with the cream of mushroom and green bean mixture. Remove from heat.

Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Pour green bean mixture into the dish.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.  Casserole should be bubbly.  Gently stir.  Add the remaining cooked onions over the top of the casserole.  Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, being careful to not overcook the onions on top.  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, then serve.

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Cheesy Hamburger Potato Casserole

25 Aug

I recently got a bag of potatoes, which I haven’t gotten in a few weeks, and wanted to make something with them and with ground beef.  I considered making the packets again, but started looking more at casseroles since it was raining and I didn’t want to be outside grilling.  I came across this recipe, and thought it sounded delicious.  I decided to make a couple of modifications, one being to season the ground beef a little more and skip the celery and some other seasonings.  This turned out really good.  It doesn’t look real pretty, but it’s good.  My only wish is that the potatoes came out a little softer, but I was hungry and pulled it out a little soon.  Or, I just need to boil them a little before putting them in.  I used my food processor to slice them into thin rounds.  I think we’ll be having this again, all the leftovers are even already all gone!

Cheesy Hamburger Potato Casserole

Cheesy Hamburger and Potato Casserole

What you need:

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2.5 pounds potatoes, cut into thin rounds
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a large skillet, brown ground beef.  Add onions and garlic, and cook until they are translucent.  Add in beef broth and Worcestershire sauce, and reduce heat to simmer.  Cook until most of the liquid has cooked off.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter.  Mix in flour, and cook over low heat for a few minutes.  Slowly pour in milk, whisking to prevent any lumps.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low heat and cook until thickened.  Stir in cheese and remove from heat.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Arrange potatoes in the bottom of the pan, then pour in the ground beef mixture.  Stir slightly to mix up.  Pour cheese sauce over the meat and potatoes.  Cover pan with foil, and place in the pre-heated oven.  Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until casserole is bubbly and potatoes are soft.  Allow to cool for a few minutes, and serve.

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Three Cheese Mostaccioli

31 Dec

Three Cheese Mostaccioli

My mom and sister discovered this recipe on the back of a box of Creamette mostaccioli noodles.  It’s a little time consuming to prep, but turns out really tasty!

 

Three Cheese Mostaccioli

What you need:

1 pound mostaccioli noodles
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
4 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded swiss or mozzarella cheese

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter.  Stir in flour, basil, garlic salt, and pepper.  Slowly pour in milk, stirring constantly to avoid getting lumps.  Continue to stir and cook until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1 cup shredded cheddar and the Parmesan cheese.  Mix in with cooked noodles.

Grease a 9 x 13 pan.  Spread half of the pasta in the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle with the swiss or mozzarella cheese.  Add remaining pasta noodles.

Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until bubbling.   Remove foil and immediately sprinkle with remaining shredded cheddar cheese.  Let stand for 10 minutes to cool, and serve.

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Cheddar Turkey Casserole

4 Dec

Cheddar Turkey Casserole

 

Yes, I still have Thanksgiving turkey!  This time, I wanted to make a casserole, but I don’t have anymore canned “cream of” soups, so I needed a recipe that doesn’t use them.  I searched on the Taste of Homes website, and came across this recipe.  Really wasn’t too time consuming, and was very tasty!

 

Cheddar Turkey Casserole
Original recipe here

What you need:

4 cups uncooked pasta, like rotini or farfalle
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups cubed cooked turkey
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup bread crumbs

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cook pasta according to package directions in a large pot.

While pasta is cooking, saute garlic in butter in a large skillet until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, mustard, thyme, pepper, and frozen veggies. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese until melted.

Drain the cooked pasta and return to the large pot. Mix in turkey and cheese sauce.

Spray a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish with non-stick spray. Evenly spread the turkey-pasta mixture into the dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.  At this point, casserole can be baked or frozen:

Bake, uncovered, 35-40 minutes or until heated through.  Serve immediately.

Or

Freeze casserole, covered, for up to 3 months.  To use frozen casserole, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake according to directions above. 

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