Chicken Chow Mein Casserole - Yummy & Versatile; made 3 ways! Something for everybody!

This dish was delicious!  A new comfort food to add to our list.  Made this one night during the last week of December when hubby working shift and fighting a cold.  Everyone knows that chicken soup always what the doctor orders.  And hubby pleasantly surprised as this really does taste like its Chinese (his words not mine)

This dish is so versatile; can be made three ways! I divided portions in half saving it for another day. We tried option #1 that night.  Tonight I took out frozen portion, thawed and for dinner we enjoyed options #2 and #3. A very happy accident!

Chicken Chow Mein Casserole

4 cups chopped cooked chicken

4 stalks celery, chopped (2 cups)

2 medium carrots, shredded (1 cup)

1 cup chopped sweet red pepper

2 – 4 oz cans sliced mushrooms, drained

2/3 c sliced or slivered almonds, toasted

2 T diced pimiento, drained

2 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup

2 cups chow mien noodles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F

In an extra-large bowl, stir together chicken, celery, carrots, sweet pepper, mushrooms, almonds, and pimiento.  Add soup to mixture; mix well.

Transfer mixture to an ungreased 3 quart rectangular baking dish.  Bake covered, for 45 minutes. 

Option #1: 

Sprinkle with chow mien noodles.  Bake, uncovered for 5 to 10 mins more or until heated through. 

Option #2

Cook Chow Mein Noodles as instructed on package and place in serving bowl/plate and top with desired amount of casserole.

Option #3

No Chow Mein Noodles; so in essence you are having a chunky soup/stew dish.

8 servings @ 366 calories each

Steak & Vegetable Pie - A Meal in itself! Tasted Divine!

Both the filling & pie crust tasted Divine! Cannot begin to describe the mouth watering aroma coming out of the kitchen. Made this over Christmas holiday and froze.  Dish aims to please! Tasty, filling and we still have leftovers! No other food was required to fill our tummies this night!  Definitely a keeper and will be added to our regular rotation.  

Ingredients:

1 premade pie shell

6 T beef broth

½ t dried marjoram

1 clove of garlic minced

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

2/3 c parsnips, peeled and chopped into ½ inch pieces

1 carrot, peeled and chopped into ½ inch pieces

¼ c chopped onion

1 pkg of refridgerated cooked beef pot roast

½ c of half and half

2 T flour

1/3 c frozen peas

Directions:

Take out pie crust/shell and let thaw as per package instructions

Preheat oven to 400 F

In a large saucepan, combine broth, marjoram, garlic, salt & pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in vegetables, reduce heat and simmer for 10 min.

Remove meat from container, reserving gravy.  Cut meat into ¾ inch pieces; set aside.  In a small bowl, combine cream, flour and gradually stir into vegetable mixure.  Stir until thickened and bubbly.  Stir in meat, gravy juices and peas; heat through. 

Remove from heat and keep warm.

(If you plan to freeze; cool at this point and place in ziplock bag or container for another day)

Remove pie crust from aluminum dish. 

Place meat mixture into empty pie pan.

Place pie crust on top; turning pastry under and fluting at the sides.

Cut small slits in the top to allow steam to escape

Bake uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes or until crust is golden.

Let stand 15 mins before serving.

Makes 4 servings/387 calories per serving.

Florentine Tomato & Spinach Soup

Absolutely love this soup!  It is so light yet filling. I can enjoy as much as I want at any time guilt free!

Perfect for when you are feeling sick or want to cleanse after eating or drinking too much while on holiday J 

Easy to make; no mess to clean; longest part is dicing green peppers and onions! I like to always have some in freezer to take into to work when too busy/no time to make lunch the night before.   

Ingredients

1 green pepper, chopped

1 cup chopped onion

2 tsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 – 28 oz cans of diced tomatoes, with juice

4 cups water

2 t dried basil or 2 T of fresh basil

2 chicken bullion cubes

½ tsp of pepper

1.5 – 2 cups of dried noodles (optional)

2 – 10 oz pkgs of frozen spinach, thawed

• Place oil in a large saucepan under med high heat
• Add onion, green peppers and minced garlic and let them sweat.  Cook until softened but not burned stirring often (5 min)
• Add tomatoes, water, basil, pepper and bring to a boil
• Add spinach and noodles, if using, and simmer until cooked through or noodles are done

Tuscan Chicken Soup

This soup is good for whatever it is that ails you. Easy to make and freezes well, so I always have a supply on hand cause you never know when you're gonna to need it or want it and always glad you have it! Packed full of protein & everyone knows that chicken soup is good for the soul!  Very filling, a little bit goes a long way; soothing flavour is good for those who do not have an appetite but need to eat in order to feel better and stronger! 

1 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

1 (7-ounce) bottle roasted red bell peppers, rinsed, drained, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach

Preparation

Combine first 9 ingredients in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour. Reduce heat to LOW; cook 3 hours. Stir in rosemary and spinach; cover and cook on LOW for 10 minutes.

Courtesy of Cooking Light

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tuscan-chicken-soup

246 calories per serving/4 servings

Surf n Turf _Tonight's dinner party theme!

What a wonderful night!  Sue & Grant coming to dinner; with K’s mum & dad whom they adore… Keith always wants to serve steak and our company never disagrees; and yes, even I have to admit that he cooks it so well, always on the bbq... My dad, now his dad, will say that he cooks a steak like no other… to perfection.  But really, how can you go wrong with a superb cut of meat?  Really, needs no other seasoning other than salt & pepper and you are good to go... It will be the star of the show!

So I can I change it up a bit?  What can I serve along side?  Lobster tails on sale; so tonight it was surf & turf!

Have never bought or cooked lobster tails so this was a new experience for me and thankfully a very good one!  Truthfully, I never know if friends and family are just being nice when they say thank you, that was a great meal, but tonight Grant, when leaving, asked me how I cooked the lobster; well that was the greatest compliment to me!

Appetizers:

• Smoked salmon & cream cheese ring (purchased)
• Bacon wrapped scallops (purchased)

Salad: 

Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese, Bacon and Balsamic-Fig Dressing

This was a good prelude for the main

Arugula always goes well with steak sandwiches

And I have simply fallen in love with figs

And you cannot go wrong with bacon or goat cheese

When served, salad leaves a little wilted but it served its purpose…

A prelude for the main!

Courtesy of Cooking light.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/arugula-salad-with-goat-cheese-bacon-balsamic-fig-dressing

Main:  Surf & Turf

Steaks not a problem; K got the best that the butcher could provide; but what do you do with frozen lobster; don’t want to thaw them out too soon and meat go bad; the last thing you want is your company to get sick; so we call our fisherman friend for advice; put in fridge night before and at 12 noon today I put them on the counter; still frozen but by 5pm thawed enough that I could cut belly side of the claw with scissor and crack the back and de-shell like you would a shrimp per se. 

K cooked on bbq 6 huge/bacon sized thick beef tenderloins on bbq

Meanwhile:

Heat Broiler to high

Cook  16 oz lobster tail, thawed, cleaned and chopped

In ½ cup of butter & 1 t Old Bay seasoning in a sauce pan over med high heat until cooked through (2-3 mins); remove from heat

When steak is done; put on baking sheet and top with lobster

Place in broiler until lobster starts to brown (3 – 5 mins)

Serve on top of Garlic Mashed potatoes

Boil 7 potatoes

In a pan, over low heat, combine:

•    2 garlic bulbs (1/2 cup) peeled garlic clove
•  1/3 cup whipping cream
•  2 T butter

Cover and stir occasionally for 10 mins.

In a blender; puree mixture and add to drained, cooked potatoes.

Mash potatoes with blender.  

Assembly; place a spoonful or too on plate, top with steak and lobster