Sunday, November 13, 2011

Weekend Cooking - Broccoli and Chicken Casserole

I'm still enjoying the recipes I'm finding on Pinterest.  What I think makes the recipes pinned on individual boards and passed on to other pinners different from other recipes in magazines or books is that real people are actually making the pinned recipes and on a daily basis.  I'm not slamming cookbooks, I promise...I have shelves of cookbooks and enjoy reading them almost as much as a good novel.  
With my new budget plan in full gear, I have struggled some trying to find budget conscious meals that are still good for my family.  I try to stay away from as much processed food as I can, but on weeknights especially, I need quick fixes like casseroles and crock-pot meals, many of which added canned soups, veggies, or processed items.

I found a wonderful blogger, however, who strives to make basic food for families but creates her own cream sauces etc. rather than relying on the processed kinds.
The website is called....Get Off Your Butt and Bake :)
You have to love that!

The recipe I made from the site this week was Chicken Broccoli Supreme



The picture above is hers because folks are scooping from my dishes before I can find my camera 
:/

The difference between this recipe and every other chicken, broccoli, cream of chicken, ritz cracker topped, poppy seeded casserole you've ever eaten is in the cream sauce.
Butter, cornstarch, water, chicken broth, salt, pepper, milk and cheddar cheese make up the sauce for this casserole, and it blows canned cream of chicken and/or mushroom soup out of the kitchen!
I'm not a condensed soup snob or anything, but I am finding out more and more just how really easy it is to cook some basic things from scratch.  And, in this case, it is definitely worth the tad bit more time that it takes.  

The exact recipe can be accessed through the website link above...YUM!

My entire household liked this one...even my picky husband...from a 9x13 casserole dish, there was only a small portion left for my lunch the next day.


Weekend Cooking is hosted over at Beth F. Reads.



10 comments:

  1. Wonderful! Chicken has to be the most versatile ingredient in any recipe. I had a look at the recommended website too. Thank you!

    BTW scrolled down to your post about middle daughter. Lovely to see her coming alive in that way on stage.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lucky for me my husband loves crockpot and casserole meals as they are my favorites to make. When I was growing up, my dad used to refuse to eat anything "in a pot" as he put it, so my poor mom had to come up with a variety of meals that required ALOT of preparation time.

    This looks great -- love the brocoli and cheese combo. I can understand your reluctance to use condensed soups less -- the salt content alone is frightening.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That sounds delicious! I'm bookmarking it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's got to be better for you than a casserole made with condensed soup and it looks delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This looks really good. I agree about eating foods made from scratch. And thanks too for the new blog to explore.

    ReplyDelete
  6. yes, Pinterest is addictive!

    I love the name "get off your butt and BAKE!"

    and now I'm off to explore her blog, too. Glad this recipe was such a hit with your family (I agree, tried and true recipes are the best).

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree-making sauces from scratch is much healthier. I was recently on a cooking website, looking for a soup recipe, and many of them were just canned soup with a few other ingredients! It struck me as funny and a bit like not really cooking.

    This recipe looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, this looks so delicious, and it combines all of my family's favorites into one dish! This is one that I will be trying out when I can. Thanks for sharing this!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This sounds fantastic! I'm also trying to get away from canned soups and whatnot, mostly because of the added salt and preservatives. I've also been reading a blog called 100 Days of Real Food, and I found some nice recipes there for homemade cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup. Freeze and use at will. :D

    Thanks for this! I'll also enjoy reading Get Off Your Butt and Bake.

    ReplyDelete
  10. So great that you found a new dish that your family loves and is easy to make from scratch! Homemade soups are SO much better for you than canned soups. And they taste better too!

    p.s. I have a cat who looks just like the one in your header! :)

    ReplyDelete