When invited over for Sunday dinner at my friend's house, I was curious as to what she would serve our family of nine and her family of 12. We arrived and she already had a big pot heating on the stove and lots of biscuits in the oven. Since then I've served this to large groups from a crockpot to save the worry over scorching the whole thing. This is best made with whatever you have on hand. I often save back about a 1/2 cup of any frozen vegetable from a bag just for this very thing. Also this is a great way to use leftover turkey or roast.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Serves: 8-12
Cost: Approx. $7.50
3 chicken breasts ($2.50)
2 cans of cream soup ($1.00) I prefer cream of chicken or potato
1-2 cups broth ($.25)
1 diced onion ($.25)
1 Tbsp butter
1/4-1/2 cup of any fresh vegetable finely chopped ( today I used carrots, celery)
1/4-1/2 cup of any frozen or canned vegetable (today I used corn and peas)
2 cans of big biscuits ($2.50) or make your own for lots less
Boil chicken breast while cooking onion and fresh vegetables in butter. When vegetables are still slightly firm add cream soups and broth and heat through. Dice meat and add to mixture. Add canned or frozen veggies and heat 10 minutes more on low heat or place in crock pot. Serve over split biscuits.
Make twice as much and bag it for the freezer. It reheats nicely.
Chocolate Banana Boats: Cut bananas lengthwise. Insert chocolate chips. Wrap in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. I think next time I'll add a few marshmallows, too.
Cinnamon Maple Roasted Bananas: Slice bananas. Toss with 1 Tbsp of melted butter. Place in baking dish. Drizzle 1/4 cup of maple syrup and sprinkle cinnamon to taste. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes stirring once.
Summer is a difficult time for me in the kitchen. I feel less inspired to look through cook books and turn on the oven. It also seems that we are always running low groceries. I think all of the outside activities results in bigger appetites.
Recently I was in the middle of the week with little groceries to speak of and even scarcer time. Then I remembered the Heavenly Baked Ham in the freezer left from the holidays. With a dozen eggs and about eight potatoes for hashbrowns, I was able to throw together this meal which received rave reviews. If they only knew.
Last weekend I picked up a small cookbook entitled, "Old-Fashioned Apple Recipes". Knowing that I had 30 pounds of apples at home waiting for me was quite the motivating factor. I just couldn't pass up a 5lb bag of gala apples for $1.89 each. Here's one simple way to cook apples that is beyond delicious.
By the time my family gets together after the holidays we are about fooded out. This year to avoid having to prepare yet another big meal we had a chili cook off. This provided to be a very easy and tasty way to satisfy 24 people with enough leftover for dinner, too. There was white chicken chili, our family's traditional chili, skyline chili and Alaina's Southfork Chili. Providing toppings such as corn chips, crackers, Monteray Jack or Cheddar cheese, cilantro and sour cream allows everyone to make it their way.
When invited over for Sunday dinner at my friend's house, I was curious as to what she would serve our family of nine and her family of 12. We arrived and she already had a big pot heating on the stove and lots of biscuits in the oven. Since then I've served this to large groups from a crockpot to save the worry over scorching the whole thing. This is best made with whatever you have on hand. I often save back about a 1/2 cup of any frozen vegetable from a bag just for this very thing. Also this is a great way to use leftover turkey or roast.
Not every meal at our house is from scratch. It's more important to sit down and have a meal together, so sometimes it has to be quick and simple.
