Disappearing Chicken Casserole

Disappearing Chicken Casserole
from the ezine Real Food 4 Real People

2 1/2 pounds boneless chicken
8 ounces sour cream
21 ounces cream of chicken soup (2 cans)
1 package stuffing cubes (Stove Top)
1/2 cup butter or margarine melted
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese shredded

Coat a 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Place chicken pieces in bottom of prepared pan.  Set aside. 

In a large mixing bowl, blend sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and shredded cheese together; spread evenly over top of chicken pieces in baking pan. Spread stuffing mix over top of soup mixture and drizzle melted butter or margarine over stuffing mix as evenly as possible. 

Bake uncovered in a 350 degree F oven for 30 - 40 minutes (chicken must be cooked through- no pink showing). 

To freeze for later use: Cover casserole after butter is added, label, and freeze for up to 3 months. To use, thaw overnight in refrigerator and bake for 30 - 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Cheese-topped Lemon Chicken Breasts

Cheese-topped Lemon Chicken Breasts
from the magazine Simple & Delicious (Oct 2009) from tasteofhome, credited to Renee Mitchell at McChord AFB, WA

Prep/total time: 20 minutes


4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (4oz each)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tbsp butter
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
3/4 cups shredded Colby cheese

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, brown chicken in butter on both sides over medium heat. Stir in lemon juice and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 4-5 minutes or until meat juices run clear.

Remove from heat. Sprinkle each chicken breast with cheese. Cover and let stand for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Yield: 4 servings

**MY NOTES** - It always seems to take longer to prep and cook these than the 20minutes the magazine said. I don't know, maybe I work slow and cook my chicken more thoroughly than is called for. Other than cooking the chicken longer than what the recipe calls for, I haven't found a need to alter this one. I think that might be the mark of a truly awesome recipe.

Golden Chicken

Golden Chicken
source unknown (I probably pulled it out of one of my many cookbooks)


6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 stick margarine
1 can (10 1/2 ounces) golden mushroom soup
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup water


Place chicken breasts in a greased 9x13-inch baking pan. In a saucepan, combine margarine, soup, almonds and water. Heat and mix just until margarine is melted. Pour mixture over chicken. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour or until done.


**MY NOTES: I use chicken with the bone in it all the time. And I use slivered almonds since, for some unknown reason, I have a huge bag of them in my freezer. I also cover the pan with tin foil (I don't have...well, any... pans with lids and very few of my baking dishes have lids) and make sure it seals very well.

Chicken with honey-orange sauce

Chicken with honey-orange sauce
adapted from the recipe at delish.com


2 navel oranges
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and tenders removed
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup white wine (or apple juice)
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons honey
1 3-inch cinnamon stick
1/2 cup slivered almonds


Zest and juice 1 orange. Remove skin and white pith from other orange, then halve and slice. Reserve zest and juice separately from orange slices.

Combine flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour, shaking off any excess. Transfer remaining flour to a small bowl, add broth, and whisk to combine.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. Add wine to pan and cook 1 minute. Add flour-broth mixture, reserved orange zest and juice, raisins, honey, cinnamon stick, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, return chicken and any accumulated juices to pan and cook, turning chicken once or twice, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of meat registers 165 degrees F and sauce has thickened, 10 to 12 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a serving platter. Discard cinnamon stick. Spoon sauce over chicken and garnish with reserved orange slices and almonds.

Serves 4

**MY NOTES: This is another one of those recipes that I find needs very little tweaking. The recipe calls for freshly ground pepper. I use the ground pepper in the can because that's what I have. The recipe also calls for toasting the slivered almonds. I don't bother. I don't like the taste of toasted almonds. I barely like the taste of almonds to begin with.

Oven-Fried Picnic Chicken

Oven-Fried Picnic Chicken
adapted from the recipe at Taste of Home

• 1 can (12 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed OR 1 can (6 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate and 1 can (6 ounces) frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
• 3 - 4 pounds chicken
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup oil
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Refrigerate 1/4 cup lemonade (lemonade/limeade) concentrate for basting. Pour remaining concentrate into a large resealable plastic bag; add chicken. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 4 hours, turning occasionally. 

Drain and discard marinade from chicken. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat. In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Place chicken on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Brush with butter. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until juices run clear, basting with reserved lemonade concentrate every 15 minutes. Serve warm or cold. Yield: 4-6 servings. My Note: Cooking the chicken on a rack in the pan produces the best result. It's not vital, but if you don't use a rack the chicken becomes rather greasy.

Honey Spiced Pork Chops

Honey Spiced Pork Chops
adapted from The New Cooking With 4 Ingredients
serves 6

6 pork chops
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup honey

Grease 9x13-inch baking dish. In small bowl, combine the soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and honey. Place pork chops in dish. Pour mixture over pork chops. Cover and bake at 325F for roughly an hour.


note: this works well with chicken, too

Spiced Citrus Chicken & Rice

[taken from Flavors of the Season, a McCormick publication]


Spiced Citrus Chicken and Rice
Serves 4

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 ½ pounds)
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain rice
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 lemon, cut into thick slices
3 tbsp snipped fresh Italian parsley


In a shallow dish combine flour, the 3/4 tsp salt, and the pepper. Coat chicken with flour mixture. Discard any remaining flour mixture.

In a 12-inch skillet cook chicken in hot oil over medium heat for 10 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove chicken, reserving drippings in skillet. Set chicken aside. Add onion and celery to reserved drippings in skillet. Cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes or just until vegetables are tender.

Carefully stir water, rice, the 1 1/2 tsp salt, ginger, allspice, turmeric, and cinnamon into vegetables in skillet. Bring to boiling. Return chicken to skillet; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is tender and chicken is no longer pink. Top with lemon slices the last five minutes of cooking. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Lemon Garlic Pork Chops

[adapted from Crockpot Lemon Garlic Chicken]


3 boneless pork chops
1/2 cup lemon juice
10 - 12 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 cup white wine OR apple juice

Season pork chops with salt and poultry seasoning. Put pork chops in crock pot. Mix minced garlic with wine and lemon juice; pour mixture over pork chops. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.


note: this works well with chicken, too (obviously)

Spice-Glazed Chicken

[adapted from Lean and Luscious by Bobbie Hinman and Millie Snyder. ISBN:0-914629-20-4]

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vinegar
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
8 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup thinly sliced onion, separated into rings after measuring

Preheat oven to 350F. Place chicken in a shallow baking pan that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. In a small saucepan, combine remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Boil 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Baste chicken with a little of the sauce, leaving the onions in the saucepan. Back chicken 1 hour, uncovered, basting frequently with sauce while baking. During the last 20 minutes of baking, arrange onion rings over chicken. Serve any remaining sauce with the cooked chicken.

Easy Pork Chop Packets

[adapted from a Reynolds foil recipe I got in the mail ages ago]

4 sheets (12x18 inches each) heavy duty aluminum foil
1 small onion, sliced
4 boneless pork chops, about 1/2 inch thick
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450F. Center onion slices on each sheet of aluminum foil. Top with pork chops; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Combine cream of mushroom soup, sugar, garlic, and soy sauce; spoon over pork chops. Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to seal packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Repeat to make four packets. Bake 16 to 18 minutes (or until done) on a cookie sheet in oven. Serve over rice.

***note: sometimes I leave out the onion
***note2: this works well with chicken, too

Ginger-Marmalade Chicken

[adapted from More Lean and Luscious by Bobbie Hinman and Millie Snyder. ISBN:0-914629-49-2]

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken parts
2 1/2 tablespoons orange marmalade
2 tablespoons orange juice (with pulp)
2 tablespoons French or Catalina dressing
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 - 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
nonstick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350F. Place chicken in a shallow baking dish that has been sprayed with a nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Mix well. Spread evenly over chicken. Bake, uncovered, 45 minutes or until chicken is done.


***note: this is also good using pork instead of chicken