Sunday 10/23/11 - Broccoli & Cheese Chicken Casserole

Yes, I was a cooking fool this weekend!  I have a few new recipes that I wanted to try out.  I'm sharing a few of them with you.  Since taking pictures, while trying to assemble what you're making, can be quite time consuming I'm not posting everything I make.  Maybe another time.  I have something new set up to make each day this week.  We'll see how my kiddos do with new foods.  They're not into eating new and "weird" things they're not used to.  They'd eat mac & cheese & chicken nuggets every single day, if I'd let them.  I tell them I'm not a short order cook so they're gonna have to join the rest of the family & at least "try" what I've made.  Jacob is pretty good about trying new things.  That is until his older sister proclaims that she doesn't like whatever it is that I've made and she's NOT going to try it.  Then he decides he's not going to try it either.  Brianna is not the best at trying new foods.  It's frustrating to say the least.  There are so many things she's missing out on because she's stubborn and head strong.  I know she'd like a lot of things, if she'd only taste them.  Maybe she'll change some day.  For now, she is what she is and we love her anyway.  I'm not sure if my kiddos will eat this recipe due to the broccoli.  Neither kid will eat broccoli.  Jacob has tried it and is starting to come around.  Brianna is just like her dad & pretty much repels anything that that's green (besides green beans & lettuce).   I'm trying really hard to change that.  It's a work in progress though.



Ingredients used in this recipe:  1 lb chicken breast, boiled & cubed, 2 cans cream of chicken soup, 1 can broccoli & cheese soup, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup milk, 1 pkg frozen broccoli, 1/2 medium onion, 2 cups shredded cheese & 1 pkg crackers, crushed (I used crushed cornflakes)

Boil your chicken until no longer pink in the center.  I had to google how to do this as I've never boiled any sort of meat before.  I boiled my chicken breasts for 30 minutes.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix soup (cream of chicken on the left, broccoli & cheese soup on the right)

and sour cream together

Until smooth

Adding milk to thin slightly

Add Broccoli (I would like to mention that you may want to thaw it out first before hand.  This recipe didn't say whether to do this or not.  Mine came out watery possibly due to this.)

Add chopped onion (I only added 1/8 cup due to no one other than myself liking onion)

Add cooked chicken to mixture

Stir until all ingredients are mixed well.  Spread evenly into a medium casserole dish (or 9 x 13 sized glass dish)

Top with shredded cheese & crackers (again, I used cornflakes). 

I didn't measure these out.  I just sprinkled on top until they covered the whole casserole.

Cover with foil or lid & bake for 45 minutes @ 350 degrees.  Remove foil & bake another 15-20 minutes or so until crackers/cornflakes are golden brown.

Let cool for 5 minutes before serving!

This was really good!  The only thing, like I said, is you will probably need to thaw out the broccoli & drain.  That's the only reason I can think that this came out a little runnier than I expected.  I followed the instructions exactly as it said to, to a T.  Jack even loved it (to my surprise). Maybe due to the broccoli being submerged in the cheese?!   Brianna wouldn't even try it (no surprise here).  Since she wouldn't, Jacob took a few bites and refused to eat anymore.  I made a salad for them that they ate instead.  Jacob ate two salads!   I will be keeping this recipe and will definitely use again.  Only I will make sure to defrost the broccoli first, next time.  :)