Category Archives: recipes

I’ve actually been feeling a whole lot better these past few days, as far as my stomach is concerned. Thank heavens because the nausea was way more than I could handle, especially not expecting it based on my 2 previous pregnancies. Felling better has afforded me the opportunity to eat chicken again, so on Monday night I made one of our favorite casseroles for Hub to throw in the oven before I got home from work yesterday. It turned out very well, and even ED ate it. Here is the recipe which is based very loosely on a recipe in my Betty Crocker Cook Book.

o 2 cups of cooked chicken, cubed (I usually cook up 3-4 large boneless breasts seasoned with butter, salt and pepper beforehand, but you could use pre-packaged chicken)
o 1 ½ cups white rice, cooked
o ¼ cup butter
o 1/3 cup flour
o 1 cup chicken stock
o 1 ½ cups milk
o Salt and pepper to taste
o 1 can of peas
o 1 can of corn
o Breadcrumbs or crushed cornflake crumbs

1. preheat oven to 350
2. Prepare rice and set aside.
3. Melt butter in large sauce pan
4. add flour salt and pepper and cook until bubbly
5. add chicken stock and milk and whisk constantly until boiling. Let boil for one minute for sauce to thicken.
6. combine chicken, rice veggies and sauce in greased 9×13 pan.
7. Top with crumbs if desired
8. bake 30-45 minutes until bubbly

I kid you not when I say it is delicious. I like to serve it with some fresh yeast rolls and whipped butter for the true “home-style” feel. This also freezes really well if you say, wanted to make it and drop it off for a friend in need, or make a double batch to have again another time.

Tonight I’m making another one of my favorites that takes about 20 minutes and is so simple you would die.

The ingredients are 1lb of ground beef or ground turkey and one family sized box of beef flavored rice-a-roni. I buy the low sodium version, and call it “casseroni” which is what my mom always called it.

1. Brown the beef or turkey drain and set aside.
2. In the same pan, begin browning the rice-a-roni per package instructions.
3. Once the rice is browned, add the beef and then add the seasoning packet and water per the package instructions and combine.
4. Finish cooking per package instructions

This we serve with packaged buttermilk biscuits, or even just white bread and butter. It’s a cheap and easy delicious meal!!! I do double the recipe for our family.

I love casseroles; this is the time of year for them and also, I am really in the mood for them, so here is a call for all of your recipes. If you’ve previously posted them, link me baby! If you haven’t and don’t want to do a recipe post, drop me an email. incubationnation at gmail dot com.

Go! Go! Now!

****edited to say this goes great with triscuits!

I’m too tired for a real entry today since I was up with Eddie and his fever all of last night and somehow still made it in to work today. (The kids are home with Ed today because it’s Thursday, and Eddie is throwing up now. The Joys.)

In any case, here is one of my all time favorite appetizer recipes (per Tessie’s Request)and it’s bound to become one of yours:

Hot Banana Pepper Dip

8-10 FRESH (hot) BANANA PEPPERS, DICED (I use about 6 large ones)
3 8-OZ BRICKS OF CREAM CHEESE, SOFTENED
½ CUP CRUMBLY BLUE CHEESE
1 CUP SHREDDED MOZZARELLA
GARLIC POWDER TO TASTE
BREADCRUMBS

Mix all ingredients except for breadcrumbs and spread in baking pan. Top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes until heated through and bubbly.

***It pays to wear gloved when you dice your peppers because the “spice” stays on your fingers and gets in your eyes for days. You can also use your gloved hands to mix the ingredients. In my experience it is really hard to stir cream cheese.

P.S. Does anyone know how I can post videos here–and actually have them work? I’ve tried using the option here on blogger and while they work in preview, they do not work once I’ve published. I have 2 cute ones of Cait from the zoo that I’d like to share!!

After coming home late from Ed’s Aunt Rita’s 90th birthday party on Saturday, we got a late start yesterday. The kids slept until about 8:30, and Ed let me sleep in until about 10:00. We weren’t even done with breakfast until after 12:30. The kids took an early nap and when they got up we decided to take a walk in the park near by that has several nature trails. We saw deer, chipmunks, several types of birds and a ton of wild turkeys. The kids could have taken it or left it, but it was nice to get out and walk.

Target is right down the street so we stopped for “just because” and because I can always use something from Target, and we ended up buying this furniture, (the book case, coffee table and TV stand) and Eddie’s Jeff Gordon Halloween costume.

When we came home I made this recipe and it was delicious! I can’t wait to eat leftovers for dinner tonight. (Paula’s recipe calls for cream of mushroom and sliced mushrooms which would not fly in my house)

Sara’s Variation of Paula Deen’s Chicken Boudine

1.25 lbs boneless chicken breast (cooked and torn in to pieces)
2 lbs egg noodles (cooked and drained)
1 2.25oz package of almonds (toasted in frying pan for a few minutes)
¼ cup drained pimentos
8oz frozen baby broccoli florets
3 cups cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
¾ cup chicken stock

Toss together chicken, broccoli, almonds and pimentos. Add soup and stock and stir. Fold in 2 cups of the cheese and the noodles. Top with remaining cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven about 30 minutes, until bubbly.

(Yes, Ed eats pimentos and almonds…I find it as weird as you do…)

I served it with french rolls and it was SO GOOD!