Swiss Chicken Bake

I honestly cannot remember where I found this recipe but it has been in our meal rotation for several years now and it never fails to produce a yummy dinner for our family.  As you can tell in the photo below, two-thirds of this dish was gone before I even had the chance to take a photo. 
Yes, it is that yummy!! 

Ingredients

• 4 – 5 chicken breasts
• 2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup
• ½ soup can of water
• 12 ounce box of stuffing
• 3 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1½ cups of Swiss cheese – sliced or shredded

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 350°.
• Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• Place chicken breasts in dish and cover with Swiss cheese.
• Mix the 2 cans of soups + ½ soup can of water and pour mixture over chicken.
• In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and stuffing together and spread over the top.
• Cover with foil and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.
• Uncover and bake for an additional 5 – 8 minutes, just to get the topping a little crunchy and brown.

Enjoy!

Brunswick Stew

This recipe was given to me by Josh’s Mom several years ago and it is one of our family favorites.  I love how simple it is to prepare.  If I do not have the exact ingredients, it is no problem.  I can just throw in other stuff and it still turns out tasting so yummy. 

Ingredients

• 1 – 2 cups of barbecue pork – cooked and chopped

• 1 – 2 cups of chicken – cooked and chopped

• 1 – 2 cups of roast beef – cooked and chopped

• 1 can of whole kernel corn

• 1 can of mild rotel tomatoes

• 1 large can of stewed tomatoes

• 1/2 cup of barbeque sauce

• 1 chopped onion

Directions

• Mix all together and cook on low in crock pot for 4 - 6 hours.  Changing the amount of ingredients is definitely optional on this one.

Additional Tips

• We usually have “just a little bit” of meat leftover from our other meals (roast, barbecue, etc…) so I simply freeze our leftover meat in freezer bags with the date and when we get ready to make this stew I just throw it all in the crockpot.  No need to prepare fresh meat for this recipe!

• It does not hurt to add another can of stewed tomatoes or tomato sauce if you are cooking a larger portion.  I also like to add just a tad bit of water about half way through the cooking just to keep the meats from drying out.

• Ham is really yummy in this stew, which makes this the perfect holiday leftover recipe.

• We also like to throw in sliced mushrooms, butter beans, okra, black eyed peas. You get the idea, right?  Anything goes in this yummy stew!

I cannot say enough how much I love this yummy and EASY recipe and it is so good with hot cornbread on a cold winter night.  Of course, I am the odd one at our house and I like to mix my bread in with my soups.  My sweet hubby and children think I am nuts!!  Ha!!    This particular night we enjoyed another family favorite – Savory Wheat Bread – along with this dish and it was yummy too. 

Enjoy!

Crockpot Beef Stew

This is simmering in our crock pot right now and the house smells sooooo yummy!

Ingredients

• Beef tips – I like to use fresh, tender steak cut up into bite-sized pieces.
• 2 cans of cream corn
• 1 can of field peas
• 1 can of potatoes – We prefer the diced ones.
• 1 pack of onion soup mix
• 1 pack of brown gravy mix
• 1 can of stewed tomatoes

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients into crockpot and cover mixture with water.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cook on low for about 8 hours or low/medium for 4 – 6 hours.
4. Enjoy!

Beef Stew

We just tried out this “new to us” recipe this week and loved it!

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of cubed beef stew meat
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 jars (12 ounce) of beef gravy
• 1/4 cup of Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 pound of small potatoes – halved
• 1 1/2 cups of baby carrots
• 2 cups of frozen peas – thawed
• Salt and Pepper

Directions

1. Season meat with salt and pepper.
2. Brow meat with some hot oil in skillet and transfer to crock pot.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients – except peas.
4. Cook in crock pot on High for 4.5 hours or on Low for 8 hours.
5. Add peas during last 20 minutes.
6. Serve with warm crusty bread
7. Enjoy!

Glazed Meatballs

My kids love meatballs – Meatball sub sandwiches, Swedish meatballs, etc… – so I was thrilled when I figured out that I could turn one of our favorite appetizers into a main dish for my little meatball lovers. 

Ingredients:

• 1 jar (12 ounce) of grape jelly
• 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce
• 1 bag (16 ounce) of frozen original meatballs

Directions:

1. Combine jelly and barbecue sauce in a large saucepan
2. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until jelly melts.
3. Add meatballs and cook over low-medium heat for 15-20 minutes.
4. Stir occasionally until meatballs are hot and glazed with sauce.
5. Enjoy!

I mentioned that this was originally an appetizer so at this point you can would normally serve these in a crock pot or buffet slow cooker set on low.  As you can tell from the photo above, we like to eat this as our main dish over egg noodles.  Either way, it is a really easy and yummy dish. 

Tater Tot Hotdish

This is another cold weather favorite around our home. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
• 1 can Cheddar Cheese soup
• 1/2 soup can of milk
• 1 bag of frozen tater tots
• 2 cups of favorite shredded cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Brown and drain ground beef in skillet.
3. Mix in both cans of soup and milk in with the cooked beef.
4. Spread the beef and soup mixture into a 9x13 casserole dish.  Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Add frozen tater tots on top and cover with shredded cheese.
6. Bake in oven for approximately 1 hour.

Poppy Seed Chicken

This is one of my all time favorite recipes and perfect for those cold, winter evenings. 

Ingredients:

• 4-6 Chicken Breast – Cooked, deboned, and shredded
• 2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup
• 1 small (8 ounce) sour cream
• 2-3 tablespoons of poppy seeds
• 1 stick of butter – melted
• 2 sleeves of Ritz crackers – crushed
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Spray 9x13 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. 
3. Place shredded chicken breast in casserole dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Mix together soup, sour cream, and poppy seeds.  Pour mixture over chicken.
5. Mix together melted butter and crushed crackers.  Pour on top of chicken and soup mixture.
6. Bake until bubbly and crackers are lightly brown – approximately 20 minutes.

I like to serve this dish hot and steamy over a bed of white rice.  This is also a great dish to cook in an 8x8 casserole dish and freeze the other half for later. 

Enjoy!