Chicken, Spinach and Noodle Casserole (Real Simple)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
1 cup sour cream
kosher salt and black pepper
12 ounces egg noodles
4 slices sandwich bread
2 cups shredded cooked chicken or rotisserie chicken
5 ounces baby spinach, chopped
2 teaspoons dried thyme

Heat oven to 400F. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until foamy, 1 to 2 minutes (do not let the mixture darken). Slowly whisk in the milk. Bring to a simmer and cook, whisking often, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and whisk in the sour cream, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the package directions; drain and return them to the pot. Pulse the bread in a food processor until coarse crumbs form. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a microwave-safe bowl.

Add the milk mixture, chicken, spinach, and thyme to the noodles and toss to combine. Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch or some other 3-quart baking dish, sprinkle with the bread crumbs, and drizzle with the melted butter.
Bake until the bread crumbs are golden and the filling is bubbling, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Jasdip, I HAVE to make that! Sounds so good. The spinach goes in raw, right?

I just love cannolis, so I have to try this soon too--while the strawberries are still so good and juicy. I wonder why I never thought of doing it??

CANNOLI DIP

1 (15oz) whole milk ricotta
1/4c plain yogurt (I prefer Greek) or sour cream
1/3c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3c mini chocolate chips

In a small bowl, beat togehter ricotta, yogurt, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Fold in chocolate chips, reserving a few to sprinkle on top. Variations: stir in 1/2 tsp orange zest, or fold in a few chopped pistachios with or instead of miniature chocolate chips. Serve with fresh whole strawberries.

I think it sounds good too Patti! I love baby spinach, and it's a great way of getting more veggies and fiber into our diet.

Yep, goes in raw.

This is a recipe I found and MUST try, I love this type of bean but I am sure you could use another type of dry beans if you can not find these (but if you can find them they are wonderfully good beans). It just sounds like our kind of soup. The website is listed at the bottom if you care to go there. I always have chunks of ham in the freezer just for soup!

Anasazi Bean and Cabbage Soup
(Makes about 8 servings; recipe created by Kalyn.)

1 pound dried Anasazi Beans, soaked overnight in crockpot
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced onion
2 cups very finely chopped cabbage
2 cups ham, cut into small dice
ham rind if available
(remove for the last few hours of cooking time)
8 cups water (you can also use partly ham stock if you have it)
2 T dried parsley
1-2 T garlic powder
2-3 tsp. onion powder
2-3 bay leaves
fresh ground black pepper to taste
ham flavored concentrate or ham bouillon (optional but good)
balsamic vinegar for serving, optional

I used a 4.5 quart crock pot to make the soup in these photos, and it was filled to the brim (including the ham rinds) so if you have a smaller size you will need to reduce the recipe.

Soak beans overnight in cold water in the crockpot. The next morning, drain beans, discard soaking water, and put beans back in the crockpot with 8 cups water (or a combination of water and ham stock if you have it.) Cut up celery, carrots, onions, cabbage, and ham. Put all ingredients in crock pot (including ham rind if you're lucky enough to have some) with dried parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, and bay leaves, and start to cook on high. (It may look like there isn't enough liquid, but in the crock pot foods give up liquid and you end up with more than you started with.)

(I cook this soup on high for 10 hours or longer, until about half of the beans have disintegrated into the soup and the cabbage is mostly dissolved. My large crock pot is the original "slow-cooker" type, which may cook a bit less hot than some. If you have a newer model, you might want to cook on high 4-5 hours, then reduce to low.)

After about 8 hours, remove ham rind if using, then taste for seasoning and ham bouillon or ham flavor concentrate if needed. (I like Goya Ham Flavor Concentrate or ham buillon from Penzeys. Use of this is optional, and will depend on how much flavor is in your ham. If you have really good ham you might not need it.) I often add more garlic powder and onion powder at this time too.

Cook until beans are starting to break apart and the cabbage has mostly dissolved into the soup. Serve hot, with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar if desired. This soup freezes well.

Stovetop Instructions:

You could cook this on the stove if you don't have a crock pot or want it done sooner. For stovetop cooking, add all ingredients to heavy soup pot and simmer about 3 hours, or until beans are very well done and cabbage has disintegrated into the soup. I would increase the amount of water I started out with by several cups if I cooked it on the stove, since some of the liquid will evaporate. Check for seasoning after a few hours, and add more ham buillon, garlic powder, and onion powder as desired.

This recipe from KalynsKitchen.com.

Oh from that same website I found a recipe for stuffed bell peppers, we were discussing that very thing recently so I thought I would post the link to that recipe it is quite different and uses no tomato and can be done as vegetarian if you wanted. But I really think they sound wonderful and worth a try.

Recipe for Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan

Plus beautiful pictures step by step (I love when they do that)

I made this today for tomorrow's church dinner.

Oreo Puddin' Poke Cake

1 box chocolate cake mix, I used dark chocolate fudge
ingredients to make cake, eggs, oil and water
2 four ounce packages of instant Oreo pudding. I couldn't find this so I used white chocolate instant pudding in the cake holes and chocolate fudge for the top.
4 cups milk 2% or higher
Crushed Oreo Cookies (optional) I used five or six of them

Make cake mix according to directions and bake in a well greased 9 x 13 pan. I used the flour, oil and shortening mix for pans. Just before the cake is done start making the pudding for the holes. Whisk until most of the lumps are removed. Mix for about 2 minutes. When cake is baked, while still warm, poke holes all over cake about 1 inch intervals usina a wooden spoon handle or a straw. Pour pudding mixture over cake. Spread it out with a spoon and gently pushing it into holes. Then spread the pudding you want on the top all over. Let set a bit while you make the cookie crumbs. I used the food processor. Sprinkle the cookies over the top pudding and refrigerate. Refrigerate when not serving it.

Sue

Jasdip, the casserole sounds delish. I am hosting a bridal shower luncheon for my future DIL and looking for a hot dish to serve. I'll give this a test run next week. Guess it would be ok to use low fat milk and sour cream.

I've made the cannolli dip and it's always a big hit at parties.

Thanks Jasdip!

I'm gonna make the cannoli dip next weekend, IF I have gs and his dad. IF!

Plus this:

Strawberry bites
3 containers (6 oz. each) strawberry low-fat yogurt
1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin
8 fresh strawberries, halved

1Mix yogurt and dry gelatin mix in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 5 min. or until gelatin is completely dissolved, stirring every 2 min.
2Spoon into 16 paper-lined mini muffin cups. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
3Remove from liners; top with strawberries

Recipe: Crockpot Chicken Sauce Piquante
�From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

Prep time: 15 min :Cook time: 3 hours :
Yield: About 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients
�3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
�1 (3 to 4 pound) whole chicken cut up
�1/2 cup of all purpose flour
�1/2 to 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), or to taste
�1 cup of chopped onion
�1 cup of chopped green bell pepper
�1/2 cup of chopped celery
�2 teaspoons of chopped, pickled jalapeno
�1-1/2 teaspoons of chopped garlic
�1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
�2 bay leaves
�2 (14.5 ounce) cans of stewed tomatoes, undrained
�1/4 cup of tomato paste
�1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
�1 teaspoon granulated sugar
�1 teaspoon kosher salt
�1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes
�Hot, cooked rice
�1/4 cup of chopped, fresh flat leaf parsley, optional
�Hot sauce, for the table
Instructions
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Shake together the flour and Cajun seasoning in a zippered bag and toss chicken in the flour mixture. Brown chicken in batches for 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a 6 quart crockpot as it is browned. Add the onion, bell pepper and celery to the skillet; stir and cook for 3 minutes, then add the jalapeno, garlic, thyme and bay leaves and cook another minute. Using kitchen shears, chop the tomatoes in the can and add to the skillet; add the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil, then transfer to the crockpot on top of the chicken. Cook, covered, on low for 3 hours. Remove bay leaves, sprinkle with red pepper flakes if desired, serve over cooked rice garnished with chopped parsley. Pass hot sauce at the table.

~Cook's Notes~

Piquant by definition is fairly spicy. If you want it more on the mild side, reduce the Cajun seasoning, and eliminate the red pepper flakes and hot sauce.
Stovetop Prep: To prepare this for the stovetop, prepare as above in a large Dutch oven, except add in 2 cups of water. You can also stir in 2 tablespoons of a prepared roux, or simply remove chicken and use a cornstarch and water slurry at the end to thicken sauce. Cover and low simmer for about 1-1/2 hours, checking periodically to see if additional water is needed, adding in only a little at a time so not to thin too much.
I have not tried this, but it looks delish!