Category: recipes

CHICKEN STUFFING CASSEROLE…A FRIDAY FREEZER MEAL

Who DOESN’T want a good freezer meal to pull out for dinner, in these uncertain times? Check out my recipe for Chicken Stuffing casserole.

Ohhhh!!! Gotta love a good Freezer Meal. I made this casserole yesterday, and had an extra one to put in the freezer. My family loves this recipe. I originally found this recipe in my “Taste of Home Freezer Pleasers Cookbook”. This recipe was originally submitted by Cathy Smith, of Wyoming, Michigan. I highly recommend this cookbook. I find so many good recipes to add to my freezer meals. So here’s the recipe. Enjoy!

The ingredients plus the chicken.

Ingredients:

2 pkg. (6 oz. each) chicken stuffing mix

2 cans (10 3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

1 c. milk

4 c. cubed cooked chicken

2 c. frozen corn

2 cans (8 oz. each) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

4 cups (16 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

Grease 2 pans, and heat oven to 350*

Put the prepared stuffing on bottom of pan, Layer chicken on top.

Prepare stuffing mixes according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine soup and milk; set aside. Spread the stuffing into two greased 8 in. square baking dishes. Layer with the chicken, corn, mushrooms, soup mixture and cheese. (Could be one 9 x 13 pan.)

Be sure and label your foil covering.

Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Make sure that you write the date and directions on the foil cover. Cover and bake the second casserole at 350* for 30 – 35 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Yummy!

To use frozen casserole: Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before baking. (do not thaw). Bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. Uncover; bake 10 – 15 minutes longer or until heated through. Yield: 2 casseroles (6 servings each).

Note: I had one of my casseroles a little thicker, in a ceramic baking dish. It took a little longer to bake. I left the foil on the pan, until the last 15 minutes of baking, and then baked until the cheese was melted.

This was great with a salad, cheese bread, a veggie and brownies for dessert. My family thoroughly enjoyed this!

Enjoy,

Grandma Sherry

Signs of Fall!

Fall is finally here. Yeah! Watch out for monsters. We’ve had quite the couple of weeks here. My poor hubby has been sicker than a dog. When they did an endoscopy, earlier, to see if he had acid reflux, they also did a biopsy of the stomach lining. I guess that’s routine. Anyway, they found bacteria in the stomach lining. He was given three big drugs to take. As soon as he started taking them, he had the chills, a fever, headache, his hair hurt, and he felt like a truck had run over him. Actually, I thought he had the flu at the same time. He was on the meds for 10 days, and in bed,most of that time. Now he’s done with the meds, but is still pretty tired. The flu??? I don’t know. They’ll test him again, in two weeks or so, to see if the bacteria is gone.

Painting a monster. Scary!

Meanwhile, my grandson painted a monster. I thought it was really cute. He’s getting in the Halloween spirit. He’s going to be Jake the Pirate for Halloween. Today, he brought his pumpkin pail to practice trick or treating.

Chocolate pumpkin bread with cream cheese. Yummy!

This weather makes me want to cook. I made some Chocolate Pumpkin Bread….pumpkin bread with chocolate chips in it. It tastes fabulous with some cream cheese. I made two loaves, planning on freezing one. But I ended up taking the extra one over to the neighbor…he’s been on strike at GM.

My fun blouse.

Trying to figure out how to dress for Fall. Of course, so far, it starts out cool and by afternoon, it gets a lot warmer. Yesterday, I needed to go to Arlington for business. So I pulled out a blouse that I bought, earlier in the year. I hadn’t worn it much, but I love the sleeves. I ordered it from Zulily. I ordered three things, at the time. The other two items I finally gave to the church garage sale. Because…of course…I waited too long to send them back to Zulily. Story of my life!

Remember when I was so excited to get my new LG Dishwasher??? When my SIL, Nathan, was over the other night, I told him it wasn’t drying very whoopy. He opened the dishwasher, and the water hadn’t drained out. The soap was still in the little door. AAAAGGGHHH!!! Nathan pulled out the drain thingy, and nothing happened. Finally, he put his hand down in there, and there was a COFFEE FILTER in there!! WHAT?? How did that happen? Anyway, since then, it has worked fine. But I’ve had nightmares, all night long, about slimy soap and clogged drains.

How is your Fall going? Is your weather getting cooler? I see some areas of the country are getting snow. Wow. Have a good week.

Grandma Sherry

Southwestern Quiche…A Freezer Meal

Yes! Real men DO eat quiche, and my whole family loves this quiche. I found this recipe, years ago, in a “Taste of Home Freezer Pleasers” cookbook. That recipe was attributed to Paula Marchesi, and I have doctored it up to make it my own. It’s great for putting in the freezer and cooking at a later date, or making it for tonight. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

  • 2 unbaked pastry shells (9 inches)
  • 2 t. chili powder
  • 1 t. ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 c. (6 oz..) shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 1/2 c. (6 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
  • 1 c. (4 0z.) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 8 eggs
  • 2 cups half-and-half cream
  • 2 cans (4 oz. each) chopped green chilies
  • 2 cans ( 2 1/4 oz. each) sliced ripe olives, drained
  • 6 oz. chopped ham
  • 1/4 c. chopped green onions
  • 2 T. minced fresh cilantro
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/2 t. pepper
  • Salsa and sour cream, optional

Line unpricked pastry shells with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 400* for 5 minutes. Remove foil. Bake 5 minutes longer.

Sprinkle chili powder and cumin over shells; sprinkle with cheeses. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, chilies, ham, olives, onions, cilantro, salt and pepper. Pour evenly over cheese.

Cover and freeze one quiche for up to 3 months. Cover edges of second quiche loosely with foil. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 400* for 45 – 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with salsa and sour cream if desired.

To use frozen quiche: Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before baking. (do not thaw). Cover edges of crust loosely with foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 400* for 60 minutes or longer, until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. YIELD: 2 quiches (6 servings each).

Note: Originally, the baking time was less, but having added the ham, it takes longer to bake. This would also be great with chicken, or Cajun Style Andouille Sausage. Be creative!

I also had some problems with the pan sticking to the freezer shelf or whatever I placed it on. It dripped a bit, under the pie plate, when I put it down and caused a suction. Maybe put a double layer of foil on the bottom?

Enjoy!

Hope you enjoy!

Grandma Sherry

The Best No-Bake Cookies!

Ohhhhh, I made my childhood favorite cookies today!!! Check out the recipe on my post.

I’ve been on a diet and I completely ruined my diet today. But it was certainly the way to go! I made Chocolate No-Bake Cookies, a favorite from my childhood. Despite many attempted fails, now I have it down pat. WHAT?? you say. Anybody can make chocolate no-bake cookies! Hmmmm…no, not everyone. I will admit that I am not a very patient person. Patience is needed with these cookies. I’ll discuss more on that later. Here’s my recipe:

NO BAKE COOKIES

  • 1/2 c. cocoa
  • 1/2 c. margarine
  • 2 c. sugar
  • 1/2 c. milk
  • 1/2 c. peanut butter
  • 2 3/4 c. oatmeal
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Mix together the first four ingredients. Stir, over medium heat, until boiling. Boil 3 minutes (full boil). Remove from heat. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together. Drop by spoonfuls on cookie sheets, covered with waxed paper. Let cool. I sometimes put in the refrigerator to cool. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen, depending on the size you prefer.

I already had the milk in the pan when I set out the other ingredients.

Mixing and cooking first four ingredients.
Be sure and stir frequently during the cooking process.


Oh my gosh!!!! So good!

NOTE: It takes quite awhile to heat the first four ingredients. That’s how I have gotten into trouble in the past. I tried to hurry it up, and so I turned the heat to a higher level. DON’T DO THIS!~ That just doesn’t work. I also did not have any waxed paper, so I used parchment paper, which works just as well.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! I will admit, to try to get a decent photo of me eating the cookie, I had to eat four cookies in the process. OH MY GOSH! They were so good!

I definitely give it a thumbs up!!

Let me know what you think. Press LIKE if you enjoy this post. Leave me a comment.

Grandma Sherry

The Spring of Floods and Flowers

Wow….this has been quite the Spring! There have been floods all over the country, and I’ve seen several of them. And, I don’t know if it’s because of all the rain, or because we cut down our photinia trees last year, but my flowers are doing better than ever. Love it!

My beautiful Rose of Sharon bush.

I’m blessed to live in Texas. We don’t have flooding around my area. Our rivers have been high. Over Memorial Day, I went to Clinton, Missouri area, to a family reunion. My aunt lives up on a ridge, above Truman Reservoir. When they first moved there, we encountered a lot of ticks. So we’ve named it Tick Ridge. It’s always so fun to see everyone at the reunion. It’s about the only time I see some of my cousins.

This year, we had a chili cook-off. Four of us made our own unique chili. Now, I’m known for my chili. I won a chili cook-off at our church, a few years ago. (Of course, the winner was determined by the most money in their money jar. If someone liked your chili, they put money in your jar. It was determined by how much the jars weighed. My hubby decided nickels weighed more, so he went home and grabbed all of my nickels, and put them in my jar. Yep, I won.)

Anyway, at our family reunion, I made my famous Yankee Chili. I find Texas chili to be really different. I like beans, onions, Rotel tomatoes and green peppers in my chili, with lots of spices. As I was making my chili, my aunt and cousins were watching me. (I was being Julia Child.) When I got to my spices, I couldn’t find them. As I started to go out the door, the spices started coming out of the pockets of my aunt and cousins. Brother!!! It turned out that the others were sabotaging each other. The winning chili was Hawaiian Chili, and my cousin put flowers in front of the crockpot to sway the judges. Another cousin had given one of the judges fresh cookies, earlier in the day.

Jan Jones, trying to sway the judges with her flowers!

I went to Missouri by way of Oklahoma and Kansas. I stayed all night with my brother and wife, at our farm outside of Cherryvale, KS. When I was ready to return to Texas, the Verdigris River was out of its banks. Tulsa had terrible flooding in parts of town. I can’t believe all of the flooding and tornados that have hit our country!!

The Verdigris River, in Independence, Kansas

Today, we took our grandson, Isaac, to the neighborhood pool. He had a blast. At first, he hung on to Boppa, and then he ventured out to test the waters. Boppa taught him to splash me. Blah.

Isaac and Boppa at the pool.

Tonight, my piano students have their Spring Recital. Luckily, they decided to practice this last two weeks. Two weeks ago, I told my hubby that we should call it the “I Don’t Really Give A Shit Recital.” I have the awards ready, and just have a few things to get done before the recital. Love these kids. I have a bunch of silly awards to give out, in addition to the usual music awards.

Our weekend is totally full. We’re heading to Austin, for a weekend of cards, and seeing our kids new house, in Buda. Then we’ll bring home our two other grandkids, to stay for a few days.

What is your summer looking like? Do you have a lot of plans? Please leave me a message, on this post. Hope you decide to subscribe to the Blog, and press LIKE if you enjoyed this post.

Happy Summer,

Grandma Sherry