Carrot - Squash Casserole

 

As you can see, I forgot to snap my photo until after I'd sampled this!  

This is an old recipe shared by a friend back when our boys were in Cub Scouts.  My husband wasn't a fan of casseroles of any kind, so I didn't make it often.

I take shortcuts; use canned, drained carrots and the microwave to cook the squash and onions to speed up and simplify making this.

The original recipe calls for zucchini but I always use yellow crookneck squash.  I think it would really be delicious if you used calabaza squash.

 

An entire stick of butter is too much so I used about 1/4 stick and it still turns out nice and crispy, brown on top.

This might just be a good way to incorporate some extra vegetables on your kid's plates.

 

Carrot – Squash Casserole

 

1 ½ cups cooked, sliced carrots

1 ½ lbs. squash, sliced and cooked

1 onion, diced

1 package cornbread stuffing mix

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1 – 8 oz. carton sour cream

½ cup milk

1 stick butter, melted

 

Combine the soup, sour cream and milk in a small bowl.  Set aside.

In a greased 2 quart casserole, layer ½ of the carrots, squash and onion.

Top with about ½ of the stuffing mix.

Pour ½ of the soup mixture over this layer.

Repeat layer again, reserving a little of the stuffing mix.

Top with remaining stuffing mix and drizzle with melted butter.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

 

Four Cheese Bacon Stuffed Smothered Chicken Casserole

This recipe came from a food blog.  It looked interesting but the person that wrote the recipe had the instructions so convoluted that I had to literally watch the video to determine how to assemble the dish.  Then I rewrote the ingredients list and instructions to make the process clearer.

Since I cook for just myself, I used one package of chicken tenders in place of the breasts. If you use breasts, they need to be thin.

I used a one quart casserole dish and made two layers with the stuffing mixture spread on top of the bottom layer rather than rolling them.  I used mozzarella and medium cheddar cheeses. 

The package of chicken tenders had eight in it.  I put the soup mixture in the bottom of the dish then placed four tenders on top.  I spread the chicken stuffing mixture on top of the bottom layer of tenders then put the other four on top of that.  

 

Four Cheese Bacon Stuffed Smothered Chicken Casserole

2 T. olive oil

1 tsp. butter

¼ red bell pepper, chopped

½ onion, chopped

½ can cream of chicken or mushroom soup

¼ c. water

½ c. grated Mozzarella cheese

Saute onion and pepper in oil and butter. 

Stir in soup and water. 

Spread in bottom of baking dish.

Stuffing for chicken:

8 oz. cream cheese

1 T. onion, minced

1 T. Italian seasoning

1 T. garlic powder

1 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. lemon juice

6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

Mix in bowl and spoon 2 T. on each chicken breast. 

Roll up and secure with toothpick.

Dip each breast in 1 beaten egg and coat with Italian Bread Crumbs.

Brown in oil. 

Place in baking dish, pressing each breast down into the pepper mixture.  Spoon some of the mixture over the chicken breasts.

Top with ½ cup grated cheddar and ½ cup grated Monterey Jack cheese.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes.

Top with 6 additional slices of cooked chopped bacon.  Bake for 5 minutes.

Jalapeno Cheese Grits For Two -- 3 Smart Points Freestyle Program

I've used this recipe for over 40 years but it's always been one I'd make a huge batch of to take to pot luck dinners.  This is the scaled down, lower calorie version of the traditional recipe.  It makes four generous servings at 4 Smart Points per serving.

The original recipe includes butter and more cheese.  You'll never miss either ingredient! This is a hearty side dish that goes well with any type of meat main dish.

Jalapeno Cheese Grits

Makes 4 generous servings

3 Smart Points per serving on Freestyle program

½ cup instant grits

2 cups water

½ - ¾ tsp. Lawrey’s seasoned salt

2 oz. grated cheddar cheese

Chopped jalapeno peppers, can use fresh or canned

1 egg, beaten to a froth

Garlic powder

Bring water to a boil, add seasoned salt and grits.  Cook over low heat until thickened- 5 to 7 minutes.

Stir in grated cheese, garlic powder and jalapeno peppers.  Mix thoroughly.

Fold in beaten egg.

Pour mixture into a 2-quart casserole sprayed with Pam.  Bake at 350° until brown and bubbly – 20 to 25 minutes.  You can also cook this in the microwave then pop under the broiler to brown.

Smart Points

Grits                     4

Cheese                  8