Chicken Rice a Roni Casserole

Plain Chicken is a great blog for tons of quick and tasty meals. I stumbled upon this one this weekend and knew I had to give it a try.  My old standby Chicken and Rice  recipe is loved by all my guys and requested often, so I wondered if I should even bother with trying a new one, but my enjoyment for trying new recipes got the best of me so here we go...

1 box chicken flavor Rice-A-Roni, I found a lower sodium choice
1 can cream of chicken soup, low fat/reduced sodium
1 cup sour cream, I used light
3-4 cups cooked, chopped chicken, I used Rotisserie Chicken
1 (6 oz) can French fried onions, I only used about 3/4 of the can

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Prepare Rice-A-Roni according to package directions.

Add soup, sour cream and chicken. Stir to combine.

Spread rice mixture in a lightly sprayed 9x13 pan.

Top rice with fried onions.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.


Super quick to put together, the most time consuming part was removing the chicken from the bones. Doug, J and I all enjoyed it. The recipe makes quite a bit, so it is definitely good for families.

Give it a try!

Source: Plain Chicken Blog

Hash Brown Potato Casserole

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 can cream of chicken soup, reduced sodium
8-10 oz of 2% Velveeta cheese, cubed,
1 cup sour cream, light
1 pkg hash brown potatoes, we like the southern style cubes

Topping:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups cornflakes, crushed
In a small bowl, mix the two together. 

Saute onions in butter in a large skillet over medium heat until onions are soft.

Add cream of chicken soup, combine well.

Add Velveeta cheese and stir until melted.

Remove from heat and add sour cream, stirring well to combine.

Add hash browns and stir to incorporate sauce through the potatoes.

Transfer potato mixture to a well greased 9 X 13 inch casserole dish.

Top with cornflake/butter topping.

Bake at 350* for 50-60 minutes.

This dish is so good served with lots of main courses. It's great for brunch with an egg casserole, with turkey or ham for Christmas dinner or one of our favorite ways...a juicy cheeseburger with all the fixins! Where's my fork?

it's an "oldie but a goodie"


p.s. we might get another snow day this week! yippee! Jonah has requested 
 Snow Day Doughnuts
 if we do,  you should make them for your kiddos too...snow or no-snow!!

Snow Day Doughnuts!

How lucky are we to get a snow day? Actually it's an "ice" day, so...much...sleet! I should be doing house work instead of posting doughtnut recipes, but this is so much more fun!

These are so simple and really tasty. Oh, they don't compare to a good old fashioned homemade donut, but I promise your family will eat these up and you will be out of the kitchen in no time.

One can of canned biscuits, more if you have a big crew to feed!

Canola oil for frying...I know I hardly ever fry things!

cinnamon and sugar mixture 

or 

powdered sugar glaze (1 cup powdered sugar, and enough milk to make a smooth glaze, 1-2 tablespoons, mixed until smooth and creamy)

Heat oil in a small saucepan or skillet.

Meanwhile open biscuits and cut a small hole in center to make a doughnut or cut into quarters to make donut "holes".

Dip a slotted spoon into the hot oil, then sit one of the donuts on top of the spoon and gently lower it into the oil. Even if making "holes", just lower one at a time into the oil. It's okay to cook more than one at a time, but to keep them from sticking together, put them in individually.

Watch closely and when browned on the bottom, gently flip over to brown the other side.

When both sides are browned remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

If sprinkling with cinnamon and sugar, do so quickly after removing from hot oil. The mixture will stick better. 

If dipping in glaze, simply dip one side then flip over and dip the other. Remove to a plate to let the glaze set a bit, and the excess to drip off. 

Tips for cooking the doughnuts...

• Don't get your oil too hot, you want the doughnuts to immediately rise to the top of the oil and gently fry, not brown as soon as you lower them into the oil. Just be careful and adjust your heat as needed.
•  
• Make sure your oil is hot enough...you don't want to lower your doughnut into the oil and have it sink to the bottom.

• Between each set I fried, I left my burner on and just moved the pan off the heat so I could sprinkle with cinnamon/dip in glaze without being in a hurry and it kept the oil from becoming overly hot.
• Don't fret if the first few aren't just right. Canned biscuits are cheap and you can afford a few trial runs before you get it perfected.