Easy Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole

This was a very simple dinner to throw together. ESPECIALLY if you do my trick for prepping your chicken before hand. I made this one night when my little guy was sick. It was a great comfort food. But since he was sick, I didn't want to take him to the store and I was running a bit low on supplies. I didn't have sour cream, so I used a substitute (see below). I tasted it before I mixed it in and it was actually pretty decent. And it absolutely did the trick for the recipe. Enjoy!

{SOUR CREAM SUBSTITUION}

1 c. low-fat cottage cheese 

1 T. lemon juice 

2 T.  milk

Whip until smooth in a blender.

{EASY CHICKEN & WILD RICE CASSEROLE}

1 (6-oz) pkg Wild Rice mix (Uncle Ben's or Rice a Roni)

1/2 c. onion, chopped

1/2 c. celery, chopped

2 T. butter

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c. sour cream

1/3 c. water

1/2 tsp. curry powder

2 c. chicken, cooked & chopped

Prepare rice according to package directions. Saute onion and celery in the butter. Stir in soup, sour cream, water, and curry powder. Fold in chicken and rice. Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered for 35-40 minutes. Stir before serving.

Fresh Avocado & Tomato Egg Roll with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Wow, you think the title is a mouth-full, just wait until you try these puppies. YUM!

When I first got this recipe, it called for sun-dried tomatoes. When I was at the store looking for them, I was floored at how much they could charge for such a small item. So, I decided fresh is better, anyway. Right? Right.

Let me also touch on the DELICIOUS honey mustard sauce. It's gooood. We love to use it on steamed asparagus too. Oh my, oh my. Yum! Enjoy!

I don't usually post step-by-step picture instructions, but I figured it may be helpful with this one.

{FRESH AVOCADO & TOMATO EGG ROLLS WITH HONEY MUSTARD DIPPING SAUCE 

2 large avocados, peeled, pitted, & dice

1 Roma tomato, chopped

2 T. red onion, minced

1 tsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

¼ tsp. salt

Dash of lime juice (optional)

Egg roll wrappers

HONEY MUSTARD DIPPING SAUCE *you can probably cut this in half and be fine, but I like having it on hand for sandwiches and other things that might come along.

½ c. prepared mustard
½ c. honey
¼ c. light corn syrup
¼ c. mayonnaise

These are the egg roll wrappers. In my store, they are by the refrigerated salad packages and dressings. You'll need to keep them refrigerated. By the way, I just noticed on the package that it says you can use them for crepes and lasagna? Hmm...ideas are flowing.

Gently stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, salt, and lime juice in a small bowl. 

Spoon filling evenly onto center of each egg roll wrapper. 

Position a wrapper so that a corner is pointing toward you; fold the side corners in to the center.

Fold the bottom corner up and roll to top. 

Wet the edges of the top corner with a little water and fold top corner over. Press to seal. 

Repeat with remaining wrappers.

Continue by deep-frying the egg rolls in 375 degree oil for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. One great way, I've learned to know when oil is ready for frying, is to put the handle of a wooden spoon in the pan of oil. If little bubbles scatter away from the spoon handle, it's ready. Be sure to rotate the egg rolls, so they are cooked on all sides. It happens fast!

Drain on paper towels.

Slice egg rolls diagonally across middle and drizzle with the honey mustard dipping sauce. 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I thought I'd share one of my all-time favorite cooking tips.

You may notice that I do a lot of recipes that call for chicken that's cooked and shredded. Like this one, or this one, this one, or maybe this one? And maybe that scares you from making the recipe, because you think, "Gosh, I have to cook the chicken for 40 minutes AND shred it before I can even start the actual recipe?" 

I hear you. That USED to scare me too. But now I have a secret weapon. About every 3 weeks, I go to the store and buy split chicken breasts and chicken leg quarters. Yes, that's the kind that's still on the bone. Why do I buy on the bone? Because it's easier on the pocketbook than buying boneless, skinless chicken. Why do I buy two different kinds of meat? Because it's good.

I bring it home and peel the skin off (I'll be honest, this isn't my favorite past-time, but it's worth it, I promise!). I sprinkle it with poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. And then I pop it in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until it reaches 165 degrees internally. After it's cooked, I let it cool until I can handle it and I shred it all into a large bowl. 

After it's all shredded, I pack it into baggies. They end up being about 1 lb each and are the perfect size for all those recipes that call for shredded chicken. Then, I pop them in the freezer until I need them. 

Before a meal, I defrost a package in the microwave. I also, usually chop it into bite-size pieces. The chicken breast and dark leg meat, make for a wonderful mixture of meat. 

OPTIONS:

-You can also boil the chicken in a big pot. Just throw in some roughly chopped onions, garlic, and carrots too! After the chicken is cooked through, put a lid on the pot and let it cool. Then put it in the fridge overnight. 

Pull the chicken out and shred. Then you can use the "water" as your chicken stock. A good way to preserve the stock is to skim all the fat off the top and pour the stock into an empty ice cube tray and freeze. Once, it's frozen, pop the chicken stock ice cubes out and store in a large storage bag in your freezer. 

-If you are brave, you can do this with whole chickens. I did it once and I gagged through the whole "gutting" process. I don't recommend it.

-Pre-cooked rotisserie chickens, from the store, are also a TASTY way to get shredded meat. They are so wonderfully seasoned and very moist. But when you cook your own meat, you can control the sodium levels a little more.

Great idea, or what? It's going to save you a TON of time.