Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Casserole Doctor


Just home from another bike ride/run. The girls are getting so good I was sprinting back and forth across the high school parking lot by the end of our ride tonight!! This is what we had for dinner tonight!

This seems so completely obvious to me, but I realize that a lot of people are hesitant to alter recipes, I guess for fear of messing them up. Or they think that fat-free also means flavor-free. I beg to differ. Here is my altered version of a classic, easy casserole. I'll put the original recipe first, and my changes in italics. (So just use one version or the other!)

Club Chicken Casserole

2 1/2 cups cooked chicken
4 TBSP margarine 2 TBSP butter (no trans-fats)
1/4 cup flour
1 can evaporated milk 1 can fat free evaporated milk
1 can chicken broth 1 can fat free chicken broth
4 cups cooked rice 4 cups cooked brown rice
1 can mushrooms
1/3 cup chopped green peppers (I used red today because that is what I had on hand.)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed (Omega-3's)
1/2 cup sweet potato puree (Normally I would have used zucchini, but I am out.)

In a saucepan melt butter. Blend in flour. Add milk and broth. Cook til thick and bubbly. Add rice, chicken, peppers, mushrooms, flaxseed, veggie puree and 1/2 tsp. salt. Pour into greased casserole dish. Cook at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Lincoln gives it two enthusiastic forks up!

You'll notice that many of the ingredients that I use are the Wal-mart brand. I'm glad that companies are becoming aware of desires of their consumers for healthy options that are cheaper! Most of the time you can find generic items that are fat-free or reduced fat (and reduced price!)

Anytime I make a recipe for dinner that has rice, I double the amount of rice I make and do rice pudding for breakfast the next morning. My kids love it. I just add milk, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and sweet potato puree and cook it on the stove top until it is nice, thick and creamy.

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