Italian Chicken Casserole

Dinner has become more stressful since starting my internship. I've found myself compromising my ideals for our diet for just getting something on the table. I've let it slide for the first month until we get into our new routine, and that's fine, but it's time to get back to "real food." My new challenge is to make real food, real fast. Casseroles are the ideal weekday supper. They're delicious and require few pots and pans. Once mixed, they get put in the oven for about 30 minutes (enough time to get kids transitioned, bags unpacked, and the table set).

Here is a casserole I came up with on the fly using what I had on hand. (Sorry about the lack of pictures. It was a crazy night, and I didn't know it would be so good.) It's not a prefect dish, but it's darn good and more "real food"- like than what we've been eating. Fair warning, this makes a big casserole. We had leftovers for both Hubby's and my lunch for 2 days. Next time, I might make it 2 casseroles; one for dinner and one for the freezer.

Italian Chicken Casserole

1 box of whole wheat pasta (rotini, penne, ziti, or some other short pasta)
3 cups shredded chicken (from the freezer)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 medium bell peppers, chopped (I had a red and a yellow on hand, but any color will do.)
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
2 jars of pasta sauce (I'll use my sauce from the freezer in the future.)
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook pasta, leaving it slightly undercooked.
2. In a separate pan, cook the onion until it begins to soften. Add the peppers and the mushrooms to the pan. Add chicken. Season with salt, pepper, oregano.
3. Add the sauce to the chicken and vegetables.
4. Drain the pasta and combine with the vegetable mixture.
5. Pour into a 13X9 that has been sprayed with oil. Top with mozzarella cheese, and bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes, until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Babyzilla and I made a quick salad (I cut the vegetables, and he added them to the bowl), and dinner was ready. It was a huge hit with the kids and the adults! The leftovers were great, even cold.

Project Sorghum Part 2: The Briquette

Remember that 40 pounds of sorghum we were given? It's still hanging out in our kitchen. The other day I decided to get real about using some of it. One of the uses for sorghum that I found online was to pop it like popcorn. The instructions were pretty simple: A little oil in the bottom of a pot + sorghum grains + heat + some stirring = popped sorghum. Easy right? Wrong.

As I was popping the sorghum, Bulldog started crying, so I turned off the stove and went to figure out what happened. In the 4 minutes it took me to calm him down, the pot of sorghum went from oily kernels to smoke machine. The whole apartment filled with smoke. I got the kids outside and got the pot off the stove. I opened the doors and windows to vent the smoke. I added water to the pot to prevent the kernels from igniting. The contents of the pot had transformed into a large, black briquette. After a minute of hacking because of inhaling the smoke, I shut the doors (leaving the kitchen window open), grabbed the diaper bag, and decided to go for a drive. I took the kids to the park to calm them down. I called Hubby to let him know what happened and that we were okay.

My clothes and hair wreaked of sorghum smoke, so I took a long shower that night. I'm still trying to scrub the charred residue out of my pot. The apartment still has a smokey smell, but it's not as bad as it was. I'm not sure if it's fading or if I'm just getting used to it. Either way, I won't be popping sorghum for a while.

Oatmeal Breakfast "Cupcakes"

I start my internship in about a month. In addition to the newness of being away from my kids for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, we'll have to navigate a new morning and evening routine. Since I'll be the one in charge of feeding the boys breakfast before they head to daycare, I've decided to experiment with fast, easy, healthy recipes to see what will work for everybody. Babyzilla was really excited to get "cake" for breakfast. I was really excited to see the boys inhale a breakfast food that I can make the night before.

Oatmeal Breakfast "Cupcakes"

3 bananas, mashed
1 cup almond milk
2 eggs
splash of vanilla
2 1/2 cups oats (I use "old fashioned" oats)
1/4 cup berries OR chocolate chips OR cinnamon chips OR raisins

Mix all of the ingredients, except berries/chips. (Batter will be fairly thin.) Fold in the berries/ chips gently and scoop batter into greased/ lined muffin tins. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes (15-20 for mini muffins).

Happy 2 years to Hallee the Homemaker!

Hallee's celebrating her 2 year blogiversary! YAY! To celebrate, she is giving away a L’Equip NutriMill Grain Mill, plus most of the stuff you'd need to make her French Bread and Honey Oatmeal Bread. Click here to see how to enter. If you're not interested in it for yourself, enter anyway. If you win, give it to me. :)