Monday Menu Helper

I love to cook but, hate to clean up! So, on Mondays I will post easy quick meals you can make or bake to please you and your family.

I love Emeril Lagasse's motto, "This ain't rocket science"! I generally don't measure or use exact recipes. I keep a basic list of ingredients in my pantry, canned cream of soup (what ever you like - chicken, mushroom, celery, cheesy broccoli, etc.), for something special I have a jar of pre-made pesto. I also have a variety of pasta too. In my freezer I keep bags of frozen veggies - my kids love peas and broccoli. You will need your favorite meats on hand.

So, with this in mind here is my first quick meal.

Chicken Divan - most Campbell's cream of chicken soup labels have this recipe. This is my version.

You will need -
Chicken - I like to cut is into chunks, it makes it go further than whole breast. Trust me :)
Cream of chicken soup - any brand works
milk
frozen broccoli - we prefer floret's but chopped works too.

optional -
shredded cheddar cheese - for an extra touch
bread crumbs and melted butter - for a crunchy topping - about 3/4 cup crumbs and enough melted butter to keep it together.

First - brown the chicken chunks - make sure chicken is cook though.

Assemble the casserole in a 9x13 baking dish.

Put the broccoli on the bottom of baking dish, then layer the browned, cooked chicken chunks on top of frozen broccoli. Mix soup with a full can of milk if you like a soupier casserole or 2/3 can of milk if you like a less soupy casserole. Pour the soup and milk mixture over top of the chicken and broccoli. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes. Check the broccoli at the 30 minute time to see if done. For last 10 minutes if you would like add the shredded cheese and bread crumb and butter topping. Finish the last 10 minutes without foil to melt cheese and brown the bread crumb topping.

Serve while hot. Serving size depends on the amount of chicken and broccoli you use. I use a pound bag of broccoli and about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken to feed my family of 2 growing boys and my husband and me :) With some leftovers for a midnight snack.

Easy add-ons to any meal - bag salad and cherry tomatoes and dinner rolls.

Next week - Turkey pesto Corinne's favorite :)