August 2009: Recipe 3: Homemade Mac & Cheese with Chicken Casserole

Ok, sooooo sorry I am VERY behind in my fabulous "Girl's Got No Skills Contest" but I hope that I have done an okay job explaining my circumstances. I am determined to do better. Who cares if I feel like I have the flu everyday, right?! I am waiting for a "You go girl" to sound out from the page. Oh well its just me here in this room so no affirmations yet. So I made Recipe #3 way back in August, but I took good notes so here we go:

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Homemade Mac & Cheese with Chicken Casserole
as submitted by Melanie LaSelle



1 lb box of macaroni. We use shells
2 cans of cream of chicken (reduced fat) soup (I used 99% Fat Free)
2 cups of milk (I used Fat Free)
1 can from Costco of chicken (or leftover chicken in the same ounces, chunked up)
1 16 oz pkg of shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I used aged Wisconsin sharp cheddar - yumm!!)

Directions per Melanie:

This looks not so good when making, but cooked is delicious.

Mix all together and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

As a side, we make either petite brussel sprouts or broccoli.

Everyone always loves it.

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So I've never made anything with the word "casserole" in it. I do have to say that what I've heard from people about casseroles is true, they are pretty easy. Throw it all together and bake and voila!, dinner:-) Of course it wasn't exactly that easy but it felt easy and that counts in my book. I think if I would make it again, I wouldn't have looked at the fat content of the shredded cheese, yikes! Of course I'm not eating the entire pot so I guess its ok.

A friend of mine came over just as the Mac & Cheese was coming out of the oven and she was sold just from the smell and then doubly sold when she tasted it. She got the recipe and made it for her fam the next day.

Of course just as I was done plating the kids' portions, my camera died. I had to complete my photo series with a janky* photo taken on my phone. Sorry!

*janky- a fun word I picked up from my lil sis and her friends meaning according to the Urban Dictionay "(adjective) inferior quality; held in low social regard; old and delapidated; refers almost exclusively to inanimate material objects, not to people"; not to be confused with "jinkies" used by my beloved Velma from Scooby-Doo:-).

I served sliced plums (hmm, I wonder where I got those plums:-) ) and broccoli which my kids loved. I love the little kids divider plates and my kids love to eat off them. The meal was definitely a croud pleaser. Eyan told me that it was his favortie tied with "mutmeal", what our family affectionately calls oatmeal as named by Tate:-) That says a lot because my kids would eat "mutmeal" for every meal of the day if we would let them. (And all too often that resembles reality:-) )