When Walt or I are home during the day, we enjoy cooking dinner. When both of us have to work, we like to choose something that is quick and easy so that we are not eating dinner at 8 pm. One of my methods of dealing with quick, weekday meals is to make bigger batches of meals when I am home and freeze the extras for later.
Soups, chile, and spaghetti sauce are all easy ones to make big batches of and freeze, and we usually have several of these on hand. I also do casserole dishes and lasagna. When I make dishes like this, I prepare them in smaller pans. For example, I make lasagna in loaf pans, then freeze it before baking.
This chicken broccoli casserole recipe is an adaptation of one that mom gave me. I prepare this casserole in a couple of ten-inch foil pans.
Chicken Broccoli Casserole
- 5 cups cooked rice
- 4 cups broccoli, steamed
- 3 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
- 6-8 slices of American cheese
- 2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup
- ½ cup of sour cream
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Black pepper
- ½ c breadcrumbs
- 1 can Water chestnuts (optional)
Grease pans thoroughly. Spread the rice in the bottom of the pan. Top with the broccoli. Layer on the American cheese and sprinkle the cheddar over that. Add the chicken and water chestnuts (if desired).
Layering up the casserole
Mix together the soup, sour cream, and seasoning to taste. Spread on top of the casserole, covering as much of the other ingredients as you can to avoid them drying out. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top.
Spread the sauce and top with bread crumbs
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
To freeze, I cover with waxed paper and then wrap in heavy-duty aluminum foil. I label it and put it in the freezer. It keeps well for up to four months. I usually pull it from the freezer the night before and put it in the fridge to thaw. It takes 45 minutes to an hour to bake from the fridge.
Sherrey
Delicious! I love cooking in big batches!