Dinner in a Pumpkin

Here is an easy casserole for Halloween night. You can scrape out a little pumpkin and bake it inside the pumpkin, or just bake it in a casserole dish for ease. Either way, you'll get a nice savory dinner you can eat in a hurry (before the trick-or-treaters arrive, of course).

1 cup rice
1 lb ground beef
1 t salt
3/4 c celery, chopped
3/4 c onion, chopped
1/4 c soy
2 T brown sugar
1 (10 oz) can of cream of chicken
1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, chopped

Cook rice; set aside. In a skillet, brown ground beef with salt, celery, and onion. Drain off any fat. Add remaining ingredients.
For a casserole, pour in a greased casserole dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
For Dinner in a Pumpkin, pour into a small, scraped out pumpkin. Place pumpkin on a foil-lined pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Chicken Stuffing Casserole, Sauteed Zucchini and Squash

A few weeks ago, I served Stove Top stuffing along with roast chicken. I could not believe how much my little man was eating the stuffing! He keeps talking about "tuffing," so I figure I should try one of the recipes from the back of the box to see if he likes it.

*Ooh, I'll be honest, we did not love this dish. I think we'll keep to eating our stuffing sparingly and on the side.


Chicken Stuffing Casserole
from Kraft

1 (6 oz) pkg Stove Top stuffing mix for Chicken
1 1/2 lb chicken, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1/3 c sour cream
1 (16 oz) bag frozen mixed veggies, thawed, drained

Preheat oven to 400. Prepare stuffing mix as directed on package, set aside. Mix chicken, soup, sour cream and vegetables in a 9x13 pan; top with stuffing. Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.


Sauteed Zucchini and Squash
1 zucchini, cut in thin circles
1 yellow squash, cut in thin circles
1 T butter
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning
celery seed
optional: 1/4 c shredded mozzarella cheese

In a frying pan, melt butter on medium heat. Add zucchini and squash and sautee until tender. Add seasonings to taste. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired, and remove from heat.

Shannon's Tuna Biscuit Casserole, Green Salad, Broccoli

This casserole recipe comes from LMPD reader Shannon. She says it's a big hit with her kids! I'm not personally a huge fan of refrigerator biscuits in general, but I want to try it to see if my 1 1/2 year old will eat the tuna. We're always working on getting him to eat more fish!

I'll be serving this casserole with steamed broccoli and a green salad.

Here is Shannon's recipe as she wrote it:


1 can of refrigerated biscuits
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can tuna drained
1 c. milk
1 t. parsley
1 c. grated cheese

Mix the soup, milk, tuna, and parsley. Line the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking dish with the biscuits spaced about an inch apart. Pour the soup and tuna mixture over the biscuits. Top with cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Viva la Chicken, Tortilla Chips, Corn, Green Salad

I got this Viva la Chicken recipe from my mother. I remember loving this casserole growing up. The tortillas are pretty flexible in this recipe- you can use flour or corn (but I prefer flour by a long shot!), and you can vary the amount depending on what you have on hand.

I decided to bake this casserole in individual ramekins. Isn't everything more fun when it's small?

Viva la Chicken
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 (7 oz) can salsa verde (or about 1 c if you buy the jarred kind)
1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1/2 c milk
1/2 c sour cream
3 T dried minced onion
4 large or 6 small flour tortillas
2 oz grated cheese (I like Colby Jack best)
tortilla chips (optional)

In a large bowl, mix together chicken, salsa verde, cream of chicken soup, milk, sour cream, and onion. Spray a 2- quart casserole dish with cooking spray. Rip up half the tortillas into small pieces (about 2 square inches), and place tortillas in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour half the chicken mixture over the tortillas. Repeat by topping with 2 more torn tortillas and remaining sauce. Top with grated cheese. (You can make this in the morning and bake it at dinnertime.) Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve with tortilla chips, if desired.


Sides
frozen corn
green salad

Microwave frozen corn and season with salt and pepper.

Prepare green salad.

Ham, Potato, Carrot Casserole, Green Salad, Peas

Casserole recipe is from my grandmother. Grandpa loves it. I like it for using up leftover ham.

1/3 lb ham, diced
3 c potatoes, thinly sliced
1 c carrots, thinly sliced
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 c milk
2 T minced onion
dash garlic powder
pinch of parsley
2 oz grated Cheddar cheese

green salad

frozen peas


In a medium bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup, milk, minced onion, garlic powder, and parsley. In a greased casserole dish, arrange layers of potatoes, carrots, and ham. Pour soup mixture over casserole. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for about an hour. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake 15 minutes longer, or until potatoes are tender.

Prepare green salad. Microwave peas and season with salt and pepper.