Chicken, Mushroom, Broccoli, and Rice Casserole

They say your taste buds change every 7 years. I don't know how true that is but John and I used to hate mushrooms but now we love them. Every once in a while a good casserole on Sundays is just what you need. My family loved this.

Chicken, Mushroom, Broccoli, and Rice Casserole

by For the Love of Cooking

1 T olive oil
1/2 onion
1 lb mushrooms quartered
1 stalk of celery diced
1 (4 ounce) box of Farmhouse Long Grain & Wild Rice (or your favorite brand), prepared per instructions
2 cooked chicken breasts, cubed (I use left over roasted chicken meat)
1 6-8 oz can of sliced water chestnuts, diced (optional, John liked them but I didn't)
1 cup of broccoli florets
1 10 3/4 oz can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 10 3/4 oz can of Cream of Celery soup
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare rice per instructions. In a heated pan add 1/2 tbsp oil and cook mushrooms until golden brown - remove from pan. Add the other 1/2 tbsp of oil to the pan and cook onions and celery until soft. Using a steamer, steam broccoli until just fork tender, then cool. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.

Put into a baking dish and heat uncovered for 30 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes prior to serving.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

Peanut Butter, chocolate, cake mix...how could this not be heaven. I have been making these for a couple years ever since I had them at my friend's chocolate party. This are very, very rich. For me to say that is saying a lot. They are perfect for a PMS moment. Not that I have had any of those for 5 months. They are probably 10,845 Weight Watcher points! Decadent.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
by Greta White

1 (18.25) package plain yellow cake mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 eggs

1 (12 oz) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup coconut (optional...my sister did not like the texture of it in there)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2) Combine cake mix, melted butter, peanut butter, and eggs in a large bowl using a mixer or spoon. Press this into a 9X13 pan reserving 1 1/2 cup of the mixture to crumble on top.

3) In a small pot, melt chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and butter. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and coconut.
4) Spread chocolate mixture over the mixture pressed in the pan and then crumble the 1 1/2 cups of reserved cake mixture on top evenly.
5) Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Deceptive Cooking

It's not a looker, but it tastes so good. I wasn't much of a cook before I got married. In fact the first meal I cooked my husband while we were dating was a chicken broccoli Alfredo pasta from a prepackaged box. John raved about it and kept asking questions like what was in the sauce. I never straight up lied but I avoided the questions as much as I could. The real trouble came when they discontinued the pasta at the store! I thought great, I have lost my man! Lucky for me my roommate Lisa had this recipe for Oven Baked Stew so I cooked it for John along with my Spinach Salad (to come later) and he loved it. Crisis avoided. Don't worry, I came clean about my deception and he married me anyway.
Oven Baked Stew
by Lisa Poulsen

In a paper bag combine:
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 to 1 1/2 lbs lean beef stew meat cut into bite sized pieces.

Place seasoned meat in a covered baking dish. Arrange on top of meat 3 medium potatoes pared, and cut in half or quarters, 6 boiling onions (I just use a regular white onion sometimes) and carrots cut into 1-inch pieces.

Combine and pour over meat and vegetables (sounds weird but it is good):
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 c. ketchup

Cover and bake for 2 hours @ 325 degrees. Garnish with parsley.

One Sinful Concoction

I was supposed to take dessert to my friend's house for dinner and I realized I was missing an ingredient in the dessert I was planning on making. I then remembered my friend Brooke had come up with a ice cream concoction that was to die for and I happened to have all the stuff.
Sinful Ice Cream Concoction
by Brooke Martin

1 half gallon vanilla ice cream
4 cups crushed corn flakes
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup butter, melted

Mix last 4 ingredients all together and layer half on bottom and the other half on top of the softened ice cream. Put in the freezer to chill. We served ours with sliced strawberries and chocolate syrup which really reminded me of Sydney's Sinful Sundae from Outback.

*I tried toasting half the coconut to see if I would like that better than untoasted coconut but really I think either way it's yummy. To toast coconut just layer it on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown.

Chick Food - Oriental Chicken Salad

John dubbed this as "Chick Food" because girls can eat it and call it a meal but for guys it's just an appetizer or a "tease" as he says. Remember he is 6' 6", 260 lbs. It takes a lot to get his cakes full. This is always a hit at "chick" events like baby and bridal showers.
Oriental Chicken Salad

by Lisa Poulsen

1 head of cabbage (shredded)
2 Top Ramen (crushed, raw)
Diced chicken
green onion, chopped
4 T. toasted almonds (I always use m0re)


Dressing:
2 T. sugar
salt
pepper
3/4 c. oil
2 T. white vinegar
2 pkg Ramen flavoring
*Another food blogger said that she adds 1 tsp. of sesame seed oil to the dressing. I can only see that the addition would make it better so I am going to do that from now on. Thanks for the tip Jaime.


Toss in dressing right before serving so it doesn't get soggy. *Make sure you add salt and pepper to the dressing. I forgot last time I made it and it really makes the salad. Also, cabbage shreds into a ton so you made not need it all. If you use it all you may not have enough dressing.

National Pound Cake Day - Italian Pound Cake

I had no idea that it was National Pound Cake Day until I ran across another food blog. Good thing I made my friend Kendee's awesome Italian pound cake. I have known Kendee since I was a kid and she was making good food back then too. I trust her so I knew this would be good. She has her own recipe blog called Pimp my Dinner. It was so good that when I told John I made it he laughed and said, "Ya, you made it" while making quotation marks with his fingers. He thought I bought it and was trying to pull it off as my own. It's pretty much heaven. So moist and full of flavor. You will not be disappointed.
Italian Pound Cake
by Kendee Rowley

1 Yellow Cake Mix (she uses the butter recipe and so did I)
3 eggs
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
1 cup sour cream
1 small vanilla pudding mix
1 package white chocolate chips

Mix everything together except the white chocolate chips. Fold in the chips.REALLY grease and flour your bundt pan.Bake at 350 50-55 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes and remove from pan. You can serve it plain or warm with strawberries and whipped cream.