Menu Monday: Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

Crazy weather we’re having, I think it’s affecting my kid’s appetites. That or they are turning into the voracious food vacuums people warned me about when I was chasing their mouths around with a spoon full of mashed peas. Owen is eating more than I am right now, and his ankles are peeking out under his school pants…again. I keep thinking we can just put him in shorts where the length of his legs won’t be quite the issue it is in long pants, but snow threatens again this week, and comfort food, food that grows boys tall, is in order. What a vicious cycle.

This week we’re having:
Monday – Pizza (another attempt at the homemade crust and the piled on goodness)
Kris has a very busy week this week. Lots of people in town, meetings and catching up at the office. That being the case, this week is going to feature meals that are a little more kid friendly. Like…pizza. I use a simple pizza crust recipe that I will share one day.

Pizza is my definition of a complete meal. It has everything I love. Bread, meat, veggies and melted cheese. What could possibly be better?

Here’s a little Mary history that could serve as a tip for busy moms: When I was a kid, we would have pizza bread for dinner now and then. You need a sturdy bread, not that white stuff that comes in long bags, the kind that will hold up under a little sauce and cheese. My mom made it on her homemade bread and I do the same for my boys in a pinch. Spread about a tablespoon of pizza sauce on the bread, sprinkle a topping or two on top, we usually only had ground beef (that grass fed stuff my dad raises) and around here I usually have turkey pepperoni or maybe we just keep it simple and let the cheese stand alone. Regardless, the boys love pizza bread and if you throw in some colorful fruits and veggies, it’s not a bad meal. I put as many slices of bread on a cookie sheet that I can, distribute sauce and toppings on each and bake for around 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Tuesday – Snacky Dinner (I think I told you last time that we only do this twice a month. It may be more than that.)
This week, I’ll be picking up some avocados to throw in the mix. I haven’t had my avocados in a while, and I miss them. I will also be cutting up some more sweet potatoes and roasting them. The boys (including Kris) loved them last week. I peel the potato with a potato peeler and then using a big, strong, dangerous knife I cut the potato into small pieces. I line them into a baking pan I’ve drizzled with olive oil and drizzle just a little bit more on top. I sprinkle them with salt, pepper and powdered sage. I bake them about 20 minutes at 400 degrees, turning them once. If you cut them thin enough, they’ll get a little crispy, but even mushy, I really like them. The rest of snacky dinner will be the usual fair, carrot sticks, apples, frozen blueberries etc.

Wednesday – Grilled Cheese (Yep…a busy week)
We can make our grilled cheese extra fancy if we want. We can make it a little healthier, by not spreading butter on each slice of bread, just put a little in the bottom of the skillet so the bread isn’t completely dry. We can put sliced tomato in with the cheese, a little onion or some of that avocado again, but really, it’s a cheese sandwich, just enjoy it.

Thursday – Chicken & Broccoli Casserole (take two)
If you google Chicken & Broccoli Casserole, you’ll see lots of similar recipes and about 75% of them include canned soup of some kind in the recipe. That’s one reason I looked elsewhere for a recipe. Canned soups are not good for us. They are full of sodium which is one of my favorite things, but if you are someone whose cholesterol is affected by sodium, there should be other things to eat. Worse than the sodium though is this little ingredient called MSG. MSG or Mono-sodium Glutamate is a flavor enhancer. It was once explained to me like this: “MSG is a chemical that tricks your brain into recognizing foods that have no flavor, as having flavor and making you believe they taste good.” It is also linked to some really ugly symptoms like headaches, flushing, sweating, facial pressure or tightness, numbness, tingling or burning in the face, neck and other areas, rapid, fluttering heartbeats (heart palpitations), chest pain, nausea, weakness and I’ve even heard of one person whose reaction to an overdose of MSG at a Chinese restaurant made them think they were having a stroke. They had long term affects from too much MSG all at once. Most of us are not affected by it, but as for me and my house, we will serve something else.

The recipe below is straight out of my Amish and Mennonite Kitchens cookbook. I am giving them credit here in hopes that I don’t get sued. I’m not worried about the Amish, they would go to hell if they sued me, but the Mennonites are a little more tricky. I am going to say up front that this is NOT a “skinny” recipe. It’s a comfort food, but it’s got a lot of potential to be much healthier and at the end of the recipe I will walk your through a few steps I’ve used to make it so.

Friday – Nachos (make it your way)
There are so many ways to make nachos. Kris likes it when I put the tortilla chips in a pan, sprinkle warm toppings and cheese on top and bake it until the cheese melts. Some people plop each individual stack of chips, cheese and toppings on a plate and heat them in the microwave. I like to melt all my cheese and beans and stuff together and then eat my chips with it as a dip. Do it your way, have fun with it, but for the record, I don’t recommend the microwave.

Saturday – Breakfast (MY FAVORITE!!!!)
We love us some breakfast for dinner around here. This time, I’m makin’ waffles. There are so many waffle recipes too. Those avocados I keep mentioning…you make waffles with them. Those sweet potatoes…waffles. There are tons of really good things you can mix into a waffle and then you don’t have to cover it in sugary syrup, you can cook down some blueberries with a little sugar and have a yummy tart topping. Just sprinkle a little powdered sugar on them and cut up some strawberries…delish. Seriously, it doesn’t have to kill you. I once made carrot pancakes and the boys ate them like giant sugar cookies. They were that good and only had a little raw sugar in them. Alternatives are out there, you just have to take a few minutes to hunt them down. We will be having bacon with this meal. We will also scramble some farm fresh eggs and we will drink some orange juice and we will smile across the table at one another and call each other fat.

Sunday – Ham (Easter, just isn’t Easter without a dead pig on the table…it’s reminiscent of our freedom in Christ…we are no longer bound by the law…we can eat pig)
I’m going to roast a ham and fix a bunch of traditional sides, because now and then it’s good to smell a ham and mash some potatoes and butter a roll. Yes, it’s very good.

I wonder if we should invite someone over.

“from Amish and Mennonite kitchens”
Chicken Broccoli Casserole Makes 10 servings
1 1/4 lb. fresh broccoli (chopped and cooked [or 2 10oz. pkgs.])
4-6 cups cooked chicken, coarsely diced
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine
6 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 cups milk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Directions:
1. Layer broccoli on bottom of greased 9″ x 13″ baking dish. Layer chicken over broccoli.
2. In saucepan melt the butter. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Gradually stir in the milk and continue stirring until the white sauce is smooth and comes to a boil. Remove from heat.
3. Combine mayonnaise and lemon juice with white sauce and pour over chicken and broccoli. Sprinkle with cheese.
4. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter. Stir in bread crumbs and sprinkle over casserole.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Now…here’s my changes.

1. Don’t pre-cook the broccoli! The more raw the better. I often wash and chop my broccoli when I get it home from the store and then stick it in the freezer. Then when I go to make this recipe (and even if I put it off for two weeks) I have fairly fresh broccoli and I can start it off frozen which slows down the cooking process a little in the oven. I like my casserole to still have a little crunch to it.

2. I pan sear the chicken in olive oil and save all the drippings for use in the recipe. Instead of 6 tablespoons of butter, I use as much of the oil from cooking the chicken as I can and use that to make my white sauce. If there’s not enough of that, I have used bacon grease that I’ve saved or I’ll use butter. The oil and bacon grease has much better flavor, I’m not wasting anything and a good olive oil is better for you than butter…I know bacon grease isn’t really good for you, but it sure does taste good.

3. I don’t use as much salt as called for because the oil is already salty. I just sprinkle in a little to taste after it’s all mixed together.

4. I don’t add the mayonnaise. It’s really not necessary. I love the lemon juice and I might use a little more milk and some homemade chicken broth to make sure there is enough of the sauce, but the mayonnaise is really not going to make a huge difference.

5. That cheddar cheese…it’s best to grate your own. Grated cheeses, along with a lot of other foods have cellulose in them. Cheese manufacturers add it to keep the grated cheese from sticking together in the bag. That’s what makes it so nice and easy to use, but it’s a chemically altered food product, not a real food product. Do I ever use grated cheese from the store? Yes. Do I like myself for it? No. When I’m a good girl, like today, I use a cheese grater and do it myself. It tastes better too, it really does.

6. I make my own bread crumbs. I know…that’s overboard, but I make my own bread, homemade bread gets moldy more quickly because I don’t put crazy preservatives in it and so when I realize it’s getting to the four day and more mark and I’m not going to use it, I cut it up into cubes and let it dry out in a warm oven for several hours. I might put a few herbs and spices on it just for fun, but it’s basically just bread. Then I put it a little at a time into my blender and pulverize the mess out of it. Voila, bread crumbs. It’s not rocket science.

I know, I know…a lot of time consuming things there, and planning ahead is crucial to doing some of those things. Thus a weekly menu. I’m not trying to convict anyone. Every one of these healthier tips are things I’m doing as I can. I’m not under law about any of them…except the canned soup. I don’t buy those so they aren’t in my house to cheat with. I’ve learned the more I take the time to do things the “hard way” the easier they get and I am always so proud of myself when I’ve done the best for my family, and whether they know it or not, they are better for it.