Cream of Mushroom Chicken

I am going to take a moment here to do a little product advertising. (If only I was getting paid for this!) One of the best things you could ever invest in stocking your pantry with is: condensed Cream of Mushroom soup and condensed Cream of Chicken soup. These two condensed soups can act as the core ingredient for many different meals. Cream of Chicken soup is the main ingredient in my creamy chicken enchilada recipe. And Cream of Mushroom soup can act as a sauce for a pasta dish, as a gravy for chicken and mashed potatoes, and so much more. Rarely ever do I use these two soups as they are intended. So the next time you are in the grocery store, take a look at the different kinds of condensed soups and consider them not as soups, but as the base of a sauce. You'll be surprised at how delicious it can be and, even better, how easy it'll make preparing dinner!

This recipe in particular is one of the easiest dinner recipes ever, which is why I love it so much. It is great in flavor and wonderful for those cold fall evenings when I want something warm to eat. Whether I'm really busy, or just feeling lazy, I can whip this dinner out no problem. Also, if you have read my previous posts, you know that I am also promoting making double batches so you can freeze one batch and save it for another easy heat-and-eat dinner night. So below I have already doubled the amount. If you don't want to make a second batch to freeze, simply cut the ingredient amounts in half.

Cream of Mushroom Chicken

Ingredients:
 2 10oz cans Cream of Mushroom soup
 8 chicken breasts
4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon salt (I usually use garlic salt)
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Place 4 chicken breasts into a medium sized casserole dish and the other 4 chicken breasts into a gallon freezer bag. Cover the chicken in the casserole dish with 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. Then cover the chicken in the freezer bag with 1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup. Sprinkle 1/2 of the rosemary, salt, and pepper over the chicken and soup mixture in the casserole dish, and the other half of the spices over the chicken and soup mixture in the freezer bag.

Cover the casserole dish with a lid or tin foil.

Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.

Serve chicken hot. The soup and chicken grease will be liquidy and make an excellent gravy for mashed potatoes and veggies on the side.

Close the freezer bag, squish around the ingredients to help mix it together, and place into the freezer. When you are ready to cook the frozen chicken, simply defrost the chicken, place the contents of the bag into a casserole dish, and follow the cooking instructions above.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Making dinner at the end of a busy day is often a pain in the neck. As a result, too many people turn to fast food to calm their growling tummies. But what if I told you that there is a way you can have a delicious home cooked meal ready with as little effort as turning on the oven? The answer: pre-made frozen meals. In the next few days, I will be posting recipes that are not only quick and easy to make, but they will be double the quantity so you can freeze half of it for a second meal. This way, if you make this dish on the weekend, you can save the other half for dinner during the week. And who could say no to an easy heat and eat dinner after a long day's work?

This recipe is one of my all time favorite dinners to make. It is a creamy, cheesy, gooey, delicious version of a classic: the chicken enchilada. Just be sure not to make the same mistake I did the night I made it for my best friend. Rather than use chili powder in the mix, I accidentally used cayenne pepper. My friend and I were fanning the flames from our mouths that night! But if you feel adventurous, this recipe is one that you can easily play with. I often will toss in corn and bell pepper just to mix things up. Or, to make a low-fat version, use low fat cream of chicken soup and low fat yogurt.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked chicken, shredded
1 cup plain yogurt
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
¼ cup chopped green onions
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1/3 cup sliced olives
10 flour tortillas

Foil line two 8x8 baking pans. Spray both with cooking spray.

Combine chicken, yogurt, soup, 2/3 of the cheese, onions, and chili powder. Place about ¼ cup of mixture in each tortilla and roll. Place 5 rolls in each pan and cover with remaining chicken mixture. Top with the remaining cheese. Place one pan in the freezer for a future meal.

Cook the unfrozen Enchiladas at 350° F for 30 min.
To prepare frozen enchiladas, simply defrost and cook as directed above.

Shredding Chicken

This post is just a quick tip about shredding chicken. It is a simple and quick technique that will help volumize the chicken (no, I'm not talking about giving your chicken a stylish hairdo), and distribute it more evenly throughout your dish. I use this technique whenever I make enchiladas (the recipe soon to come) so that I can have plenty of chicken throughout my dish without really using a lot of chicken. So in the long run, this two minute process can help you save some money too!

Do you want to know the grand secret?....Shred it with a fork! It's a no-brainer, right? Well, when I was new to the kitchen, I had no idea about shredding chicken. I had thought that shredding chicken involved shoving a chicken breast into the food processor, pulverizing the poultry to bits. But really, it's even easier than that! Simply hold down the cooked chicken breast with either your hand or another fork and then, using another fork, scrape at the chicken breast. The chicken breast will look kind of stringy and begin to pull apart. Continue to scrape at the breast until the entire breast has been shredded. That's it!

You can use this technique for making pulled-chicken sandwiches, for soups, or basically anywhere where a recipe calls for "cubed chicken." Shredding the chicken not only distributes it more evenly throughout your dish, but it also makes it a little softer to chew for those of you who don't particularly like nomming on a rubbery chunk of chicken.

So shred away, readers!