Creamy Chicken Noodle Tomato Bisque Casserole

Please pardon my well used casserole dish.

I love playing around with food and trying out new combinations of some of my favorites. This recipe was born out of one of those experiments.  It's really simple and in my opinion very tasty.  It also received the seal of approval from my son, who is a very picky critic.

I'm following Weight Watchers and this dish has a little bit higher point count than I normally eat. But, I'm willing to use a few extra points now and then to have a creamy, cheesy, comfort food.

Ingredients:

• 1 - 12.5 oz. can of chicken breast meat, drained
• 1 - can of condensed Campbell's Tomato Bisque Soup
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 oz. of cream cheese
• 3 cups of egg noodles, cooked and drained
• 1/2 cup colby jack cheese, shredded 
• cyan pepper, to taste
• Morton's Nature's Season Seasoning Blend, to taste

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Cook and drain egg noodles.
• Drain chicken and place in a bowl, breaking it up with a fork.
• Season the chicken with cyan pepper and season salt to taste.
• Add the soup mix, water, chicken, and cream cheese to the noodles.
• Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until cream cheese is completely melted and everything is blended.
• Pour mixture into a medium casserole dish and cover with shredded cheese.
• Place in preheated oven and cook about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and starting to brown.

This will yield 4 generous size servings, 12 points per serving.  Pair this with some fresh steamed vegetables and this makes a great meal.  (If you steam those vegetables with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray and some season salt or Cajun seasoning, they will be 0 points.)  YUMMY! 

Easy Chicken & Rice Casserole

Ingredients:

• 2 cups instant brown rice
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 12.5 oz. can of premium chicken in water
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup of milk 
• 1/2 sweet onion chopped
• 2 tbsp of butter
• 2 tsp of chicken flavored broth base (I use Orrington Farms)
• 1 cup of shredded cheese

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place medium size sauce pan on medium heat.  Add 2 tbsp of butter and chopped onion.  Saute onions until almost clear.  Add 1 & 3/4 cups of water and 2 tsp of chicken broth base.  Let the water come to a boil and add 2 cups rice.  When it comes back to a boil, turn down heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Drain water from chicken.  Combine chicken and soup.  Add cooked rice to soup and chicken.  Stir in 1/2 cup of milk, more or less, depending on the consistency desired.
• Cook uncovered in a casserole dish for 20 minutes.
• Sprinkle on the cheese and return to the oven until cheese is melted and starts to brown.

Beef Goulash

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 3 cups water
• 2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 2 (15 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes
• 12 oz bag of frozen green beans (steam in bag before adding)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp Lowry's Seasoning Salt
• garlic power to taste
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked instant brown rice

Directions:

• In a large pot, cook ground beef over medium heat until browned, remove any extra grease.  Add onion and saute until transparent.  Add 3 cups water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, cooked instant brown rice, steamed green beans, all seasonings, and soy sauce.  Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes. 

This was a Paula Deen recipe that was going around on Facebook, but I made so many alterations to it that I didn't think I should call it "Paula Deen."  My family loved this and I plan on making it a regular menu item at our house.  There were also leftovers that tasted even better the next day!