recipe: skinny tex-mex pasta bake

Living alone again means that when I cook a dinner, I normally eat it for a couple days.. so when I can make something that is great for eating leftovers, I'm all sortsa pumped.

This casserole was perfection.

Meat, carbs, veggies... all in one delicious dish that I can heat up in the microwave day after day and it still tastes just as delicious. PLUS.. it's fairly good for you as long as you're not on the Atkins kick again.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• 1 can 10.75 ounce Campbell's Healthy Request Cheddar Cheese Soup
• 1 can 10.75 ounce Campbell's Healthy Request Tomato Soup
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 can 4.5 ounce green chilies
• 1 10 ounce can Rotel Mild tomatoes
• 1 15 ounce can Black Beans
• 1 15 ounce can Sweet Corn
• 2 cups cooked whole wheat penne pasta
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1/2 tbs dried cilantro

TO DO: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a casserole dish.
2. Cook the garlic, onion, and meat in a large skillet until turkey is cooked through.
3. Drain any grease and add in cheddar cheese soup, tomatoes, chilies, 1 tbsp of chili powder, cumin, and salt/pepper to your liking. Cook 3-5 minutes. 

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together tomato soup and 1/2 cup of water.
5. Add that mixture to the cooked pasta, and layer that on the bottom of the dish. 

6. Layer the meat/cheese mixture on top of the noodles. 

7. In another small bowl, mix together the corn, black beans, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tbsp cilantro. 

8. Bake for 15 minutes and voila! It's delicious and ready to eat! 

It seems like a lot of ingredients and dishes and such, but it was really easy to make and saved me a lot of time for the rest of the week... so I'll definitely be making it again. 

love,

elizabethany

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pinspired recipe: chicken parmesan casserole is to die for

For whatever reason, I totally crave all things spaghetti/pizza/etc on the weekends. I try to feed the cravings with mini english muffin pizzas, but sometimes I need more.

Let me just tell you right now... this Chicken Parmesan Casserole that I found on Pinterest is the freakin' bomb diggity.

Making it is SO EASY. 

You need: 

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• some red pepper flakes, depending on how much spice you'd like to add
• 4-6 chicken breasts [to cover the bottom of your baking dish]
• 2-3 cups of marinara sauce, depending on how much sauce you'd like
• 2 cups of low fat mozzarella cheese
• parmesan cheese
• 3.5 oz of garlic or italian seasoned croutons
• basil. I used dried basil, so I just sprinkled a bunch across the whole plate

You DO: 

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Spread the garlic and red paper flakes and olive oil across the bottom of a 13x9 baking sheet
• Cover the sheet with your chicken, but don't overlap. 
• Put the marinara sauce on top of the chicken, then sprinkle the basil. 
• Put half of your mozzarella cheese on top, then sprinkle some parmesan cheese [I didn't use a whole lot because I'm not a big parmesan fan, but use what you'd like!]
• Put down a layer of croutons
• Throw the rest of the cheese on top, and bake for 40 minutes.

Seriously, the easiest. So easy, that when it came out, I didn't think twice about digging right in. I forgot this was something I was supposed to be showing off.

Yeah, the cheese on top was a little burnt because my oven hates cheesy things, but it was still amazing!

The croutons stayed a little crispy, but also soaked up some of the sauce and cheese which made it the perfect texture. [This may seem weird, but my mouth is super sensitive. Anything hard like croutons or cereal that hasn't been soaked in milk tears my gums up. Not fun.]

Considering most people have a lot of those ingredients on hand on any given day, it's a pretty solid option for a weeknight dinner... and I will absolutely be making it many more times. 

love,
elizabethany

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