Chicken & Rice Casserole

1        10½-oz can cream of mushroom soup

1       10½-oz can cream of celery soup

2    soup cans of milk

½   cup butter

2       cups raw long grain white rice

3 or 4 lb. raw chicken, cut up, or breast fillets

Preheat oven to 350º.  Combine soups, milk and butter in saucepan; heat until butter is melted.  Place rice in a 9x13x2-inch baking dish; lay chicken pieces on top of rice. Pour hot soup mixture evenly over rice.  Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes, making sure rice is done.  Serves 8

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

6        whole chicken breasts, boned & cut in half, lengthwise

2        10-oz pkg. frozen broccoli

½   cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1        cup buttered bread crumbs

Sauce (below)

Boil chicken strips until done. Cook broccoli according to package directions.  Arrange evenly in buttered 9x13x2-inch baking dish; arrange strips of chicken evenly crosswise over broccoli. Pour sauce over chicken/broccoli. Sprinkle with cheese and bread crumbs.  Bake at 350º for 25 to 30 minutes,  Serves 6

Sauce:  Combine:

2        10½-oz. cans cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1         4-oz. can sliced mushrooms, undrained

1       cup mayonnaise

½   tsp. curry powder

Sour Cream Biscuits

So simple, they’re almost not a recipe!  You’ll make these often.

1       cup self rising flour

     ¼   tsp. baking soda

     ¾   cup dairy sour cream

Preheat oven to 450º  Sift the flour and baking soda into a medium size bowl; stir in sour cream.  Mix with a large tablespoon until combined into a nice smooth dough. You’ll think it won’t come together but,  trust me, it will. Keep on stirring and soon all of the sour cream is gone and you’ll have a nice dough.  Turn out on a lightly floured surface and, with floured hands, fold over a couple of times and pat out to about ½-inch thickness.  Cut out with a floured 2-inch biscuit cutter for dinner biscuits or, for southern “cathead” biscuits, use a large 3-inch biscuit cutter.  Place on a lightly greased pan and bake for about 12 minutes until  nicely brown on top. Brush tops with soft butter . Serve with jam, honey or cream gravy. This recipe will make about 6, 2-inch biscuits or 4, 3-inch biscuits.

Peach Cobbler

Put together when you start dinner.  It’ll be done and cool enough to eat when you finish dinner!  And if you bake one of the above casseroles, it can be done together in the same 350 degree oven!

½ cup (1 stick butter), melted

1       cup self rising flour

1        cup sugar

1        cup milk

29-oz can peach slices, with juice (not pie filling!)

Preheat oven to 350º. Pour melted butter in a 2-qt-casserole baking dish. Combine flour, sugar and milk, stirring with whisk to blend well.  Pour this mixture over melted butter. Pour peach slices, with juice, over batter mixture. Do not stir.  Bake for 55 to 60 minutes. The batter will rise to the top during baking and form a beautiful golden crust.  Cool slightly before serving. Top each serving with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Yum!!!  6 to 8 servings

Rachel’s Snow Ice Cream

Use only freshly fallen clean snow…The snow can be kept in a bowl in the freezer!

2       large eggs

½   cup sweetened condensed milk

¼   cup sugar

1         Tbsp. vanilla extract

Combine the first 4 ingredients together, beating well.  Scoop up a big bowl of fresh snow and combine with the egg mixture. Enjoy!

Optional:  Drizzle maple syrup on top, if desired

A deli-roasted chicken will usually yield about 4 cups of chopped meat, just right for most casserole recipes.  De-bone and chop chicken meat while still warm (easier), place in freezer bag and label for your next chicken pot pie.

Keep some cream soups in your pantry for impulsive casserole dishes. Chicken, mushroom and celery are good choices. Also small cans of chopped pimientos, sliced mushrooms, chicken broth and bread crumbs are good.

After all that heavy cooking Thanksgiving and Christmas, don’t you just love simple one-dish meals! Here are 2 simple but hardy rib-sticking casseroles that require just a little time to prepare.  I think you’ll want to add them to your recipe file and make them often. Serve with scrumptious Sour Cream Biscuits.