Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Casserole!

You know those nights...the ones where you don't have any idea what the heck to cook up for dinner, so you spend a half hour staring blankly into your fridge or pantry until you finally give up and call for take-out. After WAY too many of those nights, I came home determined and pulled out an armful of stuff from the fridge and pantry, threw it together in a pan and cooked it up. It. Was. AMAZEBALLS. Full of flavor, healthy and homemade from scratch, and you can alter the ingredients depending on what you have lurking in your fridge and pantry (or you can make it exactly like it is here!) I call it the Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Casserole, but you can just call it a life-saver for the next time you don't know what to make, but still wanna look like Super-Wife/Mom/Cook.

Everything But The Kitchen Sink Casserole

You'll need:

Chicken Breasts, trimmed of fat and cut into large cubes/chunks

4-6 small red-skin potatoes, sliced very thin

4-6 sliced uncooked bacon, unheated

1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup Hannaford Inspirations 3-Cheese Blend

1/2 cup Sargento Chef Blends 6-Cheese Italian

1 can cut green beans, well drained

1 can sliced carrots, well drained

1.5 tbsp. onion powder (or 1 small onion, diced finely)

1 tbsp. Parsley (fresh or dried)

1.5 tsp fresh or minced garlic

Salt and Pepper - to taste

1 can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic soup

1/4 cup margarine/butter

1 loaf of good, crusty or Italian bread (optional)

Get started!

Preheat your oven to 400.

Spray a 13 x 9 pan with non-stick spray. Line pan with 4-6 slices of bacon. Slice potatoes very thin and cover bacon with potato slices. Sprinkle just until covered with salt and pepper, onion powder and parsley, then cut the 1/4 cup of butter into the pan, with 1 chunk in each corner.

Sprinkle the cheddar, 3-cheese and 6-cheese blends over the top until covered. Set the pan aside.

Cut chicken into large cubes/chunks. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix together soup, 2 cans of milk, salt and pepper (to taste), 1 tbsp. of parsley and onion powder/diced onion and 1.5 tsp of minced garlic. Stir well.

Add cubed chicken to mixture and stir well until chicken in coated with sauce. Pour over the potatoes in the pan.

Drain canned carrots and potatoes well. Pour into pan and push the veggies gently down into the sauce so they are slightly covered. 

 Bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked thoroughly and all veggies (including your potatoes at the bottom) are tender. Be sure to remove the pan from the oven to stir it gently every 10-15 minutes so your sauce won't burn and your veggies and meat cook evenly.

Serve immediately with good, crusty bread and butter. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.  

What easy-peasy recipes do YOU rely on for those crazy-busy nights?