Green Bean Casserole

When Jen and I were figuring out the menu for Thanksgiving #2 I had thought about fixing Alton Brown's real-deal-don't-use-canned-soup green bean casserole. Jen said she'd made it, and it wasn't worth the time or effort. Our friend Danielle had made this for our Halloween party, and we both liked it, so Jen got the recipe from her. Turned out it was super easy, and the best part was NO CANNED SOUP! I have no idea where Danielle got this recipe, so I can only give her credit for it. I've always loved green bean casserole, but I thought this was much better than the typical green beans, cream of mushroom soup, french fried onion casserole most people are used to. Whenever I need to make a green bean casserole--which sadly isn't that often--this is what I'm going to make!

Norma Watkin's Green Bean Casserole

1 TBS butter
2 tsp flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp grated onion
1 pint sour cream
1/2 lb swiss cheese- grated
2 (16oz) cans green beans
cracker crumbs **(this is where I use the fried onion topping)

Melt butter in saucepan and stir in flour, salt, pepper, sugar, and onion. Add sour cream. Stir until thickened. Stir in cheese until melted. Grease a 1 1/2 qt casserole. Place beans in first, top with cheese sauce, and cover with cracker crumbs. Bake at 400 for 20 min. Serves 8.

*****

Like I already said, this was awesome. Everyone really liked it. I was worried the sauce was going to be a pain to put together, like a normal roux, but it really came together fast. My sauce seemed to separate a little when they cooked, but no one really noticed, even when I mentioned it. I didn't have an entire half pound of swiss cheese, so I used six ounces of that and a handful or so of Monterey Jack. I also used fresh green beans--at the request of my brother--instead of canned. Really I wouldn't have used canned anyway, at the least I would use frozen. This was so yummy...my new go-to Green Bean Casserole!

Chicken Spectacular

Neither of my kids are napping today like they were supposed to, so this is going to be really short. Years ago when I was doing Weight Watchers I stumbled across a WW recipe website that had a ton of great recipes on it. This was one I printed off, and we've loved it ever since. It's one of my most favorite casserole recipes. Have I mentioned I'm on a casserole and crockpot kick lately? I don't know why, maybe because dinner time has been so crazy lately I want something easy in an effort to make things slightly calmer. Anyway, I had originally planned on roasting a chicken on Thursday night (the baby's birthday) and then using the leftover chicken meat to make this casserole tomorrow night. But, I got too excited at the idea of having this casserole because we haven't had it in forever, so I changed it around and just cooked up some chicken breasts to use for it.

Chicken Spectacular

By the way, it's 8 points per serving. I have a hard time sticking to just one serving though. ;)

Chicken Casserole Surprise

I forgot to post this last night after I made it. Darn, and I had been doing so well this week! I had planned on making something slightly different but when it came time to start dinner, I realized I didn't have some of the ingredients. Oops. So I came up with this all on my own.

Chicken Casserole Surprise
2-3 cups cooked chicken
1 can green beans (or half a bag of frozen, defrosted)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 box Stove Top, prepared per pacakage directions

Preheat oven to 375. Mix together chicken, green beans, soup, and cheese. Spread in 11x7 casserole dish. Top with Stove Top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

*****

Pretty easy. It was really good, too. I didn't really know how long to bake it for, so I started with 20 minutes and checked it every five minutes from there. The boy didn't really eat it, but he's had a fever off and on for the past couple days, so his eating habits have been a bit unusual. The husband and I both really liked it. And it didn't make an insane amount, so we won't be eating it for days and days.

I won't be posting for a few days...I don't have to make dinner again until Sunday!! Tonight I'm going out with some friends, tomorrow is the husband's last day at his current job so he's going to happy hour with friends, and Saturday he's playing golf and won't be home until after dinner. I guess technically I'll be making something for the boy and me, but it won't be anything fancy. So, enjoy the long weekend, and I'll be back on Sunday!