How to Make a 6 Ingredient, Cheap and Easy Dinner! | My Kitchen! My Rules!

November 4, 2020

Welcome Fall! And welcome back to My Kitchen! My Rules!

It's Fall and we tend to lean towards warm and comforting dinner ideas to serve our family that can be made in just about 30 minutes and all in one dish! This super easy 6-ingredient chicken and rice casserole recipe is loaded with protein and so quick to put together.  We call it Casserole in a Crunch, as it truly is a fast dish to make when you just need to make a great, filling meal with not much preparation or thought!

Shazam – we're done! Check out the glorious goodness and give my recipe a try the next time you need dinner in a crunch!

#Casserole #EasyDinners #MyKithcenMyRules

SECRET TIP:

It is ok to freeze your leftover chicken casserole! Make sure you place in an airtight container or tightly wrap with aluminum foil then wrap with plastic wrap before you freeze. When you are ready to use, remove and allow to thaw in the fridge overnight before placing it again in the oven to bake and heat. You can freeze chicken casserole for up to 3 months.  So go ahead and make a big batch!  Bon appetit! 


Here's some fun info ...

The word casserole originally referred to the pan in which the dish was cooked. Casserole is from a French word meaning "sauce-pan"; a large, deep dish used either to cook something in an oven or to serve the food cooked in it. The French word  "casserole"  had been derived from the old Provencal word, "cassa" and the Medieval Latin word, "cattia", both of these words meaning "ladle". This seemed to imply that these words were describing a common pot from which everyone shared. French cassoulet, Spanish paella, British pot pies and Italian lasagna, to name only a few, seemed to be derived from this idea.

Cool History Lesson:  A recipe, written in Latin, for the precursor of a famous casserole - macaroni and cheese - is found in the " Liber de Cucina". It was written by a person familiar with the Neapolitan court of Charles II of Anjou (1254-1309). The recipe named,"de lasnis", called for pasta sheets cooked in water, layered with grated cheese, probably Parmesan, and mild spices, if desired.  Centuries later, after a stay in Italy 1787, Thomas Jefferson brought a pasta machine back to Monticello. His daughter, Mary Randolph, serving as the President's hostess since the death of her mother, prepared a similar dish made with pasta and Parmesan cheese. Later the Parmesan was replaced by Cheddar. Mary's pasta and cheese dish was later served at the President Jefferson's White House starting in 1802 and a recipe for the dish was included in her 1824 cookbook, "The Virginia Housewife".  

In the late 19th century, the New World embraced casseroles, inspired by these kinds of dishes brought by immigrants from many different cultures. They provided economical, communal  sustenance during the depressions of the 1890's and 1930's and the scarcity of food items during both World Wars. In the 1950's, smaller home kitchens, the availability of light-weight ovenproof cookware and the greater availability of canned foods, for example, Campbell Soup Company's Creamed soup line; celery, chicken, mushroom, broccoli, cheddar cheese, etc, made the casserole a simple, easy and cheap way to use leftover foods to serve the whole family. As a matter of fact, Campbell emphasized the great casserole potential of these soups and that contributed to the mass appeal of these dishes to the public and to the explosion of casserole dishes in the 1950's. There are probably very few of you that are reading this, from whatever background you come, that cannot look back on a casserole from your youth that you really loved, or, alternatively, hated because you were forced to eat it. In any case, today casserole dishes, some using the finest, most expensive ingredients to those that still  are prepared by pouring the contents of an open can or two over some left-overs and then baked, are eaten and enjoyed all over the world.

Globally, there are many names for casserole and many different ingredients.  Here are a few synonyms for casserole:

  • goulash
  • hash
  • pottage
  • stew
  • covered dish
  • meat pie
  • pot pie
  • stroganoff

What are the three main parts of a casserole? It varies from culture to culture and home to home, but generally in the United States, a casserole is typically a baked food with three main components: pieces of meat (such as chicken or ground meat) or fish (such as tuna), various chopped vegetables, and a starchy binder (such as flour, potato or pasta); sometimes, there is also a crunchy or cheesy topping.  If you are using pre-cooked chicken like a rotisserie or cooked the chicken in a skillet first, then the chicken casserole needs about 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 F. Raw chicken will take longer and larger pieces of chicken will take about 30-40 minutes.  The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service recommends cooking chicken until it has an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Take a look at these for ingredient ideas - 70 Best Casserole Recipes That Are Just as Easy to Make as They Are Delicious

https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g1279/casserole-dinner-recipes/



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REALTOR®. Author. Coach. Keynote speaker. Leigh Brown is laser-focused on inspiring people to be better, strive for more, and to take the reins and lead!

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