5-Star Casserole, Part 2
Working these days seems to leave me without a brain to come up with ideas for dinner, so I have been working through Cooking Light's list of Five-Star Casseroles. I must admit that the Tamale Chicken Casserole, was better the second today. On tonight's menu was Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese Again, I am not sure I would rate it "5-Star", but it is quick, easy, and again, relatively inexpensive to make. Also, the recipe makes a quite a bit. I must admit, for those of us who love my mom's spaghetti recipe, this recipe is more savory, and lacks in some of the flavor, but that could be modified with some tweaking made to the tomato base next time. I would also add one more can of the diced tomatoes. Overall, I would give it a 5 for ease and economy, and a 3.5 for taste, but generally think it is worth a try. Finally, I wasn't sure I would have a casserole dish large enough so I ended it up cooking it in the crock for my crock pot which worked perfectly.

Something new, something different
One of my favorite stand-by recipes is Mexican Chicken Casserole from Cooking Light, but it is not one of my son's favorites. And while cooking meals that he will like is not my only goal, it is nicer when we can all sit down and eat the same family meal. I have been in such a cooking rut of late, but committed to trying new recipes this week. The first one I made is another mexican chicken dish called Chicken Tamale Casserole. The upsides of this dish, (1) it is very easy, (2) it makes a lot (3) it is relatively inexpensive, and (4) both Jack AND Scott liked it. I still prefer my old standby, but this might have to be added into the rotation. The only change I would definitely make in the future is to use a different brand of corn bread mix. I had a ton of Jiffy brand on hand so that is what I used and I think it made the base too sweet. Also, I just boiled two frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a pot of water with some better than bouillon and shredded them when they were almost completely cooked through. The shredded meat was enough to cover the 13x9" pan that I served it in. Other tips? I would bake the cornbread mixture slightly longer than than the 15 minutes recommended, but that could have just been my oven that was messed up. I also probably used more cheese than it called for which probably makes the recipe not as healthy, but more tasty! I served the casserole with a salad of fresh tomatoes and avocado and it made a wonderful side dish to this easy weeknight meal.