Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

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This recipe comes from my mom. It utilizes some shortcuts, like a roaster chicken and frozen broccoli spears.  It is ultra comforting and a delicious meal I loved growing up.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole
Makes 6 servings


2 boxes broccoli spears
1 roaster chicken, chicken pieces removed
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can mayo (use empty cream of chicken soup can)
1 tsp. paprika
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp. butter
1 c. dried breadcrumbs

1. Spray a 9“x13” baking dish.

2. Thaw and drain broccoli spears in a colander. Place in bottom of baking dish.

3. Tear apart roaster chicken. Add chicken pieces on top of broccoli.

4. Mix cream of chicken soup with mayo and paprika. Spread on chicken. Top with cheese.

5. Melt butter in skillet and add dried breadcrumbs. Mix. Toast in pan  until butter is melted and incorporated.

6. Add breadcrumb mixture to top of cheese.

7. Bake at 350-f degrees for 30 minutes.

Recipe from my mom!

The Legendary Apple Cider Grilling Sauce

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If you are a salmon lover and are looking for a new way to serve it to your family, I have an amazing recipe for you today. Are you familiar with American Spoon Foods? It is sort of a foodie lovers dream. They have all sorts of jams, preservers and grilling sauces available. The only downside is the price. Our favorite item to buy was the Apple Cider Grilling Sauce, but at almost $10 a jar, the price was just not reasonable.

My mom has been perfecting her own Apple Cider Grilling Sauce copycat recipe for some time now and she has finally done it. Compared to the packaged sauce that we had bought in the past, we think our version has much more flavor and tastes amazing.

The main flavors we have are apple, spices and onions.  You may wonder why we didn't use an actual apple cider in the recipe. This is because the concentrate and the old bay seasoning provide the spices you would normally have in an apple cider, plus a little bit extra like celery seed.

One ingredient that some cooks may not have on hand is the Fox Point Seasoning made by Penzeys. If you are wondering what to sub for this, it is a mixture of freeze dried shallots, chives and scallions.

Apple Onion Salmon Glaze
Makes approx. 1 1/2 cups of glaze

1 12 oz. can apple juice concentrate (2/3 of it is used immediately, reserve 1/3)
2 tsp. dried minced onion
1/4 tsp. Penzeys Fox Point seasoning
1 tsp. Old Bay
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. brown sugar

Thickener:
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/3 of reserved apple juice concentrate

1. Add 2/3 of the concentrate to a sauce pot. Add dried onion, seasonings, apple cider vinegar and brown sugar. Simmer 3 minutes.

2. Combine the thickener ingredients together. Add to the apple glaze, stir and simmer for 4-5 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add 1-2 tsp. of water to thin it out.

When you are ready to cook the salmon, you can either cook the fish most of the way in the oven and add the glaze towards the end of the baking process, or you can glaze it once at the start and once more midway through. Whatever you feel like! We just glaze it once and that works fine for us. As always, just be careful not to over cook your fish.

Recipe by my mom

Why Hello There!

Hello my wonderful blog readers! If you still check by this blog, well thank you. I have been gone for quite some time now. Life has been...a tad bit overwhelming. Not only have I been hiding from the good ol' blog, but I have also been not checking email or voice-mail for quite some time. My apologies for anyone that has been worried.  I am here, I just felt the need to unplug from the world for a bit there while my life has in a flux.

The good news is I will be back very soon to resume posting and Recipe Sharing Monday.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Take care all of my blog friends!

Secret Recipe Club - Orange Vinaigrette from The Tasty Cheapskate

It is time for my favorite foodie event, the Secret Recipe Club!

Orange Vinaigrette over Romaine lettuce with orange slices and fresh mozzarella

The idea of it is you are assigned a fellow food blogger each month, it is kept a secret of course, and you go to their food blog and pick a recipe (or more) to make. On the assigned date, everyone posts their creations and you go and visit and see all the goodies that were made. Sort of like a secret Santa, right?

My host who is organizing my group is Tina from Moms Crazy Cooking. Thank you Tina for hosting!

My assignment for this month was The Tasty Cheapskate where Jeanie blogs about frugal food recipes. While I was sorely tempted to make her recipe for Chocolate Chip Brownies, I decided to go with a delicious citrus vinaigrette instead. (I'm still making the brownies, though!)

 Here is Jeanie's recipe:

Orange Vinaigrette
Makes several servings

1/2 C sugar
1/3 C orange juice
1/2 C rice wine vinegar
1 C canola oil (olive would work too, but will add a distinct taste to your dressing; I liked the canola because it didn't get in the way of the orange)
2 Tbsp dry Italian dressing

1. Shake it up in a glass jar and let it stand for 30 minutes.

While I would have liked to add a few more veggies to my salad, I was out of stock so I kept it simple. The flavors in the vinaigrette are delicious and refreshing. Thank you Jeanie for a great recipe and a great alternative to the same ol' ranch dressing for this salad eater!

Source: Recipe from The Tasty Cheapskate