Emily Bites Bubble Up Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

 With the fall (and truly winter in my area) weather upon us, all I have been wanting to eat are homey cozy meals. I'd been in a pot pie mood (seemingly after cooking a homemade turkey pie I had in the freezer) so I decided to give Emily Bites Bubble Up Chicken Pot Pie Casserole a shot. I had been wanting to make the dish for some time and since I had most of the ingredients on hand I added it to my menu for the week.

Out of all of the bubble up casseroles on the Emily Bites website, I will say this is hands down my favorite one (the pizza casserole being my 2nd favorite). This particular recipe is homey, cozy, delicious, comforting, filling and an overall crowd pleaser.

In classic Shannon fashion, I opted to omit the olive oil and instead of sauteing my carrots to soften them, I used frozen peas and diced carrots I picked up at the local grocery store. I figured it'd make putting the dish together a lot easier since I was trying to get dinner prepped and into the oven in a shorter amount of time. They cooked up perfectly while the dish was in the oven without the need to saute. The chicken I used was chicken breast I had cooked in the crock pot. I will say, in the two instances I've made this, I find cutting the chicken into chunks is a lot better than using shredded. On my second attempt making this, my chicken was too hot when I was cutting it up and most if shredded. The shredded chicken absorbs more of the gravy which leaves the end result a little drier.

I personally find the dish to be filling enough that one slice is all I need. There's no need for a small side salad or even a piece of fruit to go along with the meal. So far, all that have tried it have really enjoyed it as well.

A serving, 1/6th of the recipe, is 318 calories or 8 points plus values.

Recipe: http://www.emilybites.com/2015/02/bubble-chicken-pot-pie-casserole.html

Emily Bites Bubble Up Enchilada Casserole

Enchiladas are one of those foods I've always been "iffy" with. I think particularly because the few times I have had enchiladas out they have been bland, tasteless and far less then stellar. Admittedly, having a mediocre/bad dish time after time can make one weary to want to try it again. But after I'd heard rave reviews on the Emily Bites Bubble Up Enchilada Casserole I decided to give it a try. I mean, after all, I had all the ingredients on hand except for the enchilada sauce.

 

Whipping up the dish itself took not much time at all. Then after that it was a quick trip into the oven to bake off to perfection. Before the dish went into the oven, I got stellar responses from family members - because again, not huge enchilada fans. Once it came out of the oven, opinions began to sway slightly. But once the dish was cut up, plated and served ... all of our prior opinions on enchiladas as a whole shifted - drastically.

 

This dish is absolutely delicious! It totally transformed my opinion on enchiladas and made me realize that just because I've had less than stellar dishes in the past, it doesn't mean enchiladas are all plain and boring dish. It's filling, it's delicious and it's a perfect meal alongside a tossed salad.

 

A serving is 1/6th of the dish which is only 7 points plus values.

 

You can find the recipe here: http://www.emilybites.com/2012/01/recipe-makeover-bubble-up-enchilada-casserole.html

Sloppy Joe Casserole

One afternoon I was in the mood for sloppy joe's but I wanted them in a different fashion. I wasn't really feeling the whole sloppy joe sandwich deal. Since I've recreated a few Emily Bites recipes, I decided to take a page out of that book and roll with my own twist. Why not make a Sloppy Joe Casserole?

 

I whipped up the dish and put it into the oven to finish off and it came out absolutely perfect. It was filling, deliciously flavored and was such a unique way to have a sloppy joe. Everyone loved it and thought it was an ingenious idea to have a new and different twist on a sloppy joe sandwich. Plus with anything that is easily able to cut into serving size portions is a win-win for me.

 

Serves 6. 8 Points Plus Values.

Ingredients:

* 1 1/8 lb 93% lean ground turkey

* 8 oz fresh mushrooms, chopped

* 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

* 1 medium onion, chopped

* 7.5 oz can, refrigerated, classic biscuits, cut into quarters (I used Aldi brand)

* 2 oz low fat shredded mozzarella (I used Trader Joe's brand)

* 1 can Manwich Sloppy Joe Sauce 

* 1 tbsp hamburger seasoning (optional - I use McCormick brand)

 

Spray a saute pan with non-stick cooking spray and heat pan over medium-high heat. Add in onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and lean ground turkey - breaking up ground turkey with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle turkey with hamburger seasoning.  Cook meat and vegetable mixture until cooked through and meat is no longer pink.

 

Top meat mixture with can of Manwich, stir to combine. Add in chopped refrigerated biscuits and stir to combine.

 

Transfer sloppy joe mixture to a large baking dish (which has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray). Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, top with mozzarella cheese and place pan back into the oven to bake for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.

 

Cut into 6 equal pieces and serve.

Easy Breakfast Casserole

Trying to get different breakfasts flowing in my head I resorted to a good ole Google search. I tend to fall into the same sorts of meal ideas for breakfast. So stepping outside the box, I found an Easy Cheesy Breakfast Casserole dish on Betty Crocker’s website. It looked tasty, so I decided to give it a try, but worked on lightening it up by switching out ingredients.

Initially I created the recipe using frozen hash brown potatoes and extra mozzarella shredded cheese … until I went into the kitchen, was rushing, got side tracked and forgot a few ingredients (the hash browns and additional cheese). Initially I remembered I forgot the two after it had baked and had enough time to begin cooking.

Regardless of the missing ingredients the casserole did come out quite well. Although with hash browns it would have been out of this world delicious.

Here’s how I made my breakfast bake:

Serves 6. 3 points plus a serving OR Serves 4. 4 Points Plus/serving

Ingredients:

• 1 cup eggbeaters
• ½ cup egg whites
• 2/3 cup uncooked bell pepper, diced
• ¼ cup onion, diced
• ½ cup mushrooms, diced
• 1 cup Jimmy Dean turkey sausage crumbles
• ½ cup Bisquick Heart Smart
• ¼ cup Kraft shredded fat free mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray the bottom of a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a non-stick skillet add in bell peppers, onions and mushrooms and cook until vegetables soften (onions should be translucent). This step is optional but I find the onions can stay crisp if not cooked.

Add vegetable mixture, sausage crumbles, and cheese to the bottom of the casserole dish.

In a medium bowl combine eggbeaters, egg whites and bisquick and mix together until combined. Then top the vegetable and sausage mixture, sprinkle with cheese and place into the oven.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until casserole is cooked through completely.

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Stuffed cabbage has been a dish I’ve eaten since a child. It’s a family recipe and my mother is really the only one in our family that recreates my grandmother’s dish. My grandma was Polish and made the best golumpki … and my mother makes hands down THE best (so good, I won’t order them from a restaurant because I find I’m usually let down). Depending on what you put on them, they can be in a tomato sauce, plain … or as my mother makes them with crushed/diced tomatoes over the top.

I purchased a head of cabbage from one of my local grocery stores with truthfully, no real meal in mind. After jogging my memory to try to develop a meal plan … I decided to, why not take my mom’s recipe and transform it into a casserole? Same sort of meal, same flavor … but just in an easier (or lazier?) method. The few differences in cooking between my mom’s recipe and the one I make are 1) I had to cook the hamburger before putting into the dish, 2) I seasoned the beef and 3) I sautéed the cabbage down with olive oil instead of just boiling the leaves off.

The dish itself is easier compared to traditional stuffed cabbage, yet I have to admit this is slightly “messier”. The reason I say this is because the rolled version everything is contained within its cabbage wrap and if serving hot, the first few slices may crumble on its way to the plate.  The first 2 slices out of the pan are slightly troublesome unless you allow the dish to cool.

Potential crumbling aside … this is a delicious dish and one I will undoubtedly make again real soon.

Serves 8. 6 Points Plus.

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ pound uncooked lean 94% ground beef
• 2 ½ pound cabbage, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cups cooked white rice
• 14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• Non-stick cooking spray

Cook 3 cups of white rice (I use a rice cooker which makes it easier). Or you can also use microwavable frozen white rice. Season rice with salt and a little bit of pepper.

In a medium non-stick pan, add hamburger, onion, and 1 tablespoon of McCormick Steak Seasoning.  Cook over medium high heat until hamburger is crumbled and browned.

Combine hamburger and rice and toss until well combined.

Chop cabbage into chunks. Once all chopped add 2 tsp olive oil to the bottom of a large pot. Add in raw cabbage and cook over medium-high heat until cabbage is wilted down. Season cabbage with salt and pepper.

Spray the bottom of a casserole or a roasting pan. Layer half of the cabbage onto the bottom of the pan., then top with the rice and hamburger mixture, follow-up by topping with the remaining cabbage.

Sprinkle a little black pepper over the top of the cabbage and top with can of diced tomatoes (juice and all).

Cover pan with tinfoil and bake 25 minutes. Remove tinfoil and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Sheppard’s Pie

Sheppard’s Pie is a dish I grew up eating. I know there are many different ways to make it … but like many of the dishes I’ve grown up eating, I’ve adapted this recipe along the lines of how my mother made it. That is only cutting a few corners to make it “lighter” but still have that same classic Sheppard’s pie flavor I remember from growing up. This is actually a really simple and easy dish to throw together; it can even be assembled the night before and popped into the oven the next day to heat through.  Since I do like the top of the mashed potatoes to crust up a bit, I do cook it for 5-10 minutes longer.

Serves 8.  8 Points Plus Values/serving.

Ingredients:

-          1 ¾ lb 93% lean ground beef

-          2 ¾ lb potatoes, peeled and chunked

-          1 medium onion, diced

-          ½ cup skim milk

-          1 tsp minced garlic

-          1 tsp McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning

-          1 ½ tsp salt, divided

-          1 ½ tsp black pepper, divided

-          1 ½ tsp Imperial margarine

-          14 oz. Del Monte Sweet Corn Cream Styled, No Salt Added

-          14 oz. canned corn, no salt added, drained

Fill a large pan with water, season with salt and place onto medium high heat. Add peeled, chunked potatoes to water and allow water to come to a boil and cook until potatoes are fork tender.

In a nonstick skillet, add ground beef, onions and garlic. Break up beef as it cooks, season with McCormick Steak Seasoning, salt and pepper.  When beef is cooked through strain of any excess water/fat.

When potatoes are fork tender, strain and return potatoes back to the pot. Season with remaining salt and pepper, add in 1 tablespoon margarine and milk. Mash until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large casserole dish, layer beef and onion mixture into the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle meat with strained corn kernels, then top with canned cream style corn. Gently begin to pile mashed potatoes onto the mixture. I find it’s easier to add it in “glops” of mashed potatoes and fill in any holes as you go. If you try to smooth the mixture before all potatoes are added, the creamed corn will just move along with it.

One all mashed potatoes are in place, dice up remaining ½ tbsp margarine and add chunks over the top of the mashed potatoes.

Place assembled sheppard’s pie into preheated oven and bake for 25-35 minutes.

Once cooked, allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting into 8 equal sized pieces.

Skinnytaste’s Cheeseburger Casserole

The moment I saw Gina post her Cheeseburger Casserole recipe on her Skinnytaste recipe, I immediately printed the recipe out and planned on making it because it just looked and sounded amazing!

I followed her recipe to a T.  The only thing I changed was that I reduced the amount of cheese being used since my boyfriend is not a cheese fan; I removed 1/3 of the recipe from the pan.  So to adjust for that, I removed 1/3 of the cheese for the recipe.  What I can say is while it’s cooking, it smells amazing and while you’re eating it it’s out of this world fabulous! The greatest part is that 1 cup is only 7 points plus.

It’s SUCH a unique flare on a classic staple food (a cheeseburger).  The pasta acts as though it’s the bread, the meat is plentiful, the flavor is overall amazing and the pickles on the top are indeed at first interesting but I find them to be quite pleasing because it gives the dish a nice salty flare (plus I love pickles).  Definitely two thumbs up for this dish!

If you are interested in the recipe, please find it here: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/03/cheeseburger-casserole.html

QUESTION:

Have you tried the Cheeseburger Casserole recipe?