Best Hashbrown Casserole EVER!!!

Wow...It's been so long since I blogged! Blogger is so different now...I feel like I have to learn everything all over again!

As most of you know, I had a baby girl back in April. She just turned 4 months old on the 20th! I can't even believe it. People are NOT lying when they time flies by when you have a baby because it seems
like just yesterday we were on our way to the hospital for my c-section.

Anyways...Towards the end of my pregnancy I had a craving for hashbrown casserole and green bean casserole. My Mom offered to make both to bring over for a BBQ. Score! While she was making it, she wasn't paying attention and accidentally put the fried onions in the hashbrown mixture, I guess she thought she was making the green beans...OOPS! She decided not to tell anyone and see if anybody noticed a difference. There sure was a difference and it was AWESOME! I may or may not have half of the whole pan...So next time try this out...you won't regret it!

1 package southwest style hashbrowns
8oz sour cream
2 cups shredded cheese of your choice (I like the four cheese blends)
1 can cream of mushroom
1/2 container french fried onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
Put in a baking dish and bake for approx 30 minutes or until the edges are bubbly.

Yum!Pin It

Someone's got a case of the Monday's...

Hello out there! I hope everybody had a great weekend. I can't believe it is already Monday....Why can't the weekend be 5 days long and the work week be 2??? How great would that be??? In all honesty, I should be enjoying my freedom on the weekends because soon enough the 7 day work week will be back...Soooo I now retract my first question.
I spent the weekend getting some stuff done around the house and doing laundry. The two of us suuuuuuuuuuure do go through a lot of clothes during the week...Just when I think the laundry is caught up, another piles appears out of nowhere. Very mysterious...but the fact that my washer keeps giving me an error code and stops working every other load, doesn't the matter either!
Anyways, I'm debating on what to make for dinner tonight but I know it will probably be something simple..because I got lazy side tracked yesterday and need to finish the aforementioned laundry...
I saw this recipe over at Cooking With Libby last week(it may have even been Monday), new I had most of the ingredients at home and made it that night. It was oh so delicious! I made a few alterations because I couldn't remember the recipe exactly off hand but it turned out great. Thanks Libby!
If you haven't checked out her blog, you must do so, she's got great stuff goin on over there.

Chicken Chile Pasta Casserole

Adapted from : Cooking With Libby

1 pack boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 box fusilli noodles, or pasta of your choice

4 tablespoons butter

4 stalks celery, chopped

1 whole yellow onion, chopped

1 red or green bell pepper, chopped

1 14.5 oz can fire roasted or regular diced tomatoes

1 14.5oz can stewed tomatoes

2 4.5oz cans diced green chilis

1 lb. processed cheese, cubed, I used velveeta

1 tablespoon hot sauce, optional

1 cup shredded cheese, cheddar or Mexican blend

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium pot, add about 4 cups of water, the bouillon cube and chicken. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink. Approx 30 minutes on med/high heat. 
• Remove the chicken but reserve the water. Set chicken aside to cool, when cooled, shred or cube.
• Bring the water back up to a boil, add the noodles and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• In a large saute pan, melt the butter over med/high heat. Add the onion, pepper and celery, cook until tender. 
• Next add the cheese, cook until almost melted, then add the chicken, green chilis and hot sauce (if you are using it)
• Finally, add the pasta, mix well, pour into a 9x13 pan, top with shredded cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30-50 minutes.

***Mine took close to 50 minutes because it sat out for a couple of hours before I baked it***

****The original recipe called for 2 cans of sliced mushrooms. I didn't have them on hand but would definitely use them next time****

NOTE : You could use a store bought rotisserie chicken but make sure to cook your noodles with canned chicken broth or bouillon cubes.

Printable Recipe!!!

I guess I forgot to take pictures of the chicken...SORRY!!!!!

It was paper plate night...

I hope ya'll like it!!!!!!!!

Adios for now!

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Two Casserole Tuesday!

I'm sure all of you out there have a favorite "go to" cookbook...mine happens to be La Pinata written by The Junior League of McAllen, Texas. It was first published in 1976 and has been a hit in South Texas ever since. It has so many different recipes...but my favorite part is the Mexican foods section...and if you haven't noticed, we love our Mexican food!!! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it...

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Matt what he was hungry for and his response was King Ranch Casserole...and I happily obliged...I tweaked mine a tad...so here it goes!

King Ranch Casserole

Adapted from : La Pinata

1 rotisserie chicken, skinned and deboned

1 can cream of mushroom

1 can of cream of chicken

1 can of RoTel tomatoes and green chilis

1 small can green chilis

½ can of chicken broth

1 dozen corn tortillas, cut into squares

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2 cups of grated cheese, Mexican blend

• Preheat oven to 350
• In a blend, mix the soup, chilis, rotel & chicken broth. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
• In a 9x13 baking dish, place a layer of the chicken, 1/2 the tortillas, 1/2 the cheese and 1/2 the sauce.
• Repeat the layers, ending with the cheese.
• Bake uncovered for 1 hour or until cheese is browned and bubbly.
• Serve with saltines or tortilla chips for dipping!

Printable Recipe!

I apologize for my lack of pictures for this dish...I don't know what happened to them!?!

Perfect doneness!

Soooooo delish!!!!!!!!!!

Another great recipe from La Pinata is Chili Rellenos Casserole. In the cookbook it calls for canned whole green chilis but I prefer using fresh roasted poblanos and this time I added ground chorizo. So I decided to rename it to Roasted Poblano Casserole. It is ANOTHER favorite of my husbands...I swear sometimes he is just saying he loves my food...hmmm...

I serve it with warm flour tortillas and canned ranch style beans. Last night, I even made a taco out of it...there I go with the tacos again...!!! This would also make a great breakfast...just use ground sausage in place of the ground beef...yum!

Roasted Poblano Casserole

adapted from : La Pinata

4-6 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded

1lb ground beef

1/2 lb chorizo sausage, optional. It gives it a little extra kick

1/2 yellow onion, diced

4 eggs

2 cups shredded cheese, cheddar or Mexican blend

1 1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup flour

hot sauce, to taste. I used about 1 tablespoon

salt & pepper, to taste

To roast the peppers...

Preheat broiler to 550. Place peppers on a baking sheet and put under the broiler and for 5-7 minutes on each side.

Let cool, remove what you can of the skin, stems and seeds. 

For the casserole...

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown the ground beef and onions, drain grease and set aside. 

Cook the chorizo, drain and mix with the beef and onion mixture.

Arrange half of the peppers in the bottom of a square baking dish.

Top with the meat mixture, cheese and the remaining peppers.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt & pepper. 

Slowly add the flour to the egg mixture and beat well with the whisk.

Pour the mixture evenly over the casserole.

Bake for 50-60 minutes. 

Let set for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Printable Recipe!

Delish!!!!

Leftovers for lunch!!!

I hope you have a great Tuesday and enjoy these two recipes!!! Super easy and perfect for a mid week dinner!

As some of you know, I am heading to Australia on Thursday for 17 days...I will not be posting any recipes for that time but please follow me at Sometimes Eccentric Steph for updates from Down Under! 

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