Creamy Chicken Casserole

Here's one for the "from the cupboard" people. I made this on a night when I didn't want to cook and couldn't be bothered to eat. However, I KNEW I would have a ravenous husband whose mood would worsen exponentially if his blood sugar dropped. Hence, I looked in the butler's pantry to see what was what.

People who say they NEVER cook using canned goods, especially cream soups are lying, eating some super-dee-dooper high fat creamy meals, or noshing on the Raw Diet.

Whatever works for 'em, I guess.

Creamy Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 LARGE can of cream of mushroom soup (I used Campbell's 98% fat free)
1/2 C low-fat sour cream
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
2 C shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2-3 C prepared egg noodles (The ones I used were left over from a meal earlier in the week. They were screaming to be used. And hell, they were the No Yolks.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Spray a 9X13 pan (or whatever , I'm not a pan whore. Just use what you have.) with a non-stick spray.
3. In a large bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Do NOT add water or milk. Just use the soup straight from the can.
4. Add the chicken (raw) to the soup mixture and combine.
5. Add half of the shredded cheese and the egg noodles, mix, and transfer to the baking pan.
6. Top the casserole with the remaining shredded cheese.
7. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, COVERED with foil.
8. Turn on the broiler, remove the foil, and broil for approximately 5 minutes to brown the cheese on top.

Variations:

• Ok. So this is completely lacking in vegetables. So be it.
• Add some veggies - the usual suspect would be broccoli, but I'm thinking peas and mushrooms would also be good.
• Use whatever pasta and shape that suits you. I'll try this with rice another time.

Feedback:

My kid eyed this with trepidation and refused to eat it. He takes a gander at ANY casserole with suspect and doesn't like "mixing" his food. I'd prepared some Morning Star Farms "chicken" nuggets and slices of apple with a little fat free caramel dip for him.
The husband? Don't you know he balked at the serving I placed in front of him as if I'd given him WAY too much. He finished it lickity-split and then had seconds and thirds. When he want back for the trois feeding at the trough, I said, "Ahhhhh. I see. You thought it was going to SUCK and didn't want to have to eat the first plate, huh? It IS good, isn't it?"

He admitted his guilt and added, "It's summer. All I could think was 'hot food'!"

Doesn't matter. He was digging it. Try this easy one; you may like it too!