we're cookin' now: chicken noodle casserole...

We have a few meal staples in our house: tacos (beef and chicken), chili, spaghetti and meatballs, and chicken over eggs noodles with mushroom sauce. I make at least one of them once a week. I try to throw in new recipes to keep things interesting, but sometimes I just don't have the time or energy to whip up something totally original, so I re-imagine a staple dish. And that is how Chicken Noodle Casserole was born.

The staple dish, Chicken Over Egg Noodles with Mushroom Sauce, consists of baked chicken served over a bed of egg noodles and covered in a sauce that is a combination of cream of mushroom soup and  light alfredo pasta sauce.

To re-imagine the dish, I boiled 4 chicken tenderloin strips until cooked through, removed those, set them aside and then added about 3/4 of a big bag of egg noodles to the chicken water. While those were cooking I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. Then I cubed up the chicken into bite-sized pieces.

In a separate bowl, I whisked together two cans of cream of mushroom soup with 1/2 cup of sour cream and added salt and pepper to taste. Once the noodles were done, I combined everything into a casserole dish until it was well coated. Then I melted a half stick of light butter and tossed it together with 1-2 cups of planko breadcrumbs and topped the casserole.

Then I cooked it for 30 minutes or until the top was golden brown.

I have to admit, I kind of like this better than the original. I think baking it all together let's the flavors blend much better. This re-imagined dish might just become a new staple!

JENNA'S QUICK TIP: When boiling chicken, in addition to salt, I add onion powder to my cooking water. It marinates into the chicken and gives it a little added flavor!