MIL liked the casserole...hell must be freezing over

6fsn

She even asked for the recipe.  It goes something like this....ask internet strangers for ideas.  Dump together a bunch of stuff you are trying to use up.  Cover in cheese.

I also had another experimental casserole turn out well last night- pork, black beans, corn. whole wheat tortillas, and monterey jack cheese layered up like a lasagna.  Cleared out a bunch of the freezer.

I've never done much with casseroles, but this may change.

zsazsa-stl

Maybe you can make some suggestions for me, then.  I made a pork loin this week and it came out a little dry and too heavy on thyme.  Any suggestions on how to turn it into a casserole short of just making all of H's dreams come true by baking it with corn, velveeta and some bread crumbs?

Tamiam30

Whatever I cook, we tell her H made it, then she loooooves it. If she even thinks I made it, no bueno.

She spit out some blackened salmon I had made (don't get it twisted; just tear open the package and bake from Sam's Club) and made "pfft pfft pfft" noises. At the table. 

Whatever, we make fun of her ridiculousness behind her back. And drink lots and lots of wine.

6fsn

zsa- I posted a pork loin below: a bag of dried cherries, an onion, pork loin, thyme, salt and pepper, and a cup of water or apple juice/cider and serve over noodles.

So maybe you could caramelize some onions and rehydrate some cherries in warm water or apple juice and make a bit of a sauce to mix in with noodles or rice?

Wzz

is this the same woman who loves a good lime fluff? now oyu know the way to her heart. a good gift for her next birthday will be a DIY cookbook of nasty casserole with cheese recipes.

6fsn

Yep it's the lime fluff woman.  I have to admit that the casserole tasted pretty good and would totally make it for us.  It wasn't healthy, but it was simple and made enough to have 2 meals and freeze another2 meals.

Recipe because I know y'all are dying to know:
 Throw a pound of chicken in the crockpot with salt, pepper, water, chicken bouillon, garlic powder and some mediteranean seasoning stuff you bought on a whim.

Make two cups white rice.  Take out the chicken, realize that some of the frozen broccoli pieces are pretty big, so throw it in the water to thaw enough to chop up. 
Find some random celery sticks in the frig and chop them up. 

Chunk of the chicken and stir with the rice, broccoli, celery, and a can of cream of crap.  Find half a tub of sour cream and mix that in as well.  Throw in a handfull of cheese.  Worry about the fact that MIL bakes things for hours so throw the rest of the water from the crockpot in there. 

Dump into two 9x9 pans, cover in cheese and bake. 

Wzz

gag. it's probably good because of how you season the chicken. that must make all the difference.

although, and this is an irrelevant postjack on my part, i would rather just have the cooked/grilled/roasted chicken over the white rice with broccoli on the side.

6fsn

Typically I would do things all separate and not have the cheese, sour cream or soup.  Since I was taking it as an easy dinner for them I went casserole route.  I did like not having to time things to finish together and there is an appeal to making one dinner and getting a freezer meal too.  So, I'll keep the idea tucked away for the next time I freeze 6 pounds of chicken together and need to use it all at once.

skippylouwho

Something else random that would be good in that casserole, if you have a random can in your pantry would be slice water chestnuts. Yes, I usually have a can or 2 of them because I use them in a broccoli, cheese casserole that my daughter likes. You've probably all had some variation of it, frozen broccoli, white rice, cheese whiz, water chestnuts and a can of soup. Can't remember if the soup is cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, or cream of celery - I kind of think I  use whatever I happen to have.

Happy Bluebird

I make H casseroles when I'm too lazy to think of anything else / want cereal for dinner.

Try cooking the rice in veggie broth for more flavor. PS this is FMB. Hellooooo!