Chicken Tetrazzini

You remember in my last post when I said that I have a meal or two stashed in my freezer that only take 15 minutes in the microwave before they are ready to serve? This recipe is one of them. It is a kid-friendly quick meal that saves me from the local drive-thru.

It is a freezer meal, which means you have to do some work to have it ready in the freezer. Thankfully, it doesn't even take all that long to prepare the first time. I always do at least x4 of this recipe when I mega-cook, and I've been known to do x6.

Here's the recipe. Think about taking some time this weekend (Safeway has boneless-skinless chicken breasts on sale this week!), and making some for your freezer!

Chicken Tetrazzini
(This recipe makes one meal's worth. Feel free to multiply as needed.)

Cook in a pot of salted water until tender:

spaghetti noodles (use as much as will feed your family. The recipe says 8 oz.)

Drain the noodles, and set aside in a really, really big bowl!

In a pan, saute:

3 Tbs margarine or butter
1 c. chopped green peppers (or a mixture of red, yellow and green- it's prettier!)
1 onion, finely chopped

When the onion is transparent and the peppers are tender, add the mixture to the pasta. Add:

4 c. grated cheese (use whatever kind you have. I don't usually use this much cheese)
2 - 10 3/4 ounce cans cream of mushroom soup (or one can cream of chicken and one can mushroom, or substitute cream of celery)
1 soup can full of milk
5 cups cooked chopped chicken (I don't usually use quite this much chicken, mostly because I'm cheap!)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and put in a gallon ziploc bag. Label and freeze. To serve, defrost and place in a casserole dish. Top with buttered bread crumbs if desired. Bake until bubbly.

Or, you can do it the way I do. Microwave til hot and serve.

Notes:

• You can use mixtures of cheeses with good results.
• I almost always make this with whole wheat pasta, it adds to the nutrition.
• Feel free to make your own white sauce instead of the cans of soup. I don't use canned "cream of" soups very often but it just makes it so easy. My sister hates mushrooms so she uses all Cream of Chicken. We like it half and half. It is very forgiving.
• The amounts of cheese, pasta and chicken are very flexible! I usually use about 3 c. chicken and I measure the cheese in "handfuls" - just keep adding til it looks right!

Enjoy!

Jill