Make Ahead Cooking

Chicken Tettrazinni

This is a make a head recipe. It’s easy to prepare and you can freeze it and bake it later. This set of recipes was featured on Paula Sands Live.

1 lb box of spaghetti
4 skinned and boned chicken breast
2 cans cream of chicken soup
½ cup mayo
1 ½ cup shredded Cheddar

Boil and cube the chicken. Set aside. Cook the spaghetti according to the directions on the package. Place the spaghetti in a 9 x 13 pan or two 8x8 pans. Set aside.

Combine the chicken, soup and mayo. Spread over the spaghetti. Top with cheese. If you are making it for a later date, freeze the tetrazzini. Thaw before baking. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

I make two batches of this at one time. One to eat for supper and one to freeze for later. This is a great dish to make for church or potluck suppers.

Pantry Notes for those who want to use what they have on hand:

Any type of pasta will work, as will rice. For the meat you can also use 3 cups of leftover turkey meat, or 3 cups of canned chicken meat. I even did this recipe with canned tuna once. The cream of chicken soup taste the best, but any cream soup will work. For the cheese you can also use Mozzarella Cheese or Monterey Jack Cheese. If you have odds and ends of cheese in the fridge, grate it all and use for topping. A vegetarian version of this dish would use in place of the meat, 1 ½ cups mushrooms and 1 1/2 cups asparagus.

Fajita Bake

1 pound ground beef
1 Fajitas seasoning mix
1 can Chili Ready Diced Tomatoes
1 can Mexican style corn
1 jar Cheese sauce

2 boxes corn bread mix
2 eggs
2/3 cup of milk
2 tablespoon sage
1 can creamed corn

Heat oven to 400ºF. Grease 9 x 13 inch rectangular pan.

Make corn bread mixture first. Mix the muffin mixes with the egg, the milk, the sage and the creamed corn. Batter will look a bit lumpy. Set aside.

Cook meat until done. Drain off excess fat. Add Fajitas seasoning mix. Stir well to mix. Drain the Mexican Corn and the Tomatoes and add to the meat mixture Spoon into pan and top with cheese sauce. Pour the corn bread over the top.

You can cover with foil and refrigerate over night or freeze. If frozen thaw. Remove foil. Bake 25 to 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before cutting or the corn bread will tear a little. You can serve as it or with sour cream and salsa.

Raspberry Pears
Quick Easy and only 2 ingredients, what more can you ask for.

1 package (12 oz) frozen, unsweetened red raspberries.
2 large cans of pears, drained

Thaw and mash the red raspberries so they have a lot of liquid. Drain the pears and put into a large bowl.
Pour the raspberries over the pears and fold gently so that the pears are covered. Cover and set into refrigerator until you need them. Spoon into individual cups and serve. You can add a dollop of whipped cream to make it extra fancy.