Cooking tips for the Harried Housewife/Working Mom

It is cold and rainy and cold and did I mention the rain? I’ve got a hankering for a good old-fashioned stick to your ribs, unbutton your pants so you can breathe sort of dinner. Unfortunately Outback Steak House is way in the “OUTBACK” realms of my financial SIT-TIA-ATION. So I’m contemplating cooking something tonight. Truth be told I haven’t been very diligent in the menu-planning department lately, and more often than not I feel like I’m winging it at suppertime (that’s North Carolinian for dinner time). It doesn’t help that I am perfectly content to eat Cheez-Its or a scoop of peanut butter or a bowl of cereal and then consider supper checked off my list, but I do understand that there are other people in this house who appreciate hot food.

Well, really there are only two other persons in this house who appreciate hot food. Because if left to his own devices the 17 year-old would pretty much eat Oreos with a side of Cheetos, followed by a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and a frozen pizza and then snack on Skittles (the kids is as lean as can be…might have something to do with the 5 miles a day he runs and all the sports he plays…I might have to consider exercising again.)

Which is why the preparation of actual meals with actual vegetables is fairly important around these parts.

Anyway, yesterday I actually sat down and planned what I was going to cook this next week and I remembered a casserole that I love but haven’t cooked recently because I sort of burned out on casseroles about six months ago.

Can you tell that I haven’t really been that into cooking lately?

You may have picked up on that.

But this particular casserole is oh-so-delicious - and it’s a good way to work some asparagus into a meal since, strangely enough, kids tend to like green vegetables better when they’re covered with a yummy cheesy sauce. You can use canned or fresh asparagus - just make sure to boil it ahead of time if you use the fresh stuff.

And this recipe will feed at least ten people - so you should have plenty of leftovers.

Unless there are ten people in your family which is not unheard of in Utah…I myself come from a family of 10.

And if that is the case then hats off to whomever is doing the cooking because, well, YOU ROCK.

Chicken and Asparagus Casserole

1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup butter (you can use a little less if you’d like. I say go big or go home.)
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I use the pre-chopped stuff from my fridge.)
1 (8 ounce) jar sliced mushrooms, drained
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Accent
6 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces
2 (15 ounce) cans green asparagus spears
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350. In a skillet, saute’ garlic, onion and butter until tender and kind of caramely. Add remaining ingredients except chicken, asparagus and almonds. In a lightly greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish, layer half of chicken, 1 can asparagus and half of sauce. Repeat layers, ending with sauce. Top with almonds. Bake 30 minutes or until bubbly. Do not add liquid, even if it looks dry. Freezes well.

Serve with rice, baked potato or baked sweet potato. Or, you know, beets. Or parsnips. Whatever suits your fancy. Really good with skillet corn bread. I’ll share that sweet recipe o’sin with you another day. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for all y’all going into cardiac arrest in the same weekend.

By the way, the leftovers are really good as filling for quesadillas or as stuffing for hot baked potatoes. Personally, I like to reheat the casserole in a big ole skillet and let the cheesy part get sort of crispy around the edges only I can’t talk about that anymore or I’m going to have to leave work and go directly to my kitchen and pan fry some shredded cheese, just as the good Lord intended.

Regardless, I love it when leftovers are versatile and make you feel like you’re getting an entirely different meal. Because then you get credit for cooking something new and different without having to cook anything new and different. It’s a thing of beauty, my friends.

If any of you have one of those amazing go to chameleon dinners that you can eat three nights in a row and nobody knows, please share!

Enjoy, y’all! (Remember that’s North Carolinian for YOU ALL)

HAPPY FRIDAY