Okay Ladies, In my pantry I have macaroni, cans of Cream of Chicken soup and there are some frozen veggies in the freezer. I feel like I should be able to make a casserole out of this, but need some help. Should I just dump it all in a casserole dish and bake at 350? I'm not good at making things up! Ideas?? Also, feel free to post your random ingredients, and we'll help each other out!
Is it the boxed mac and cheese or macaroni noodles? I always cook my noodles first since I don't ever trust that the noodles will be tender by the end of the cooking time for the casserole. I love using www.allrecipes.com and doing an ingredient search. You can just type in what you have on hand, and even add what you don't have/want, and it will kick out all kinds of recipes. Hope this helps.
Did you already make it? Or is it for today's dinner? I'd need to know a couple things first, before I could come up with a recipe... Do you have any crackers, potato chips or leftover bread on hand? Any kind of meat at all (even bacon, or ham, or sandwich meat)? Is your soup condensed or ready-to-eat? Do your noodles come with cheese powder, or are they just noodles? Are your frozen veggies the big chunky kind (like broccoli or cauliflower) or are they small (like corn and peas)? And is your family on any kind of salt-reduced diet?
That makes me think of a quick and easy mac & cheese recipe, if you have shredded cheddar and some milk too. Cook the noodles. Then mix in a can of condensed soup, I usually use cream of mushroom but I bet cream of chicken would work. Throw in a few handfuls of cheese and a splash of milk to make it all creamy. Mixed veggies get mixed in too. You can put some bread crumbs or crushed ritz on top. Bake it at 350 for maybe 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.
I wouldn't waste the oven's energy. You can cook your pasta add the soup for sauce instead of red sauce and have veggies steamed on the side. Or add the steamed veggies straight to the pasta
You can also toss the frozen veggies in with the pasta to boil together to eliminate one more step (and energy usage if you are so inclined to conserve that as well).
Thanks, ladies! I knew you'd come through! Tonight it's boxed mac and cheese, tomorrow I will put one of these ideas!
Oh... I hope this helps! *Preheat your oven to 350 degrees* 1. Cook your macaroni noodles as per the instructions on the box (take them off a few minutes early, if you don't like them mushy - they'll keep cooking a bit in the oven). 2. Mix them into a casserole dish with the condensed soup and frozen veggies. Add a little (about a 1/4 cup) milk so it's not too thick and salty. Taste it. Water will also work, if you don't have any milk. You can adjust the amount of liquid to your taste, depending on how thick you like your casseroles. *Free free at this point to add any other leftover veggies, cheese, rice, hotdogs, whatever you happen to have lying around. Even processed cheese can be laid over the top of the casserole, or chopped up and mixed in. You really can't go wrong. If you have any eggs, you can even stir in a raw egg for extra nutrition.* 3. Cook at 350 degrees for about half an hour, or until heated through. You'll know it's ready when it's bubbling merrily. 4. Crumble your bread, crackers, and/or potato chips on top, and stick it under the broiler for a moment, just until the top is browned. (About 3 minutes, and keep a close eye on it! I've set off the fire alarm more than once using the broiler. :lol And there you go! Serve it with bread, and enjoy the salty, salty goodness. (BTW, other interesting things to stir in or sprinkle on top include chopped peanuts and chopped pickles, or olives - just not all at the same time!)
I was thinking this as well but throw the veggies right in with the cooked soup... sounds yummy, what time is dinner?
Thanks! I just put this into the oven. I did find some cooked chicken breast in the freezer, so I threw that in too.
