Cheesy Squash Casserole (Southern Living 1979)

Chery picked this recipe for my family to try.  With a few tweaks, we liked it.

Cheesy Squash Casserole
2 medium-size yellow squash
2 medium-size zucchini
2 slices veggie bacon
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 T Worcestershire sauce

Steam squash and zucchini until tender; drain well and mash.
Cook bacon until crisp.  Crumble bacon.
Combine all ingredients, stirring well.
Spoon into a lightly sprayed 8x8-inch glass cooking dish.
Bake at 350F for 25 minutes.

Creamy Ground Beef Casserole (Southern Living 1981)

When I picked this recipe, I wasn't too sure if the boys would like it. It seemed bland enough...tomato sauce, cheesy stuff, ground beef, noodles...but they didn't like this one! Although I do think the great offender in that recipe was the green chile. This one didn't have green chile...but as I was reviewing the recipe I thought...it doesn't really have FLAVOR! I didn't want the chili incident of 2014 to come back to haunt me, so I made some changes to this recipe. In interest of flavor. You know how it is.

Here's the original:

 

First of all, I used a lot of what we had on hand. One of the reasons I picked this recipe for this week was that I had that leftover cottage cheese. Which, it turns out, The Hubs likes! You can see my noodles are definitely not elbows and the cheese is definitely not sliced.

I added a bit of flavor! I used garlic, oregano-y tomato sauce (in the can. at the store. you know what I'm talking about.) 

Then, in the layering, I did a layer of flavor...after the (shredded, it was what I had!) cheese I sprinkled dried oregano, basil, and marjoram. 

It was smelling good!

Out of the oven...

 

On my plate...  

The. Boys. Liked. It. Y'all! J-Boy said it was BETTER THAN PIZZA! If you know this kid, you know that is SAYING something. He LOVES pizza. More than life itself. Junior said it was best on french bread (piled a la a sandwich). He also said he would like to try it without the noodles. I think the smaller noodles would be better. The Hubs even uttered the phrase "when you make this again". It was a great dinner night in this household!  

~Audry

Two-Squash Casserole (Southern Living 1979)

I really like squash.  I have come to realize, though, that this is one vegetable that my normally un-picky eaters prefer NOT to have.  I think it's the texture for all of them.  However, when I saw this recipe, I wanted to try it.  I thought maybe they'd like it because of the cheese.  I couldn't trick them, though.  They didn't like it.  I did - except the onions.  Even with the onion being straight from Vidalia, Georgia, it was just too onion-y for me.

 

Two-Squash Casserole
2 yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 medium onion, chopped (wish I'd skipped this for personal taste reasons)
1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
1 (4-oz) can chopped green chiles
1/2 t salt
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Steam yellow squash and zucchini.
Saute onion in dash of olive oil or well sprayed pan until tender but not brown.
Combine tomato sauce, chiles, and salt; stir well.
Place yellow squash in 1.5-qt deep casserole; add onion, spreading evenly.  Pour half of sauce over onion; add zucchini, and pour remaining sauce over top.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

Crusty Oven-Fried Chicken (Southern Living 1979)

As you can see, this recipe was from the April section of Southern Living 1979.  Since the end of April and the entire month of May were quite busy around our house, I'm still playing catch-up on telling you about some of our yummy meals.  This one was good - easy to put together, but it did take a little long in the oven, even with an increase in temperature.

I really didn't change much with this recipe - only that I halved it and used about a pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts rather than a "broiler-fryer, cut up".  I also chose to eliminate the "optional" parsley.

Crusty Oven-Fried Chicken
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 t salt
1/8 t garlic powder
1/8 t pepper
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup butter, melted.
Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, salt, garlic powder, and pepper.
Dip chicken in butter, and dredge in breadcrumb mixture.
Place chicken in 13x9 casserole dish.
Bake at 375 for 45-55 minutes, or until juices run clear.

If I were going to make this recipe again, I would choose thin-sliced chicken breasts, because they cook faster.


Lindy

El Dorado Casserole (Southern Living 1981)

June in my 1981 Southern Living is heavily laden with a vast array of casseroles. Junior and J-Boy hate casseroles. In fact, when they ask what's for dinner and it includes the word "casserole" in the title, I try to think of something else to call it. It rarely works. They know a casserole when they see it. They are hard to fool.

This casserole seemed harmless enough, and I figured The Hubs and I would like it, so we might as well give it a go!

  

 I used ground beef I cooked when purchased and then froze (my favorite cook-ahead cheat). 

I think this dish would have been improved by using taco seasonings or enchilada sauce with the tomato sauce. I added cumin (because I love it) (and because I though only a pinch of dried onion and a touch of garlic powder was and would never be enough seasonings). (I was right).

Don't judge the tee-ninsy amount of dried onion. The jar is small and running out something fierce. 








 

 This dish is all about the layering. Layers in progress!


On my plate.































The verdict: 
The Hubs wanted more flavor on the beef. I concur heartily. He said he thought the addition of enchilada sauce would be nice. I think more cumin. Maybe both! J-Boy said it was terrible. He said it would be 100% better if I left out the green chile. Junior said it was good only with thousand island dressing. He has standards.

This is also gluten free! Although I know Chery won't eat it because of the beef...but it might be one to try with chicken. I think that would actually be better. I'm a fan of chicken with green chile. I think that stems from our mom's love of white chicken chili which has green chiles in it. I remember hating it as a kid. Now I love it. My kids hate it. This is what we like to call Coming Full Circle. 

Hi mom! I am so so so so so sorry about complaining about dinner! I really did love it! Every single one! They were delicious! Please come cook at my house!

Sorry.

Back to the verdict.

I would do this one again, but add the enchilada sauce, more cumin, and I think I would skip the cottage cheese in favor of more sour cream. Honestly, I don't know what the cottage cheese did that more sour cream couldn't do. Plus we don't really eat cottage cheese around here. Maybe we do. I'll have to ask The Hubs. I just realized I don't know if he likes it...



~Audry

Green Enchilada Casserole (Southern Living 1979)

Overall a good recipe - relatively a quick meal from start to finish - if the chicken is already prepared.

Green Enchilada Casserole
6 (6-inch) corn tortillas, broken into pieces
Equivalent of 2 cans of homemade cream of chicken soup (new recipe, which was very good)
1/2 cup whole milk
1 pound chicken (I boiled mine and cut into chunks)
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Arrange tortillas in bottom of 9x13 casserole dish; set aside.
Prepare the homemade cream of chicken soup.  Once thickening begins, add milk, chicken, and chiles to the saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring often.
Pour chicken mixture over tortillas; sprinkle with cheese.
Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

Lemon-Fried Chicken (Southern Living 1979)

A variation on our chicken meals, this recipe from the May section of Southern Living 1979 was good and very easy to put together.  It was nice to have Little Miss help make the lemon sauce, and then we were able to just pour it over the chicken and do other things together while it simmered.  A quick and tasty dish is always refreshing for a weeknight meal.

Lemon-Fried Chicken (Southern Living 1979)
1 pound chicken breasts
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 T olive oil
1/4 t sugar
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/8 t paprika
1/8 t prepared mustard
Dash of garlic powder

Brown chicken on both sides in well-sprayed skillet.
Combine remaining ingredients in plastic container; close securely and shake well.  Pour lemon sauce over chicken; cover and simmer 30 minutes or until tender.

Lindy