Chicken Tetrazzini and a Halloween Treat

Tonight I was SO thankful to come home to prepared food. I just preheated the oven to 350, sat back and waited until the timer rang! It was blissful...especially after working for almost 12 hour today. Here is the delicious recipe that is one of my freezer favorites!

Chicken Tetrazzini

Yields 2 casseroles=4 servings each

5 pts a serving

Ingredients:

• 1 pound uncooked spaghetti
• 1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 3 cans 98% fat free Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 3 cups of cooked cubed chicken
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 1/3 sherry or addtional chicken broth
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 3/4 tsp. pepper
• 2 cups grated low fat Parmesan cheese, divided

Directions:

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile in Dutch oven or large pot, saute mushrooms and onion in oil until tender.
3. Add the garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in soup, chicken, broth, Italian seasoning, pepper, and 1 cup cheese. Drain the spaghetti and pour into the mixture.
4. Transfer into two greased 8 in square baking dishes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and freeze one for up to 3 months. Cover and bake remaining casserole at 350 for 30-40 minutes until heated through and bubbly.
5. To use frozen casserole: Thaw in refrigerator overight. Remove from refrigerator before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 5 minutes longer

And as an added Monday bonus, we had an adorable card from my wonderful Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bobby. Actually, the card was from their dog Bubba and he's dressed in a cute Halloween pumpkin costume.

Kobe and Scoutie were very surprised to open the card and find a $15 Petsmart gift card. What a great Halloween treat! They were so thankful to Bubba, Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bobby and can't wait to buy a fresh bag of bones.

Freezer Cooking Day

Sunday was cooking day! I prepared 4 meals in double portions so that we had meals prepared for the week and 4 meals ready for the freezer to be eaten at a later date. On top of that, I had some pumpkin puree in the pantry and Nick woke up craving pumpkin pancakes. So for breakfast, we had pumpkin pancakes and in the midst of my cooking frenzy I whipped up some Snickerdoodle cookies for Nick (one of the only sweets he likes) to have for a snack while he worked.

The freezer menu consisted of:
1. Chicken Tetrazzini
2. Green Bean Chicken Casserole (Nick is crazy about green beans)
3. Peachy Barbeque Chicken
4. Cheesy Chili Tater Tots

Each of these is modified to be Weight Watcher friendly, so we can eat healthy and enjoy some delicious meals at the same time.

I'll post one recipe a day as we eat them, but for now, here is my Pumpkin Pancake Recipe, modified from a version I found on the internet. We like our pumpkin pancakes to really have a pumpkin pie flavor to them, so I have tweaked this recipe by adding extra pumpkin and some allspice for a little kick! This is my quick version, which uses bisquick instead of flour and baking soda.

Quick Pumpkin Pancakes
These pancakes are super quick, because they use Bisquick. To make them fluffy, substitute 1/4 a cup of seltzer water for a 1/4 cup of milk

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Bisquick
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups of milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1 tbsp. allspice
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Preparation:

1. Preheat an electric skillet to 375 or heat a large frying pan to medium high heat.
2. Whisk together all ingredients until well-combined, but do not overmix
3. Let rest for 10 minutes
4. Turn griddle down to 350
5. Ladle quarter cupfuls of batter onto griddle or pan. Cook until edges of pancakes start to set or bubbles form.
6. Flip. Cook another 1-3 minutes until pancakes are golden brown on other side.
7. Serve immediately with butter and syrup, honey or even whipped cream!

Yummy!