Smothered Chicken

Time to stop procrastinating.  I made this recipe for dinner last Sunday and I'm just now getting a blog done on it.

Without furthur ado, Smothered Chicken...

To start with, you make a sauce of milk and cheddar cheese condensed soup.

 Thinly slice up some potatoes (4-5 medium - if they're smaller, just guesstimate it.  If you over guess, then you're in good company because we did, too!).  Thank you to DH for slicing for me!

Spread some of the milk/cheese sauce on the bottom of the pan.  That's right, this chicken is totally surrounded in cheesy yummines!!

Make 3 layers of potatoes and cheese sauce mix.  Salting and peppering each layer as you go.  

Make no more than 3 layers, though or it will take too long to cook.

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 mins.

Meanwhile, chop up some bacon in 1/2 inch pieces (or so!)

Cook the bacon then add some chicken breasts (or chicken breast tenders) to the grease.  

Lightly sear on each side.

When the potatoes are done, put the chicken breasts on top of the potatoes and cover in the rest of the cheese sauce.  Bake 30 mins

Sprinkle with shredded cheese and bacon.  Bake 10 mins or so (until cheese is blubbly)

The original recipe, which I am linking to, was from "South Your Mouth."  When I think of southern cooking, I think 'comfort' and there's some comfort in this recipe, for sure!  I did think it was a little salty because there's several times the original recipe calls for salt, plus the bacon but it was yummy!

 http://www.southyourmouth.com/2014/03/smothered-chicken-cheesy-potato.html?m=1

 

Chicken Bacon Ranch Tater Tot Casserole

So it's been awhile since I blogged again but last night we tried a unique recipe that I wanted to share with you.   


When I think 'chicken bacon ranch' I immediately think of Pizza Ranch's Chicken Bacon Ranch wrap and the amazing chips, dipped in ranch, that go with it.  I used to work there so believe me, I know how good it is!

 When I think 'tater tot casserole' I think of a family recipe - What Cheer Casserole.  It's my family's take on tater tot casserole.  My grandma used to always make it when my mom would come down to visit my dad before they were married and because she always had it in What Cheer, she called it What Cheer Casserole and that's what we've always called it.  It's hamburger, ketchup, frozen mixed veggies, cream of mushroom soup and tater tots all layered up and baked.  Love it!


I saw a recipe for Chicken Bacon Ranch Tater Tot Casserole on Pinterest and was intrigued but couldn't bring myself to dare to try a different tater tot casserole.  Well, the 'chicken bacon ranch' part got to me and I just had to try it!  I've had the ingredients for almost a week before I finally got a chance to try it!  This was my status on Facebook last night:   "Can't go wrong with chicken, bacon, ranch, potatoes and cheese, right? Well, I'm hoping so because I tried a new recipe tonight!"

So I got out this pan (which holds nostalgia as well because my great-aunt had bought it for me as a wedding present and then she passed away the Sunday before our wedding):

To the pan, I added 1/2 bag of frozen (thawed) corn, a bag of frozen (thawed) peas, large can of chicken with rice soup and 2 cooked chicken breasts.

Add some milk, sour cream and liquid ranch:

Doesn't that look good?!

Add some tater tots

I didn't get a picture of this but you also add shredded cheese and cooked bacon.

Bake and eat!

Ingredients

• 1-2 cups cut up chicken breast
• ½ cup ranch dressing (the liquid ranch in a bottle)
• 8 oz. shredded cheese (your choice of kind)
• 4-6 slices of bacon (add more or less as you wish)
• Tater Tots
• 1 cup sour cream
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 26 oz. can of chicken with rice
• 15.25 oz can of corn
• 15 oz. can of peas

Instructions

1. First you're going to want to cook up the chicken. I usually cook mine in a frying pan. While that's going you can get the rest of the items ready. Get a 13x9 baking dish or something close to that size. Put the corn, peas, chicken with rice and the chicken in the baking dish and mix it up. Make sure to drain the peas and corn before putting them in.
2. In a separate bowl mix the milk, sour cream and ranch together. Pour that in with the rest of the ingredients that are in the baking dish. Mix that all together. It will look a bit soupy, but that's okay. Once it cooks it won't look that way.
3. Next you're going to want to top it off with the tater tots. Then sprinkle the cheese over the top. Next you will want to cut up the bacon in small pieces and sprinkle on top as well. I use already cooked bacon with mine.
4. The oven can be preheated to 400 degrees or you can check the package of tater tots and cook at that temperature. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until the tater tots are golden brown. ENJOY!

http://kathyssavings.com/chicken-bacon-ranch-tater-tot-casserole/


Official Opinion:  This is a unique recipe.  I love the flavor of using the liquid ranch instead of just a ranch dressing packet.  The combination of everything left DH and I thinking, "not bad but not too worried about making it again soon."  DD loved it and actually had seconds when I made it yesterday and asked to have it for lunch today!  That's pretty good because she doesn't usually respond to new recipes that way.  DS must have liked it, too because it took him forever to eat his serving because he kept stopping to say, "Yummy!  Yummy!"  He has not been thrilled about left-overs today, though.  But hey, he hasn't thrown it on the floor and stomped on it like he did with the quiche so we're making progress!

Enjoy!!