Chicken & Stuffing Casserole, Ranch Dressing

Yesterday evening was another night full of cooking. I wanted to make some bread and calzones in addition to dinner. I wanted to use the leftover marinara sauce from Monday night and we ran out of bread earlier in the day anyway so I figured calzones were the perfect answer. The problem: They take too long to cook when I'm not starting dinner until after 5pm.. So I planned something quick and easy for dinner and while that was cooking I had time to make the bread and calzones that I wanted.

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 box StoveTop stuffing (or 4 cups seasoned, dried bread crumbs)

1 can green beans

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In large skillet, brown chicken on all sides. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Cover chicken with water and boil until cooked through (about 15 minutes). Prepare stuffing mix according to package directions except omit butter and use water from cooked chicken. Open can of green beans and drain. Cut chicken into chunks and spread over the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Spread green beans over chicken and prepared stuffing mix over green beans. Mix soup and milk and pour over the top of stuffing. Top with cheese. Bake 30 minutes.

I cooked about 3 lbs of chicken so I'd have enough for calzones and possibly some enchiladas later in the week.Note the time- In the amount of time it took me to cook dinner, I was also able to have 2 loaves of sandwich bread ready to put into the oven as well as a loaf of cinnamon rhubarb breakfast bread AND one large calzone. I will add the bread recipes to another post.

Oh! And I also made some home-made ranch dressing for our salad.

Ranch Dressing Mix

1 Tb. dried basil

2 Tb dried minced onions

2 Tb. dried parsley flakes

2 tsp dry mustard

2 tsp garlic

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

2 Tb. sugar

1 1/2 C. dry buttermilk powder

Combine ingredients and mix well. To make salad dressing:

Add 1/4 cup above mix into a 2 cup jar. Add:

1/2 cup water. Mix well

3/4 cup mayonnaise and shake jar until thoroughly blended.

Makes 1 cup salad dressing.

          
To make vegetable dip:
 Add 1/4 cup mixture to 8 oz sour cream. Mix well. Add water to reach desired consistency if necessary.