Using Thanksgiving Leftovers

I hope that everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Now for the Christmas rush to get everything done. This year I intend on making a lot of gifts…so far I have only put a little tiny dent in my list.
In the meantime, I had to figure out a way to use up turkey leftovers. We spend this Thanksgiving with my friend and her family and they made 2 turkeys. Needless to say there were plenty of leftovers, enough for me to come home with half a turkey. Tonight I decided to make Rotel chicken casserole and use turkey meat instead, it’s a bird right. I have been making this for years. It’s a recipe my mom made when we were younger and I think that she got it from one of her friends. It’s super easy and can be whipped up in no time. Plus it can feed quite a few people depending on how much meat you use.

Rotel Chicken/Turkey Casserole

Ingredients:

Shredded chicken, in this case leftover turkey

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

1-2 cans Rotel tomatoes with chilis, * depending on how spicy you like your food*

1 cup chicken broth, or water * if using 2 cans of Rotel you can omit this* It’s just to thin out sauce a bit

8-10 corn tortillas

2-3 cups shredded cheese, in the past I have used Mexican mix, Colby jack, cheddar, Monterey jack

cooking spray or a little bit of oil

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 350°. Prepare a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray or a light coat of oil. In a medium boil mix, 2 cans of condensed chicken soup, 1 can Rotel and up to 1 cup chicken broth or water.  Stir well, it should be the consistency of thin yogurt or pudding. Spoon a thin layer of the Rotel mixture into the baking dish and spreed evenly making sure to put some sauce in the corners of dish. Place a single layer of corn tortillas in bottom of dish, you may have to break a couple of tortillas in half so that the fit with out too much overlapping. Tortillas can overlap but make sure to put a little of the sauce in between tortilla layers. Next spread a couple spoon fulls of sauce, about 1/3,  on top of tortillas, layer 1/2 of shredded chicken/turkey and 1/3 of cheese, make another layer just like this and top casserole with layer of tortillas, topped with remaining sauce and cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove foil and continue to bake for another 10-20 minutes or until cheese is bubbling evenly across the top and cheese has melted.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. This is just a general recipe, I don’t have anything really written down. You know how some recipes are passed down by word of mouth, well that’s how I got this one. Feel free to adjust the levels of any component you just want to make sure that the tortillas are evenly coated because they can get dry and crunchy in the baking process if they don’t have enough Rotel sauce.

Advertisement

Alfredo, Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

I have made this recipe for years. It simple and delicious. Great for a make ahead meal and using leftover chicken or even Thanksgiving Turkey. I noticed that my sister posted this a while back and it has gotten over 48,000 pins, that’s crazy. So I thought that I would get it pinned a couple more times 😉 Originally this recipe was supposed to be for stuffed shells.  They are good but a lot of work. And lets face it some days you don’t want to have lots of work in the kitchen, so I decided to throw it all together in a baking dish. Still tastes just as good without the hassle of stuffing darn shells. Enjoy.

Alfredo, chicken and broccoli casserole

Ingredients:

1 pound box of shell pasta ( I use a little over half a box)
1 1/2 – 2 pounds bone-in skin on chicken breast ( chicken or even turkey works great)
1 – 14 ounce bag frozen broccoli florets
1 – 16 ounce jar alfredo sauce
1  – 8 ounce block of sharp cheddar cheese, grated(I’ve used colby jack too)
salt, pepper and olive oil for roasting chicken
lemon pepper or Mrs. Dash

Directions –

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse and pat dry the chicken breasts then season them well with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 – 35 minutes. Let the chicken cool until you can safely handle it, then shred it  and set it aside.

Cook pasta according to package and drain.

Steam the broccoli in the microwave by dumping the bag in a microwave safe container. Add a little water then cover tightly with plastic wrap – don’t forget to poke a few holes to let steam out. Cook for 4-5 minutes– they don’t have to be completely cooked through.

Get a large bowl out and put pasta, shredded chicken, cheese, broccoli and alfredo sauce, then season well with lemon pepper and mix well. Spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray and pour the pasta mixture then sprinkle the top with more cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 25 minutes, then remove foil and bake for another 5 minutes.