Budget Casserole After Thanksgiving

I finally found chicken breasts under $7 per pound. They cost $3.49 per pound. Not great but much better priced than the past two months.

Since chicken isn't cheap anymore, I wanted to use a fool proof recipe. When I need recipes that work the first time and every time, I rely on Betty Crocker. It's also my guide to Western comfort foods for my husband. I chose Green Bean Chicken Casserole. If your family is craving something creamy after a week of dry turkey leftovers, this is the recipe for you!

I didn't have canned mushroom soup so I made my own with heavy cream, butter, caramelized onions and sauteed button mushrooms. Rachel Ray gives instruction on how to caramelize onions. I also made my own herbed Panko crumbs. Panko gives food the appearance of being fried even if oven baked as in the picture above. I seasoned Panko, in a zip top bag, with thyme, seasoning salt and a tiny bit of Herbs de Provence.

Ingredients
12 oz sliced mushrooms
1/2 onion diced
3 TB Herbs
Seasoning salt
1 stick butter
6 oz heavy cream
3 cups bread crumbs
3 pounds of chicken
16 oz haricot verts
butter flavored cooking spray
powdered sugar

1. Saute the sliced mushrooms and diced onion in a dash of salt, 1 TB butter and 1 tsp sugar.
2. Layer the raw haricot verts. Snap these beans in half. Pour the sauteed vegetables on top and pour cream on top.
3. Slice chicken breasts into 1 inch pieces. Lay these on top of the vegetables.
4. Use 1/3 stick of butter and disperse pieces over chicken. Top with seasoned bread crumbs. Spray with cooking spray to brown crumbs.

Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour 20 minutes. Test to make sure chicken is no longer pink.

Note: If you make your own mushroom soup base, it is lower in sodium than if you bought the canned version. In addition, you don't have to worry about MSG if you make homemade. This is low-carb. You can reduce the bread crumbs or choose a gluten-free substitute for the topping.

80 cents per serving