French Onion Chicken Casserole

When I first saw this recipe I thought it sounded okay, but not exactly earth-shattering. I put it on my menu, but I didn't really have high hopes for it. Boy, was I wrong!  This was so yummy and satisfying; I had two servings and would've had a third but I didn't want to look like a pig in front of my company. I was very reluctant to give up the leftovers when my husband asked if we could send a few servings home with my mother-in-law.

This takes a little prep work: you have to precook the chicken and the noodles before you bake the casserole, but you could easily prep this ahead of time and bake it later. You could even stick it in the freezer to save for a lazy day!

French Onion Chicken Casserole

Prep time: 30 min  Bake time: 30 min
Serves 8

4 cups cooked chopped chicken
1 1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
2 cans cream of chicken soup
16 oz container French Onion Dip
1 cup cheddar cheese
12 oz egg noodles
1 cup crushed french fried onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray.

Cook egg noodles according to package directions; drain.

Combine chicken, veggies, soup, dip, and cheese. Stir in cooked egg noodles.

Pour mixture into prepared pan. Top with crushed french fried onions.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until heated through.

394 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Blueberry Custard Pie

I LOVE blueberries, but not the tiny, sour, overpriced ones that the grocery store has most of the year. I lived in Michigan for a few years and there were half a dozen blueberry farms within 20 miles of my house and every year we'd buy gallons of dark purple, sweet, juicy berries the size of marbles. They didn't need anything to be delicious so we ate them plain by the fistful, but we'd also eat them with ice cream and bake them in pies.

I was so excited last week when I learned my local blueberry farm was open for business and I sent my husband with explicit directions to come home with no less than 2 gallons of blueberries. I wanted to make a blueberry trifle for the company I had coming, blueberry muffins for breakfast, and 2 batches of blueberry cobbler to feed the teenagers at youth group. He came home with NONE! By the time he got there, they were sold out.Total bummer. I gave up on my extensive blueberry plans, but I was so in the mood for blueberries that I gave in and bought 1 pint from the grocery store. It wasn't enough to make most of the recipes I was craving, but it was just enough to make this pie. I've never put custard in my blueberry pie before, and I've never put streusel on top, but I really loved the end result! This was good cold, but it was amazing served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Blueberry Custard Pie

Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 45 min
Serves 8

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tbs flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Streusel Topping:
½ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup flour
¼ cup butter, softened
½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix the sour cream, ¾ cup sugar, egg, 2 tablespoons flour, vanilla extract and salt with a spoon until smooth. Gently fold the blueberries into the sour cream mixture. Spoon the filling into the unbaked pie crust.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.

While the filling is baking, prepare the streusel topping: In a medium bowl combine the brown sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course sand. Fold in the chopped pecans.

After the filling has baked 25 minutes, sprinkle the streusel crunch topping over the top of the pie. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes or until filling is set and topping is brown.

Make sure your crust doesn't burn. Either use a crust shield or make a loose foil tent towards the end of baking.

Remove from oven and let pie sit for at least 10-15 minutes. Serve pie warm or chill it and serve cold.

352 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!