From stove to table this hearty casserole takes only 30 minutes — which makes it one of my new favorites! We served toast with raspberry jam on the side, and the flavors really complemented each other. –Mellyn 
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Category Archives: Chicken
Chicken “Marsala”
There is no Marsala in this recipe, but the flavors are inspired from a sauce that contained Marsala Wine and this is where I got its name. “Chicken and Sauce” was just too boring for me to use.
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Chicken Enchilada Casserole
This recipe is adapted from one I received at a “kitchen” wedding shower. It has always been one of our favorites! It tastes best if you make it the day before; giving the flavors more time to blend. You can also dress it up by keeping the tortillas whole and rolling the chicken mixture into enchiladas. If you do this, I’d recommend reserving about 1/2 of the soup mixture and adding chicken to the other half. Fill your tortillas with the chicken mixture and pour the reserved “soup” mixture over the top before baking.
Hannah’s Favorite Chicken Sandwiches
These chicken sandwiches are so easy to make, it’s almost ridiculous! Even better is how the whole family gobbles them up…–Mellyn
Pecan Chicken Casserole
This casserole is just plain good! There’s something comforting about creamy rice and chicken with a hint of rosemary. And the nutty flavor of pecans along with the mandarin oranges is a taste sensation that will make your mouth sing!
Chicken Salad
To add some variety to my storage, I like to have some meals that are served “cold.” This original creation whips up in minutes and has a delightful, fresh taste that’s a contrast to the usual hot meals we associate with food storage. The curry adds a nice flavor, and I love the sweet from the mandarins and craisins. –Mellyn
Chicken Info
Chicken comes in a variety of forms that are suitable for food storage. If you live in an area without a hen-pecking HOA, perhaps you raise your own chicken! Other folks I know stock up when it’s on sale for a good price and fill their freezer. If you’re freezing your supply, make sure you consider what you’ll do if the power goes out –unless you live in the Arctic, you ought to consider a generator and the gas to keep it running.
Pressure canning for later use is another option. I have several friends who do this regularly and insist that it’s the most delicious and economical way to store chicken. They say it’s easy, too, but I’m still learning about pressure canners, and to be honest, they scare me a little! There are multiple YouTube videos with instructions, if you’d like to see it done before you actually try it.
Emergency Essentials carries freeze-dried chicken, as well. After hydrating, you have chunks of cooked chicken that look, smell and taste just like the real thing. I found it a tad salty, but definitely a useable alternative. It retails for $42.95/can at Emergency Essentials, and the price drops to $41/can if you order 6 or more. Depending on who you ask, it should last 20-30 years stored at room temperature and even longer if stored at a cooler temperature. Remember to store extra water, though. When you’re using freeze-dried products, unless you plan to eat them in their “styrofoam” state, you’ll need to plan for extra water to rehydrate them!
Pleasant Hill Grain also carries a canned chicken that has phenomenal flavor, according to my friend, Carrie. (Sorry, trying it IS on my list, but these cross-country moves have been crimping my try-it-out plans!) Since it’s cold packed with only chicken and salt, it doesn’t have a lot of the additives found in other products, and it boasts a minimum shelf life of 5 years –with some testimonials claiming it’ll last nearly 20! It costs a little more than canned chicken you can purchase at a grocery store (currently around $5.40/can (if you buy enough to qualify for free shipping), but the longer shelf life and improved taste may be worth the extra cost.
Currently, I buy my food storage chicken at Costco. For a little more than $2/can, I have it cooked and ready when I need it. Do we eat canned chicken all the time? Nope. I rotate it by making the recipes I’ll share with you this week as my cans get close to expiration. The rest of the time I buy and use fresh or frozen.
Chicken Curry & Peaches
I use my crock pot for more than just “cook all day” meals. It is very handy for canned meats and beans when I want to heat well and I don’t want to watch a pot. The flavors in this meal marry well and add variety to my food storage.
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Cashew Chicken
I love when I get to use my dried and freeze dried vegetables. They really cut down on prep time and I have no need to saute’ them to make them recipe ready. This recipe becomes super fast, but looks super fancy.
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Bow-tie Pasta with Blackened Chicken
After tasting a friend’s delicious blackened chicken pasta dish made with fresh ingredients, I had to find a way to make something similar with shelf stable ingredients! This is one of my all-time favorite food-storage recipes and definitely one of our family’s 19. –Mellyn
Yield: 10-12 servings
- 12 ounces pasta (we like bowties)*
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 or 2 13-ounce can(s) chicken
- 4 teaspoons blackening seasoning, divided**
- 1 4-ounce can mushrooms, drained
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 7.6-ounce can table cream
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Cook pasta according to package directions.
- Toss chicken with 2 tsp blackening seasoning. Heat oil over high heat in a large skillet. Add chicken and sauté until it starts to brown a bit.
- Add mushrooms and tomatoes to chicken.
- Whisk garlic powder, salt and blackening seasoning into table cream. Add to chicken mixture.
- Heat until warm, but don’t boil or the cream will curdle.
- Drain pasta and add to skillet.
- At this point, you can bake pasta for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees and melt a little cheese over the top or just eat it from the skillet.
*I’ve made it several times using rice instead of pasta. If you’re doing this, you can reserve the liquid from your canned chicken, tomatoes and mushrooms and add about an extra 1/2 cup of water to cook the 1 1/2 cups rice.
**You can buy this or if the high cost gives you heartburn, I use Tom’s recipe that I found at http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/toms-blackened-seasoning/detail.aspx It makes about 24 teaspoons. I mix up a batch and keep it with my other spices.
French Cassoulet To Go
Inspired by the traditional French slow-cooked bean casserole, this tasty dish whips up in about 20 minutes! –Mellyn
“Fresh” Tomato Pasta Salad
Created especially for tomato week, this salad is so tangy, it makes my mouth water just to think about it! I love the different flavors and textures. It goes together quickly, so it makes the perfect quick lunch or side dish. For a fresh option, tear up a handful of spinach leaves and mix them in before serving. Feta crumbled on top is yummy, too! –Mellyn
Chicken, Apples, and Rice Dinner
This skillet meal is full of variety in ingredients and taste. Along with the apples and chicken promised by the title, this dish also features mushrooms, cranberries and onion. It is a sweet and salty combo that we enjoy.
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Chicken Pot Pie
A Betty Crocker version of this recipe was the first “real” food I learned to cook, and it’s still a family favorite. (Heck, I even forked out the cash for freeze-dried peas! No mooshy green peas in my pot pie!) Anyway, I keep about 25 pounds of butter in my freezer and planned to use part of it for chicken pot pie filling. But now that I’ve made the bean “discovery,” I can save my butter for places I won’t be trying beans — like spread on my toast at breakfast! –Mellyn
