Chicken Divan

See original recipe on Scratch Pantry

On May 13, 2023 we made a six times recipe for a total of 2 - 9x12 pans and 8 - 9x9 pans.  We agreed that this recipe was a win, both in flavour and recipe balance.

We made this recipe again on Nov 1, 2025.   We made 9 - 9x9 pans and 3 - 9x12 pans

Filling

24 cups cooked brown rice  ** bring pre-cooked to save loads of time

12lbs chicken breast, diced, cooked

¾ cup butter

6 yellow onions, diced

12 carrots, diced

24 cups broccoli florets (approx 3 lbs)

salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

2¼ cups salted butter

2¼ cups flower

9 cups chicken broth

9 cups whole milk

4 cups sour cream

2 T garlic powder

2 T onion powder

2 T mustard powder

salt & pepper to taste

Topping

15 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

6 cups crushed Ritz cracker or panko (we used panko)

¾ cup melted butter

Method

Start the sauce by melting the butter and whisking in the flour.  Cook for about 2 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and milk

When the sauce has thickened, take it off the heat and add in the sour cream, garlic, onion, mustard, salt & pepper.

Sautee the onions and carrots in the butter.  When mostly soft add the broccoli and cook until the broccoli is bright green.

Mix up the panko and melted butter - pack in ziplocks

Layer rice, chicken, veggies, white sauce and cheddar.  Add the panko if cooking immediately.  If not, freeze it separately and sprinkle on after thawing the dish.

If frozen, thaw for a day or two in the fridge.
Bake at 350F covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 10 minutes.

Chicken Alfredo Bake

See original recipe on Spend with Pennies

On May 13, 2023 we made a six times recipe for a total of 2 - 9x12 pans and 8 - 9x9 pans.  This recipe was mostly successful.

We all agreed that the flavours of this dish were on point, but there are things we would change if we made it again.  Hopefully the notes below include all the changes we would make.

9 lbs of chicken breasts, cubed, cooked (an approximate.  We wanted more than the six lbs called for)

30 cups of short pasta, cooked al dente  (approximately 1800 gr)

9 cups mozzarella cheese (this is a guess.  We needed more than the 6 cups it called for)

1 cup Parmesan cheese

Alfredo Sauce

1½ cups butter

1¼ cups flour

10 cups milk

10 cups half and half

1 T salt

2 T Italian seasoning

¾ tsp pepper

1½ cups parmesan cheese

2 T minced garlic

Method

Melt butter. 
Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. 
Add flour to create a roux, cook for approximately 2 minutes.

Mix in the milk and cream, whisking very often.
Stir in the salt, Italian seasoning, pepper and Parmesan.
Continue whisk over medium low heat until thickened and smooth.

Layer pasta, chicken, sauce, mozzarella and Parm in the pan.

Thaw in fridge for a day or two if the dish has been frozen.
375F covered with foil for 20 - 30 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Broil to brown the cheese.

Pancit

This is a "reprint" from my mother's blog.

As part of our family gathering today, Flaviana taught several of us how to make my favourite Filipino dish, Pancit. 

A little research taught me that Pancit is really a generic term for noodles but this is the only version I have eaten.  Flaviana did say that she does make variations in the vegetables depending on what is on hand.

She started by sauteing garlic in oil and then adding onions. 

 After a while she added chicken and soy sauce and cooked it for a while. If she had been at home she would then have been chopping up the vegetables, but on this occasion they were conveniently all ready chopped and waiting in ziploc bags.  They included savoy cabbage, carrots and celery. Before adding them, she pulled out half of the meat.

After the vegetables were cooked, they were removed and she returned the chicken, any juices, and some hot water to the pan and threw in her rice noodles. She does not pre-soften these noodles, though some people do.

The noodles were stir fried along with more soy sauce and eventually everything was mixed together along with some shrimp and it was poured onto a platter, 

 

garnished with lemon and served.

Lovely mid afternoon snack!

Turkey

My turkey procedure comes from Chef John at Food Wishes - see link to side.  He's got a couple videos on how to do the most amazing turkey.  This is point form for my future reference, pretty much directly from his instructions.

The turkey will probably need 4-5 days to thaw depending on size.
Clean thoroughly.  Rip out excess fat.
Save neck, gizzard, heart for gravy stock.
Toss liver
Season bird inside with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning.
Toss carrots, celery, onions in 9x13 pan
Toss same inside turkey with sage and rosemary
Prepare sage / rosemary / garlic butter and rub under skin
Rub same all over the outside of the bird.
Season outside of bird with more salt, pepper and poultry seasoning
Put a little water in the pan
Loosely cover the top with foil
325F

For a 20lb turkey to be served by 5:30:

1:00 turkey in oven
2:00 start simmering stock for gravy with a bayleaf
3:00 saute veggies for stuffing
4:00 take foil off turkey
4:00 start with stuffing and potato prep
5:00 take bird out, start making gravy with pan drippings
5:00 start carrots to steam
5:00 put stuffing / potatoes (if appropriate) / pie in oven.
5:20 prepare salad / warm corn

Honey Mustard Chicken

This is my mother's recipe and I have happy mouth memories when I eat this now!  I'll write her recipe and then add my comments in another colour.

8 chicken pieces, skinned
1 tsp curry powder
½ cup orange juice I used Orange Rasberry juice 'cuz all I had in the house was Veggie Juice
2 tbsp melted butter
½ cup liquid honey
2 tbsp prepared mustard  Oooooh - 'prepared' mustard.  I used dried.  This is probably why mine wasn't as yellow as I remember Mum's
salt

Rub chicken pieces with curry powder and arrange in a baking dish.  I just sprinkled it over top.  I'm lazy like that.
In a small glass measuring cup, mix together the rest of the ingredients until smooth.
Pour over chicken pieces and bake at 375F for about 1 hour, turning once and basting often.  I covered mine in foil for the first 45 minutes because I didn't feel like turning and basting.  I'm lazy like that.

Orange Balsamic Chicken

I discovered a YUMMY chicken recipe in a Rachel Ray cookbook.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs orbreasts or any combination of light and dark meat
• Salt and coarse black pepper
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves chopped
• 1/3 cup orange marmalade
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 scallions, whites and greens, finely chopped

PREPARATION

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high to high heat.

Season the chicken liberally with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. When the olive oil ripples, add the chicken and brown for 5 minutes, then turn and sprinkle with rosemary. Cook until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 5 minutes more.

In a small bowl, stir together the marmalade, vinegar and stock and pour over the chicken. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and becomes a thin glaze. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter and serve topped with the glaze, and scallions.

Sausage Pepper Spaghetti

I adapted this recipe from a Catelli spaghetti box.  It is such a quick, easy meal!  Serves four.


Heat in a heavy sauce pan:
½ cup olive oil
½ tsp chili pepper flakes
1 tsp dried rosemary (a sprig or two fresh)
Cook for 15 minutes, strain and discard solids.


Meanwhile, prepare your favourite pasta - I used whole wheat spaghetti.


In a large skillet saute for five minutes:
The flavoured oil you just made
1 each sliced red, orange and yellow sweet peppers
1 diced length of farmer sausage (6 or 8 inches worth)

Add and saute briefly:
4 cloves of garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
A little lemon zest

Toss with spaghetti, garnish with Parmesan

Mexican Casserole

:

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and adapted it for our family's taste.  We really enjoyed it.


brown:
1½ lb ground beef

add:
1 cups salsa
Simmer until most of the liquid is gone


add:
1 can kidney beans, drained
warm through


Grease a 9 x 12 casserole dish
Spoon beef mixture into bottom of the dish


Spread on top:
1 cup sour cream

Layer on top:
½ cup green onions
½ cup diced tomatoes

Last layer:
Grated cheese (I used Tex-Mex)

Bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes at 350F or until bubbly.

If your family enjoys olives, add them to the onion / tomato layer.  The original recipe called for crumbled tortilla chips on the bottom, but I found they got lost once the casserole was baked.  We enjoyed scooping up the casserole with tortilla chips instead of a fork.

Crock Pot Beef Stew

This recipe is from the little booklet that came with my first crock pot.  Serve with French bread.

1½ – 2 lbs stew meat in cubes

¼ cup flour

S & P

1½ cups beef broth

1 t Worcestershire sauce

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

½ t paprika

3 carrots, sliced

3 potatoes, diced

1 – 2 onions, chopped

1 stalk celery, sliced

2 t Italian seasoning

Place meat in crock pot.  Mix flour, salt, pepper and pour over meat.  Stir to coat.  Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix.  Cover and cook on Low 8 – 10 hours.  (High 4 –5 hours).  Stir stew thoroughly before serving.

Pulled Pork

I am posting this prematurely.  We've only made it once but Cory said I should post it.  He absolutely loved it.

On the outset, it might appear that this is an expensive meal - the ingredients are going to cost at least $12 BUT this made for meals on 5 occasions so . . . that makes it infinitely affordable.  

Originally from food.com, the author says these are great frozen in buns, tightly wrapped in saran.

Toss into a crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours

2 sliced onions
1 cup ginger ale
1 pork shoulder (4 lbs or so)

At the 8 hour mark, strain liquid out and discard.  Remove meat and shred with forks.  Put onions and meat back into the pot, add:

1 bottle (approx 18 oz) of your fav BBQ pork sauce.  (ours was peppercorn and brandy)

Mix, cook on low for another hour or two.

Serve on buns.

Beef Stroganoff

This is yet another recipe that I have fond memories of from my youth.  It is my go-to recipe whenever a roast beef meal happens the previous night.  I have made 2 minor modifications to Mum's recipe so sisters be warned.

I have happy memories of this dish when Joel lived with us on 20th Avenue.  He would get his mother's fabulous leftovers from her catering jobs.  Those made for delicious stroganoffs.  Rumour has it Montreal Steak Spice takes a roll in her roast flavour profile . . .

Saute:

1 sliced onion

1 can of sliced mushrooms, drained

Add:  

Remainder of last night's roast cut into strips

Salt & Pepper

When beef is warmed through, add:

½ - 1 cup sour cream

1 T Dijon mustard

Stir through, serve with egg noodles and peas.

Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe is from two sources:  The biscuit top is from Alison - she first made it for me while she was living with us.  The bottom is from Judy - At Home in the Kitchen with a couple of slight modifications.

Biscuit:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white flour
2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary
1 1/2 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces
1 cup buttermilk or sourmilk
1 tbsp canola oil


Bottom:
Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat.  Blend in flower and seasonings, stirring until smooth.  Gradually add milk, wisking until smooth.  heat boiling, stir until thickened.


¼ c margarine
5 T flour
1 T chicken bouillon
1/4 t pepper
1/2 t thyme
1 t rosemary
3 c milk


In the microwave, cook veggies until just soft.  Keep water.


½ c water
1 c chopped carrots
½ c chopped celery
½ c chopped onion


Stir into sauce:


3 c cubed chicken or turkey
½ c frozen peas


Pour into greased 9 x 13 baking dish


350F 35 - 40 minutes

Pasta Carbonara

We have this at least once or twice a month.  It's so quick.  Put your pasta on to boil when starting the onions.  They will be ready to serve at the same time.  I originally got this recipe off www.nestle.ca.

Pre-cooked bacon or ham
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can evaporated milk
1 lb spaghetti or linguine
1/3 c Parmesan cheese
3 T chopped fresh parsley

Cook pasta as per usual.

Saute onion and garlic until softened (use bacon fat if you just cooked it).  Stir in evaporated milk.  ring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.  Add bacon or ham, heat through

Drain pasta and return to pot.  Stir in sauce, cheese, parsley.

Serve

Italian Sausage Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe is originally from "Once A Month Cooking". 

1 lb bulk Italian sausage (mild)
1 lb hamburger 
1-1/2 cups finely chopped onion
12 oz tomato paste
84 oz diced / pureed tomatoes
2 cups water
1 T minced garlic
4 bay leaves
2 T sugar
1 T dried basil
2 t oregano
1 T chopped fresh parsley
2 t salt

Brown the sausage and onion (drain fat), add the rest, bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for an hour.

This makes a lot of sauce.  Approx 9 cups. 

Grandma's Hamburger Helper

Grandma used to make this when I lived with them in Outlook. I've made it ever since.

1) Brown some ground beef, drain (1 - 1½ lbs)

2) Add diced onions and celery

3) Stir in a can of diced tomatoes

4) Add water (I usually fill the tomato can as a measurement)

5) Dump in some of your favorite pasta. 

6) Bring to a boil then simmer until the pasta is done.

7) Stir in a package of onion soup mix 

8) Grate in some cheddar cheese

9) Stir

10) Serve 

Balsamic Angel Hair Pomodoro

I found this recipe shortly after I went on mat leave with Rebecca. Regis & Kelly were having some kind of contest that was being judged by famous chefs like Emeril. One of the top 5 was this recipe, which the contestant called Chicken Ben Conti. She named it after a football player, I think. A stupid name for an amazing dish.

4 - 5 vine tomatoes, seeded & diced
10 basil leaves, shredded or cut or whatever
1 red onion, diced
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 c balsamic vinegar
5-6 strips of cooked bacon, chopped up
1 lb chicken breasts, cut in to nugget sized pieces
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
½ pkg of angel hair pasta
Parmesan

• Mix tomatoes, basil & vinegar in bowl
• Saute onion and garlic in olive oil, add to tomatoes
• Mix flour and Italian seasoning
• Dip chicken into beaten egg, then dredge in flour
• Start water boiling for pasta
• Fry chicken in a little olive oil until done, then set aside. Cover in foil or place in warm oven.
• Warm up bacon in frying pan
• Add tomatoes mixture to the bacon at the same time that you add the pasta to the water. They both want to be cooked for about 3 minutes.
• Drain angel hair, add to tomatoes, turn up the heat a bit and give 'er a couple more minutes. Toss well.
• Sprinkle Parmesan over the chicken. Serve the chicken on top of the pasta.