Finally, another recipe from Mom’s Recipe Box! I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints lately about how I haven’t been cooking. I don’t think it’s a lack of cooking because no one is starving. I’d say it’s more a lack of good homemade cooking. The best place to remedy that is Mom’s Recipe Box! I dug into it again and found some recipes that I had chosen before and never gotten around to making. Tomorrow I’m supposed to make beef stew. I’m seriously reconsidering that one. It’s just the completely wrong season for that. The Chicken Carmen that I made the other day was simple and delicious though!
The recipe card is leaning against the front of the one and only Mom’s Recipe Box with a couple of Mom’s old cookbooks in the background. Don’t judge my tablecloth. I lost my summery yellow one. I have no idea how that happened! Anyway, the card is handwritten by my mom and a little light on details like, “How much chicken, Mom?” “What size pan?” I know the card was written in 2000 or later because of the design. I don’t think she had actual recipe cards before she moved to Florida. She just used index cards. Here is exactly what the card says:
Dice chicken breasts. Top w/sliced swiss cheese. Cover with 2 cans cream of celery soup. Bake @350o for 25 min. Add croutons over top & drizzle w/butter. Bake 5 more min.
Really, Mom? I don’t like being challenged with recipes. I have a hard enough time making good food. Luckily for me, well, my family really, I did ok with this one. I only had to substitute one ingredient and it turned out excellent! Here’s what I did:
I sliced 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts (yes, I misread and sliced when I should have diced) and put them in a 13×9 glass baking dish. I sprinkled (heavily) shredded mozzarella cheese over the chicken and spread 2 cans of Campbell’s Healthy Choice (no MSG in there) cream of celery soup over the top. Next, I baked it at 350o for 25 minutes. I pulled it out of the oven and added a good layer of croutons over the top. I used seasoned (non MSG) salad croutons (cuz that’s what we love!). I drizzled 1/2 stick of melted butter over the top of the croutons and put it back in the oven for 5 minutes….well it may have been closer to 10 minutes, but who’s counting. Afterward I decided that a whole stick of butter would have been better, but it worked.
OK, looking back on that, I now realize that I am nearly as vague as my mom. At least I know where I got it from. This is what it looked like when it was all done:
It tasted delish with the mozzarella, but I’ll try it with the Swiss next time!
From Mom’s Recipe Box tomorrow: Double Chocolate Treasures…yum
Have a Creative Day!
Gardengirl