Country Crock Easy Cheesy Casserole (giveaway ends 8/8/13) #CountryCrockCasserole

 

My family often complains that we eat the same meals over and over again, week after week. I have to say that I agree with them 100%. We are in a dinner time rut. I have to blame myself. It’s not that I don’t want to prepare different meals, I’m often too busy to do so.

I keep forgetting that I have two “options” on hand with numerous possibilities – my crock pot and casserole dish. Both offer you dozens (if not more) different meal possibilities. Often they are as easy and tossing in a few ingredients and letting the crock pot, or your oven, do the work for you.

Casseroles are not something that I make often. Usually when I make them it’s because I’m brining the dish to a family get together, or there is a recipe I really want to try.

To get out of our dinner time rut I am going to make it a point to use my casserole dishes more often.

When Country Crock asked me if I wanted to participate in their Country Crock Casserole Club I jumped on the opportunity. I figured it was a great way to learn some new casserole recipes and to get myself into the habit of making a casserole dish at least once a week.

Country Crock sent me a few goodies including a darling casserole dish, some ingredients to get me started, and a recipe for Easy Mac & Cheese Veggie Chicken Casserole. I actually tweaked the recipe a bit and made my own recipe, which is a spin off from something I have made over the years for my kids.

Here is the original recipe if you would like to try it with your family.

Easy Mac & Cheese Veggie Chicken Casserole by Country Crock

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp. Country Crock spread, melted and divided
• 1 cup of 2% milk
• 8 ounces of dry rotini pasta, cooked and drained
• 2 cups of cooked chicken
• 4 cups of assorted frozen vegetables, thawed
• 2 1/2 cups of finely shredded low fat cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup of plain bread crumbs
• 1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Pre-heat over to 400 degrees
2. Combine 3 Tbsp. of Country Crock spread, milk, pasta, chicken, vegetables and cheddar cheese in an 8″ baking dish.
3. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and remained spread into a small bowl. Mix well and sprinkle on top of the casserole.
4. Bake until heated all the way through and the breadcrumbs are toasted (approx. 30 minutes).
5. I did my recipe slightly different.

Years ago when I was a young adult (late teens) I mixed in peas and a can of tuna fish with boxed mac and cheese. It tasted really good so I prepared that meal often. When my kids were little I gave them the same combination and they loved it too. So I thought it would be fun to tweak this recipe a bit and make it the way I like to prepare mac and cheese.

Instead of cooked chicken I used a can of tuna fish, drained. And instead of frozen mixed veggies I used frozen peas. The rest of the recipe was pretty much the same except I used a different cheddar cheese blend and a Parmesan Romano cheese.

This meal was super easy to make and quick too. This would be an idea meal to prepare when I’m at a loss for something to make for dinner or if I don’t have a chance to prepare a more involved dinner. This recipe is as easy as combining the ingredients and baking for 30 minutes.

The perfect side dish to this meal is a freshly prepared garden salad. 🙂

If you like this recipe you can find more great recipes on the Country Crock website, www.CountryCrock.com (look for recipes on the top tab). You can also follow the brand on Facebook and Twitter. You can find some recipes on their Facebook page.

For even more recipe inspirations check out the Country Crock Pinterest page. Be forewarned, don’t view their Pinterest page if you are hungry. They have A LOT of drool-worthy recipes on their site. 🙂

How would you like to make this recipe for your family? Country Crock would love to give one lucky reader the same casserole dish they sent me and some of the ingredients, including a coupon for a FREE tub of Country Crock spread, in order to make the Easy Mac & Cheese Veggie Chicken Casserole by Country Crock recipe or your own version of this recipe. Thanks Country Crock!

FIVE lucky runner ups will receive a coupon for a FREE tub of Country Crock spread.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on August 8, 2013 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winners will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winners will be notified via e-mail and will have three days to reply or a new winner will be chosen in their place.

Entering will be a wee bit different than normal.

To enter please choose ONE of the following activities.

Pin a photo of my recipe on one of your Pinterest pin boards and include the hashtag #CountryCrockCasserole (it MUST include the hashtag). Please put the link to your pin in the comment section of this post.

OR

Tweet about this recipe or giveaway on Twitter. You MUST include the hashtag #CountryCrockCasserole and a link back to this post. Please put the URL of the tweet in the comment section.

OR

Post a link to this recipe/giveaway on your Facebook page. You MUST include the hashtag #CountryCrockCasserole. Please put the URL of the post in the comment section of this post.

For extra entries you can use the Rafflecopter widget (below) but you must complete one of the initial entry requirements in order for the extra entries to qualify (I do check). Extra entries are optional.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kimberly

*I am participation in a Country Crock Casserole Club blogger campaign. I received free products to create this recipe. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way. Country Crock will be providing the prizes.