Chicken Madaline

Here is an updated picture of Chicken Madaline I put in the crock pot.

 First off let me start off by saying this is NOT what your finished product should look like, the fact is after I put this in the oven I was in such a hurry to load it and the girls into the truck that I didn't get a picture of the finished project. So there you go. We were talking it to share with some friends.

This may very well be the first casserole I ever had. Growing up we didn't eat casseroles. I am sure I had one at a friends house or anything, but nothing memorable. I first had this dish at a Nurses week luncheon, our DON (Director of Nurses) made it for the luncheon. She made it ever year, it's really yummy. This however is the second time I have ever made it since I have been married. Why do you ask? Especially if it's so yummy? Three words- canned creamed soups. Both DH and I try our best to stay away from that stuff and to top it off this recipe also calls for a pound of Velveeta "cheese". So it's not exactly good for you. But it tastes good, and the girls really liked it too.

Chicken Madaline

Here's what you need
1 Chicken or 4-6 breasts
1 Medium onion (chopped)
1 Stick of celery (chopped)
1 Green bell pepper (chopped)
4 Tablespoons of butter
1 Pound Velveeta Cheese
1 Jar pimento (I substituted this for half a chopped red bell pepper)
Salt & Pepper
1 Can cream of mushroom soup (the small ones what are they like 15 oz?)
1 Can cream of chicken soup
1 Can chicken broth (I used about 1 1/2 cans)
1 Pkg. of spaghetti


Chop your celery....








and your green bell pepper...








and your red bell pepper (if using)...








finally chop your onion. Set it all to the side.








Boil your chicken in salted water once the juices run clear remove the chicken to cool. Reserve the cooking water.









Cook your spaghetti in the reserved chicken water until almost done. Drain and set aside.





Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, remove the bones if you are using a whole chicken.







Empty your pot. Now at this point you can use a big sauce pan, but I didn't want to wash two pots, so I used my stock pot again. I wish I could say this was motivated by wanted to conserve water, but really it's my laziness.
Melt the butter in the pot.





Sweat your vegetables in the butter, don't brown them just make them soft and the onions translucent.







See, not browned...







Add your cream soups, salt and pepper and jar of drained pimentos if you are using them.







Toss your good old processed cheese in the pot.









Let it all melt together... add your can or so of chicken broth.






Stir in your chicken...








Add the pasta...







Place all of this goodness into a 10x13 pan, I admit I did this pan and an 8x8 pan.
Now at this point you're supposed to put this in the oven and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. However Diva woke up from her nap and wanted to help, I don't turn my kids away from helping in the kitchen, so...




I found something for her to do. I had half a package of crackers, I put them in a zip top bag and let her crush them up. Watch your kids, you want people to see that these were crackers once... you don't want a fine sand. Which the kids can produce if you let them get carried away.




Look at those cute hands. Because I only had half a package of crackers I only sprinkled half the dish with them. then I dotted that side with butter and baked it.