2 Meals in Minutes: Chicken Spaghetti / Meatloaf

I may develop a habit of this – for one, because I just simply love food… but also because I know that there are plenty of people out there like me who would love to have some different dishes that aren’t going to take them all day to prepare. Both of these are DINNER recommendations (or supper, depending on where you live LOL)

#1: Chicken spaghetti with cream of mushroom sauce, baked beans, and pasta salad:

- Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup
- Tyson boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Barilla thin spaghetti
- Bush’s Baked Beans (country style)
- Betty Crocker Suddenly Pasta Salad (bacon & ranch flavor)
- Milk
- Seasoning Salt, brown sugar, hamburger meat (optional)

The only preparation required is to wash the chicken breasts and sprinkle them with seasoning salt and mix together 1 can of cream of mushroom soup with about 1 cup of milk. Takes all of about 3 minutes.

Boil the spaghetti until it is tender then drain it, cover it, and set it aside. Cook the chicken breasts on the stovetop medium heat until the entire outside of the meat is white. Add the mushroom soup mixture to the chicken, cover, and simmer on med-low until cooked through (core temperature of poultry should always reach about 165 degrees Fahrenheit in order to kill any bacterial organisms which may be present!) The baked beans are the easiest part – follow the instructions on the back of the can. I usually add more brown sugar and – just a suggestion – about 1/2 pound of browned hamburger meat to my beans. (Yum.) Pasta salad – same thing, just follow the instructions on the box – for the bacon & ranch flavor: cook the noodles, then mix them with the seasoning packet and 1/2 cup of mayonnaise. Once the chicken is cooked, pour the chicken & sauce over the spaghetti noodles and mix it all together. Voila. You’re done. Total time in the kitchen: about 30 minutes.

#2: Meatloaf, cornbread, and green bean casserole:

- Jiffy Corn muffin mix
- 1 egg
- French style cut green beans (2 small cans or 1 large can)
- Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup
- French’s Fried onions (I use regular but the cheese flavor are also pretty good)
- Milk
- Hormel Homestyle fully cooked meat loaf

Microwave the meat loaf for 7 minutes. It’s done. :) See how easy that was? It’s REALLY good too. This is one of the very few things I will actually use my microwave for, but it also has oven instructions as well for those even more anti-microwave than myself haha … Jiffy cornbread is the only kind my family will eat because it’s delicious! You just mix together the mix, 1 egg, and 1/3 cup of milk. Green bean casserole: (the easy way) Put the green beans in a saucepan on the stovetop and bring it to a boil for about 5 minutes. Mix together 1 can of cream of mushroom and 1 cup of milk. Drain the green beans and mix them into the cream mushroom sauce. Pour that mixture into a baking dish, cover with aluminum foil and throw in the oven with the cornbread. Bake at 400 degrees – take the cornbread out after about 12 minutes. Cover the top of the green bean casserole with fried onions and bake UNCOVERED for about another 5 minutes. (I normally put my meatloaf on a cookie sheet and stick it in the oven for those 5 minutes so it’s good and hot.) Voila. Time in the kitchen: less than 30 minutes! By the way, did I mention this meatloaf is goooooood? :)