Mega-Meal Monday! Chicken Broccoli & Meatball Soup

I've been privileged to do Once-A-Month cooking with my friend Jen over this past year.  (Visit Jen HERE!) Not only does it save on time, money, and sanity, it helps keep those trips to the drive-thru a thing of the past.
Since my cooking partner is Super Mom during the summer serving her church and community with Weeks of Hope AND Work Camps, this leaves me without a freezer full of meals.
OR DOES IT?
I admit that taking on the task of doing all that prep work and assembling by myself is daunting.  There is another way I can still stock my freezer with pre-made food.
It's called Mega-Cooking or Mega-Batch Cooking....
The basis is simple.  If you make one recipe for a meal that freezes well, why not make more than one??  One to eat the day of and the rest to freeze!
So with that, here's my first recipe of my Mega-Meal Summer!
Chicken & Broccoli Casserole (this recipe is for ONE casserole)
10 oz frozen chopped broccoli
4 cups cooked, chopped chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup OR 2 cups homemade (see below)
1/4 cup mayo
1 small can mushrooms, drained
3 Tbsp Sherry (optional)
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Cook broccoli slightly and put on the bottom of greased 13 x 9 baking dish.  Combine chicken, soup, mayo, mushrooms, sherry and half of the Parmesan cheese.  Spread on top of broccoli.  Top with the remainder of cheese, cover, label and freeze.  When thawed, cover and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.  Bake another 20 minutes uncovered.

When adapting this recipe to make more than one, just multiply ingredients by the number of casseroles you want to make.
I set out to make two.  Using a whole cooked chicken, we ended up being a bit short on the amount the recipe calls for.  No worries, I just increased the broccoli --- everyone needs more veggies, right?!?
This meal cost me about $7.00 to make - that's $3.50 per casserole!

The finished product.  My camera doesn't make it look so appealing...
However, it does taste good!

To make my chicken, I baked it and then deboned the meat.  I took the bones, boiled them to make broth for the homemade Cream of Chicken soup AND had leftover broth to make Meatball Soup.
Meatball Soup is literally a throw it in the crockpot and come home to dinner recipe.  It's not fancy, but, it is easy!
Meatball Soup basics:
1 bag frozen meatballs (either beef or turkey....we like turkey. )
1 bag frozen mixed veggies
1 container chicken broth OR make your own
Water to desired consistency
Season as desired
Optional - add sauteed onions and/or celery
Put above items in the crockpot, put the lid on, flip the switch and come back later!  Depending on your family's size will determine whether or not you use a big or small bag of meatballs/veggies.

This post written and property of Homeschool Circus and can be found at: www.upatdawnreadytowork.com.