Friday, October 23, 2009

It’s Pumpkin Carving Time!

Halloween is only eight days away! I’m not sure about you but it’s a big holiday in my family and one of our favorite past times has been pumpkin carving. Every year, we all get together, travel to a pumpkin patch and pick out our best, perfectly round and oversized pumpkins! We then carve our pumpkins, have great treats and watch a scary movie. This year, I’ve been tasked to make the yummy food for our yearly gathering. I will be serving Fiesta Chicken Casserole. It’s quite easy to make and it’s great for a larger group of people. It’s just a great way to get into the Halloween mood!

Sunday is our annual trip and this year, I am preparing to make the best carved pumpkin of all my family! I began to do some research and found a lot of great resources online for carving pumpkins. One of the best I’ve found was on the History Channel’s website (http://www.history.com/content/halloween). They had a wealth of fun information about myths, legends, the history of Halloween and a whole section on carving pumpkins. You can actually download stencils and print them out! Here is the one I chose . Ok, It’s a little challenging but I love a good challenge when it comes to pumpkin carving. Wish me luck and I will be sure to share with everyone the outcome!

Fiesta Chicken Casserole

From: Campbell's Kitchen
Prep: 15 minutes
Bake: 40 minutes
Serves: 8


Ingredients:
1 package (15 ounces) refrigerated pie crust (2 crusts)
1 jar (16 ounces) Pace® Chunky Salsa
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1 cup sour cream
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)
1 package (24 ounces) frozen whole kernel corn
2 cans (9.75 ounces each) Swanson® Premium White Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained
1 can (about 15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained

Directions:

Let the pie crusts stand at room temperature for 15 minutes or until they're easy to handle.

Stir the salsa, soup, sour cream, cheese, corn, chicken and beans in a large bowl. Spoon the chicken mixture into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish.

Unfold the pie crusts on a lightly floured surface. Lay the crusts side-by-side so that they overlap by about 3 inches in the center. Press the seam to seal. Roll the pie crust into a 14 x 10-inch rectangle. Place the pie crust over the chicken mixture. Trim the excess crust from the edge. Cut several slits in the crust.

Bake at 400°F. for 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Best, and until next time, Kaitlin.

2 comments:

Bibi @ Bibi's Culinary Journey said...

The Chicken Casserole look delicious.

Good luck with the pumpkin carving contest, may you have the best pumpkin,

Unknown said...

Wow, I made this last week and I loved it! It looks good, but it is so much better than I ever expected! Thanks for posting this!