Chicken Casserole

Lately, I've been craving my mom's casseroles, chicken and tuna both. I'm not sure why. But as my husband (who shall henceforth be referred to as The Instigator) despises tuna to the point of if I make tuna salad for sandwiches while he's at work, I have to air out the house and brush my teeth after eating it or I'll be refused kisses, that option is out. So chicken casserole it was. And as we had some cooked chicken leftover from when The Instigator made his chicken enchiladas while we had company over this past weekend, it made sense to use up the meat in a chicken casserole. Unfortunately, as The Instigator grew up in Oklahoma and Texas, he tends to find things from my mom's recipe repertoire unpalatable due to it being too bland for his tastes. So tonight was an adventure in the culinary arts...for me, anyway! (I don't generally cook...a chef I most definitely am not! I put "cooking" low on the list of desirable house duties...right above cleaning the bathroom! LOL I prefer to bake...) Anyway, it turned out fairly well (though The Instigator mentioned a couple of things he would have added to add color and garnish to the dish...and yes, he is the chef of the house! LOL), so I'm posting the recipe to share here, at the request of a friend! :D

You will need:

12 ounces of wide egg noodles

16 ounces of picante sauce

8 ounces of velveeta mexican mild cheese (or about 2 cups of mexican 4 cheese shredded cheese)

2 - 10.75 ounce cans of cream of chicken soup

5 cups chicken

milk

Boil the chicken, spicing to taste, and cut it into small pieces (chicken on the bone is best for this, but chicken breasts also work well)

Boil the noodles according to the directions on the packaging, and then strain off the water.

Mix together cooked noodles, cooked chicken, both cans of cream of chicken soup, (and using one of the empty cans to measure the milk) 1 can of milk, and all 16 ounces of picante sauce.

Once well mixed, pour into a 9"x13" (3 quart) casserole dish.

Warm Velveeta cheese (with a splash of milk to prevent the melting cheese from sticking to the pan) and pour the melted cheese over the casserole. (If using shredded cheese, just sprinkle it on top of the noodle mixture.)

Bake in the oven at about 400* F  for 20 minutes (or until the cheese starts to bubble at the corners of the dish).

It came out quite well, and even The Instigator approved, though we agreed that next time we'll likely add crunched up corn chips in the bottom of the pan (for texture), and he recommends adding in diced red and green bell peppers to add color and garnish to the casserole. Enjoy!!!