Rotten; and not the chicken.

He loves me, he loves me not.  He loves me, he loves me not.  He loves me… HE BETTER LOVE ME! 

This weekend I’m headed out of here, and flying West, to none other than VIVA LAS VEGAS!  One of my best friends, Taylor, is getting married in less than a month so of course a bachelorette party in Vegas is protocol. 

Because you all know my views on restaurant food, I won’t go into that right now, but not only do I prefer to not to eat it, I also don’t want Dustin to have to eat it either.  Since I love, adore, and care about my husband and his health, just because I go out of town doesn’t mean he should eat fast food every meal.  Yes, he is capable of cooking something for himself, but I guess at this point, it’s safe to say, he’s spoiled rotten in the food department; then again, I love to cook, so it’s not really work for me either. 

Here we go.

Dustin LOVES one-dish meals; soups, casseroles, pot-pies, etc… like the ones your ’grandmother, grandma, granny’ makes.  There are only a few problems here.  The first being, one-dish meals are usually terrible for us (this is where I come in, recipe makeover).  And second, they usually include milk and cheese; since I’m lactose intolerant, I rarely ever make them, so, what a perfect time to make one:  when I’m going out of town and my husband still wants good food!

Dustin always says things like this to me, “Hey, can you make Sausage Casserole, but make it healthy?” or “Ash, why don’t you learn how to make healthy pigs-in-a-blanket?”  Okay, Dustin.  Sometimes it’s impossible, but other times, it’s absolutely doable, like today. 

My TOFW (Tip of the Week) for next week was going to be, eat what you want, but make it yourself.  This a perfect example.  For this weekend, I made Dustin a HUGE, from scratch, all organic, Chicken Broccoli and Cheese Casserole, to eat for dinner. 

This is filled with cheese (there is nothing wrong with fat-free, organic cheese in moderation), so it’s not something you want to eat everyday, but instead of your grandmothers, full-fat, processed ingredient filled, unhealthy casserole, maybe next family get together you can offer to bring the dish!

In my quest to make this dish, at first I thought I was going to use a can of Campbell’s Healthy Request (or whatever it is) Cream of Chicken Soup.  That was until I read the ingredients.

Ingredient list for Cream of Chicken Soup. 

CHICKEN STOCK, WATER, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, CHICKEN MEAT, MALTODEXTRIN, CREAM (MILK), CONTAINS LESS THAN 1% OF: WHEAT FLOUR, VEGETABLE OIL, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CORNSTARCH, SALT, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, LOWER SODIUM NATURAL SEA SALT, FLAVORING, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, CHICKEN FAT, YEAST EXTRACT, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, SPICE, BETA CAROTENE (FOR COLOR), DEHYDRATED CHICKEN.

Yeah, like I said, no thanks.  (That reminds me… One time I was sick and Dustin told me to eat some of this, but I refused to (before knowing/reading this), thank the good Lord that I didn’t; I might not still be alive :-).)

So, after reading that, I decided I would just do my own ‘cream mixture’ with organic fat-free milk, organic whole wheat flour, homemade organic, free-range chicken broth, REAL, as opposed to fake (ahem, Kraft) Parmesan cheese, and reduced-fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese.  No fake ingredients there. 

Now I can rest assured (:-)) in Vegas, knowing that my husband will probably be eating better than me.  I hope you all have a great weekend!