Chicken Noodle Casserole and Brown Sugar Carrots

Tonight James got home at 5:30PM. I thought he was going to be eating supper at work--wrong! So I was planning something like leftover macaroni for the kids and cereal for me, but thankfully I had all the ingredients for a 30-minute meal (really it took 40 minutes if you count preheating the oven). This is another one where I have to give the credit to Leigh and her blog of weekly menu plans...she has over 50 of them! First up, the Chicken Noodle Casserole:

INGREDIENTS*

3 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
6 ounces of "No Yolks" egg noodles
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
1 8-ounce tub of light sour cream
pepper to taste
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 cup crushed Ritz crackers

INSTRUCTIONS

(1) Preheat your oven to 350. Put a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil.
(2) While you are waiting, mix both your soups, the sour cream, and a little pepper in a bowl.
(3) Drop your egg noodles into the boiling water and cook until done.
(4) Mix you shredded chicken and cooked noodles in a separate bowl.
(5) Pour your soup mixture over the noodles and chicken and gently mix.
(6) Pour it all into a 2-quart casserole dish.
(7) Melt your butter in the microwave, and mix in the crushed crackers. Spread that over the top of your casserole and pop it in the oven for 30 minutes.

...now for the BROWN SUGAR CARROTS

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar (dark or light)
one 16-ounce bag of baby carrots

INSTRUCTIONS

(1) Bring a pot of water to boil, and add your carrots. Cook until tender when stuck with a fork.
(2) Drain the water from the pot.
(3) Add the butter and brown sugar to the pot with the carrots and cook on low/medium heat for about 10 minutes.

*By the way, I shop at Wal-mart, and I pretty much ALWAYS buy store brand everything because it tends to be significantly cheaper.