Take Them A Meal

My friend Kara just recently had a baby boy.  Several of her close girlfriends wanted to organize meals to be brought over to her house to free her from the burden of having to cook while caring for her sweet little baby.  There's always so much confusion when planning something like this because you want to know what everyone else is making because you don't want to bring them something to eat if they just had the same meal two nights ago.  Plus, you have to do all this communicating via email, sometimes with with people that are outside of your circle of friends.  Well some genius out there came up with a website that does all this planning for you and it's absolutely free!  You can schedule your meal online, view other people's meals, as well as get the information about what time is best for you to drop your meal off at their house.  How convenient!  If you are about to plan something like this too, you must go to takethemameal.com.  It is so easy and saves you so much time.  I'm taking my meal over to Kara's house tonight.  It's my absolutely favorite casserole and I always request that my mother-in-law, Nancy, makes it for me on special occasions.  If you've never had No Peek Chicken, put it on your meal plan next week...you'll love it and it's super easy!

Nancy's No Peek Chicken:

Ingredients:
1 box of Uncle Ben's Long Grain & Wild Rice (with herbs)
1 Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Can of Cream of Celery Soup
1 Can of Cold Water
1 t. of parsley flakes
A dash of curry powder
1 package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
4-8 boneless chicken breasts

Directions:
Grease 9 x 13 inch pan.  Mix first 6 ingredients together and pour into the pan.  Place chicken on top.  Sprinkle a package of Lipton Onion Soup mix over the top.  Seal with foil and bake for 2 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.  Don't Peek!

Black Bean Burgers, Coming Right Up!

This might look like a lot of ingredients, but most of this stuff you probably already have in your pantry. You can always leave something out if you don't have it (except the black beans, of course!) This is a great, healthy summer meal...enjoy!


Ingredients:
2 15 oz. cans of black beans (well drained)
2 egg whites
2 t. minced onions
2 t. dried Italian seasoning
1 t. salt
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. black pepper
1 t. dried roasted red pepper
1 t. baking powder
2 slices of bread
1/4 cup of corn (optional)


Directions:
Blend one can of black beans and the remaining ingredients in a food processor or blender. Add last can of black beans. Blend just a little. Form 6 patties. Spray patties with oil and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 6 minutes on each side, spraying each side with oil before you flip. You can cook these patties the same way in a frying pan. If you have left over patties, you can freeze them and bake/fry later. Brad and I love to top our burgers with a fried egg, avocado, and cheddar cheese. Yum!