Once upon a time boys and girls got up every morning, ate their hot breakfast and went off to school. Their dad headed off to work and their mom cleaned up the house, did the laundry, and went to the grocery store every day or every other day to pick up ingredients for a wonderful hot dinner that they would all sit down together to eat while they discuss their day. Unfortunately this story doesn’t end in the same manner. In today’s world a significant number of women work outside the home and many kids are opting to eat their breakfast at school. I completely understand this, and it is this way at my house.

Emily sleeps till the last possible minute, gets ready and dashes out the door. Fortunately for me the school she attends serves breakfast at a time when she is ready to eat. Yes, I’m a nurse, yes, I know a child needs breakfast in the mornings, but she just isn’t ready to eat at 6:30 a.m.

The dinner problem for us is that there are only two of us so it is sometimes hard to think of things to cook in smaller portions, and of course there is the time factor of getting to the grocery store and getting it cooked. I confess that we eat a lot of rotisserie chicken at our house for convenience sake and canned green beans seem to turn up for the vegetable du jour more often than they should.

But if you get a chance on the weekend to do a little planning ahead here are two casseroles that everyone in your family will love and they freeze well also, which can be a lifesaver during a hectic week.

This recipe for Rotel chicken came to me from a youth group dinner at Jefferson St. Church, I don’t know who originally sent it out, but I know we all use it over and over.

Rotel chicken

5 large chicken breasts, boiled and chopped, save the broth

2 large onions, chopped

2 large green peppers, chopped

1 stick of butter or margarine

16 ounces of thin spaghetti

2 cans of Rotel tomatoes

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 can cream of mushroom soup

8 ounce can of sliced mushrooms, drained

2 pounds of Velveeta cheese, cubed

Salt and pepper to taste

Boil your chicken breasts just until done and chop or tear into chunks. Using the broth that you saved, boil your spaghetti in the broth, just until done. Save the broth. Melt the butter in a large skillet and sauté your onions and peppers, until soft. Mix the onion, peppers, Rotel, Worcestershire sauce, soup, mushrooms and cheese. Stir well. Add the chopped chicken and spaghetti. Add more broth if needed to mix well. Split this mixture up into greased casserole dishes and bake at 350 for about 30 to 40 minutes. I usually split this into several small casseroles and freeze one or two, before baking.

This next recipe originally came to me from Karen Callaway. She gave it to her daughter Jennie who shared it with me.

Mexican chicken casserole

5-6 chicken breast, de-boned, boiled and cut into bite-size pieces, save your broth

1 dozen flour tortillas torn into fourths

1 stick of butter or margarine, melted

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can Rotel tomatoes

2 onions, chopped

3 cups grated Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

3/4 chopped celery

Salt and pepper to taste

3/4 of a package of Lawry’s Chili Mix

In a blender or food processor mix the soups, broth, salt and pepper, Rotel and chili mix, set aside. In a large casserole dish that you have sprayed with nonstick cooking spray layer the following: first, tortilla pieces that you have dipped in butter, half of your chicken, half of your sauce and half of your cheese. Repeat these layers. Bake for one hour on 350 degrees. This casserole also freezes beautifully.

Christina Hall writes a weekly column for The Democrat. She can be reached at christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com.