Wednesday, November 7, 2012

broccoli and cheese casserole

What.
A.
Day.

This morning I woke up to Joe gently shaking me saying, "Hey, I think you're late..."
And boy, was he was right.
Somehow I turned off my alarm {for the 50 millionth time} without noticing.
I hate when that happens because:
1. I hate starting my day off in a hectic way because that hectic feeling always seems to linger on throughout my entire day, and;
2. it always happens on a day when I need to wash my hair. Always. Never fails.

So, needless to say, my hairdo was sub par today and I just felt rushed and nervous all day.
Bleh.
{Nothing a little cocktail can't fix though...am I right?}

Besides my crazy morning though, I had this weird craving for cheese all day.
Like an I-couldn't-stop-thinking-about-having-something-cheesy-and-creamy-for-dinner-so-I-spent-my-afternoon-looking-at-Pinterest-and-daydreaming kind of craving.
And then it hit me on the way home.
Broccoli and cheese casserole.
I'm proud to say I didn't even have to look up a recipe for this one!
I just decided to experiment and see how it turned out, because lets be honest...it's impossible to mess up something thats made of 50% cheese {and I was not going to go to the grocery store if I was missing an ingredient. No way.}

It turned out so good too, guys.

Things you'll need:
1 32oz. bag of frozen broccoli {I had about 2/3 of a bag left}
4 oz. fat free cream cheese {half a block}
2 oz. Velveeta cheese
sea salt & ground pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup of bread crumbs {or more, if needed - I kind of just eyeballed this}

Cook broccoli on medium heat until heated throughout.
You can also boil your broccoli until tender.
I like my broccoli to stay crunchier though, so I always just warm it up sans water and let the broccoli's natural moisture do the work for me.

Add cream cheese and stir slowly until melted.

Then add your Velveeta.
You can use any kind of shredded cheese you have on hand instead of this if you like.
I just happened to have 1/2 a block of Velveeta left around from the weekend that I totally forgot about.
Score.

Mix until all cheese is melted, and then throw in a dash of salt and pepper {to taste} to enhance the flavor a bit.

Spray your casserole dish with cooking spray, and dump in the delicious cheesy broccoli mixture you have concocted.

In a separate bowl, melt the butter and blend in bread crumbs until they are not soggy.
You want them to be crumbly enough to pick up with your fingers and sprinkle.

Sprinkle bread crumb mixture on top and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Mine took about 17 minutes, but again, my oven gets really hot.
I'd suggest just keeping an eye on it, and when the bread crumbs have become crispy and brown you know it's done!

Take it out of the oven and try not to burn your mouth when you take a bite before letting it cool.
This probably won't work, but it's worth the burn.
Mmmm.

I served this as a side with some pan-fried Cajun tilapia I like to make when I want something healthy and quick.
Overall, I'd say it was a success!
Any time I can get Joe to eat cream cheese is a success, really.

The rest of this week is looking pretty breezy for me if I can drag myself out of bed on time.

Seriously, I need some tricks to waking up early.
If y'all know of any, please share.
And don't say "go to bed early," because we all know I watch way too much primetime television to make it to bed on time.
:)

2 comments:

  1. who doesn't like cream cheese!! haha :)

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    Replies
    1. I know right?! My next goal is to get him to eat feta...he hates everything good!

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