Baked Chicken Spaghetti

Life has been very busy around here but I finally found the time to post some more recipes. This recipe is adapted from the Pioneer Woman - Ree Drummond. She is my hero! I would love to have her life! Her cookbook is so much fun to read and her recipes look sooo good. She lives on a ranch out west with her family She works hard all day and then cooks enormous amounts of delicious food for her family. They all chow down and work off the calories on the ranch. I have to drive to the gym or power walk the surrounding neighborhoods to work off calories....boring!!! Anyway, here's the recipe. It's a little different from hers but I usually change things to my liking when I post here to avoid plagiarism. Oh...and the best part...I made my own homemade cream of chicken soup! I have included that recipe too. The Pioneer Woman's recipe calls for cream of mushroom but I didn't try making that. I refuse to cook with those "cream of" whatever soups.  I don't even consider them real food! Have you read the label on them lately? Yuck!!! Okay, here it is....

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, boiled and diced into bite-size pieces
3 cups dry spaghetti, broken into 2 inch pieces
3 cups (or 2 cans) cream of chicken soup (homemade recipe below)
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 medium red or green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp. Lawry's seasoned salt
 Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste


Boil spaghetti until done and drain. In a large bowl combine spaghetti with diced chicken and cream of chicken soup. Add all remaining ingredients, reserving one cup of grated cheddar cheese. Stir until mixed well. Pour into a greased casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until bubbly. If the cheese on top cooks too fast, spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and cover (sprayed side down) and continue to cook until done.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
dash of paprika
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup flour

In medium saucepan, bring chicken broth, 1/2 cup of milk and seasonings to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the remaining 1 cup milk and flour. Add to boiling mixture and continue whisking briskly until mixture boils and thickens. This is really easy and thickens up quickly.