Healthy Chicken Tetrazzini for #Choosedreams

I know I’ve shared this Healthy Chicken Tetrazzini recipe before but it’s one of my old time favorites and I’m a big fan of American Family Insurance and their #Choosedreams campaign. In May my #SundaySupper family and AmFam gathered to bring you recipes Fresh from the Garden!!! I shared my recipe for Herbed Chicken Kabobs, I’ve only made them 3 times so far since grilling season has been upon us.

So today I’d like to invite you all to join me in the fun as we Celebrate Healthy Recipes the Family Will Love!! Everyone’s invited to join in the fun as we share recipes, stories and images of our Families Favorite Healthy Dishes! At 2 PM EST we will be having a Live HOA with Isabel and Chef Dennis and a few of other friends to talk about Healthy Eating and sharing some of our tips, tricks and favorite recipes to have your family and friends eating better without noticing any change in the delciousness! So today I am sharing this dish that also includes a recipe for homemade cream of mushroom soup! Trust me you’ll never buy canned soup again!

Now this is a dish that is sure to please anyone in the family. It’s healthy yet hearty. Has your vegetables already in it for a one dish meal! However…….you will have a lot of dishes at the end.

Not so pretty huh, but don’t let that scare you because I have a few reasons as to why this dish is worth all of those dishes above! The first reason is because it’s GOOOOOOOD! Healthy but GOOD! I can’t even believe my picky kiddo ate this. Another reason is because I was able to make two casseroles out of this, we ate one that night (it served a good 4 adult portions) and then I froze the other one for a busy weeknight dish! The final reason is because after I made this recipe, I had an Ah-Ha moment if you will. Healthy Cream of Mushroom was born!! YES!!!

So thank you to Melissa who blogs over at Bless This Mess because her recipe inspired me to create this Tetrazinni dish and my new addiction to Healthy Cream of Mushroom, which by the way I will be experimenting with Healthy Cream of Celery and Healthy Cream of Broccoli too because I’ll never buy a canned soup again! So stay tuned for that.

Have I convinced you yet that this dish is worth making? Hey make it on Sunday and store in the fridge for a busy night! Wala dinner is served in about 30 minutes!

OK let’s talk ingredients:

1 pound whole wheat thin spaghetti, broken in half
1 bunch of fresh broccoli, chopped
Cooking Spray
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 cups cooked chicken
2 tablespoons margarine
7 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups low sodium fat-free chicken broth
1 cup low-fat milk
1/2 cup reduced fat Parmesan cheese
1 cup part skim mozzarella cheese

**Tips**
Throw a pound of chicken breasts in the crock pot with a little chicken broth and seasoning and you have your cooked chicken for this dish. Use leftover chicken if you desire or even rotisserie chicken will work!

You can use frozen broccoli if you’d like you would just skip the first part of the directions for the sauteing the broccoli with the mushrooms.

I started with step one first. While I started step two I got all of the ingredients measured out for step three because it happens fast and I like to have everything ready to just poor in.

What to do:

Saute broccoli, mushrooms and garlic in olive oil for roughly 5-8 minutes. Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees.
While the veggies are cooking boil water and cook pasta, but drain before it cooks all the way. Set aside.
In a large saucepan melt the margarine over medium heat. Add the flour and salt and stir to combine. Cook the margarine and flour mixture for roughly 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth to the flour mixture. Stirring constantly, gradually bring the mixture up to a boil, keep whisking away!! Probably another 2 minutes This thickens your sauce. Turn down the heat, and then simmer for an addition 2 minutes until the mixture thickens even more. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the milk and Parmesan until the cheese melts.

Spray 2-two quart baking dishes or one large baking dish with cooking spray. Add sautéed veggies, cooked chicken and the pasta. Pour most of the sauce into the mixture (leaving about 1/2 cup sauce).

Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the top and pour the remaining sauce around the edges of the dish(es).
Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 5 minutes.