We are dyed-in-the-wool DARK turkey people here.  So at the end of all the turkey pickins’ we have a grundle of white meat left over.  This year I decided to roast a turkey the Tuesday before Thanksgiving so we could enjoy turkey sandwiches for a few days.  You don’t get that luxury when you don’t host it at your house - so this was turkey “insurance”...  I deboned a 23 pound turkey, separating it into light and dark meat - as well as making two quarts (+) of yummy turkey gravy.  You can’t have too much gravy on hand.

White turkey meat tends to get progressively drier as it ages - no matter how well you store it.  So I decided to get right on it and use it up at it’s prime.  I found this recipe for Cheesy Chicken at yourhomebasedmom.com - and I was anxious to try it last week. 

I made it without any variations the first time - with chicken breast.  It was excellent, and my only complaint was that it made (literally) what seemed to be boatloads of gravy.  The chicken breast was long gone, but all that delicious gravy should not go to waste, so I used it with chicken thighs a few days later.  Again - it was excellent.

A few days after Thanksgiving I sliced one section of the turkey breast I had stored into 1/2” portions and layered them in a 9” x 13” pan.  I thought of that yummy sauce I had recently used to make Cheesy Chicken.  Since we don’t enjoy dry meat, I decided to use it to moisten up the turkey.  This time, however - I didn’t add the butter (or the cashews).  It certainly didn’t need it.  You’ll love this recipe to give a new lease on life to your turkey leftovers.

Cheesy Chicken (or Turkey)

Ingredients:

8 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Sauce:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/3 can beef broth

1/3 C Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1/4 tsp pepper

1 Tbs parsley flakes

Directions:

Mix sauce ingredients together.

1/3 cube/stick of butter, melted

2 oz. whole cashews

1 lb. grated Monterey Jack cheese

Melt butter in 9 x 13 dish.  I used my heavy roasting pan.  Lay chicken over butter. Cover with 3/4 of sauce.

Bake 1 hour at 325.  Add rest of sauce and cashews.  Top with cheese.  Turn oven off.  Leave in oven for 5 more minutes. 

*Note:  The photo above is using raw chicken breast.  The photos below are with chicken thighs.  The photos at right are using sliced, cooked turkey breast.  They were all wonderful!