Eat This Not That Part I

I was really buying into the Clean Eating Diet - a diet of unprocessed, unhydrogenated, simple foods, full of whole grains and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. The magazine  called to me, as food magazines do in the grocery store, but it was not until now that I had the opportunity to test any of the recipes out. Maybe I picked a really boring recipe or something - Squash and Chicken Casserole - but it really needed a lot more "Oomph". Of course, I ate it anyways, but I really wish I could find that dish that everyone loves, is healthy,  looks marginally impressive and I can get right every time.

Just compare the recipe from Clean Eating -  a healthy version of a "Georgia Church Picnic" Classic - to a version of the real thing:

Healthy Squash & Chicken Casserole	Chicken Yellow Squash Casserole
10 slices whole wheat bread Olive oil cooking spray 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced 3 medium yellow squash, thinly sliced (about 4 cups) 2 cloves garlic, finely minced ½ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded to ¼” to ½” thickness and cubed 1 cup pre-shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese 2 tsp Italian seasoning Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste	2 ½ - 3 lbs chicken 2 lbs yellow squash, cut into ¼” slices ½ cup broth 2 large carrots, shredded 1 medium onion, chopped 8 oz carton sour cream 10.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup ½ cup chicken flavor stuffing mix ¼ cup butter, melted Salt and pepper
1. Cut bread into cubes, spread out on a cookie tray and bake at 350° for 10 minutes 2. Sauté onions, add squash and garlic 3. Remove veggies to a bowl and cook chicken until golden brown 4. Mix together bread, vegetables, cheese and chicken and sprinkle on spices 5. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until lightly browned	1. Cook chicken, cool and remove from bone 2. Bring squash to boil in broth and cook 8 minutes 3. Drain and combine all vegetables 4. Combine sour cream, soup and salt and pepper 5. Add chicken and veggies 6. Spoon into 9 x 13” baking dish 7. Combine stuffing and butter 8. Sprinkle over casserole 9. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes

**In my opinion they are barely the same meal. Butter, sour cream and cream of mushroom soup would have made this dish totally moist and creamy - although it would probably make me sick.