Last week during one of our (hopefully) last snow storms of the season, I really was craving a casserole. Not a good casserole, not a casserole made with healthy ingredients, but a casserole made with a can of condensed something. But, I am trying to not eat anything out of a can. So, I had a question, how do you make something from scratch taste like processed food? The answer: flour, chicken broth and milk.

Condensed Cream of Broccoli Soup Not in a Can, But From Scratch

1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

1 1/2 cups of milk

3/4 cup of flour

2 teaspoons of seasoned salt

1 cup of frozen broccoli (chopped)

Mix the chicken broth and 1/2 of a cup of milk together in a saucepan. Bring to a light boil. Mix together the remaining cup of milk and the flour to create a slurry. Slowly add the slurry to the chicken broth/milk mixture. Add the frozen broccoli.

Chicken Casserole

2 cups of cooked chicken

2 cups of frozen broccoli

3 cups of the homemade condensed cream of broccoli soup

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup of Panko breadcrumbs

2 teaspoons of chopped fresh tarragon leaves (optional)

1/4 cup of grated or shredded parmesan

1 tablespoon of butter.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium casserole dish thoroughly mix the chicken, broccoli, cheddar and soup. In a small frying pan heat the butter. When the butter is sizzling add the Panko, parmesan, and tarragon.

Stir the Panko mixture until it is light brown. Top the chicken casserole with the Panko, and bake uncovered for 35 minutes.

Sure, opening a can would have been faster, but the whole process from start-to-oven was less than 10 minutes. And the only time I ever use condensed soup is for casseroles - I don't like the soup itself. But once the homemade soup was done I tasted it, and it was actually really good. I might make some just to eat on another cold (though hopefully not snowing) day.

And the chicken casserole was fantastic.

(Photos by Launie Kettler)