As an adult I’ve gravitated away from the overly spooky and love the cutesy side of halloween. I enjoy making themed treats. My decorating has shifted to scarecrows, ghost cut outs, and black cats. I don’t enjoy scaring myself out of sleep and would choose Hocus Pocus over Freddy Kreuger any day.

As my kids are getting older though they are looking more and more to the terrifying. I’d love to do an outdoor movie in our backyard this year. Now to choose which old scary movie from my childhood to share with them. Clowns seem to be this year’s favorite. Perhaps a little Steven King is in order.

 

Ingredients

¼ cup butter or margarine

1package (8 oz) sliced fresh mushrooms (about 3 cups)

1bag (1 lb) frozen French-cut green beans

4cups shredded deli rotisserie chicken (from two 2-lb chickens)

2cans (10 3/4 oz each) condensed cream of mushroom soup

1can (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts, drained

1container (8 oz) sour cream

1teaspoon freshly ground pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1jar (12 oz) roasted red bell peppers, drained, chopped

36 oval buttery crackers

1 ½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese (6 oz)

 

Directions

Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 12-inch skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Cook mushrooms in butter 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Meanwhile, cook green beans as directed on package; drain.

In large bowl, mix mushrooms, chicken, soup, water chestnuts, sour cream, pepper, garlic powder and green beans. Gently stir in roasted peppers. Spoon into baking dish.

Place 20 of the crackers in resealable food-storage plastic bag; seal bag and crush with rolling pin. Sprinkle crushed crackers over chicken mixture.

Bake uncovered 15 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over casserole. Insert remaining 16 crackers so they are sticking up to look like tombstones. Bake 10 to 15 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

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Quick tip: You can turn any cracker topped casserole into a graveyard with this simple trick.

Recipe and image courtesy of Pillsbury