Three Fabulously Easy Make-Ahead Dinners

Outside of being able to hire a personal chef (ah, living the dream), it’s wonderful to know that when you get home at night, dinner is ready to pop into the oven.  I grew up on casseroles, also known as hot dishes, and I still rely on them today.  I like to make my casserole the night before so that when I get home from work, all I have to do is pop it into the oven while I tidy up the house and mix a salad or steam some veggies.

Here are three of my go-to recipes that everyone seems to love:

• Escort Chicken Casserole – The base of the casserole is 4 to 5 boiled chicken breasts mixed with a can of cream of mushroom, a can of cream of chicken, and a small container of sour cream. The entire mixture is topped with crushed escort crackers and melted butter.  Add the topping the day you plan to actually cook the casserole.
• Ham and Swiss Casserole – There are tons of varieties for this mixture of egg noodles, cooked ham, shredded Swiss, cream of celery soup, sour cream, and chopped onions and peppers. I do have a hard time finding shredded Swiss sometimes, but shredded mozzarella works great too.
• Impossibly Easy Mini Pies – There are so many options, it’s easy to please a crowd. Depending on your guests, you can even make two or three varieties.  Or try one of the brunch options on Thanksgiving Day while you wait for that turkey to roast.  Two of my favorites for dinner are the Crab Cake and the Cheeseburger.  Serve with cocktail or tartar sauce (Crab Cake) or salsa (Cheeseburger).  Completely bake these ahead of time and simply heat them up the day of.