Back from our Thanksgiving break, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We did eat some wonderful food! Having been on our diet for a month, all the food tasted absolutely delicious. Now it’s back to the routine, and back to the diet, but, oh! those yummy memories!!

Before the big day I surfed the Internet looking for a ‘good’ green bean casserole, since it was requested by my son for Thanksgiving because ‘you always used to make them’. Uh, I made ONE green bean casserole years and years ago and never made it again because everyone else always could be counted on to do it. And I REALLY don’t like green bean casserole enough to make one. So, it wasn’t ME who made it for him. But, okay, I love my boy, so I gave it a try this year.

In my surfing I found a number of these casserole recipes, which all seem to be based on the original Campbell’s Soup recipe using their Cream of Mushroom Soup and French’s French fried onion rings. I finally settled on a combination of several recipes. I used Paula Deen’s recipe as my base, however, because it’s gotta be good if Paula makes it, right? I was stunned when this turned out to be so delicious. I doubled the recipe, so it filled a 9 x 13 casserole dish, but it was gone in a flash. Can’t complain about that! So, here is the recipe with my changes, if you want to try it for every day, or for Christmas dinner!

Green Bean Casserole – Paula Deen – Food Network
Serves 6

1/3 stick butter
½ Cup diced onions
½ Cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 Cups sliced Fresh green beans
3 Cups chicken broth
1 (10 ¾ ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (2.8 ounce) can French-fried onion rings
A Pinch ONLY of House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 Cup grated Cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt butter in large skillet.
Saute onions and mushrooms in the butter.
Boil green beans in chicken broth for 10 minutes and drain.
Add green beans, mushroom soup, onion rings, and PINCH House Seasoning to the onion mixture in the skillet.
Stir well.
Pour into a greased 1-1/2 quart baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes, then top with Cheddar and bake for 10 more minutes until cheese is melted and casserole is hot.

Okay, you can just use your own salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste if you don’t want to make Paula’s House Seasoning (that’s what I did), but here’s the recipe:

House Seasoning (Paula Deen):
1 Cup salt
¼ cup black pepper
¼ cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in airtight containing up to 6 months.

Comments on the recipe included:

Cut the butter in half, too much in recipe! (I did, was plenty)
Add more green beans, this is not enough to feed people! (I doubled, filled 13×9 casserole)
Be sure to use FRESH mushrooms and green beans as in recipe! (I did, excellent)
You can use cream of chicken soup if desired, instead of mushroom. (I used one each)
Some wanted more of the fried onion rings, so they added them to mixture plus on top. (I did)
Some also added cracker crumbs to the onion ring topping. (I crumbled some Ritz and added)
Some put some cheddar in the mixture. (I did not use any cheese)