Aunt Meredith's Chicken Spaghetti

 My Aunt Meredith shared this recipe, and oh my goodness...it is SO good!  I also love this recipe because it makes a ton of leftovers that we can eat throughout the week during those weeks we don't have time to cook.  So without further ado, here's what we did:

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, cooked (I like to boil the chicken the day before and let it refrigerate overnight)
• 1 lb. thin spaghetti
• a couple tablespoons oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cups celery, chopped
• 8-oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced (1 small package)
•  2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans Rotel, drained and rinsed
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 lb. Velveeta
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cook the chicken earlier in the day or the day before so that it has time to cool.  Discard all the skin and bones and cut the chicken meat into bite size pieces.   Boil the spaghetti according to the package directions, drain, and set aside.  In a dutch oven, saute the onion, bell pepper, celery, mushrooms, and garlic in the oil on medium heat.  Add the cream of chicken soup and Rotel.  Cut up the Velveeta into pieces so that it will melt more quickly and add it to the onion mixture.  When the Velveeta has melted, add the chicken and mix well.  Then add the cooked spaghetti and mix thoroughly.  Pour the chicken mixture into a greased lasagna pan (or a deep 9 X 13 baking dish).  Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese on top.  Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden. 

We have added quite a bit more veggies than the original recipe called for, but we've kept the Velveeta the same, so if you think there is too much spaghetti and not enough Velveeta, go ahead and add a bit more!  We also talked about using real cheese instead of Velveeta (my husband, who is from Wisconsin, was horrified the first time I made this for him; apparently Velveeta isn't "real" cheese).  But this recipe is already pretty involved and requires a lot of pans and time, so we haven't gotten around to trying that yet.