Chicken tater tot casserole

10 oz - 1 lb cooked (or canned) chicken
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 can (10 3/4 oz) low sodium cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup ketchup
Small bag frozen peas and carrots
2 cup grated Colby jack cheese
2 lb package frozen tater tots

1. Cook the onions in the oil until translucent.
2. Mix the soup and ketchup in a small bowl.
3. Layer the ingredients in a greased 9 x 13 oven-proof dish, in this order: chicken, onion, soup-ketchup mixture, peas and carrots, cheese.
4. Arrange the tater tots across the top. (This is an excellent project for pre-schoolers!)
5. Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for 1 hour.

This can be assembled a day ahead and baked later.

Baked meatballs

1 lb ground meat*
1 apple, cored and diced
1 small calabaza squash, diced
2 green onions, chopped
1/2 lightly beaten egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried sage
1 chicken stock cube, crumbled

1. Spray a baking sheet with Pam.
   
2. Whisk stock cube into egg. (Otherwise, you may end up with salty clumps of stock.)
3. Mix all the ingredients together.
4. Shape into small balls, about a tbsp each, and place on tray
   
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the temperature at the center of the biggest meatball is 160 degrees.
   

*I used boneless skinless chicken thighs, run through the food processor.

Slow Cooker Chicken Spinach Curry

1/2 cup red lentils
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 1/2 cups chicken stock, boiling
8 chicken thighs, skinned
8 0z frozen spinach
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
salt
black pepper

1. Rinse and drain lentils.
2. Put lentils, curry powder, coriander, cumin seeds and stock in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours.
3. Place chicken in the slow cooker and push down into sauce. Recover and cook for 3 hours on high.
4. Add spinach and cilantro to slow cooker and push into sauce. Cook for another 30 minutes, until spinach wilts.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I serve this with basmati rice, cabbage bhaji, and sweet pickles.