Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs. of boneless skinless chicken breast
• 8 oz. freshly shredded cheddar cheese
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 12 slices of thick cut bacon
• 1.5 lbs of Broccoli
• ½ packet of ranch seasoning (4 tsp) 
• Fresh cracked pepper to taste
• 1/2 Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1/2 packet of Ranch Dip Seasoning (just used the half that I didn't put with the chicken)
• Mix together and pour over mixture before baking

Directions:

• Start by cooking the bacon. We've grown to love baking it in the oven. Line a pan with aluminum foil and place the bacon on it. Cook for 18-20 minutes at 400 degrees. Cooking times may vary depending upon the thickness of the bacon. Save your bacon grease! The foil lined pan makes cleanup easy and very easy to save your grease, which is great for cooking.
• Chop up the chicken into bite sized pieces. Add bacon grease (or olive oil, butter, whatever) to a pan on medium and toss the chicken in. Season with the ranch packet. You want to make sure to cook the chicken mostly all the way through.
• While the chicken is cooking wash and slice up your mushrooms. We buy them in bulk from Sam’s and don’t mind the extra work involved in prepping them.
• When the chicken is finished remove it from the pan and cook the mushrooms. Season these if you want with a little salt and pepper. Cook them until they get to the consistency that you prefer.
• Add the finished ingredients to a large greased (makes cleanup easy) casserole dish. It helps to pull the cream cheese out of the refrigerator ahead of time so that it can soften.
• When the bacon is finished chop it up into bite sized pieces and add all of the ingredients to the casserole dish, including the cheese, and mix thoroughly. Optionally top with fresh cracked black pepper.
• Set your oven to 350 degrees and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Cook for 30 minutes covered and then 10 minutes uncovered.
• This makes 8 servings each weighing approximately 280 grams.