Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli Noodle Casserole

Who doesn't love cheese? Who doesn't love chicken? Who doesn't love noodles? Who doesn't love broccoli? Ok, well, I know everyone doesn't love my favorite veggie. (Including my mother, who never fed me broccoli, so I never knew I liked it until I was an adult. But, that's a whole other issue for a whole other blog, isn't it? ;) Ha ha - just kidding, Mom.) The broccoli can always be deleted from this ALMOST EMBARASSINGLY EASY recipe. Read on.

INGREDIENTS:

2 large or 4 small chicken breasts (or 2 large cans of chicken breast)
1 large or 2 small crowns of fresh broccoli (or a steamer bag)
1/2 bag of No-Yolk extra broad noodles
1 can 98% fat free Cream of Celery condensed soup
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup of light mayo (I use Kraft with Olive Oil)
Chicken or vegetable broth
Chives (fresh or dried)
Thyme, sage, garlic powder, salt, black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Cook noodles as directions read on bag; Drain and run cool water over them to cool; set aside
3. Warm soup with a can of broth (instead of water or milk) on the stove over low-medium to medium heat
4. Add thyme, sage, garlic powder and black pepper to soup - about a tsp of each
5. Trim broccoli and blanch or steam lightly; when beginning to soften, remove from heat and set aside to cool
6. Cook and shred chicken and mix with mayo (sort of like you're making chicken salad) in a large mixing bowl
7. When soup is creamy, begin stirring in cheese - use a little more than half of a 2 cup bag
8. When cheese and soup are combined well, remove from heat
9. After broccoli has cooled, chop it (if they're large; we used baby broccoli, which didn't need chopping) and stir into the chicken and mayo mixture
10. Add a pinch or two of salt, a few dashes of garlic and thyme and black pepper (to your liking) to chicken mixture
Be careful with salt, as the soup and broth will be fairly salty...you can always add later if needed
11. Stir the chilled noodles into the chicken mixture
12. Stir in the soup mixture and about a Tbsp of chives; here, you may want to have a little taste to see if any seasoning should be added
13. Pour into a casserole dish and spread evenly
14. Sprinkle the remaining cheese shreds over the top of the casserole
15. Bake for about 20 minutes; til cheese is "melty" on top and beginning to brown slightly
16. Let it set to cool for about 10 minutes and then, serve!