Chicken Manicotti

This year our church was looking to do manicotti for our ladies candlelight service.  Originally, we were thinking of making the original cheese filled manicotti- but, the more we thought about it we decided it would be extremely time consuming to do over a hundred of those.  I mentioned it to a friend at church (Janice) and she had this recipe to share that she has helped make for large groups.  This recipe was fantastic and easy to put together as you do not need to cook the noodles first.  I changed this only by sprinkling the chicken lightly with salt, so that is just an option.  -Kristin

1 tablespoon garlic powder
1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
18-20 uncooked manicotti shells
2 jars (26 ounces each) spaghetti sauce, divided
1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage, cooked and drained
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
4 cups (16 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup water

• Sprinkle the garlic powder over chicken, then sprinkle lightly with salt; cut into 1-in. strips. Stuff chicken into manicotti shells.
• Spread 1 cup spaghetti sauce in each of two greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dishes.
• Place ten stuffed manicotti shells in each dish.
• Sprinkle with sausage and mushrooms.
• Pour remaining spaghetti sauce over the top.
• Sprinkle with cheese.
• Drizzle water around the edge of each dish.
• Cover and bake one casserole at 375° for 65-70 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and pasta is tender. 

Can freeze this chicken manicotti for up to 1 month.
To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Bake as directed.