Deconstructed Broccoli & Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

(Pict from blog - link below)

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 2 T. butter or margarine
• 2 T. flour
• 1 1/4 c. milk
• 1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese, cubed or shredded
• 2 c. frozen broccoli
• 1/2 t. thyme
• 2 T. butter or margarine
• 1 c. breadcrumbs

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place in small casserole dish (8×8 or 9×9).

2. In a small saucepan, melt 2 T. butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, bring to a boil and cook until thickened to gravy consistency. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese until melted. Add the broccoli. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Pour over chicken.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

4. Melt 2 T. butter or margarine and combine with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over chicken and return to the oven. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until browned and chicken is fully cooked.

http://stolenmomentscooking.com/deconstructed-broccoli-cheese-stuffed-chicken-breasts/

Cha Cha Chicken Salad

Ingredients

• 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple
• 2/3 cup orange-flavored sweetened dried cranberries
• 1 cup chopped roasted, salted almonds
• Garnishes: fresh herbs, blackberries, raspberries, sliced peaches

Preparation

1. Whisk together cream cheese and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in chicken, pineapple, and cranberries just until blended.

2. If desired, spoon mixture into a plastic wrap-lined 8-inch round cake pan; cover and chill at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Invert chicken salad onto a cake stand, and remove plastic wrap. Gently press chopped almonds onto sides of chicken salad. Garnish, if desired.

Patricia Greene, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Southern Living, JUNE 2007

Gigi's Pumpkin Pasta

I got this recipe from my girl Gigi Kennedy and we LOVE it.
I use more of the canned pumpkin rather than less--usually I make Margie's Pumpkin Muffins and used whatever's left from the can for the pasta. Mmmmmmmmm....yummy.
Enjoy!

Gigi's Pumpkin Pasta
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pound package of Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage (removed from its casing)
2/3 cup to 2 cups pumpkin puree (depending on your personal taste)
1 can chicken broth
¼ cup half & half
½ cup sour cream (low-fat or fat free)
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp white pepper
1 tsp sage
2 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
¼ cup Romano Cheese, shredded
1 pound penne or rotini pasta

In a large skillet sauté the garlic in the olive oil on medium heat. Add the turkey sausage and cook until no longer pink, breaking the meat up with your spoon as you cook it. Remove turkey sausage and garlic from the skillet. Pour the chicken broth into the skillet and deglaze the pan using a wire whisk, to bring up all of the flavors stuck to the pan. Whisk in the half and half, sour cream, pumpkin, and seasonings. Simmer for ten minutes. Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain pasta and stir into the pumpkin mixture along with the turkey sausage, simmering for another three minutes or until the sauce thickens and hugs the pasta. Stir in parsley and garnish with Romano and more parsley.

Side Note- If the sauce is too thick, thin it with a little addition of chicken broth until you get it to the right consistency.

You're so Cheesy...

Cheesy Mostaccioli
16 oz. Mostaccioli cooked and drained
1.5 lbs. Ground Beef (or 1lb. Groud Beef and .5 Sausage)
pepper (fresh ground to taste)
1 TBSP. Italian Seasoning
28 oz. Spaghetti Sauce (I use the Hunts cheap-y sauce and an 8 oz can of tomato sauce with it)
1 can Cheddar Cheese Soup
2 c. Mozzarella Cheese

Mix above ingredients together and place into baking dish.
Top with an additional 1 cup of Cheese.
Bake at 350* for 40 minutes.

I can pretty much guarantee that your kids will LOVE this... unless they're Cole and they hate cheese... :)

Heavenly Potatoes with Ham

These are super yummy... a great way to use up the leftover ham from Easter! :)
Ingredients:
5 lbs. red potatoes (I used golden yukons because the reds at Target looked yucky!)
16oz. sour cream
1/2 c. melted butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onion (I used a yellow onion sauteed with some mushrooms in a little olive oil)
2 c. chopped ham
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese flavored bread crumbs
1/4 c. melted butter

Preheat oven to 350* and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish

Quarter potatoes and place into a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Boil until slightly tender. Drain and transfer to a lg. bowl.

Mix sour cream, 1/2 c. butter, crm. of chicken soup, cheese, onions, ham, salt and pepper with the potatoes. Spread into 9x13 dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and drizzle with 1/4 c. melted butter.

Bake for 30 minutes and serve.

Mexican Lasagna

I found this on the Pioneer Woman's blog, but when I made that version I had WAY more fillings than my lasagna dish could hold. So here's my modified version. Wilson said it was like a party in his mouth! LOL!

2 cups rice
3 cups chicken broth
3 tomatoes
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 lb beef
2 8 oz bags shredded Mexican cheese
2 cans corn (drained)
1 can black beans (optional)
2 16 oz jars salsa verde
1 8 oz jar enchilada sauce
1 1/2 - 2 pkgs taco seasoning
12 (or so) tortillas
cilantro
sour cream
butter

Prepare rice using chicken broth.
Chop tomatoes, onions and garlic, and saute with 1 tablespoon butter.
Add 1/2 or 1 package of taco seasoning (or make your own seasoning with chili powder, paprika and cumin to taste).
Add black beans
Combine rice and tomato/onion/garlic mixture.
Brown beef and add taco seasoning.

Spread one container of salsa verde in the bottom of the casserole dish.
Layer on tortillas covering the salsa verde. (Some overlapping is expected.)
Spread 1/2 of rice mixture on top of tortillas.
Spread one bag of shredded cheese on top of rice.
Next add another tortilla layer.
Spread enchilada sauce on the tortillas.
Next is a layer of the ground beef.
Then add 1 1/2 - 2 cans of corn.
Spread the remaining rice mixture onto the corn.
Then add the remaining salsa verde.
Top with second bag of shredded cheese.

Bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes
Serve with sour cream and cilantro garnish

Corn Casserole

Corn Casserole
12oz. Egg Noodles- perpared according to pkg directions
(cook while you’re mixing up the rest of the casserole)
2 pounds ground beef- browned and drained
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 cans Corn
1 can Cream Style Corn
Mix soup and corn with ground beef and add in cooked noodles.
Pour into casserole dish (I use the BIG Pampered Chef Stoneware Bowl)
Melt one stick of butter and stir in one sleeve of crumbled crackers.
Spread on top of casserole and bake at 350* for about 30 minutes until
hot and bubbly. Enjoy!

My mom was the queen of the "one pound of hamburger to feed an entire family" meals when I was growing up. I've added an additional pound of ground beef to it since I need protein and an additional can of corn so there's enough liquid for the extra meat. It's a good basic meal. Nothing fancy but it's comfort food for me.

Sorry about the icky perspective on the photo. I was playing with the white balance and I should've also been paying attention to the composition of the shot. Oops!

Beer Can Chicken

So chicken's were on sale this week at Baker's (99 cents a pound!) so I decided I'd try to make the "Beer Can Chicken" my friend Mary was talking about. I'd also heard it called "Beer In The Butt Chicken", because...well...you put a can of beer in the cavity of a whole chicken and stand it up on the grill or in the smoker to cook. After a quick search online, I discovered that it's pretty easy to make in the oven, too. It's very moist and uses NO oil so it's pretty healthy for you too. Oh, and btw...HyVee has chickens on sale for 59 cents a pound this weekend so I guess my good bargain wasn't such a good bargain afterall. I'm going to stock up at HyVee after trying this recipe!

Beer Can Chicken
1 Whole Chicken (5-6 lbs)
1 Can of Beer
Seasoning of your choice

Rinse chicken, removing all the pieces and parts. Throw those nasty things away. : ) Pat the chicken dry and season to your liking--I used a poultry rub that I found in the pantry. Be sure to not only season the outside of the bird, but also underneath the skin. Reserve a little of the rub to mix into the beer.
Remove the top of the beer can with a can opener (stand back because it really squirts at you when it's punctured) and get rid of about 1/2 of the beer. Stir in the remaining rub mixture into the beer--it will really foam up so do this over the sink. Sit the bird right down on top of the can; put the beer-butted chicken in a baking pan to catch all the drippings.
Bake at 350 for 2 hours or until the juices run clear.
Carefully remove the can. Let stand ten minutes before carving. You can use the drippings to make gravy, if you know how to do that. I don't, so I just made stuffing and steamed some veggies instead. : )

Grown Up Mac-n-Cheese

I love this stuff. I seriously do. I hope you do too. I found "non french" gruyere cheese at the store the other day and was able to keep this "reasonable" for cheese cost. :)

Grown-Up MacNcheese

16oz of corkscrew pasta cooked and drained
2Tbsp Butter
2Tbsp FLour
1 1/2 c. Milk (I use skim but you can use what ya got!)
1/2 c. half n half
1/2 c. (4 oz.) shredded white cheddar cheese
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 c. (8 oz.) Gruyere Cheese
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 stick of butter
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers

Preheat oven to 350*
Prepare pasta and set aside

Melt butter over medium heat.
Whisk in flour and whisk constantly for 1 minute
Gradually whisk in milk and half n half- continue to whisk constantly till slightly thickened (about 4-5 minutes)
Stir in Cheeses and salt and pepper until melted and smooth
Stir cheese into pasta and place in a baking dish (9x13 should work fine but I use a round baking dish from Pampered Chef)
Melt butter and stir in smashed up ritz crackers
Spread over the top of your Mac n Cheese and bake at 350 for 15 minutes until golden and bubbly.

Sometimes I serve this as the main dish and add a chicken breast or bits of ham to it or beside pork chops.
It's equally good all on it's own and it's got enough protein to be the "main dish" in my opinion! :)
Enjoy! :) And don't blame your spreading hips on me. This is probably not WW approved... but dang, it's good! :)

baked macaroni and cheese

preheat oven to 400.

1 lb elbow mac
1/4 cup butter
1 small onion, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
pinch of pepper
3 cups milk
4 cups (16 oz) shredded cheddar cheese, divided
3/4 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs
2 T butter, melted

1) cook macaroni as directed
- I always try to under cook the macaroni a bit or the noodles get a bit mushy.
2) melt butter, add onion and cook a few minutes. add flour, mustard, salt, and pepper, stirring well. gradually add milk and cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and thoroughly heated.
3) add 3 cups of cheese to flour mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until melted. pour sauce over macaroni, tossing gently to coat well.
4) pour mixture into a buttered 2-qt baking dish. sprinkle w/ remaining 1 cup cheese.
5) combine breadcrumbs and melted butter, stirring well; sprinkle over cheese.
6) bake at 400 for 20 minutes. let stand a few minutes before serving.

Cranberry Chicken

This is a super-easy, super yummy chicken dish that cooks in the crockpot! :) I originally got this recipe from Heather D. White and usually serve it with long grain and wild rice.

Cranberry Chicken
3-4 chicken breasts (can be frozen)
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 cup barbeque sauce
1/2 medium onion, chopped

Mix together the cranberry sauce, barbeque sauce and onion. Place chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker and cover with the cranberry sauce mixture. Bake all day on low.
I'll take a picture the next time I make this and come back to post it. : )