Pesto Pasta & Chicken

Alright Everyone - Time to start posting again! It's fall time and we all need good ideas so let's follow Caitlyn's good example and get cooking and remember to take pictures! Don't forget the rules (see the header!).

Pesto Pasta & Chicken:

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breasts

Italian Seasoning or Pesto

1 LBS Bowtie Pasta

2-3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Cup Pesto (homemade or store bought)

1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese ( I prefer Fresh but any will do)

Directions:

Slice Chicken breasts in half width wise (so you have 4 very thin chicken breasts). Now sprinkle liberally with Italian seasoning or rub with pesto. At this point I always cook the chicken on the grill, but you could also bake it or saute it - whichever you prefer.

For the pasta, Cook the pasta as directed on the box. As always, I like my pasta al dente so usually about 8 minutes in some boiling salt water will do the trick. Once the pasta has reach your desired tenderness, completely drain the water from the pasta. DO NOT RINSE!!!!!!!! In a mixing bowl mix the pasta with the pesto, olive oil, and Parmesan. Now it is all ready to eat. I generally garnish this with a little more Parmesan cheese, but it is more for looks than flavor.

Keep in mind this is not an exact science. If you want it to have a more bold pesto flavor, add more. I always end up adding more cheese because I love the Parmesan flavor. This one is awesome because it can be cooked up in 20 minutes or less and again is SUPER cheap.

NOTE: You can find delicious but cheap store bought pesto by the spaghetti sauce. It should be $2-$3 a jar. If you buy it in the prepared foods section be prepared to pay more. If you want to make your own let me know and I'll email you my own pesto recipe. ENJOY!

Chicken Rolls

Chicken Rolls:

Ingredients:1 Large/2 small Chicken Breast

6 OZ of Cream Cheese

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

1 Tube pop'n'fresh Crescent Rolls (you know like the Pillsbury kind)

4 TBS Butter - Melted

1 Cup Breadcrumbs

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 Cup Milk

Directions:

Bake Chicken @ 350* until fully cooked. Pull out of oven and shred immediately (it is MUCH easier to shred warm). Increase oven temp to 400*. Mix chicken with Cream cheese, salt, and pepper until well blended. Now open up the crescent rolls. Separate and in the center of each triangle place about a tablespoon of the chicken/cream cheese filling in the middle. You should be easily able to make 8 rolls with this. Now wrap the crescent rolls around the filling to completely cover it and form a ball (If you are overlapping that is good - if you have gaps that is bad!). Repeat with the remaining 7 rolls. Now roll each ball in the melted butter and then in the bread crumbs so each is completely covered. I prefer homemade breadcrumbs because they are larger and make the roll crunchier, but store bought is fine too! Now place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400*20-25 minutes until golden brown.

While the rolls are baking, in a saucepan over medium heat combine one can of cream of chicken soup with the 1/2 cup of milk until hot. This will be the sauce you put over the rolls.

I love these cause they are warm and filling but go great with end of summer foods like watermelon and corn on the cob! Enjoy!

Biscuits and Pancakes from Scratch

So I noticed that Caitlyn had posted two recipes involving biscuits and I have a wonderful (and easy) made from scratch biscuit recipe. I'm sorry I don't have a picture, but I think we all know what a biscuit looks like. Also from the same cookbook is an amazing pancake recipe from scratch that I love! The Fanny Farmer cookbook is one of my all time faves, Andrew's sister gave it to me two years ago for a Christmas gift and I use it all the time.

Baking Powder Buscuits

2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup crisco/shortening

2/3 cup milk

Mix together all dry ingredients. Add in the 1/2 cup crisco and blend with a pastry blender (or your hands) until it resembles crumbs. Add in the milk all at once and stir till a ball forms around the fork and all contents are incorporated.

Flour your counter top or a board and knead the dough for a minute or so, then flatten out to 1/2 inch slab with your hands. Cut out circles with a biscuit cutter for a glass. Place in a greased 8 inch round pie pan or cake pan and bake at 425 for 12-15 mins. I like mine to be just slightly golden brown so about 12 mintues usually works just fine. Trust me, once you make these you won't ever want to eat store bought ones again!

Griddlecakes/Pancakes

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 Tbsp melted butter

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

Mix together all dry ingredients and then incorporate wet ingredients into mix. If the batter is too thick, add a little bit more milk. If you like really fluffy pancakes, separate the yoke from the egg white and beat the white until it has soft peaks and fold into the batter (I've never done this, but I bet it would be good). If you have a big family or really love pancakes you can double this recipe, it will make about 12. I use a 1/4 cup measure to pour my pancakes into the pan so they aren't huge. I think the melted butter is what makes these really good, also serve with real maple syrup - I am convinced it makes them even better!

There is also a good cornbread and muffin recipe from this cookbook that I will have to post as well!

Uglies

First, a disclaimer.  I got the original recipe from here and altered it.  It's not the most attractive dinner (hence the name, which is kind of fun) but it's pretty good as is and has incredible potential for variation.  Really they're a little like mini, cheese-covered pot pies.

Ingredients:
1lb ground turkey/ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced
small onion, diced
1 to 1 and 1/2 c barbecue sauce
Cookable vegetables of choice (I used 1 med zucchini and 1/2 bag thawed frozen broccoli) chopped in small pieces
1 10 oz can refrigerated biscuit dough or 1 favorite recipe biscuit dough
2 cups shredded cheese (you may not need it all)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Brown your meat in a good-sized skillet with the onion and garlic.  Drain grease and add chopped vegetables.  Cook 3 or 4 minutes or until your veg starts to get tender.  Add bbq sauce, stir, simmer for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, separate the biscuits and put them in a muffin tin, pressing a well into the center (the original recipe serves 8, I made my own dough and separated it into 12 segments so I filled the whole tin).  Try an make it so that the biscuit is even on all sides (it can stick over the top).  Drop meat/veg mixture in to the biscuit wells until they're full.  Cover the tops with cheese.

Bake 15 mins or until cheese is golden brown.

NOTE: I ended up with extra filling, and I filled mine to the top.  You could easily stretch it instead and make 18 of these to feed a group, maybe even 2 dozen.

Potential variations I've thought of in the past few minutes:
All-veg filling
Brown gravy instead of BBQ sauce
Shredded chicken filling
Egg and sausage/bacon for breakfast

You see what I mean, the possibilities are crazy!  And, on top of that, it's very kid-friendly!

Southern-style Biscuits and Gravy

It's been a long time, everyone.  I think we should resurrect this blog.

My Grandma Margaret is from the deep south.  This is her recipe; I guarantee it's as authentic as you can get and better than anything you've ever had in a restaurant.  Note: this recipe feeds an army.  You may want to halve it.

Ingredients:

2 lbs sausage (preferably Bob Evan's, and at least one Bob Evan's Sage Sausage.  My mother forbids any other brand.)
1 can evaporated milk
A lot of regular milk
Sage
Black pepper

2 or 3 rolls of biscuits (16-18)
Note: We use Pilsbury Grands, but if you have a great biscuit recipe, go with that.  Have an assistant bake them during the extended amount of time you are stirring the gravy.

Note again: This recipe is too authentic for actual measurements, so bear with me.  ; )

Brown the sausage in a large (large) pan.  DO NOT DRAIN THE FAT.  DO NOT.  Fight those healthy instincts!  This is Southern food!

Turn your heat down to medium to not-quite-medium-high.  Put one or two heaping spoons of flour in the sausage and mix it up.  If there is still grease, put in a little more flour.  Do this until your sausage looks like it is coated in paste and there's no more grease, being careful not to add too much (or your gravy will taste like flour).

Add the evaporated milk.  Even if you're halving the recipe, go ahead and dump that whole can right in.  Now add regular milk, whatever percentage you like, until you have about the volume of gravy you want (I told you this recipe was too authentic for measurements).

Now this is the exciting part: stir.  Stand there and stir that gravy until it feels like your arm is about to fall off.  Just kidding.  Stir it until it thickens to the consistency of... well... gravy.  Don't stop stirring, or it will scorch.  This is also the point where your biscuit assistant should start his/her work.  A good sign it is done is when all of the floating grease droplets incorporate themselves into the gravy.  It takes varying amounts of time, but maybe in the ballpark of 10-15 minutes.  Maybe 20.  I'm usually talking to someone while I stir (we make this for family get-togethers), so I've never timed it.

Gravy without grease incorporated.

Gravy once all grease is incorporated.

Now taste your gravy.  It probably needs sage.  It may also need salt and/or black pepper.  Mostly, though, it will need sage, especially if only one or none of your pounds of sausage were sage sausage.  Keep seasoning until you love it.  If it gets too thick, add more milk.  If it's too thin, add more flour (I recommend doing this in small increments to avoid floury flavor) or just keep stirring.

The keys to this recipe are the sage and the fact that you don't drain the grease.

Good luck, y'all!  (I am also authentic.)

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Ingredients:

-1 TBS Butter

-1/2 Onion Diced

-4 TBS Butter

-1/4 cup Flour

-1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

-1 Cup Milk

-2 Cups Chicken Stock

-1/2 lbs ish of fresh Broccoli, chopped

-1 Cup Carrot, julienned or shredded (I like julienned cause then the carrots are in longer thin strips, but both will achieve the flavor you want)

-1/4 tsp nutmeg

-8 ounces of cheddar cheese (I did 4 oz sharp and 4 oz mild)

-Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In your soup pan (I used my dutch oven, but you could use any large sauce pan) saute your onion in 1 TBS butter until translucent. Set aside for later use.

Melt 4 TBS of butter in your pan over medium heat, then whisk in four stirring constantly until you have one smooth mixture (3-5 minutes). Add cream and milk, stirring constantly until well blended. Now add the chicken stock and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Next, add the broccoli, carrots and onions and allow it to cook on low for another 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure nothing burns of the bottom. Now add cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Once cheese is melted, stir in your nutmeg.

I swear this taste's just like Panera's broccoli cheddar soup, and it is made with stuff I ALWAYS have in my pantry. We ate it with warm bread for dinner on a snowy night and it was fabulous. Makes enough soup for 4 LARGE servings. Enjoy!

French Onion Soup w/ Homeade Croutons

Ingredients:

Soup

-32 Oz of Beef Broth (or 32 oz of water an 3 beef bullion cubes)

-2 Cups Water

-2 TBS Butter

-2 Onions, Chopped (I like to leave them in large pieces)

-1 Tsp Dried Thyme

-2 Cloves of Garlic, minced (or about 1 tsp garlic powder) ( I like more, but I LOVE garlic)

-1 Tsp Onion Powder (I like more, but I like it strong)

-1 Bay leaf

-Salt & Pepper to taste

Croutons

-Stale Bread (I use left over french bread, but you can use any stale bread)

-3-4 TBS Olive Oil

-1 tsp Salt

-1 tsp Pepper

-1/3 to 1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a sauce pan or dutch oven, combine all ingredients for the french onion soup. Bring to a rolling boil, then turn down the heat and allow it to simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 250 Degrees. Cut bread into about 1 in cubes. In a mixing bowl, pour olive oil, salt, pepper, and cheese over the bread and stir to ensure the bread is even coated. Spread croutons out on a banking sheet and allow them to cook for 30-40 minutes until crunchy, turning occasionally. Once crunchy, remove them from the oven and let them cool.

Serve the soup with your yummy croutons on top! I like to serve this soup with melted cheese on top, as seen in picture. I actually used a kitchen torch to melt it, but most people don't have that. You can use a toaster oven, your broiler, or just let the soup do it for you. Your favorite cheese will do, but I suggest Swiss, white cheddar, or provolone!

This is one SUPER easy soup that will make you look like a "souper" star! Hehehe...

Sloppy Joe Pizza

This recipe is really easy to make and takes hardly any time at all. It doesn't really taste like a sloppy joe but its just as messy as one!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
  
• 1 1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I like sweet baby ray's)
• 1 1/4 cup of frozen corn
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Boboli Pizza Crust

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350
• Brown meat and drain
  
• Return meat to skillet and turn burner on med/low, add in the BBQ sauce and corn
• Mix and warm through
• Put the meat mixture on top of the pizza crust
• Sprinkle the top with cheese (as much or as little as you like, I prefer a nice thick coating)
• Place the pizza in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the crust is a little crispy and the cheese is melted and bubbly - ENJOY!
  

Stuffed Chicken Parmesan

I sort of made this recipe up on the fly, so I'll try to be as exact as possible with the measurements! I saw a similar recipe on cooks.com and modified it to the ingredients I had on hand at home.

*Sorry the picture sucks, my camera died and I had to take it with my phone*

Ingredients:

• 2 - 4 chicken breasts pounded 1/4 inch thick
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (you can cut cherry tomatoes in half to use if you have fresh ones on hand)
• 1, 2 cup bag of mozzarella cheese
• 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
• Italian seasoning (a few dashes)
• 2 cups of bread crumbs (Italian style)
• 1 cup of Parmesan cheese
• Toothpicks
• Your choice of pasta (normally I would have used spaghetti, but I was out so I used riggatoni)
  

Directions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
  
• Take the pounded chicken breasts and lay out on a cutting board. Down the middle of each place some of the tomatoes and cheese and sprinkle the top with some italian seasoning.
• Roll up each piece tightly starting with whatever is the smallest end. Hold ends together with toothpicks.
• Take each rolled piece and coat in the breadcrumbs mixed with the parmesan cheese
• In the bottom of a large baking dish (size depends on the number of pieces you are making) add some of the pasta sauce, just enough to coat the pan and place each piece of chicken into the pan.
• Pour some of the pasta sauce over the top and sprinkle more cheese on top.
• Cook for 35-45 mins until chicken is cooked through. The thinner it is pounded the faster it will cook and mine took about 38 mins to be totally done.
• Serve over pasta and enjoy!
  

Beef n Noodles

This was a staple dinner in my family growing up and still one of my favorite comfort meals. This makes enough for 2 big dinner portions and left overs for the next day!!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs tip steak cut into bite sized pieces - or - 1 1/2 lbs of stewing beef (this can be a little chewy if over cooked)
• 1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup + the empty can filled with milk
• A few shakes of parsley
  
• Salt and pepper
• 1 envelope of Onion Soup Mix
• 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil (for cooking beef)
• 1 bag of Egg Noodles, whatever kind you like.
  

Directions:

• Salt and Pepper the meat in a bowl and add the olive oil to the pan. Brown meat in a large, deep skillet until cooked through. Drain off any water or fat that is left in the pan.
• Reduce the heat to Low/Medium and add in the mushroom soup, can of milk, parsley and onion soup mix and stir until combined. (You can add a little more pepper if you like it, but I wouldn't add more salt)
  
• Bring to boil a large pot of water and add in noodles, cook according to package.
• The beef mixture will reduce and thicken some, you can let it get really thick if you want, but I like it in between.
• Spoon over noodles and enjoy!
  

Pepper Steak

Prep: 10-15 mins, plus doing stuff while meat is simmering. Cook time: 50 mins to an hour, maybe a little more if you're slow like me.

Pan size: Large. I make it in my almost wok-sized frying pan, and it practically overflows.

Ingredients:
- 1 package of round steak (best) or 1 package of stew meat (inexpensive)
- A lot of paprika
- 1 medium onion
- Not too much of your favorite cooking oil (ex: I prefer olive oil, but plain old canola will also work)
- Soy sauce
- Corn starch
- Tomatoes (I used 5-6 roma tomatoes for four adults, 3-4 big ones will probably be ok.  How much do you like tomatoes?)
- Bell peppers (2-3 for four adults)

Directions:

Cut steak in strips (about 1x2 inches, maybe thinner) or stew meat into bite-sized pieces. COVER in paprika. Use a lot of it. You don't have to flip it over and do the other side, but the top should be invisible beneath paprika and then some. Roughly chop onion.

Put a little oil in your pan, enough to cover the bottom. Put onion and meat into pan, cook until meat is just browned and onion is getting tender. Once meat is brown, cover with an inch or so (depending on how much you like sauce) of water. Bring to a boil, turn down heat. Cover. Simmer for 45 mins.

Start rice at whatever point it will be done about the same time as the dinner.

Meanwhile, cut tomato and bell pepper into bite-sized pieces and. After meat has simmered 45 mins, stir in about 1/4 cup soy sauce. Note: the soy sauce is absolutely essential to this meal. It and the paprika are the key to the savory flavor. Taste after you add the 1/4 cup, because you can add more if you want. In a measuring cup, mix two HEAPING spoonfuls of corn starch with COLD water (1/4 cup-1/2 cup) until the lumps are gone. Slowly stir cornstarch/water mixture into pan. The mixture should thicken into a sauce (about as thick as you'd expect a sweet and sour or another Asian sauce). Give it 3-5 minute to thicken. If it does not, make cornstarch (focusing more on the cornstarch) and water mix and repeat until desired consistency is reached.

Place tomatoes and peppers on top of the stuff in the pan, cover, and cook for 5-10 more minutes. Do not stir them in. My mom does five, so they're just heated through, but I like them to actually cook a little, so I do 10-15.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

There you go Diane!  It's pretty simple, but good!

Amanda's Stir-fry

I just kinda make this recipe up every time I don't have something to cook for dinner, its a little different each time and can be made with a variety of ingredients.

Ingredients:
1 red bell pepper sliced into 2 inch pieces
1/3 of a large red/yellow onion sliced into 2 inch pieces
1 large or 2 small carrots shredded (I just use the vegetable peeler to do this)
3/4 cup of frozen peas
2 cloves of garlic diced small or put through a garlic press
2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
Pinch of Cumin
Pepper to taste (the sauce has a ton of salt)
2-6 Tbsp of Stir Fry Sauce (you can get this in the Asian section of most grocery stores)

Meat: 1 lb of shrimp (what I used this time) - or -1 lb of tip steak cut into thin pieces - or - 1-2 chicken breasts cut into thin pieces

Serve over: Rice Noodles (made by Thai Kitchen, I found them at Meijer) or two servings of Long Grain White Rice cooked according to the bag.

Cooking instructions:

• Put the olive oil, seasoning, cumin and pepper in the bottom of a large skillet and warm.
• Once warmed add all of the vegetables and the garlic to the mixture and cook until softened.
• Add in the shrimp and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes (if you use any other meat, cook it first and then add veggies, the shrimp I bought were already cooked and just needed heated through)
• Meanwhile, cook the rice noodles/rice according to package instructions.
• Serve the veggies and meat over the noodles or rice and enjoy! I also like a little soy sauce on mine.
  

Black Bean & Corn Soup

Ingredients:
1 onion
little bit of oil (2 TB?)
Garlic (2-4 spoonfulls?)
1 28 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
2 15 oz. cans black beans
Frozen corn (1-2 cups?)
Any other seasoning that you want (oregano, pepper, basil are favorites here)


Directions:
Chop the onion and heat it, the oil, and garlic on medium heat until soft/translucent
Add in the tomatoes and chicken broth
Drain and rinse the beans, add them
Add the corn (I just eyeball it when I stir in straight from the bag, which is why the measurement is a guess) and spices

Cook until it bubbles a bit, then serve. Husband swears it tastes best with some mozzarella cheese on top.



Original recipe here, but you can see I made alterations.

Ignore the potatoes; those were for another soup

Amazing Dip (it doesn't have a name)

I was eating this, realized it was perfect for this blog, and decided to post it. Sorry it's not Pepper Steak, Diane. We haven't made it since you asked me for the recipe. Soon. Soon.

Dip:
1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 - Normal sized can of chili
A bunch of cheese. Enough to cover the top in a nice, thick layer. Any kind of cheese you like. We usually use cheddar or the Mexican mix stuff.

First, find a microwave safe dish with a fairly large flat bottom (I used a pie plate). Spread cream cheese in an even layer on the bottom of the dish. Spread the chili on top. Cover with cheese. Microwave until cheese is melted and dip is warm through. Our pie pan is 8 or 9 inches and I did three minutes, but I probably could have done up to three and a half.

Done. Eat with corn chips.

Do not underestimate the deliciousness. Jordan's friend just ate most of this by himself. After his first bite he did a happy dance. Oh, yes.

Broccoli & Sausage Egg Muffins

We eat this for dinner, because we like breakfast for dinner, but it could be used in the morning or as appetizers or for a brunch.

-6 large refrigerated biscuits (from a can)

-pinches of salt & pepper

-approx. 1 cup broccoli florets, cut up into small pieces

-approx. 3/4 cup cooked sausage links, cut up

(I really just guesstimate at how much broccoli & how much sausage to use. This is just what the recipe says. I have never actually measured it.)

-8 eggs

-6 TBS milk

-shredded cheddar cheese

-hot sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray. Cut each of the biscuits into 8 mini triangles. Place 4 biscuit triangles into each of the 12 muffin cups.

Place even amounts of broccoli & sausage into each muffin cup. (each individual cup will be really full!)

Place eggs, milk, salt & pepper (I omit the salt just because I don't cook with it if I don't have to) into a mixing bowl. Beat until well blended. Pour egg mixture evenly into each muffin cup. Top with sprinkles of cheese. Bake for 30-32 min or until egg is completely cooked. We eat ours with hot sauce but Caiden likes his with ketchup.

French Dip Sandwiches

Alright, this one is delicious and super easy!!!

ATTENTION: This meal takes at least 5 hours of Crock pot cooking (unattended), so MUST BE STARTED AT LEAST 5 HOURS BEFORE YOU PLAN ON EATING.



Ingredients:
-1 Roast
-32 0z Beef Stock (or the same amount of water with 2 or 3 beef Bullion cubes)
-1 Medium (2 small) Onions (rough Chopped)
-2 TBS Butter
-2-4 Cloves of Garlic, whole (depends on how much you like Garlic)
-1 Bay leaf
-Salt and Pepper to taste (start with a tsp and go from there)


French Baguette and cheese of choice


Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot, put on high, and let it go all day. The longer the better. IF the liquid starts looking a little low (should cover about 1/2 the roast) add more water. Literally, if you start in the morning and leave it alone it will be ready by dinner. You know it's ready when you put a fork in it and it falls apart.

When the roast is done, pull it out of the crock pot and shred the entire thing. Then place the meat onto a slice of the french baguette with your favorite cheese. I love white cheddar for this, but provolone is good too, or Swiss. Or no cheese at all. Be sure to serve each sandwich with a portion of the Liquid from the crock pot to dip it in. Trust me, this one is DELICIOUS!!!

NOTE: If you don't have the 15 minutes it takes to make this in the morning, you can substitute everything but the roast for a packet of dry french onion soup mix and water. It will not taste the same, but will create the same yummy sandwich and take about 2 minutes.

Chicken Enchiladas

I haven't made these in a long time, and did last week and they were really yummy. Perhaps this is too basic to put on here, but I've included my sauce recipe so I'm counting it as good.

Ingredients:

-2-3 Chicken Breasts Cooked and shredded (Baked, boiled, microwaved, grilled, doesn't really matter)

-Flour Tortillas (I like the mini ones, but it doesn't matter)

-8oz Cheddar or Mexican Blend Cheese (you can use less, but I like them super Cheesy

Enchilada Sauce: (you could just buy it but that isn't fun!)
-3 Tbs Vegetable Oil1 Tbs Flour

-1/4 Chili Powder

-32oz Chicken Stock (Or water and 2 Chicken Bullion Cubes smashed up)

-1 tsp Oregano

-1 tsp Cumin

-1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. In a sauce pan, heat oil over medium heat. Stir in flour until blended (30 seconds or so). Add Chili powder and stir for about a minute. Now add all other ingredients and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes until smooth.

Place chicken in a mixing bowl and add 1/2 the sauce and about 1/2 cup of cheese. Mix until chicken is covered thoroughly. Now it's time to fill your enchiladas, and there is some flexibility here. Put a large tablespoon in a small tortilla, so 2 large tablespoons if you are using regular size tortillas. This is not an exact science, so use your judgement. Spread the chicken out in a line, then roll the enchilada. Do not fold the corners in. Repeat until all the chicken is used. Place enchiladas in a 9x13 pan and cover with the rest of the sauce. Now place as much cheese as you like over the top, I generally use the rest of the bag!!! Now bake for 20-30 minutes until sauce is bubbly.

Be creative with this one. I add peppers or olives sometimes, but the sky is the limit. I find it is best served with sour cream and lettuce. This is also a great recipe to double and serve to a large group. It's different, but easy and can be made ahead of time. Oh, and it's another dinner for under $10!!!!!

Creamy Italian Chicken with Rice

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked & cut into cubes
8 oz package cream cheese (I use fat free)
2 cans cream of chicken soup (I use the low sodium, 97% fat free Campbells)
2 envelopes dry Italian season mix (next to the dry ranch mixes in the store)
milk or water to desired thickness

Combine all ingredients in a large pan on stove until cream cheese melts & mixture is warmed through. We eat this over rice but you could probably use noodles if you prefer.

Super Fast & Yummy Chicken Salad

We had this for our wedding and is one of our family favorites!

6oz. boneless/skinless chicken breasts (approx. 2-3 breasts) boiled and diced
20 small red seedless grapes (halved)
1 small red delicious apple (diced)
1/2 C. diced celery
1/4 C. diced green onion
1Tbsp +1tsp mayonnaise
1tsp lemon juice
1 dash white vinegar
1 dash salt & pepper

Toss all ingredients together & serve chilled

* Delicious served with croissants; Bisquick biscuits work well in a pinch too (as pictured)

**To save time I usually chop all ingredients while the chicken is boiling, and it usually works out perfectly time-wise. I then rinse the chicken under cold water, dice it, toss ingredients together and place bowl in freezer to chill while I finish baking the biscuits!

-Makes approx. 4 adult servings and takes about 20min to make.

Stuffed Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Chicken with Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

2 T basil pesto sauce

1/2 cup sun dried tomatos

2 teeth fresh garlic

1 T extra virgin olive oil

3/4 package cream cheese

6 red potatoes

1 T fresh dill

2 T green onion (4-5 stalks)

1 tsp salt

black pepper

1-2 tsp seasoned salt

1-2 tsp garlic powder

3 T olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Roasted Potatoes:

Dice red potatoes into small one inch cubes. Chop dill and green onion into small pieces. Mix potatoes, dill, green onion, olive oil, salt, pepper, seasoned salt and garlic powder in large bowl to coat evenly.

Spread potatoes out on a large baking sheet. I generally cover the pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up. Place potatoes in oven for 45 minutes. Check potatos once halfway through baking to turn for even roasting. They should be golden brown and crispy on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside when done.

Stuffed Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Chicken:

Mince sun-dried tomatos and garlic into very small pieces. In a medium size bowl mix cream cheese and pesto sauce. I just buy pesto sauce at Fry's/Kroger since it ends up being cheaper to do that than to buy all the ingredients to make my own. But if you have a good recipe or lots of basil growing in your back yard garden, feel free to make yours! Add tomatoes and garlic and mix until even. It is easiest just to throw all the ingredients in a food processor and mix it up that way.

Then, take each chicken breast and create a "pocket" in each by slicing down one side through the center of the breast longwise. Stuff the cream mixture into the pocket, about 1-2 T per breast. Don't make them too full or all the cheese will spill out when you cook them.

Place the stuffed chicken breasts onto a hot pan w/ some oil, salt and pepper and sear both sides of the chicken.

Cook the chicken about 2 minutes on each side and then transfer to a baking dish. Place the chicken in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees until the chicken is fully cooked.

One note: The potatoes need to cook at least 25 minutes at 450 degrees, but then when you add the chicken into the oven, you can turn it down to 375 degrees and the potatoes can finish cooking at the lower temperature and will still be crispy and delicious when done.

Enjoy!