Chicken Cordon Blue Casserole

One of the first meals my husband made for me when we were dating was chicken cordon blue.  I remember being impressed with his cooking skills and over the years - I've appreciated how he always loved to go the extra mile to make things delicious.  I had him in mind while I was making this.  I knew I wanted to make chicken cordon blue but I wanted to mix it up.  Different recipes that I was finding were using canned soup for the sauce.  Which is fine... I use them too... but I wanted to make this special.  I'm making the classic white sauce with some dijon in it to add an extra level of flavor.

Let's Get Crafty!
Preheat the oven to 350

Let's get the sauce going:
3 tablespoons butter, melt in a large skillet on medium
3 tablespoons flour, whisk into the butter for 1 minute3 cups milk, add to the butter/flour mixture and whisk until thickened (usually just a couple minutes)add some salt and pepper to tasteadd 1 teaspoon dijon mustard, optional 
This sauce is very easy but it does need a little babysitting.  I generally stay close to it whisking it the whole time so the bottom doesn't burn.

Aww... simmering white sauce make my heart happy

The rest of the layering components:
3 cups chicken, cooked and diced
2 cups ham, cooked and diced  (I used one a ham steak and diced it up)

2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

It's time to layer up!

In a casserole dish sprayed with Pam - 

Layer 1/2 the chicken

then 1/2 the ham

then 1/2 the cheese

then 1/2 the white sauce

then - repeat each layer one more time

Bake covered for 35-40 minutes

(Take off the foil for the last 10 minutes)

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Super Speedy Mexican Rice

I'm sure you've noticed over the last year reading my different posts that we eat a lot of Mexican food.  It's true.  We do.  It's our go-to flavor profile in our house.  I've been on the lookout for a recipe for Mexican rice because the kids love it and found one that was so stinking easy to make that I know this will be a regular in our house going forward.  This recipe come from This Mama Cooks and she calls it "Easy 10 Minute Mexican Rice."

Let's Get Crafty!

Here's the lineup:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cumin (I used half this amount)
1 teaspoon salt
1 small call tomato sauce
1 can chicken broth
2 cups uncooked instant white rice

Start by warming up the oil, garlic powder, cumin and salt

Then add these to the pot, stir and bring to a boil

Once it reaches a boil - add the uncooked rice. Cover and remove from heat. Set aside for 5 minutes like you would have cooking the minute rice.  Fluff with a fork and you're in business.

This recipe is a winner.  I hope you try it and like it!  Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Hamburger Sammies

This recipe is a twist on one I posted not that long ago.  (For the ham version - take a look back at my January 10, 2018 post.)  This change-up was inspired by my son who really likes the ham ones but we didn't have any ham on hand.  Adding the green chiles to the hamburger filling for some gives it almost a philly cheese steak feel.

Let's Get Crafty!

Preheat the oven to 350 if you are going to bake them right away

Get the hamburger filling going:

Brown 1 1/2 pounds of hamburger

As it gets close to being done - add in 2 teaspoons minced garlic (I love the jarred kind) and a couple splashes of Worcestershire sauce

Get the sauce ready by whisking together:

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons mustard

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Get the rolls ready:

I had a package of slider sized rolls on hand and cut each one in half.  This helps to ensure the sauce gets in all the little crooks and crannies.

Layer up the sammies:

Spray the pan with pam

Put bottom halves on the bottom

Add the cooked hamburger evenly to each roll 

Add 1/2 slice of american cheese to each (use whatever cheese you want or have on hand)

Put the tops back on each roll

We've got 3 different varieties going on here.  My son and his friend have 

the ones with cheese, my daughter's is the one without cheese and 

ours are ones with cheese and green chile

I like to use a large spoon to put sauce on top of each of the rolls.  

 At this point you could cover it with foil and put it in the fridge to bake the next night.

                       Bake (uncovered) in a preheated oven at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Have a great day!  Thank you for stopping by!

Jalapeno Muffin Cups

Here's an oldie but goodie.  I used to make these for Mark a lot when we were just married.  The original recipe comes from Pillsbury and uses they Pillsbury Grands Jr Golden Layers.  

These tasty bites are quick, easy and hard to resist.  On this particular day - I was able to throw them together and get in the oven in 10 minutes!  Felt like a win.  :D    

Let's Get Crafty!
Preheat the oven to 375

1 can refrigerated biscuits in the can (Sorry Pillsbury!  These were on sale.)  I didn't have the Junior version on hand so I split each of them in half and put 1/2 in each of the Pam sprayed muffin tins.  There were a couple leftover that I baked by themselves for the kids because I knew this would be too hot for them.

Now for the filling - Mix together:
1/3 cup green chiles, diced
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/3 cup light mayo
2 tablespoons bacon crumbles

Put equal amounts on top of each biscuit half

(I usually start out thinking I'm doing it equally and then

do some shifting around when I get to the last couple.)

Now for the "cherry" on top.

Add a sliced pickled jalapeno to each muffin

Bake for 12-15 minutes.  I did them for 15 this time and will check them a couple minutes sooner next time I make them.

Hope you have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

The snow is falling this morning.  That means... BOOM!  We get another soup day.  It feels like a bonus day because I was afraid soup season had ended.  

Chicken tortilla soup is probably one of my favorites because it has the mexican flavors that I love and you can so easily spice up individual bowls to make each person eating it a happy camper.  I'm also all about toppings and the possibilities are pretty much endless.  We didn't get too fancy on this day but I also really like to add slices of avocado and twists of lime.  The lime adds a level of brightness to the soup and gives it the little extra something that makes me not miss the extra salt. 

Let's Get Crafty!

2 chicken breasts, thawed

1 can mild rotel

3 cans low sodium chicken broth

1 onion, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 teaspoons cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

4 ounces no salt tomato sauce

Toss everything into the instant pot and cook on the soup setting for 20 minutes.  Do a quick release and stir in:

2 cups frozen corn

I didn't cook it any longer because the corn thawed and warmed up in the time it took for me to pull the chicken out, shred it and toss it back in.

Here's what my bowl looked like with my toppings. 

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope everyone has a great day!

Brussel Sprouts, Potatoes and Bacon

My Mom made this side dish for Easter.  I love brussel sprouts and my family loves potatoes - so having it together in one pot was winner winner chicken dinner (or I guess winner winner ham dinner on this particular day.)  The bacon is what makes this side heavenly.

The picture above is having it all ready to pop in the oven.  Aren't the brussel sprouts pretty?  The bacon helps give a pop of color.  That's right my friends... "pop of color" isn't just for fashion.  Doesn't everyone like pretty food?  :D

Let's Get Crafty!
Preheat the oven to 400

Get the stars of show show together:
2 lbs red potatoes, diced into 1 inch chunks
1 lb brussel sprouts, cut in half
1 lb bacon, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces

Whisk together the sauce:
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon rosemary (Whoohoo! It's almost time for my herb garden!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix the sauce with the potatoes and brussel sprouts then sprinkle the bacon on top.  
(You might need to taste a couple pieces just to make sure it's okay to serve your family.)

Roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes.  The potatoes should be cooked through and the brussel sprouts should be starting to get charred around the edges with the bacon nice and crispy.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Eggroll in a Bowl

Wow!  I haven't posted in almost 3 weeks!  Don't worry!  We've still been eating! :D   Right out of the gate - I want to share a recipe I've been wanting to try for a while.  I honestly kept postponing it because I knew it wouldn't be a household favorite.  I took the plunge and made this while warming up frozen pizzas for my husband and kids.  They were excited for pizza and I was excited for this.  Win. Win.

It was really good and I'm happy I made it.  However... if I was completely honest then I would have to admit that I missed the fried eggroll wrapper all this goodness is served in.  If I was honest again... I think I may have set my expectations too high because I had wanted to try this for a while.

There are different recipes going around using the Instant Pot.  I didn't want to do that for my first try at this recipe because I wanted to make sure the cabbage still held some texture and I didn't want the carrots to get over cooked too.  This recipe is generally from TipHero.com.

Let's Get Crafty!
Get the meat going:
1 lb ground beef (next time I will try it with ground pork to mix it up)

While the meat is browning whisk together the sauce and set aside:
1 tablespoon garlic
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil

Get the veggies ready:
1 head of cabbage, chopped into slices
1 1/2 cup carrots
1 can water chestnuts, chopped

Once the meat is browned - add in the veggies and stir together for a couple minutes.  Then give the sauce a good whisk and add to the meat ad veggies.  Cook these together for 5 minutes or so until the cabbage has softened.  If you use the bagged coleslaw from the store - you might want to reduce the cooking time some since the cabbage will be cut smaller.  I added in some low sodium chicken broth (maybe 1/2 cup to give it all a little more room to groove.)

                                   

About 1/2 way through

Ready to Serve!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope everyone has a wonderful day.