Chicken Cordon Bleu

I've made this recipe twice, and the first time it seemed really complicated, but this second time it was pretty quick and easy. I'd say it took about 15-20 mins prep time, and then it bakes for about 30 mins. And you really don't have to bother with any measurements. I combined a few different recipes and tips to come up with this final version, so I'm sorry if it seems a bit disorganized. Here it is...

Oh, and before you begin, you'll want to invest in one of these... (I tried using just a regular hammer the first time, and it didn't work so well)

Serves: 2
Ingredients:
- 1 to 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (the first time I used a whole chicken breast for each one, and they were huge! This time I cut one breast in half, and they were definitely smaller, but when you add some side items to the meal it was enough to fill us up.)
- 1 egg white
- salt
- pepper
- bread crumbs (I used Italian seasoned)
- Paprika
- Mozzarella cheese, sliced
- ham, sliced
-1 Tablespoon butter

Ingredients for the cream sauce on top:
- 1/2 can cream of chicken soup
- approx. 1/ 8 cups sour cream
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Beat the chicken breast with a meat tenderizer to approx. 1/4 inch thickness.
3. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.  Dip chicken breasts in egg whites, and then sprinkle both sides with bread crumbs and paprika. Make sure to cover all surfaces of the chicken breast with bread crumbs.
4. Place 1 slice of mozzarella cheese and 1 slice of ham on each chicken breast.
5. Roll up the chicken breast and secure with toothpicks. Place 1/2 tablespoon of butter on top of each breast.
6. Place in baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 25 mins.
7. Remove from oven and add about a 1/4 slice of cheese on top and return to oven for approx 5 mins until melted.
8. Serve with cream sauce on top.

Before:

After:

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

Here is a fettuccine recipe that is straight from scratch.  It is delicious!  The original recipe can be found here:  Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo  It serves 8. The version typed below is for 4.  Use the calculator on the website to adjust it to however much you need.


Ingredients:

• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (cut into cubes)
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, divided in half
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/2 pound fettuccini pasta
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 (8 ounce) package sliced mushrooms (optional)
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour  (this measurement is weird when you cut the recipe in half)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (another weird measurement)
• 1/4 pound shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese
• 1-1/2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. In a large skillet over medium heat combine chicken, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon garlic, and Italian seasoning. Cook until chicken is no longer pink inside. Remove from skillet and set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for until al dente; drain.
3. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in the skillet. Saute the onion, 1 tablespoons garlic and mushrooms until onions are transparent. Stir in flour, salt and pepper; cook approx. 2 minutes. Slowly add milk and half-and-half, stirring until smooth and creamy. Stir in Parmesan and Colby-Monterey Jack cheeses; stir until cheese is melted. Stir in chicken mixture, tomatoes and sour cream. Serve over cooked fettuccini.

And here's the finished product...

Dinner Tonight

Not very often lately, but sometimes, I just want to cook all day. Today was one of those days. This is a really rough post, but it's late at night. I just want to remember what I did, so sorry if it's a little confusing :) 

Stuffed Peppers and Creamy Corn

Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp

Stuffed Peppers
*I'm really sorry, but I really stink at quantities for stuff. I'll go back and do this again and measure everything sometime, but right now I just want to get it all down.

three large green bell peppers
cooked brown rice
canned black beans, drained and rinsed
canned diced tomatoes
grated monterey jack cheese
green onions, chopped
garlic powder
chili powder
black pepper
seasoned salt
paprika
cilantro

Slice the top off of the green peppers and take out all seeds and ribs. Mix stuffing ingredients (everything else) together and stuff the peppers. Bake at 375 for about 35 minutes. Delicious.
*There are several different fillings you can do for stuffed peppers - you don't have to have cheese in them (steph! :) ). Another way I have done them is to cook bulgar wheat, diced carrots, chopped red bell peppers, onions, and italian herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary) and stuff it with those. It would also be good to do cooked turkey sausage, brown rice, zucchini, spinach, and stuffing spices (thyme, celery salt, rubbed sage, etc) inside the peppers. They're such a versatile dish.


Creamy Corn

16 oz frozen corn (don't need to thaw)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 medium carrot, grated
1 can cream of celery soup
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
black pepper
*needed some garlic powder and chives. would also be good with some parmesan cheese added*

Add corn, onions, zucchini, and carrot to a small-ish crock pot (I think mine is a 3 quart?) and stir to mix. In a medium bowl, whisk together soup, cream cheese, milk, and seasonings. Pour over the vegetables in crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours, then stir well and cook for another half hour to an hour.


Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp


ok, I used Ina Garten's recipe here  for this, but I did make some changes:

- i didn't have any orange juice, so I omitted both lemon and orange juices
- i only had dried lemon and orange zest, so i added about 1/2 tsp of both
- i only used about 1/4 cup sugar in the filling
- i also added about 1/8-1/4 cup of AP flour to the filling
- i used a mixture of golden delicious, granny smith, and fuji apples
- i used quick cooking oats in the topping, but i recommend using old fashioned instead
- i also recommend only using about 3/4 cup of flour. her 1 &1/2 is way too much
- i didn't add salt to the topping, but i did use salted butter
- i cooked it for about an hour and a half instead of an hour

all in all, it was delicious, especially with vanilla ice cream. my two year old son was a big fan :)