Chicken Cordon Bleu

Tony got the cutest Father's Day gift Sunday from our 2 youngest (Eli, 10 & Rhett, 6).  They brought home a DVD from church that their leaders put together for Father's Day.  It was an interview style set-up with one of their leaders asking them questions about their Dad.  It was HILARIOUS!!  They asked what was one thing that your Dad is good at, and then asked them to name one thing that your Dad is not good at.    Eli thought about it for a while and his answer was that "My Mom's never left us alone with my Dad for like more than a day because I think she doesn't think he's too good at cooking because we usually end up getting something store-bought."  Hahahaha!!  Totally crack me up!  Just shows who does most the cooking around our house.  (Although Tony does make a pretty awesome Omelet!)

Well, guess what?  Tony's going to be home with those 2 youngest all week long.  My oldest son is at Scout camp all week and Kyla and I are headed to girls camp today until Friday.  Guess they're going to have a lot of "store-bought" food!:)  

But at least they're last meal before all that "store-bought" stuff was a good one.  Actually, a GREAT one.

I've got a Chicken Cordon Bleu casserole recipe on here, and it is delicious and all, but this one today is THE REAL DEAL!  The addition of the mustard in the egg wash is perfect.  Gives it that little bit of tang that made this dish.  They really are pretty easy to throw together, so don't be scared and jump in...you'll love them!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

PRINT RECIPE

1 sleave Ritz crackers

4 slices whole wheat sandwich bread (homemade or store bought)

6 tablespoons butter, melted

6 slices ham (not too thin, you don't want them tearing when you roll them up)

2 cups shredded swiss cheese

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 eggs

1 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard

3/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place crackers and bread in a food processor (or blender in my case) until they are ground into coarse crumbs.  While still processing, drizzle in the melted butter until combined.  Place crumbs on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for about 5 minutes.  Stir the crumbs around at the half-way mark.  They should be nice and golden brown.  Place in a pie plate and set aside.

Turn temperature of oven down to 400 degrees.

Take chicken and cut length wise down the fattest part of the breast, do not cut through, just make a long slender pocket.  Place about 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese in the middle of a slice of ham and roll tightly.  Place rolled ham into the pocket of the chicken and make sure chicken covers all the ham.  Repeat with all 6 chicken breasts.

Place flour in a shallow bowl.  Beat eggs with mustard in another shallow bowl.  Take your chicken and cover in flour, then coat in the egg wash & then dredge in the cracker/bread crumbs.  Make sure the entire chicken is covered with crumbs.  

Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet that has a small lip (you don't want the juices running into your oven).

Place chicken in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (should reach 160 degrees F).

Blueberry Lemon Pina Colada

Looks refreshing right?  Perfect summertime drink, no?

We're guest blogging over at Or So She Says today, so go and check it out & leave some love!:)

You're awesome!!

Chipotle Chicken Skewers with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce (and our diet success..so far!)

As some of you know, my husband and I have been on a diet (I really hate that word, but for lack of a better one...) since February.  It has had it's ups and downs (the downs mostly came during the stressful month of May...and I have learned that I am a stress eater!), but it has been fantastic for us.  I've just briefly mentioned it a few times here on the blog, but went into more detail over at Or So She Says for one of my blog posts there, so if you'd like to know more about it head over there.  Or check it out at dukandiet.com.

We had family pictures taken last week...finally!  It had only been about 3 years since our last ones.  Sheesh!    Anyway, I absolutely LOVE them.  They turned out great!  And they really made me realize how much Tony & I have lost.  I wanted to see the difference side by side so made a "before" and "current...not our "after" just yet!" collage.  

WOW.

I cringe to see what we looked like in our "before" picture.  (That's the whole reason I'm having issues with posting this collage!)  I'm printing it off and hanging it on my fridge for those days (which have been many lately) that I just want a stinkin' brownie!  So here it is in all it's glory...

Okay, glad that's over...now, on to the recipe!

When I stumbled upon this recipe (Thanks Mel...LOVE her site!) I knew it was one that I needed to make and that could be adapted to fit our diet.   It was wonderful!  Just enough spicy for me (and I'm a wimp!) and paired with the cilantro lime dip...oooohhhhhh...divine!

You must try these!

Chipotle Chicken Skewers with Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce
PRINT RECIPE

2-2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup packed brown sugar (we used equal amount of Stevia)
2 tablespoons cilantro
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced (scrape out the seeds unless you like your food pretty spicy!)
2 teaspoons adobo sauce from the chipotle chile can
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
skewers, I prefer metal because I always forget to soak the bamboo ones and then they catch on fire!:)

Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce
3/4 cup fat free sour cream (can use lowfat as well)
1/4 cup lowfat mayonnaise or greek yogurt (we opted for nonfat greek yogurt)
1/4 cup lime juice, from 2-3 limes
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, minced
2 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Slice the chicken into 1/2 inch strips.  In a small bowl combine the sugar, cilantro, chipotle chile, adobo sauce, and spices.  Stir to combine.  Toss chicken and sugar mixture in a large ziploc bag until evenly coated.  Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.

About 30 minutes before grilling the skewers, make dipping sauce.  This will give it time in the fridge for all the flavors to mesh together.  In a small bowl combine all ingredients and stir.  Place in fridge until chicken is ready to serve.

If using bamboo skewers, soak for 30 minutes in water before grilling.  Preheat grill to medium-high (about 400 degrees).  Weave chicken onto skewers making a "rolling hill" pattern.  Use about 2-3 strips per skewers, depending on the length of skewer and chicken strips.  Some of mine I even used 4 on.   These tend to stick to my grill so I always use a coat of cooking spray before grilling.  Grill for about 7-9 minutes, turning midway through cooking time, or until cooked through.

Serve immediately with dipping sauce.

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Navajo Tacos with Homemade Scones

This is a recipe that is requested often at our home and is a staple for whenever we have company over.  We served these last night and had a young man who had never had them before...he's from Louisiana, so he knows all about beignets (which is pretty much the same thing as a scone).  And so, instead of piling all the ingredients on top of the scones he opened up the top and stuffed them full...gotta say, it looked pretty delicious that way!  And I think he probably ate 4 of them!:)

Don't let the homemade scones scare you off.   They are really easy to make & are delicious!  This recipe makes a lot, but they are great leftovers and can also be frozen after they are fried and taste just as good warmed up.  My family likes to make some smaller sized ones and toss them in a bag with some powdered sugar, or slather them with honey butter.  They are also good with jam and are to DIE FOR with a little nutella spread on top!

Navajo Tacos with Homemade Scones

PRINT RECIPE

Scones:

2 tablespoons yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups warm water

2 eggs

7-8 cups flour

For Navajo Tacos:

Scones

Chili ( Heres a great homemade recipe, or canned)

shredded cheddar cheese

lettuce

sour cream

sliced tomatoes

sliced olives

To make the scones:

Dissolve the yeast in the 1/2 cup of warm water.  While yeast is "growing", combine the butter, salt, sugar, water, eggs and 4 cups of the flour.  Mix in blender using the whisking beaters until smooth.  Change out the beaters for your dough arm and add the remaining flour until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms.  I gauge this by when the dough "cleans" the sides of my bosch.

You can put the dough in the fridge at this point if you are making it a head of time and just pull it out a half hour to 45 minutes before you are ready to fry them, or you can just start rolling them out and frying them right away.

Divide the dough in half and spray counter/rolling area with cooking spray (I think this works better than flouring your surface and it's a lot easier to clean up!) and roll dough until it is about 1/2 inch thick.  Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into horizontal strips about 3" across and then do the same vertically.

Fry them in 350 degree oil until browned on both sides.  Watch them carefully...they brown quickly!  Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.

To assemble your Navajo taco:

Place scone(s) on bottom of plate.  Ladle hot chili on top of scones.  Top with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and olives.

Dig in!

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Looking for a easy, quick and yummy summertime meal to serve your family?  That's what I'm all about during the summer months!  And this one is delicious....kind of reminds me of the Creamy Baked Taquitos I LOVE, but in a shell instead of a tortilla.  And I have just as much love for this one as the taquitos!

Serve with some fresh fruit (some kind of melon is my first choice during the summer), and the Best Spanish rice.  One of my favorite meals!

Mexican Stuffed Shells

PRINT RECIPE

2 cups chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 green onions, diced
2 bell peppers, diced (I like color so I do 1/2 of a red, orange, yellow and green pepper, but any variation works!)
1 1/2 blocks (12 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies (Rotel kind)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 cup picante sauce
1 package pasta shells, cooked al dente
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (sharp or colby jack work well)

Cook pasta shells until al dente (you don't want them too soft they will cook some more in the oven).   Drain and set aside.

Mix chicken, beans, onions and bell peppers in a large bowl.  Set aside.

Beat cream cheese in electric mixer until soft and smooth.  Slowly add the diced tomatoes while continuing to mix.  Add the cumin and mix.

Combine the cream cheese mixture with the chicken mixture and stir until well combined.

Pour the picante sauce on the bottom of  a 9x13 inch baking pan.  Stuff shells generously with filling and place on top of picante sauce in pan.

Sprinkle cheese over top of shells and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Gooey Almond Coconut Cereal Treat

I've been wanting to share this recipe with everyone for SO long, but just haven't because I could not come up with a name good enough for it!  I got the recipe from my sister-in-law, she's been making it for family get togethers for YEARS, and it is always requested...and devoured!  We just call it Candy's chex mix, but I thought it needed something better, so I asked my kids what they thought we should call it.  I thought my 10 year old Eli's answer described it perfectly...he said we should call it yummy goodness!:)  And that it is!!  But I didn't think that was an actual name, so this long descriptive name is what you get.  

It's perfect to wrap up and give to teachers, neighbors, friends.  Just know that if you give it away you will be hounded by everyone to make them more!  But I guess that's better than eating every last bit yourself! 

Gooey Almond Coconut Cereal Treat

PRINT RECIPE

 

1 box (12 oz.) Rice Chex cereal (off brand works great)

1 box (12 oz.) Golden Grahams cereal (off brand works great here too!:))

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter

2 cups sugar

2 cups corn syrup

Combine both cereals, almonds and coconut in a large bowl.  

In a medium sized sauce pan add butter, sugar and corn syrup.  Cook over medium heat until it reaches the soft ball stage.  That's between 230-240 degrees using a candy thermometer.  Or you can use the method we used growing up (and I still use today).  Get a small cup and fill it with cold water.  Test the syrup by adding a little drop into the cold water.  Use your fingers and if you can mold it into a ball and it will stay formed but is still soft you've got soft ball stage...pretty easy!

Pour syrup over cereal mixture and using a wooden spoon stir until all pieces are well coated.  Dump onto wax paper until cooled.  Pull it apart into chunks and store in bags or any airtight container.

And for your info...the cute little cups I used to put the yummy goodness in I purchased from Pick Your Plum.  I love them!:)

Chicken Bacon Croissant

I love these sandwiches!  They are so perfect for these hectic May days!
May is so unbelievably jam packed with activities, programs, recitals, projects, homework, baseball, track...and I'm sure you all could add plenty to the list...so these are a lifesaver!

One of the best features of these is that you can make them ahead of time.  They are even better the next day, it gives it time for all the flavors to combine & makes them so delicious!  Grab it on the run & have a nice picnic at the baseball park or track meet...or hurry and scarf them down in the car before that special recital/program!  Beats fast food any day!

Chicken Bacon Croissant

PRINT RECIPE

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion salt
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
3 stalks celery, chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped
1/2 package of turkey bacon (you can use regular as well)
croissants

Combine milk, mayo and spices and mix until combined.  Add celery and onions.  Stir in the shredded chicken; mix well.  Place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours to let the flavors combine.

Serve on croissants.