Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

From Tasty Kitchen

1 whole cooked chicken (rotisserie works great) deboned and shredded (about 5-6 cups)
1/2 lb very thinly sliced deli-style honey ham, rough chopped
1/4 lb thinly sliced baby swiss cheese

Sauce:
4 T butter
4 T flour
3 cups milk
2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 T dijon mustard
1 1/2  t salt
1/2 t smoked paprika
1/4 t white pepper

Topping:
6 T butter
1 1/2 c Panko bread crumbs
3/4 t seasoning salt
1 1/2 t crushed dried parsley

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9x13 dish, set aside
Put cooked, shredded chicken on bottom of baking dish, cover with rough chopped ham, cover with sliced swiss cheese.
For sauce: Melt butter over medium heat, mix with flour to form a roux. Slowly add milk while stirring until sauce thickens. Stir in lemon juice, mustard, salt, paprika, and pepper. Bring to soft boil and turn off heat. Pour sauce evenly over the casserole, making sure to get edges.
For topping: melt butter, add remaining ingredients, then sprinkle over the top of the casserole.
Bake uncovered for 45 minutes until hot throughout and a light golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes prior to serving.

Creamy Garlic Pasta

This is a new favorite side dish at my house! Got it from Pinterest (and the cheese tumbler) and we love it! Tonight I substituted dry basil for the parsley and it worked just fine, maybe better than the parsley.

 2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
3 cups chicken stock
½ lb spaghetti or angel hair pasta
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
¾ cup heavy cream
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

 In a pot, bring the olive oil to medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir, allowing it to cook for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the butter until melted. Add the salt, pepper and chicken stock. Raise the heat to high and let it come to a boil. Once it is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook for as long as the box’s directions indicate. Reduce the stove to medium heat and mix in the parmesan until completely melted. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream and parsley. Serve immediately.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Also known as Hellman's Moist Chicken.

 INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
4 tsp Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

 DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425°.
Combine mayonnaise with cheese in medium bowl. Arrange chicken on baking sheet. Evenly top with mayonnaise mixture, then sprinkle with bread crumbs.
Bake 20 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1/2 c butter
1/2 c shortening
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 c flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Cinnamon sugar mixture

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, sugar and eggs. Then blend in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Shape dough and roll in cinnamon and sugar. Bake 8-10 mins.

Tips:
Butter flavored or regular shortening works.
Sprinkle more cinnamon and sugar on top after they finish baking, while they are still warm.
I only cook mine for 8 mins but it mostly depends on your oven. I like them barely brown on the bottom. They will look doughy when you remove them but once they cool down they will be chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Baked Chicken Flautas

I stumbled on this recipe by accident and tried it out tonight. It was tasty! During dinner, C.J. told me he thought I should post this recipe here. I guess he liked it:

Preheat oven to 450

10 flour tortillas (I buy precooked tortillas from Sams Club or Costco that you cook right before you use. They are fantastic and taste like homemade, fresh tortillas).

2 tsp canola oil mixed with 1/2 tsp red pepper

Filling:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/3 C sour cream (I ran out and used milk - it was still wonderful)

1 can diced green chilis

1 cup grated cheese

2 cups diced cooked chicken

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

cilantro

combine all ingredients in saucepan over medium heat until warm. Place about 3 tbsp filling in end of each tortilla and wrap up tightly ( you may want to fasten them with toothpicks).

Place on a cookie sheet. Lightly brush outside of each with the oil/pepper mixture. Cook until they look crisp on top, about 10-15 minutes.

Vermont Maple Blueberry Salad

Vermont Maple Blueberry Salad

blueberries
green apples (cut into bite sized pieces)
cinnamon almonds (see the nuts about berries salad)
blue cheese crumbles
chopped romaine lettuce
Maple Vinaigrette Dressing

Maple Vinaigrette Dressing:

3 T. maple syrup
1 t. mustard powder
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1/4 t. salt
2 T. olive oil
1 T. sugar

Mix it all together!  Add a little bit more sugar the dressing if it is too tart.

Nuts about Berries Salad (Zupas)

Here is another one I tried this weekend.  It also was so good, especially as the weather is getting hotter.

Nuts about Berries Salad

raspberries
blueberries
strawberries
blackberries
cinnamon almonds
chopped romaine lettuce
poppyseed dressing

Poppyseed Dressing:

1/2 c. Heinz gourmet Salad vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 t. dry mustard powder
3/4 inch slice purple onion minced fine
1/2 t. salt
1 T. poppy seeds
3/4 c. sugar
1 c. vegetable oil

blend all together

Mix all the ingredients together.  I cut up the strawberries but left the rest of the berries whole.  To make the cinnamon almonds, I used almond slices and tossed it with brown sugar and cinnamon to coat and then toasted them.  Again, mix as much or as little dressing as you want.  This also makes about 2 cups of dressing.  So yummy.