Cheesy Chicken Bundles

 This is one of those recipes that I have been making for at least 15 years. (Now I feel really old.) It was one of the very few things I could make as a newlywed. I don't make them nearly as often as I did in our early years, but they are still a favorite. I have tweaked them, and made several versions by changing up the filling, but this version is a favorite for my picky eaters.

Cheesy Chicken Bundles

3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups cooked cubed chicken (I recommend heavily seasoned or rotisserie)
2-4 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 tube crescent rolls

Makes 4 servings.

Beat cream cheese and milk in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add cheddar cheese and chicken to the cream cheese mixture and stir with a spoon. Open the crescent roll tube and separate the rolls into 4 rectangles. You will need to press 2 triangles together to seal and make a rectangle. Add 1/4 of the mixture to the center of each rectangle. Bring the 4 corners to the top to make a bundle. You may need to seal seams around the bundle with your fingers if they come undone. Top each bundle with melted butter and bread crumbs. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

I normally serve with a side of rice and a vegetable or salad. 

Enjoy! 


Other versions include:
Chicken Pot Pie Bundles - (sub 1/2 - 1 cup of cream of chicken soup for the cream cheese and milk and add a 1/2 - 1 cup of veggies
Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Bundles - same as above, add 1/2 - 1 cup of steamed broccoli





I'll be linking-up this post to:
Not Just a Housewife
Off The Hook Monday
What You Wish Wednesday

Chef's Pasta Salad

 I eat a lot of salads for lunch, especially during the summertime. I thought I would share one of my favorites with you.

Chef's Pasta Salad
                  
Mixed Salad Greens
Chopped Meat (I normally use rotisserie chicken or leftover pork tenderloin)
Chopped Tomatoes
Chopped Dill Pickles (this makes the salad)
Any Kind of Small Cooked Pasta
A Little Bit of Cheese
Dressing (I normally use Bolthouse Yogurt Ranch)

Chop, Mix, and Enjoy!

I'm linking this post to these link-up parties:


What You Wish Wednesday

Weekly Meal Plan #4

Sunday Lunch - Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Chips, Fruit

Sunday Dinner - Takeout

Monday - Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry, Rice, Egg rolls

Tuesday -  Bubble Up Enchilada Bake

Wednesday - Chicken Parmesan Bake, Garlic Bread, Salad

Thursday - Baked Chicken Legs, Mashed Potatoes, Peas

Friday - Pizza Quesadillas

Saturday - Sloppy Joes, Chips, Fruit

Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad is one of my favorite quick meals during the Summer. I have made many variations over the years, but this particular one is our favorite combination.

Chicken Salad
1 rotisserie chicken, de-boned and chopped
mayo (I just add a little at a time until desired consistency has been reached)
1-2 tsp dill weed
1/8 cup chopped green onions or red onions
salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients with fork and then serve.

I'm linking this us to:


What You Wish Wednesday
Enchanting Inspiration
Inspire Me Please

Weekly Meal Plan #1

I am a meal planner. I generally plan a weeks worth of meals before heading out to the grocery store each week. Sometimes I assign themes to each day, sometimes I go by what we have on hand, what sounds good, or what is on sale. I just do whatever seems to be the simplest method at the time; there is no reason to complicate the process.Whatever your planning method, it saves time, money, and you will have an answer to the dreaded question, "what are we having for dinner?".

I used to list my meal plans here on the blog and then quit. I'm not sure why, really. You may not be interested, and that's okay, but I am one of those people that likes to see what everyone else eats. I'm planning to start taking more pics of the food that we eat so that i can post more pictures and then I'll link to the recipe that I use if there is one. I have a ton of meals that I don't use recipes for, so hopefully in time and can get some of those listed here as well.

The only meals I plan are dinner, with Sunday being the exception. I do plan for lunch and dinner on Sunday. During the week we have breakfast staples for breakfast, and then sandwiches, salads, and leftovers for lunch.

I pin a lot of recipes on my Let's Eat Board on Pinterest when I am browsing, and have a special board for all of the recipes that have turned into family favorites. 

Sunday Lunch -Sub Sandwiches
             Dinner - Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Sandwiches

Monday - Aussie Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Roasted Squash

Tuesday - Spaghetti and Garlic Bread

Wednesday - N/A we'll be eating at church

Thursday - Chicken Fried Rice, Egg Rolls

Friday -  French Bread Pizza

Saturday - Fajita Quesadillas and Mexi Rice


Do you have a specific formula for planning your meals each week?

Pineapple Cobber

Ok. I have never even heard of pineapple cobbler, so this is how this went down.

It rained all day on Sunday.
I wanted a pineapple dessert.
I looked on pinterest and couldn't find anything that sounded good that I actually had all of the ingredients for.
I didn't want to go to the store in the rain. (I'm such a baby.)
I had the thought to substitute a can of pineapple for the can of peaches in my normal cobbler recipe.

1 hour later.....I was a happy camper with a bowl of pineapple cobbler. It was really good!

Ingredients

1 stick butter
1 cup milk
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 (20oz.) can of pineapple chunks (in syrup not juice - do NOT drain)


Instructions

Put the stick of butter in a baking dish and let it melt while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix milk, self rising flour, and sugar until combined. Pour the mixture over the stick of melted butter, and then pour in the can of pineapple. Do not stir.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with a scoop of ice cream.


(Note - I only had pineapple in juice on hand, so I used that. It was good, but just a little tart. I always use peaches in syrup for peach cobbler, so I think that the pineapple in syrup would be better. If you only have, or prefer pineapple in juice, go for it.)

Peach Cobbler

This is one of those recipes that I have been making since I got married.....16 years ago. My husband's grandmother makes it, and passed along the recipe right after we were married. The best part about this dessert is that it is simple, always good, and I have it memorized.

Peach Cobbler

1 stick butter
1 cup milk
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 large can of peaches (do NOT drain)

Put the stick of butter in a baking dish and let it melt while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix milk, self rising flour, and sugar until combined. Pour the mixture over the stick of melted butter, and then pour in the can of peaches. Do not stir.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with a scoop of ice cream.

*I normally use an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish.

Linking this post to:

The Pearl Blog - All Things Pretty Part-ay
Liz Marie Blog
House of Rose
Blissfully Ever After
Love of Home and Family
Tatertots and Jello
I Heart Nap Time
Lil' Luna
Somewhat Simple
Today's Creative Blog
Suburbs Mama
Making Home Base
Design, Dining + Diapers
Frugal Friday - The Shabby Nest 

Lasagna Soup

It is January, and my meal plan is full of soup recipes. I made this for the first time over the weekend, and it is keeper. It is really good right out of the pot, but is also good the next day (just not very soupy).

Lasagna Soup
adapted from Bobby's Lighter Tastes Like Lasagna Soup on Deen Bros

Ingredients

1lb Italian Sausage (or half sausage, half ground beef)
1/4 onion, chopped finely
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 box (32 oz) chicken broth
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (145 oz) petite diced tomatoes 
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
6 broken lasagna noodles
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (reserve 1/2 cup to top each bowl of soup just before serving)


To Make
 
Brown Italian Sausage (make sure to remove the casings), onion, and garlic in a dutch oven until done. Drain well.

Add chicken broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, black pepper, and crushed red pepper to the sausage mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and continue to simmer for about 10 minutes while stirring occasionally. Add  broken lasagna noodles and continue to simmer and stir occasionally until noodles are nice and soft. This will take 20-30 mins. depending on desired consistency. (NOTE: If you are in a hurry, boil noodles while browning meat and then add when you add the broth, tomatoes, etc.)

Once noodle have reached desired consistency add grated parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Dip the soup into bowls and top with remaining mozzarella cheese.

Serve and enjoy. Makes approx. 8 cup servings.

Linking this post to:
The Pearl Blog - All Things Pretty Part-ay  
Liz Marie Blog
House of Rose
Blissfully Ever After
Love of Home and Family
Tatertots and Jello
I Heart Nap Time
Lil' Luna
Somewhat Simple
Today's Creative Blog
Suburbs Mama

Save the Soup

I am always up for trying a new slow cooked recipe that sounds fool proof. I think this recipe for Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana would have been had I read the actual LIST OF INGREDIENTS correctly. In my defense, I did have 5 kids at my house on this particular day, the whole reason that I thought slow cooker soup was a great idea for dinner.

I basically just added double the amount of chicken broth, so our soup was extremely SOUPY and didn't have enough flavor. There was no rescuing it for dinner that night, but I did manage to save it for the next day.

The first thing I did was add a good bit of parmesan cheese, I'm thinking 1/2 cup ish, a lot of salt, some italian seasoning, and black pepper and red pepper.  It was still too soupy with the addition of the parmesan cheese so I new I needed something to soak up the excess liquid. I boiled about a cup of small pasta, added it to the mix and put it in the fridge until the next night.

The next night I pulled out the pot of soup and the consistency was just right. The pasta had done it's job and the soup was saved.

All of that to say that if you are looking for a nice hearty soup, this recipe is a winner. Just make sure you read the actual list of ingredients and you should be good.

The 100 cal Iced Coffee

I have a thing for coffee. I like it black, hot or cold, or sweet and creamy. It is warming up and I am gravitating more to iced coffee. I also tend to crave less sweet stuff if I have had a sweet creamy coffee, so it really is a good thing.

I have a Keurig, but it doesn't have the iced coffee setting and I don't buy the special iced coffee k-cups. I'm pretty sure that it would be just the same with a cup of coffee from a regular coffee pot.

You will need
2 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. creamer (35 cal. per 1tbsp. serving - I like the Natural Bliss Sweet Cream from Coffee Mate)
1 cup prepared coffee - a dark roast (I use a k-cup made on the 7 oz. or Medium setting)
ice
1 large cup

Instructions
- Put 2 tsp. of sugar in bottom of your cup (assuming you are using a keurig, if not put sugar into coffee after it has been brewed)
- Let your coffee cool for a few minutes
- Add creamer, and fill your cup with ice.

You have just saved yourself about $4, a trip through the drive-thru, and some mega calories.


Linking up to these blog parties
A Bowl Full of Lemons - Tatertots and Jello - Positely Splendid - Delightful Order - It's Overflowing - The Shabby Nest

Donuts

Before I talk about wonderful homemade donuts, I have to ask a question. Has Pinterest totally changed the way you search for recipes and/or meal plan? It has made a big difference in the amount of new recipes I actually try. I don't know that I would have normally attempted homemade donuts from canned biscuits, but after seeing them pinned about 20 times, I had to try them.

Here is the original pin that I came across.

pin, via, source

Yum! Be sure to check out the original source for the full recipe. I am just going to give you the powdered sugar variation that I made.

The original cinnamon sugar were awesome, but our fav was the powdered sugar version that I made.

Once you fry your donuts, dip them in butter,  and then in powdered sugar.

Super easy.

Um, yeah. These are really good.

What is the best recipe that you have found to date on pinterest?

Chicken Finger Dip

This stuff is good, and it has just a little kick.

Chicken Finger Dip

1 Tbsp. Mayo w/olive oil

(Just shy of) 1 Tbsp. Southwest Spicy Mustard

Mix and enjoy!  

It's also really good as a spread on a roast beef sandwich.

Calories - 75
Fat grams - 4


Linking up to:
A Bowl Full of Lemons

one ingredient ice cream

Have you heard of one ingredient ice cream? I had not until Amanda made reference to it on twitter a week or so ago. I immediately went in the kitchen to slice a banana and stick it in the freezer so that I could make this for my last snack of the evening. DELISH! I am so happy to have found something healthy that is just like eating ice cream.

It was a big hit with my boys, too. I'm planning to earn myself some "cool mommy points" by letting them have it for breakfast. It really is just a banana, so why not? Please tell me that my kid isn't the only one that sometimes asks if he can have ice cream for breakfast.

One Ingredient Ice Cream

slice a ripe banana
freeze the slices
put the banana slices in a food processor or blender and blend until they reach the consistency of ice cream

(optional) add a drop of vanilla extract the bananas while blending
(optional) a little chocolate syrup on top isn't bad either

Recipes (peanut butter cake & strawberry pie)

Peanut Butter Cake

Cake
yellow cake mix (mixed, baked as directed on box, and cooled)
or
devils food cake mix (mixed, baked as directed on box, and cooled)

Icing
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 - 16 oz. confection sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring

Beat together until smooth

*for more than 2 layers double

Fresh Strawberry Pie

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1 pint fresh strawberries - sliced
1 baked pie shell
4 tbsp. strawberry jello

cool whip

Mix sugar, water, cornstarch and jello. Cook over medium heat until thick. Put strawberries in baked pie shell. Pour cooled mixture over straawberries. Chill. Top with cool whip and serve.