Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Recipe adapted from: Six Sisters Blog

Ingredients:
1 (6 oz) pkg. chicken flavored low sodium stuffing mix
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 tablespoon prepared, Dijon mustard
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-size pieces (I steamed mine)
3 cups fresh broccoli florets
2 cups cooked, chopped ham
6 slices of extra thin Swiss cheese

Preparation: Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Prepare stuffing as directed on package.  Mix soup and mustard in medium bowl; stir in chicken, broccoli and ham. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with cheese slices and stuffing.  Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until heated through.

Notes & Tips:
The original recipe said to boil the chicken but I seasoned mine with garlic salt and pepper and steamed it. You could certainly use leftover chicken if you have it. Really any way you cook the chicken would be just fine. Also, I did not cover it while cooking so that the stuffing could get crispy. I served this with a chopped salad.
 

Chilie Rellenos Casserole

Recipe adapted from: Winnerdinners.com

Ingredients:
3 7-oz. cans whole green chiles
1 pound cheddar cheese, grated
1 pound jack cheese, grated
4 eggs
1 13-oz. can evaporated milk
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
3/4 cup salsa

Preparation:
Wash the chiles, removing the seeds, and dry on paper towels, (DON'T SKIP THIS STEP!). Grate the cheeses. Reserve 1/2 cup of each of the two cheeses, mixing them together in a small bowl. This will go on top of the casserole later, so you can place it in the refrigerator for now. In a medium-sized casserole dish, approximately 8 x 11 (9 x 13 is too big), layer 1/2 of the chiles, all of the cheddar cheese, the remaining chiles, then all of the jack cheese. Separate the eggs. Beat the yolks and add the evaporated milk, flour and salt, beating until frothy. Beat the whites separately for about a minute. Combine the two egg mixtures and beat for a few seconds longer so that they are well-mixed. Pour the egg mixture over the chiles and cheese. Bake at 300 for 1 hour. Then spread the tomato paste over the top. Sprinkle with the reserved cheese you placed in the refrigerator. Bake 1/2 hour longer. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes & Tips:
I added the salsa to this recipe because I felt like the tomato paste by itself was a little too thick. I really enjoyed this casserole. It came out looking different than I imagined, I think I thought it would look runnier, but really it was nice and firm. It does take a while to cook, but really I think it was worth it. You could certainly add meat if you wanted, but we used this for our meatless meal this week. I served this with Spanish rice.

Mustard Greens and Pumpkin Pasta

Recipe Adapted From: www.artsy-foodie.com

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sauteed chopped mustard greens

• 1 cup cooked pumpkin

• 1 cup lowfat sour cream

• 1 cup shredded mild cheddar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 16 oz pasta (I used Shells)

Preparation: 

Cook pasta according to package directions. Sauteed the greens with garlic and olive oil until wilted. Place the cooked greens, pumpkin, sour cream, cheddar and salt in pot and heat until cheese is melted and ingredients are well blended. Pour into blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour over pasta. Mix well and transfer to serving dish.

Notes: 

I left my sauce ingredients in the pot and used an emulsion blender to get the sauce smooth. This was absolutely wonderful! Daven ate lots of it which is always good when he eats his veggies. I served it with oven fried chicken and mashed sweet potatoes. 

Photo Credit: 
www.artsy-foodie.com

Cream Cheese Mints

Recipe adapted from: Reeves Danter

Ingredients:

• 4oz Cream Cheese
• 2 1/4 cups Confectioner's Sugar
• 1 tsp. Peppermint Extract
• Food Coloring
• Granulated Sugar

Preparation:

Mix cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, peppermint extract and food coloring until VERY smooth. Put into piping bag. Pipe thumb nail size drops into bowl full of granulated sugar (I did 4 drops at a time). Roll them in granulated sugar. If using molds, coat the molds in sugar then press balls into them to shape. Drop the molded pieces out onto wax paper that has a coating of granulated sugar on it. If making them into free form "pillow" shapes, after rolling them in the sugar, place them on wax paper that has granulated sugar on it. Allow to dry for at least 24 hours. Store in air tight container once completely dry.

Notes:

It may seem like you're using a lot of granulated sugar, but really it acts like flour so the mints don't stick. The mixture is really really sticky so you have to be careful to really coat the droplets in sugar. Make sure when you're rolling them to get your hands really dry. After about 8 hour of drying you can carefully flip them over to dry a little more on the other side. Serve them in a pretty dish. Can be made in any color. I made pink and blue for a baby shower.

Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw

Recipe adapted from: E-meals 

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced 
• 1/2 tablespoon Creole seasoning 
• 1/2 tablespoon Cilantro Mojo Seasoning (Tupperware)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
• 10 oz bag rainbow slaw mix
• ¼ cup minced fresh cilantro 
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and minced 
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 
• 1 teaspoon honey 
• ¼ teaspoon salt 
• 10-count package taco size flour tortillas 
• Pico de gallo
• Sour Cream

Preparation

Sprinkle chicken with Creole & Cilantro Mojo seasonings. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook, stirring frequently, for 6 minutes, or until cooked through. Combine coleslaw mix, cilantro, jalapenos, lime juice, honey, and salt in a bowl. Serve chicken, pico, sour cream and slaw on tortillas.

Notes:

The original recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon of Creole seasoning, but I just love the Mojo seasoning so much I had to use it. I was also surprised how much I liked the slaw. I didn't think it was going to have enough liquid but it really was very good and was not too spicy. I made the slaw in advance to let the ingredients marry before serving. I served this with Spanish rice.

Shrimp with Tomatoes & Feta

Recipe adapted from: Taste of Home August/September 2013

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 water
• 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/8 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• Hot cooked rice

Directions

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic; cook and stir until tender. Add tomatoes, wine, oregano, salt, pepper flakes and paprika; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.
• Stir in shrimp and cheese; cook 5-6 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Serve with rice. Serves 4
  

  Notes:

  YUM YUM YUM! How delish. I served this over hot rice. Daven even loved it, after I chopped up the shrimp. He ate two servings. I did use an Italian Seasoning blend that had red pepper flakes in it, so I omitted the red pepper flakes. 

  Nutrition:

  1 cup (calculated without rice) equals 261 calories, 11 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 191 mg cholesterol, 502 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 28 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 4 lean meat, 1 vegetable, 1 fat.

   

   

Squash, Potatoes & Onions

Recipe Adapted From:

food.com

Ingredients:

1/4 cup margarine (or a little bacon grease)
3 medium size yellow squash (cut in slices)
2 medium potatoes (cut in slices)
1 small onion (halved and sliced)

Preparation:

1 Wash and Cut up squash, potatoes and onions.
2 Melt butter in lg. fry pan.
3 Add squash.
4 Add potatoes on top of squash.
5 Add onions on top of potatoes.
6 Cover and simmer till potatoes are done stirring occasionally (about 1/2 hour).
7 Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Add small amount of water if it starts sticking (usually not necessary due to water content in vegetables).

Notes & Tips:
I used butter in my dish instead of the bacon grease to cut down on the fat a bit. I also only used about 1/8 of a cup butter mixed with a little olive oil. Mat told me he didn't like squash, so I made it a mission to change his mind. And by golly I think I did it!

Nutrition Facts: 

Servings Per Recipe: 4 Calories 164.7 Total Fat 6.2 g Total Carbohydrate 24.8 g Protein 4.1 g