Chicken & Broccoli stuffed Crescent Rolls

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1 cup chopped broccoli (cooked)
1 cup shredded mild cheddar/monterey jack cheese (or your desired amount/type of cheese)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (or your desired amount)
1 package of crescent rolls

Directions
Boil chicken until done - approximately 45min to 1 hour (just make sure it's done). Shred chicken in medium sized bowl and add all remaining ingredients except the crescent rolls. See picture of how to stuff the crescent rolls. Use 2 rolls for each one; making 4 total chicken & broccoli stuffed rolls. Follow directions on crescent roll package for cooking time (Usually 375 for 11-13 minutes).

Enjoy, Kim

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is one of our favorite soups, everytime we make it we are VERY happy we did :)


Ingredients

1 tsp minced garlic
½ onion, chopped
¼ tsp cumin
6 cups (1½ cartons) chicken stock
1 can black beans
1 can or 1 cup frozen corn
½ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp red pepper, if you like it spicy
1 Tbsp lime juice
½ jar salsa
1 chicken breast, raw, diced
For topping each bowl:
Shredded mexican cheese
Sour Cream
Tortilla chips

Directions
Saute garlic and onion in olive oil in large dutch oven for a couple minutes.
Add chicken broth, beans, corn, spices, lime juice and salsa and bring to a boil on high.

When boiling, add raw chicken pieces. Reduce heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes until chicken is cooked. Let stand 5 minutes.

For each bowl, add a handful of shredded cheese, sour cream (big scoop, this is key!), and handful of broken up tortilla chips.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

This recipe is AWESOME. We had it last night, and it's one I will definitely use over and over again. It's delicious!

Meatballs
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 finely diced onion
1 pinch ground black pepper

Sauce
1 (20-ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained with juice reserved
1/3 cup water, plus more, divided
3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 small carrot, sliced thinly
1 large green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 small onion, cut into wedges and separated

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray. Place ground beef, egg, cornstarch, salt, Worcestershire sauce, diced onion and pepper in a medium mixing bowl. Mix with clean hands or wooden spoon until well incorporated. Form into about 20 1-inch meatballs. Place meatballs in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until done. Set aside.

To make the sauce, mix enough water with the reserved pineapple juice to make 1 cup. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the juice mixture, an additional 1/3 cup water, vinegar, soy sauce and brown sugar. Stir in cornstarch, ginger and seasoning salt and whisk until smooth. Cover and cook until thickened. Stir pineapple chunks, carrot, green pepper, onion and meatballs into the sauce. Gently stir to coat the meatballs with the sauce. Simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, or until meatballs are thoroughly cooked. Serve over white rice. Serves: 6.

Lasagna

Hey everyone! I've never posted to a blog so here goes... Here is a recipe that I tried from a cookbook we received at our wedding called "Calumet County Kitchens". Walter and I really enjoyed it!

(Preheat oven to 350. 6 servings, about 1 1/4 cups each)
1 lb ground beef
2 tsp liquid garlic (I used fresh garlic)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp parsley flakes
6 ounce can tomato paste
8 ounce can tomato sauce
3/4 cup hot water
6 lasagna noodles, cooked
1 egg
12 ounces cream-style cottage cheese (not sure what "cream-style" is as I think all are "cream-style", aren't they?)
1/4 lb (about 1 cup) process cheese, shredded

Crumble beef into large fry pan. Cook over moderate heat, stirring as needed, until lightly browned. Add garlic and onion; cook until onion is tender. Add seasonings, tomato paste, tomato sauce and water. Simmer, stirring, occasionally, for 5 minutes. Blend egg with cottage cheese.

In a 7 by 12 by 2 inch baking dish, spread layers of one-fourth of tomato-meat sauce, then three noodles, and one-fourth more tomato-meat sauce. Add half the cottage cheese mixture and half the process cheese. Add another one-fourth tomato-meat sauce, then the remaining cottage and process cheese. Spread with remaining noodles, then sauce. Bake uncovered 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! Love, Kim

Baked Spaghetti

Hey guys! Here's a really easy recipe, and you hardly need any ingredients. It makes a lot, so you might want to cut it in half... but it's really good, even leftover.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 (26-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 pound angel hair pasta
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 F. In large skillet, cook ground beef until brown. Mix spaghetti sauce into skillet. Reduce heat and simmer. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Mix in pasta and cook until al dente, about 4 or 5 minutes for angel hair. Drain. Mix together spaghetti and meat mixture. Stir in 1 cup of cheese. Pour into 9 x 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is bubbly. Serves: 6 to 8.

Marinara with Butter & Onion

Ingredients

1 28oz can whole, peeled plum tomatoes
1 onion, peeled, cut in half
4 Tablespoons butter
salt, to taste

Note: shake can of different brands - the more viscous sounding, the better the flavor will be. the watery sounding cans are more acidic

Directions:
Cut up tomatoes and put in pot with juices. Add onion halves. Add butter. shake a bit of salt into the mix. Simmer on lowest simmer, uncovered, 45 minutes. Stir every 5-10 minutes, breaking up tomatoes with back of wooden spoon. taste for salt near the end and add as needed. After 45 minutes discard onion, toss with pasta. This does not produce a lot of sauce - 1-2 servings. Enjoy!

Mrs. Erickson's Chicken Pot Pies

This recipe is Tom's favorite recipe of all time! His mother makes these for their family and they are delicious. It's a bit of a peculiar recipe but give it a whirl. They're SO good!

1 bag frozen chicken tenderloins

1 8oz pkg. cream cheese

1 8oz. container of strawberry cream cheese

1/2 stick of butter

1 12oz. bag of frozen, microwavable peas ( I use Bird's Eye Steamfresh)

1 8oz. bag of pepperidge farms croutons (Herb Seasoned, crushed bread crumb type)

3-4 packages pillsbury crescent rolls

milk (optional)

large jar of chicken gravy

Put the cream cheeses and butter in a bowl to sit out and soften. Boil the chicken until it is cooked through. When finished, remove and cube (smaller cubes). Pour hot chicken into cream cheese. Stir well. Cook peas according to microwave directions. (They usually take 4-6 minutes.) Add croutons and hot peas to chicken mixture. Stir well. You want it to be moist, so if needed add some milk. I usually add 1/4 - 1/2 cup. Each pot pie is made from 2 crescent triangles. Tear off two together, press seams together tightly and spread them out to make a nice big rectangle. Put a nice, big scoop of chicken mixture inside. (1-2 cups) Pull up sides of crescent and seal together at top. You can make 4 pot pies per package of crescents. There will be enough chicken mixture to make about 12 pot pies. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until crescents are a nice, golden brown! Plate the pot pies and cover with chicken gravy. I like to take a knife and open them up, then put the gravy in and around. Yummy! :)