Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Alicia warned me not to call this recipe a 'casserole', but I really couldn't think of anything else it could be. If it were on a fancy cooking show, it would be "deconstructed" chicken cordon bleu. But, try as I might, I guess I'm not that fancy. If anything, it's just me being lazy! I love CCB (fond memories of the MTC), but I don't like taking all that time to make it. And, so... this recipe!

So, before I get to the recipe, let me tell you that the measurements are probably pretty close, but that I didn't initially measure. So, this is a best guess.

Also, I disobeyed one of my cardinal rules... I used a can of cream of chicken soup. I really try to avoid doing that, but this recipe is really so much easier with it. So, to be fair, I will include a recipe for Mornay Sauce (often used on CCB) and a recipe for a Creamy Mustard Sauce. I kind of mixed both sauces together for my sauce in this recipe, plus that darn cream of chicken soup.

And, truth be told, I actually put this into a glass pan that was 8" x 11 ½". But, I think all of the ingredients would fit fine in a 9" x 13". I made it twice last week, and the second time, I used less mustard (ran out of it-- Jacob was glad), and I added a bit of milk (eh... ½ cup?) because I wanted it to be more saucy. Oh, and I forgot the dill. Oh well. And, both times I made it I used Swiss slices and cheddar slices because I had a Costco size thing of cheddar slices and wanted to use 'em. But, really, any cheese is fine.

And, I prefer to chunk up or slice up the chicken into strips because it's easier to dish it out in the end. 

And... lastly... any ham is fine. I've made this with deli slices, cut into strips, and also ham cubes.

Okay, so here goes.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

1 10 oz can Cream of Chicken soup

¼ c Dijon mustard

½ c Sour cream

1 tsp dill

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

8+ slices Swiss cheese (cut into strips or shredded)

1 c sliced or cubed ham

4 uncooked chicken breasts cut into strips or chunks

½ cup Panko or Bread Crumbs

In medium bowl, mix together soup, mustard, sour cream, dill, onion powder, garlic, and Parmesan cheese. In greased 9”x13” pan, layer ingredients in this order from bottom to top:

½ of the soup mixture

chicken strips

ham

the other ½ of the soup mixture

cheese strips

Panko

Bake covered for about 40 minutes until chicken is no longer pink, and then uncovered for 10 minutes until the topping is toasted and cheese is bubbly. 

 

Uncooked Top View

Uncooked Layer View

Okay, so here is a recipe for Mornay Sauce, courtesy of Emeril Lagasse:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/mornay-sauce-recipe.html

Mornay Sauce

Yields 2 cups

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk, 1/2 cup at a time. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cook, stirring constantly for 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from the and whisk in the cheese. Serve hot.

 

 

And, here is a basic mustard sauce recipe, courtesy of some random blogger. If you choose to use this recipe, you might want to quadruple it to have enough sauce.

http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/chicken-cordon-bleu-with-creamy-mustard-sauce/

 

Creamy Mustard Sauce

2 rounded tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/3 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream

Whisk the mustard and chicken broth together in small skillet over medium - high heat. Bring it to a simmer and cook 1 minute stirring often. Slowly whisk in heavy cream and bring back to a simmer. Simmer until thickened, stirring often about 3 minutes.

Whisk the mustard and chicken broth together in small skillet over medium - high heat. Bring it to a simmer and cook 1 minute stirring often. Slowly whisk in heavy cream and bring back to a simmer. Simmer until thickened, stirring often about 3 minutes.
Read more at http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/chicken-cordon-bleu-with-creamy-mustard-sauce/#xX4YzgMUCMQGMX7T.99

Whisk the mustard and chicken broth together in small skillet over medium - high heat. Bring it to a simmer and cook 1 minute stirring often. Slowly whisk in heavy cream and bring back to a simmer. Simmer until thickened, stirring often about 3 minutes.
Read more at http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/chicken-cordon-bleu-with-creamy-mustard-sauce/#xX4YzgMUCMQGMX7T.99

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Here's another quick and easy recipe. (Crock pot! Woot!) I'll admit, the ingredient list (and lack thereof) was even more off-putting than my last post. But this is seriously good! I made it for the first time last week, and I was surprised at how much I liked it. And even better proof: Craig despises leftovers and can't stand to eat the same meal more often than once a month...but he requested that I make this meal again this week, even though we ate it last week. That, my friends, is high praise!
 
Credit due: Our Best Bites
 
I sized this recipe for my family. Andrea might want to double or triple it. :)
 
Ingredients:

1/2 c. chili sauce (Heinz brand works best, according to the fine ladies at OBB)
1/2 c. grape jelly
1/3 of a package of frozen meatballs (2 lb package)
 
If you’re wondering, this kind of chili sauce is found near the ketchup. It's different than Asian chili sauce.

OBB has a note that if you want to make this less sweet, use less grape jelly. I thought the ratio was fine as it is. Surprisingly, Craig did too. He tells me often that he doesn't like sweet meals ("Unlike you Upton-Rowley's"...apparently he'll never forgive us for adding grapes to chicken salad sandwiches, lol.), but he liked this sweet & sour ratio.


The down low on the how to:
Combine jelly and chili sauce and whisk until smooth. Heat the mixture if needed to get rid of lumps.  Put meatballs in a crock pot, pour sauce on top, and cook for 2-5 hours on low.

I served this with mashed potatoes, veggies, rolls, and side salads.

Apricot Chicken

Here's a super easy, super quick, very yummy recipe. A friend brought this over after Brody was born. Yay for friends!

 
If you're picky like me (hahahaha), don't be put off by these ingredients. I would never have made this recipe if I saw the ingredient list first.
 
  
 
 
Ingredients: 

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 (1 ounce) packages dry onion soup mix

2/3 cup Thousand Island dressing

2/3 cup apricot preserves

 

4-5 c. cooked rice (if serving with rice)

 

 

The down low on the how to: 

Put the chicken in a 9x13 pan (or a 3-qt casserole dish). Mix the soup mix, dressing and jam together, and pour over the chicken. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

 

Serve with white rice, salad, rolls, and roasted veggies.

 

 

Yep, that's it. It's THAT easy, and oh so good!

 

Note: when my friend sent me this recipe, she said she adds about 1/2 tsp of curry. I'm not a big fan of curry, so I haven't added it.

 

Southwest White Bean and Chicken Chili

This meal can be made in a crockpot or on the stove. It's super yummy, and healthy too. I made this a while ago, when I was doing my food service, so I just adjusted the amounts to reflect a normal number of servings. This recipe is great in that it can be changed around and you can kind of use whatever you have on hand. For instance, I used canned chicken, but you can use chicken breasts in the crockpot and just shred them later. The green salsa can be purchased, but I make my own. And, if you don't like green salsa, don't use it. :) That goes for any of the other ingredients, except beans and chicken. Oh, and sorry for my non-measurements for the spices and seasonings... that's just how I roll.

Ingredients: 
2 cans cooked chicken
2 cans great northern beans, reserve half of one can
2 cans white kidney/cannellini beans, reserve half of one can
1-1 ½ cans chicken broth
½ each green, red, yellow, orange bell peppers, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
1-2 cups frozen corn
½ cup of mild salsa verde 

Seasonings: 
onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, basil, cumin, coriander, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper
[Optional seasoning for a bit of a kick, add some chipotle chili pepper powder or red pepper flakes or smoked paprika powder] 

Garnish: 
1 lime, juiced
½ cup chopped cilantro

Simmer chicken in seasonings and own juice. Rinse great northern beans and white kidney/cannellini beans, then add them to the chicken. Blend reserved beans with some chicken broth to a puree. Add to chili. Sauté peppers and onions. Add to chili.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and add the juice from one lime and ½ cup chopped cilantro. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Crockpot:
If using raw chicken, cook the chicken breast with 1 can chicken broth and seasonings on Low for 4 hours. Then either shred the chicken or break it up into chunks. Add the beans, bell peppers, green onion, corn, and salsa verde and cook on Low for another 1 to 2 hours. (Puree the reserved beans with the rest of the chicken broth before adding to crockpot.) Add the juice from one lime and the ½ cup chopped cilantro. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

If using all canned ingredients, add everything all at once to the crockpot and let it simmer on Low for an hour or two. 

 

Basil Lime Chicken and Sweet Potatoes with Rice and Quinoa

So yesterday I noticed I had a bunch of basil and quite a few limes and decided I should probably use them before they went bad and old, respectively. (You'll see a running theme here in the way I cook... I decide what to cook depending on what I have and what needs to be used up in a hurry.) :)

I also wanted to make a crockpot meal because it is really nice to come home after church to something already cooked. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on the way you look at it), we have church at 9 am, so I started my crockpot meal last night... which caused it to cook all night long, doubling the time needed for cooking, and making the chicken and potatoes fall apart. However, it still turned out pretty good. And, starting in January we will start at 12:30, so I will be able to do this crockpot thing the right way.

Okay, so here is the recipe. I took it from bits and pieces of other recipes I found online. I mostly found lemon and basil chicken recipes, which would be good too. Oh, and feel free to substitute regular potatoes (white, golden, or red) if preferred over sweet potatoes. I served it with Sprouted Rice & Quinoa Blend. (Got that at Costco. It's good!)

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/4 cup lime juice
3 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp garlic powder
1 chicken bouillon cube
salt and pepper 
chopped basil for garnish

Directions for crockpot:
Place sweet potatoes on the bottom of the crockpot and top with half of the basil, lime juice, olive oil, and garlic, and with the chicken bouillon cube. Sprinkle in a little salt and pepper. Stir to coat potatoes. 

Layer chicken on top of sweet potatoes and add the other half of basil, lime juice, and olive oil. Sprinkle a little garlic powder, salt, and pepper over chicken. Cover and bake on Low for 4-6 hours. Serve garnished with a little chopped basil on top. 


Directions for oven:
Basically same as the crockpot, but use a covered baking dish. Cover and bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and stir potatoes and rotate chicken. Cover and return to oven. Bake for an addional 15-20 minutes or until chicken is done and potatoes are softened. Remove from oven and serve. Garnish with chopped basil on top.

This is the Rice/Quinoa blend I use.

 

 

First Post

Hi girls!! I just made this post so I could put all of the labels on the side. These will be the verious categories we can post in and choose from on the side bar.
Ready...................set................post!!! :)