Cordon Bleu Wraps

I can't remember where I found this recipe in the many food sites I've come across, but I printed it out and made it the other week and it was a big hit. These would be perfect for an appetizer or a meal which is what we did.

Cordon Bleu Wraps

1 Rotisserie chicken from the deli
1 pkg. refrigerated biscuits (8 count)
2 Tbsp. honey Dijon mustard
Italian seasoning
4 slices Swiss cheese, cut into 4 smaller pieces
4 slices of deli ham, cut into 4 smaller pieces
16 fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and steamed (being the vegetable lover I am, I left these out but it was because they didn't look good at the grocery store...I'll include them next time...probably)

Remove all the white meat from the chicken and break off in medium size chunks. You will need about 16 pieces or so depending on the size. Remove biscuits from packaging; cut each one in half. Place on floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, flatten each piece into thin rectangles. Divide mustard evenly among 16 pieces of biscuit dough and spread on each piece. Sprinkle Italian seasoning to taste on top of each layer of mustard. Top each with one piece of ham, cheese, chunk of chicken and one steamed asparagus spear. Wrap dough around the filling and press edges together where dough overlaps. Place on a baking sheet and bake 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees or until dough is golden brown and cheese is melted. Serve hot and prepare to eat a lot of them, they're addicting!

Cool 'n Easy Strawberry Pie

Found this repice at Kraft Foods. I love easy desserts, especially when they involve fruit so this one's a keeper.

Cool 'n Easy Strawberry Pie

2 cups fresh strawberries

2/3 cup boiling water

1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin
ice cubes

1/2 cup cold water

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP, thawed

1 ready-to-use graham cracker crumb crust (6 oz.)

SLICE strawberries; set side. Add boiling water to gelatin mix; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add enough ice to cold water to make 1 cup. Add to gelatin; stir until slightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice.

WHISK in COOL WHIP. Stir in chopped berries. Refrigerate 20 to 30 min. or until mixture is very thick and will mound. Spoon into crust.

REFRIGERATE 6 hours or until firm.

The recipe calls for half the strawberries to go in the pie and the rest to go on top. We thought the more in the pie the better so that's all I did differently.

French Toast Cups

I've been avoiding going to the grocery store this week so I'm fixing meals with things we have on hand. JP made french bread earlier in the week so I decided we'd do breakfast for dinner one night and have french toast. Instead of the regular kind we always make, we tried something a little different based on this recipe. Very easy to make, good with or without the apples, and easy to adjust the recipe based on how much you want to make. And I didn't do the glaze from the original recipe, we just used syrup.

French Toast Cups

(Makes 6)

4 slices bread, cut into cubes

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

dash of ground nutmeg

For the apples:

1 large apple of your choice, cut into cubes

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. In a medium skillet, saute apples with butter and cinnamon for about 5 minutes, or until soft. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined. Add bread cubes and mix together until all the bread is saturated. Add the apples and mix until well distributed.

3. Using a regular size muffin tin, scoop bread evenly into 6 of the muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until set and lightly golden brown.

Happy Easter

"Originally Peeps were piped by hand, each one taking nearly a day to make. Eventually the process was mechanized. Now, 2 million Peeps are hatched each day." (via Peeps 101)

Sausage Potato Soup

All winter I wanted to try making a new soup recipe and I finally got around to it now that it's spring. I tried this recipe I found, minus the secret ingredients because I'm boring like that...maybe next time. There will be a next time too because it was a keeper--we enjoyed it.

Sausage Potato Soup

6 medium potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
1 lb. bulk pork sausage (I used chicken)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup light cream
1/4 cup butter
6 cups chicken stock
freshly ground black pepper
*secret ingredients:
1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Bring chicken stock to a boil in a large pan. Add potatoes and onions. Cook until potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, brown sausage in a separate pan. Add the cooked sausage to the potatoes and stock. Add the cream and butter. Stir until butter is melted. Add the vanilla and balsamic vinegar right before serving.

*Update: last time I made this I added some frozen spinach (about 1/3 of the box) and it is soo good. Similar to the potato soup from The Olive Garden. Makes it a little more healthy, right? And I didn't have any cream so I used a can of Cream of Chicken soup and it worked fine.

Coconut Cake

If you don't like coconut, don't be afraid of trying this cake. You could easily use fruit like strawberries or pineapple to decorate with and change up the flavor...or just leave it plain. This cake is pretty fancy as it's frosted with a pudding/Cool Whip mixture! Actually, I thought it was pretty good and easy to make so can't beat that.

Coconut Cake

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
7 oz. bag of baker's coconut
1 cup cold milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) Jell-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed

Prepare cake as directed on package; stir in 2/3 cup of the coconut. Pour evenly into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans. Bake as directed on package. Cool 10 min. Remove cake layers from pans to wire racks; cool completely.

Pour milk into medium bowl. Add dry pudding mix and sugar. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended; mixture will be thick. Gently stir in whipped topping. Refrigerate 15 min.

Place 1 of the cake layers on serving plate; spread top with 1 cup of the pudding mixture. Sprinkle with coconut and cover with second cake layer. Spread top and sides with remaining pudding mixture then press coconut into the frosting. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Store leftover cake in the refrigerator.

Mini Cheesecakes

I realize this site is long overdue for an update! I've been trying new recipes and keep thinking in the back of my mind I need to share them here...it just hasn't happened lately. I have a goal to do at least one new post a week so we'll see how that goes now that I've put it in writing. I have been finding fun new sites and updating the links to the right so check those out when you're looking for ideas.

My mom has always made mini cheesecakes as a dessert for baby showers or other get-togethers and I found a recipe online that I tried over the holidays. These are very easy and would be fun to try different toppings on whether you use canned pie filling, jam, fresh fruit or anything creative you come up with.

Mini Cheesecakes

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
12 vanilla wafers
1 can pie filling (I used blueberry) or whatever else you want to top with

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup (12 total) of muffin pan. Beat cream cheese with electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Place a vanilla wafer FLAT side down, in each muffin cup. Spoon cream cheese mixture over wafers filling each to about 1/4 inch from top of paper. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow tarts to cool completely before filling. When you remove the tarts from the oven, they will be puffed up, but as they cool, the center will sink, creating the perfect well to fill with a couple of spoonfuls of your favorite filling. Chill thoroughly before serving.

Thanksgiving Dressing

Next year I think I'll be ambitious enough to try a homemade stuffing, but this recipe is good for improving on the regular boxed kind. I also like this version because you do it in a slow cooker so you can prepare it earlier on and set it aside while working on the rest of the meal.

Thanksgiving Dressing

1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. chopped onion
1 1/2 c. chopped celery
1 can chicken broth
2 eggs, beaten
2-6oz. packages seasoned stuffing mix

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Spread in greased crock pot. Cook on low 4 to 5 hours. Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Chicken Empanadas

I don't watch much TV during the day, but when I do I usually always see what's on the Food Network. I watched Paula's Home Cooking the other day and decided to try these chicken empanadas. They looked easy and were something new that I hadn't made before. I had a lot of chicken filling leftover in the end that JP used to make a burrito the next day that was very yummy. These work well for a Mexican dinner or are small enough they could be used as appetizers. (On the show, she also used an egg wash before baking even though it's not mentioned in the recipe).

Chicken Empanadas

Ingredients
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 (8-ounce) package shredded Colby and Monterey Jack cheese blend
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper (I left this out)
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie crusts
Water

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Lightly grease a baking sheet. In a large bowl, combine the chicken and next 7 ingredients. Unroll 1 piecrust onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 15-inch circle. Cut out rounds, using a 3-inch cookie cutter. Re-roll dough as needed. Repeat procedure with remaining piecrusts, making 12 to 15 circles total. Arrange 1 round on a clean, flat surface. Lightly brush the edges of crust with water. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture in the center of the round. Fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges with a fork to seal. Repeat with the remaining rounds and chicken mixture. (Up to this point, the recipe can be made ahead and frozen for up to 1 month). Arrange empanadas on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

Halloween Fun

Here are some fun recipes and ideas if you want to get creative for Halloween! I didn't have time to try much this year, but Jack helped me make some cupcakes to take to his cousins. He devoured the candy topping, some icing and was done.

Beef Noodle Bowl

I originally got this recipe from Kraft Foods but I use the variation suggestion at the bottom of the recipe. My favorite part is adding the optional dry roasted peanuts on top.

Beef Noodle Bowl

8 oz linguine, uncooked

3 c broccoli florets

3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced (about 2 cups)

1/4 c Italian dressing

1 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp oil

1 lb beef sirloin, cut in strips (you can also use chicken like I did in this photo)

1/4 c teriyaki sauce

optional: dry roasted peanuts

Cook pasta; add veggies to cooking water last 2 minutes. Drain pasta mixture. Meanwhile, heat oil in large non-stick skillet. Add meat, cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. Add dressing, teriyaki sauce, ginger and cook until sauce thickens. Toss pasta and meat in large serving bowl. Add dry roasted peanuts before serving if you wish. The only thing I might do different next time is cook more noodles. We had leftovers but it was mainly just veggies and meat.

Recipe Review

I tried this recipe for Blueberry Crumb Muffins tonight and I have to be honest, they are just okay. I did make one minor (?) mistake and put the cinnamonn in the batter instead of the crumb topping. I prefer blueberry muffin mixes I buy at the store so this recipe isn't worth the time and effort in my kitchen. This is the first time I've made blueberry muffins from scratch though and the fresh blueberries were delish and bursting with flavor. I'll keep looking for a better recipe for my family, or just keep buying them in a box!