Chicken Lasagna Rolls

Italian....yummy!!!!! This dish satisfied two things I was hoping for. One, my craving for Italian without going out and paying the bill at a nice restaurant. And two, my efforts to use up random things in the pantry (in this case, half a box of lasagna noodles, a jar of spaghetti sauce, and some chicken breasts).

This was fun too make-the mixing and assembling, and I was totally in a cooking/kitchen mood, so that helped. Seriously, I even cleared out the dishwasher BEFORE I started, so I could promptly place the things I dirtied up into the dishwasher as soon as I popped these in the oven. I may have a fever...haha! Usually I either ask Brett to clear dishes out before I start cooking or to be prepared to do it after, so he can then clean up the kitchen when we are done eating! He better appreciate and like this meal!!!

I've never had lasagna (or spaghetti for that matter) with chicken in it, but it sounded pretty good, and really simple. To me, any recipe that's variation of lasagna looks like it takes a lot of effort. It's a fancy looking meal to me, and before I ever made any type of lasagna, I always wondered what the special, unique concoction was in the middle of the layers. Then I realized that it's not so hard! The thing that makes or breaks it to me is the sauce...I don't like too much, and I don't like it chunky. I also go with a very simply flavored sauce-sometimes sauce overpowers all the goodies in the middle!

On to the recipe...this came from http://lovedeliciousness.blogspot.com/

Ingredients
6 lasagna noodles, uncooked
6-8 oz. chicken breast strips (cooked; I then shredded/picked mine apart with my fingers)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (more or less if you like-I like more!)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook noodles as directed on package. Rinse with cold water; drain well. Mix chicken, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg and seasoning; spread 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture onto each noodles. Roll up tightly. Place seams sides down in a baking dish. Pour spaghetti sauce over roll-ups; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake 30 minutes or until heated through.

My notes...
1) Make sure your noodles are not only cool, but dry when you start to fill them. I made a second batch for leftovers and got in a hurry and my last three noodles sort of made a goo of the filling because they were wet/warm. That and they also slip out of place/unrolled a little.

2) I don't know the exact measurement of the pan I used, seems an 8x4 or something odd like that-anyway, make sure to use a dish where the rolls fit next to each other and are snug. This holds them in place and allows the sauce and mozzarella cheese to sit in all the perfect places without falling into empty space in the dish. Mine happened to be a perfect fit. As I was putting them in I was glad it worked out that well. All the sauce would have just run off had I used a 9x13.

Tortilla Soup

I love tortilla soup! I found a few recipes online, and mixed them together to come up with this one. I don't have a lot to say about it, because it was perfect for me. I love a tortilla soup that is brothy, with very strong flavors of chicken, peppers and cilantro. This was just right. I don't like it too chunky...it's the best when my tortilla chips can be mixed in and soak up broth and the little bits of onion, pepper, and chicken come along with it.

10(6-inch) corn tortillas
1/2 cup Canola Oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large poblano (seeded, veins removed, chopped)
1 large jalapeno (seeded, veins removed, chopped)
8 cups chicken broth
1 can (14.5 oz) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (kosher or sea salt)
3/4 lb. shredded cooked chicken
1 ripe medium avocado cut into 1 inch slices
1/2 Shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
Small bunch chopped fresh cilantro
1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions:
Cut tortillas in half; cut halves into 1/4-inch strips. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Fry strips in oil, 1/3 at a time, until light brown and crisp. Remove from pan; drain on paper towels and reserve.

In the same skillet, heat oil remaining over medium-high heat. Cook onion in oil 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic, poblano, and jalapeno; cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Transfer this mixture of veggies into a stew pot with chicken broth, tomatoes, and salt. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add chicken, and a couple tablespoons of the chopped cilantro; heat until hot.

To serve: Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, and avocado slices. A lime slice is great on the side to be squeezed over the soup. Tortillas can be served in the bowl or on the side.

Tyler Florence’s Chicken Salad

I saw Tyler making this on the Food Network, it looked so delicious, but it was one of those recipes that looked a little bit hard to replicate. Well, I looked it up, and decided to go for it! I think the biggest thing that intimidated me was the chicken; I think that is just a process that is just way too time consuming for me, and not worth the outcome for a recipe like this. Of course, Tyler cooked his own chicken...I didn't. If you choose to do Tyler's chicken, I put that part of the recipe at the bottom of the post. I did what I have been doing a lot of lately, and that's using an already cooked rotisserie from the deli that I debone and have ready to go in the fridge. (I have ready-to-go chicken all the time lately; if not the rotisseries, then just some boneless skinless breasts that I season, bake and keep in the fridge just the same). OK, so once I got past the chicken...it was simple! This is such a great recipe to really impress someone. Having friends over, or the in-laws? This, and a nice fruit plate, or a simple dessert...it tastes good, and looks fancy. Using the bread Tyler did, will really make it look better, I promise. It's meatier, fluffier. We just don't eat any type of white bread.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches:

1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
Kosher salt
About 1 cup mayonnaise
1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 celery stalks, small diced
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves plus sprigs, for garnish
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil ***( in the end the EVOO flavor was too heavy to me, I will cut back on this to 1 tbsp next time)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups shredded chicken meat , roughly chopped
8 slices sourdough bread , cut 1/2-inch thick ***(I used plain whole wheat bread)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature ***(I omitted this)
1/4 cup cranberry sauce
1/2 pound brie
1 green apple, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Roughly chop the walnuts and then gently toast in a dry skillet over medium heat until they brown and are slightly fragrant. Season walnuts with salt once they are finished toasting. Add the walnuts, mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, celery, parsley, olive oil, and salt and pepper, to taste, in a large mixing bowl and combine. Fold in the shredded chicken and set aside while you prepare the bread.
Toast the bread in a hot oven until golden. Smear each piece with a little butter and then a tablespoon of cranberry sauce over 4 of the pieces. Lay the 4 cranberry-smeared pieces out on a sheet tray and top each piece with 2 to 3 slices of thick-cut brie. Pop this back in the oven for a minute or 2 so the cheese is slightly melted and creamy. Remove from the oven and top with a few slices of green apple. Top with a scoop of the chicken salad and cover with the other half of the bread to complete the sandwich. Serve.
***I served mine "open-faced" instead of like a sandwich. It doesn't change the directions for the recipe. Also, I didn't like putting the cranberry sauce on the toasted bread, and then putting in back in the oven again to melt the cheese. It toasted the bread too much. When I made these again with the leftovers I didn't do them "open-faced". I toasted the bread, immediately placed the sliced cheese on one slice of hot bread, topped with apples, then the chicken salad. Then I smeared the cranberry sauce on the other slice and used it to top the sandwich. Hopefully that makes sense...I just liked how it worked out better. And having the cheese right next to the apples is key to me-just flavor combo!

Poached Chicken

1 (2 to 3-pound) whole chicken
1 gallon water
2 carrots, cut in 2-inch pieces
3 celery stalks, cut in 2-inch pieces
1 onion, halved
1 head garlic, halved horizontally
2 turnips, halved
4 fresh thyme sprigs
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
10 peppercorns
3 bay leaves

Put the chicken in a large stockpot and cover with 1 gallon of cool water. Add the vegetables and herbs and bring the pot up to a boil over medium-high heat. Skim well; then simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes, skimming frequently as the oil rises to the surface. When done, remove to a platter and set aside to cool. Strain the liquid and reserve it for use as chicken stock. Shred the chicken meat and discard the skin and bones.

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

This was such a hit with my husband, his has made a recommendation. For each new post there should be a photo of him. He will either be all smiles, and thumbs up, or a frown and thumbs down. But really, would be ever give his wife a thumbs down??? No food review specific photos came about, BUT, for future reference, this is my Brett!












For this recipe, he was definitely all smiles and a full tummy. He said "I can't stop myself from eating!". That's a shocker for Brett...he has lots of self control and resists unhealthy temptations with ease. He had planned on only one quesadilla, but before he knew it he had eaten the second one, which was supposed to be his lunch tomorrow! Here's the best part, this was so easy, I think I can describe it in pictures. Well, pretty much...see the description below.

Here it is in a nutshell. I took leftover chicken (from the couple already cooked rotisseries birds I got at the Wal-Mart deli), mixed in some chopped purple onion and BBQ Sauce (our very favorite is Sweet Baby Rays-it is hands down the best). Then I just made a quessadillas as usual, in a skillet on medium heat. Buttered tortilla (whole wheat for us, and I used spray butter because it's easy and its not heavy so you get a real crispy tortilla), layer of cheese, then the chicken mixture, some more cheese, another tortilla (buttered)...I think it was about 3 minutes on each side. Just depends on the heat and such. I like a high heat so I get that perfect crisp, but not so fast that it isn't heated throughout.


I really think the purple onion and a good quality BBQ sauce make this recipe what it is. I don't think I would even try it without the purple onion-it's just a perfect fit to me. And again, that Sweet Baby Ray's....SO GOOD! I bet any cheese wouldn't make too much of a difference...experiment with that aspect. Brett ate his with some additional BBQ sauce, while I had a couple of bites with some chunky salsa. Next time I might add some sliced jalapenos to the chicken mixture, and serve this with sour cream for dipping.

Chicken and Dumplin's

When you're feeling blue, it's cold outside and you know there's that one dish that will hit the spot....that's right...good ole chicken and dumplin's! I got my recipe from combining my mom's use of biscuits for dumpling's and then the ingredient's and methods of a couple of recipes I found online. I wanted something just as tasty as "from scratch", but much easier and faster. This was accomplished perfectly by using the biscuits (instead of homemade dumplings), and an already cooked rotisserie chicken (instead of cooking your own and then using that broth). I am very happy with the result, and will be making this again, for sure!

Ingredients:
2-32oz boxes of reduced sodium chicken broth

2 cans cream of chicken soup

chopped/shredded/pulled apart meat from 1 cooked rotisserie chicken (got mine ready to go from the deli at Wal-Mart)

3 stalks of celery, chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

2-10 oz cans biscuits

salt and pepper to taste

Simmer the chopped onion and celery in the chicken broth until tender. Add the 2 cans of soup. I will say at this point I wanted my broth a lot thicker, so I transferred a couple of ladles full into a small saucepan, added about 3-4 tablespoons of flour to thicken it up and then combined it back into the larger batch. I don't like really brothy chicken and dumplin's! Bring mixture to a boil and pinch biscuits into "halves" or "quarters" depending on your liking, and drop into the soup/broth mixture one by one. I did the biscuits in quarters so I could gauge the doneness better. After all of the biscuits are in, fold in the chicken. Cook on medium-medium high for 15-20 minutes. You can turn the heat down a bit and cook longer if you like. Give the dumplin's a good stir now and then to allow for equal cooking.

Before you serve, make sure to spoon up the celery, onions and chicken from the bottom!

Oven Fried Chicken and Sweet Potato "Fries"

Since I was going out of town to see my mom, I wanted to cook up something to put in the fridge for Brett to eat while I was gone. Goodness knows, if I didn't, he might not eat!

This was simple and required few ingredients, so it was an easy decision. Oven Fried Honey Chicken, Sweet Potato "Fries" and Green Beans (which we out of a can!).

Oven Fried Honey Chicken

Ingredients:
4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup honey

2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°F. In shallow bowl, whisk together honey and vinegar. Pour bread crumbs into separated bowl. Set bowls aside. Spray a foil-lined baking pan large enough to hold all chicken pieces in one layer. Roll chicken pieces in honey mixture, then in bread crumbs; place in pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly (browned and crisp coating).

Sweet Potato "Fries"

Ingredients:

(this was enough for two servings)

1 Large Sweet Potato

Canola Oil

Chili Powder

Cayenne Pepper

Season Salt

Salt

Wash and peel the sweet potato. Cut potato into thin strips about 4 inches long each. You can see from my photo that I wanted some about the size of a McDonald's french fry...this allows for crispier fries, and faster cooking. Heat a large skillet on medium high with about 1/4 inch deep layer of Canola oil. When oil is hot, drop in the "fries" in a single layer. Without stirring or adjusting, cook for about 4-5 minutes. Flip them, and cook for 4-5 minutes on the opposite side. You can watch them for doneness...when they begin to brown and crisp they are good to go.

Transfer fries to a napkin covered plate so the grease can drain off. As soon as you transfer them to the plate, before the grease has drained off, season to taste. I sprinkle, Chili power, Cayenne, season salt and salt. You can play with seasonings to your liking....just salt, more cayenne for heat, Cumin powder for some smokiness; I'm sure just some garlic powder or garlic salt would be good.