Chicken stuffed shells

Another Pinterest find and a keeper too!  Next time I make it though I will use half the amount of spinach.  And run it through the food chopper too.

What you need:

12 jumbo shells - I used nearly an entire box of Barilla jumbo shells, had maybe 8 left over
1 1/2 C. pasta sauce (12 oz) - I used Hunt's Garlic & Herb pasta sauce
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
4 0z  diced, cooked chicken - two chicken breasts hand shredded worked really well
1 C. frozen spinach.  thawed, drained, chopped
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 T. oregano
1 T. chopped basil
3/4 C. shredded mozzarella
1 1/2 C. cottage cheese  - I used large curd1/3 C. grated Parmesan cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350*

1.  Cook shells in boiling water according to package, rinse in cold water and set aside.

2  Lightly spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray, spread 1/2 cup pasta sauce evenly over bottom of pan, set aside.

3.  Stir together egg, cottage cheese, chicken, spinach, spices, 1/4 cup mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

4.  Fill each shell with mixture, place in pan.

5.  Spread remaining sauce on top.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and bake.

*The picture is left overs paired with broccoli cheddar rice.  Would be great to have some garlic toast to go with it too!   Husband AND four year old approved!

Cheesy Taters & Sausage Casserole

On this one I ended up improvising and tweaking a bit.  I couldn't find Velveeta cheese anywhere in my local Kroger and I already had sausage I could use.  Still, it turned out yummy!

Original Recipe:

1 pound (3 cups) potatoes; peeled, boiled, cubed

4 T. butter

4 T. flour

2 C. milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 pound (8 oz) Velveeta cheese, cubed.

1/2 C. (4oz) sharp Cheddar, shredded

1 pound (3 cups) smoked sausage

Directions: Preheat oven 350* F

- Cut sausage in half lengthwise, then cut into 1/2 inch "half moons".  Cook in fry pan 15 minutes.

- Meanwhile, put cooked & diced potatoes in 2 quart casserole dish.  Add cooked meat & gently toss.

- Mix all remaining ingredients (except shredded cheddar) in saucepan over medium heat until warm, melted & smooth, stirring constantly.

- Pour sauce over meat & potatoes. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top and bake 30-35 minutes.

My Way!

2  large potatoes, peeled & diced

4 T butter

4 T flour

2 C. milk

8 oz  shredded cheese

6  stadium brats, sliced.

I preheated the oven to 350*

-I threw the taters in a pot of water to boil them, threw the brats in a fry pan to sizzle for about 15 minutes.

-Meanwhile, I melted the butter in a sauce pan, mixed in the flour, slowly added the milk until nice and smooth (stirring constantly).  Then I dumped in 1/4 bag of mexican blend, shredded cheese, 1/4 bag of sharp cheddar shredded cheese, stirred until melted. (because I had those two cheeses that needed to be used up)

- Drained the taters and spread half on bottom of my casserole dish, layered on the brats and topped with remaining taters.

- Poured sauce over entire thing and tossed it in the oven for 30 minutes.

We seasoned to taste after dishing it into individual bowls.  Taters came out firm enough for hubby to stab with a fork, and soft enough for me to mash.  

Breakfast Pie

The title is a lie for our family.  We have never eaten this for breakfast, but it's a favorite for dinner!
Okay, hubby & I really like it, our 4 year old picks all the meat out and leaves the crust.

What you'll need:
1 tube crescent rolls
2 eggs
8 oz shredded cheese (any will do, I use left over mozzarella, monterrey-jack or mexican blend)
salt & pepper to taste
1 T. grated parmesan cheese
1 C. meat (again, left overs are great for this. I generally use cubed ham or chopped up sausage. Steak works well took, haven't tried chicken though)

Preheat oven to 350* F

1.  Use crescent rolls to form crust in pie pan. Save extra (usually 1-2) to make lattice on top.
2.  Mix everything together in medium bowl and pour onto crust.
3.  Cut remaining crescent rolls into thin strips and create the lattice.

Bake for 45-50 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes to cool a little, serve warm.

More Monkey Bread

I love, love, love monkey bread.  Here are three more ways of making it! I have tried each one of them and devoured the results. Since I got my new oven I haven't made any in the microwave.(method I)


Method II:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cans refrigerated biscuits
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350* F, lightly grease bundt pan with cooking spray.
2. Mix sugar & cinnamon together in bowl or bag.
3. Cut/Tear each biscuit into fourths. Toss/Shake in sugar-cinnamon mixture. Layer in pan.
4. In small bowl combine brown sugar & melted butter; pour over biscuits.
5. Bake 28-32 minutes.  Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn out onto serving plate.

I also drizzled a little sweetened condensed cream over it while it's cooling.

Method III (yeast free - dough from scratch)
*Dough:                                      **Coating                            
2 1/2 cups flour                                1 cup brown sugar                
1 1/2 tsp baking powder                   2 tsp cinnamon                      
1/2 tsp coarse salt                             4-8 T. butter
4 T. melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk

***Glaze
 1 cup powdered sugar
 2 T milk

Preheat 425* F      grease or spray bundt pan
*1. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt
  2. In small bowl, whisk milk &  melted butter. Pour over dry ingredients and mix until scraggly.
  3. Knead a few times until smooth.
  4. Press out on floured surface to form 8 x 8 square  Using sharp knife or pizza cutter cut dough into small squares. Roll each square into a ball.

**Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt butter in a separate bowl.
- Dip dough in butter, let excess drip off, then dip in brown sugar mix.  Layer in pan, staggering seams.

Bake 20 mins.  Cool 5 minutes then turn out on plate.

*** Whisk powdered sugar & milk until smooth, drizzle over warm bread.

Method IIII (using yeast dough from scratch)
*Dough                                   **Coating                              
2 T softened butter                       1 cup brown sugar                  
2 T melted butter                          2 tsp cinnamon                      
1 cup warm milk                           8 T butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 pkg rapid rise yeast
3 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp salt

***Glaze
  1 cup powder sugar
  2 T milk


*Oven rack med-low position, heat to 20* & turn off.  Using 2 T butter, coat pan & set aside.
1. Mix milk, water, melted butter, sugar and yeast in bowl.  In mixer with dough hook; combine flour & salt on low, slowly add milk mixture. When it comes together increase speed to medium until shiny & smooth.
2. Turn onto lightly floured surface, knead to form smooth ball.  Coat large bowl with cooking spray. Place dough in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in warm oven for 50-60 minutes until it doubles in size.
**Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in bowl. Place melted butter in second bowl.

Gently remove dough from bowl, pat into rough 8 inch square.  Cut into 64 pieces and roll each into a ball. Dip in butter then cinnamon-sugar mix. Layer in bundt pan staggering seams. Cover with plaster wrap and put in oven 50-70 minutes.

Remove & heat oven to 350* F.  Unwrap pan and bake 30-35 minutes.
Cool 5 minutes before turning out on plate.

*** Whisk powdered sugar and milk until smooth, drizzle over warm bread.

Chicken Croissant Pockets

It's the day of laundry and grocery shopping.  A full day requires a quick, but yummy and filling dinner.  I recently found this recipe via Pinterest and thought, "Ooooh, I want to try this!".  And that I did, with some minor tweaks to suit our tastes.

3 T. softened cream cheese
6 T. cream of mushroom soup
1 T. butter, melted
2 C. chopped, cooked chicken
2 T. milk
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
1 sm can mixed veggies
3/4 C. seasoned croutons, crushed.

* I used the breast meat from a small rotisserie chicken (bagged and stored the remains for another dish this week).

(c) Keytee 2012

Preheat oven to 350*
1. In medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese & mushroom soup until well blended.
2. Add in chicken, milk, & pepper.  Set aside.
3. Unroll crescent rolls, separate so you have 4 rectangles, press perforations to seal.
4. Spoon a glob of chicken mixture into center, and top with a spoonful of veggies.
5. Cross two opposite corners and press edges to seal, then bring remaining two corners up and twist once. Make sure all edges are sealed.
6.  Brush top with melted butter and dip in crushed croutons.
7. Place on un-greased baking sheet.
Bake 20-25 minutes, serve warm.

I made 8 of them tonight and there's none left.  My four year old even ate one.

Grandma's Peach Cobbler

3 C. peeled, sliced peaches
1/2 C. sugar
1 T. corn starch
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
-----------------------
1 T oleo (margarine)
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1 C. flour
1 T. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
----------------------
1/4 C. corn oil
1/3 C skim milk

(c) SimplyRecipes.com

1.  Mix first 6 ingredients together. Pour into 10x6x1 baking dish
2.  Dot with oleo
3.  Mix in bowl, next 5 ingredients.  Add corn oil & milk, stir until moistened.
4.  Drop by teaspoons on  peach mixture.

Bake @ 400 degrees until lightly browned.   Serve  warm with french vanilla ice cream.

Chicken Pot Pie

I love pot pies. I love to make them and eat them and serve them.


4 T unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1 med. onion (diced)
1/2 C. flour
1/2 tsp. salt  (may want to omit this if broth is already salty)
pepper to taste
4 C. chicken broth (32oz)
3 C. cut up chicken   (I used 5 chicken breasts, but you can use whatever you have.)
1 small bag frozen mixed veggies
2 cans croissants
1 lg egg yolk
1 tsp water

Preheat oven to 375*
- Melt butter; add onions & cook until tender and onions are clear.
- Add flour, salt & pepper. Stir constantly until pale yellow & thick like oatmeal
- Add broth, continue stirring while bringing it to a boil and thickening. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat.  Stir in chicken & frozen veggies, season again if needed.
- Lay out croissants on top to cover mixture.  (I had 7 left to roll and bake seperately)
- Beat egg yolk & water, brush on croissants.
Bake 25-35 minutes.

Grandma D's Bread Pudding

When I was little I used to spend a lot of time at my grandparents. I was Grandpa's little buddy. We'd make chocolate ice cream with vanilla ice cream and Hershey's syrup.  We'd sit and watch t.v. while cracking walnuts. He'd make me a scrambled egg in a small Pyrex dish and microwave it to cook.  And we'd devour a casserole dish of Grandma's bread pudding.

4-6 slices white bread cut into cubes (texas toast bread is great for this, and I use kitchen scissor to cut it)
2 T. butter/ margarine, melted  (I forget it sometimes, still tastes the same)
1/3 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 C.  sweet raisins  ( I really don't measure them out, just dump 2-3 little "snack" boxes in)
3 eggs - beaten
1/3 C. sugar
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
2 1/2 C scalded milk

Preheat oven to 350* F.
-Set milk in small sauce pan over lowest heat possible. Scald during next prep.
-Cut bread into cubes and place in casserole dish.
-Drizzle with butter.
-Sprinkle with brown sugar & cinnamon.
-Add raisins
-Mix in eggs, sugar, vanilla, & salt
-Alternate adding a little scalded milk and gently stirring it all together.
-Place casserole dish in cake pan with 1" hot water in pan.
Bake 60-70 mins.

This is great served warm or cold as dessert or breakfast!  Or if you're like me, an anytime snack.

Cocoa Indians

I have fond memories of my mom making these for us.  They're kind of like a brownie, only not as sweet and the consistency is more cake like.

Doesn't take much to make them!

1 C. flour                           1/2 C. shortening                          1/4 C. milk
1/4 C. cocoa powder         1 tsp. vanilla                                 1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs                                1/4 tsp baking soda                      1 C. sugar

Dump it all in a bowl and mix together.  Grease or spray 9x13 cake pan (or use smaller if you want them thicker. 9x13 will yield approx. 1/2 thickness).  Spread batter into pan  and bake for 25 minutes at 350* F.  Let set for 10-15 minutes before cutting (I use a pizza cutter, so easy and doesn't damage my pans).