Chicken Florentine

I had a bunch of bacon and spinach left over from this recipe so I was happy to find this recipe from You Got Served. After reading the ingredients it sounded pretty tasty! Something that I learned that I love are things that come pre-prepared, like minced garlic, bacon bits, shredded cheese. All were things used in this recipe which saved tons of time. I'm not a fan of mincing garlic, it seems like it takes me forever. And I really don't like cooking bacon, the smell is way too overpowering. It's pretty much the best when it's grilled outside, at Bear Lake. This would be a great recipe to use if you have left over grilled chicken, saving you about 20-30 minutes. Anyway, here is my take on this recipe.

2 large chicken breasts, cut into 3rds or 4ths

1 big bag of fresh spinach

4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/4 c butter

1 T Italian Seasoning

1/2 c half-and-half

3 t minced garlic

1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese

1 T lemon juice

1 can cream of mushroom soup (can also use cream of chicken or cream of roasted garlic)

1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

2/3 c bacon, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken breast halves on a baking sheet; bake 20 to 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

While chicken is baking, sautee spinach and mushrooms in 1 1/2 T olive oil, until it becomes fragrant and spinach withers. Set aside. Then, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly, mix the garlic, lemon juice, cream of mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, half-and-half, and Parmesan cheese in with the melted butter. Be careful not to let mixture bubble or it will thicken, just heat long enough to melt cheese.

When chicken is through baking, increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Arrange the sauteed spinach and mushrooms over the bottom of a 9x13 inch (or 2- 8x8, baking 1 now, freezing the other for later) baking dish. Pour half the mixture from the saucepan over the spinach and mushrooms. Arrange chicken breasts in the dish, and cover with the remaining sauce mixture. Sprinkle with bacon bits, and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 20 to 25 minutes in the 400 degree oven, until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve over pasta.

Serves 4.

Sweet and Salty Salad Wraps

This is the meal that Lara and I were in charge of. We had the lunch for Saturday and this was a really quick and light meal, which was perfect as we were all in the middle of our projects so no one really wanted to stop for a big lunch. Here is the original link from Our Best Bites:

Spinach

Cooked Chicken

Craisins

Crumbled bacon (Sam's and Costco both sell big bags of precooked bacon that keep for about 6-9 months in the fridge once opened. Saves SO much prep time, I'm sold.)

Cheese

Poppyseed dressing

Yogurt Parmesan Baked Chicken

Combine and set aside:

2 cups Ritz crackers, crushed

3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons garlic salt

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

8 chicken breasts

Plain yogurt

Cut chicken in half, lengthwise. Cover each piece with yogurt and coat in crumb mixture. Arrange in a buttered 9x13-inch dish. Drizzle with ¼ cup melted butter. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Crunch Almond Chicken

I love when I find ridiculously easy dishes like this one that are a hit. Makes me happy :) I found the original over at You Got Served, but here is my adaptation.

1 c fresh bread crumbs (I used seasoned stuffing mix)

1 c blanched slivered (sliced works too) almonds, toasted and finely chopped

2 T chopped parsley

1/2 t ground ginger

1/4 t salt

1/8 t pepper

2 large chicken breasts, cut in to thirds.

1 c italian dressing

Instructions

Marinate chicken in italian dressing over night or for at least 4 hours. (I only did the 4 hours, I bet it would be even better if it was marinated longer)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, combine bread crumbs, almonds, parsly, ginger, salt and pepper. Dip chicken in bread crumb mixture, coating well.

Arrange chicken in a large shallow baking dish. Bake uncovered 30 minutes or until done.

Serve with rice pilaf and steamed broccoli. Serves 4.

Chicken Pillows

2 packages crescent rolls

Diced, cooked chicken (1 large chicken breast or 2 smaller)

8 oz cream cheese or cream cheese w/chives

4 tablespoons butter, melted

Herb Stuffing Mix

Take 2 crescent roll triangles, seal perforations and roll out so that it makes one larger rectangle. Combine chicken and cream cheese and spoon mixture into the crescent rolls. Seal edges, dip in butter, roll in crushed Pepperidge farm herb stuffing mix. Bake at 400 for 20 min. Top with gravy. (Canned or envelope gravy mix).

*Freezer Adaptation*

Make as directed, freeze before baking. Let thaw in fridge the morning of.

Chicken Cream Cheese Enchiladas

I saw this recipe over at Sister's Cafe and knew I had to try it because Jake loves anything with cream cheese, and this was no exception. I believe his exact review was that this was "freakin' amazing". I love reviews like that. Makes the hard work worth it! What's even bette,r is that this makes a good freezer meal which I am slowly building up a supply of in preparation for baby #2 due in April. Gotta love freezer meals for those days when you just don't feel like cooking or have no idea what to make. It makes me SO glad for the nesting instinct that is in full force right now so I can get stuff like this done.

Ingredients:

1 c. diced bell pepper, whatever color you like or a mixture of what you may have on hand

¾ c. onion, chopped (can also add celery to complete the ¾ c.)

2 Tb butter

ENCHILADA SAUCE:

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

1 c. chicken stock (water and 1 tsp bouillon granules (or 1 cube) works great)

1-2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp each cumin, sugar, and salt

¼ tsp pepper

FILLING:

1/3 c. half and half (or milk, for a lighter version)

1 (8-oz) pkg cream cheese (I always use Neufchatel cheese)

3 c. cooked chicken, diced

½ tsp salt

1 c. grated cheese

8-12 flour tortillas (I use 10)

Sauté onion and pepper in butter. Remove to a bowl and set aside. Heat tomato sauce, chicken stock, chili powder, cumin, sugar, salt and pepper; simmer 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare filling: Add half and half & cream cheese to the cooked chicken, sautéed onion and bell pepper (and celery, if desired), and salt. Dip tortilla in enchilada sauce mixture and spoon ¼ c. chicken filling into each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Cover with remaining tomato sauce. Cover with foil. At this point you may freeze the pan. Otherwise, bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Bake 5 more minutes.

Would be really yummy with some guac on top too!

(Instead of putting all ten of the tortillas in a 9x13 dish, put five in a 8x8 pan and the other five in another 8x8 pan. Freeze one of them for a later dinner.

When baking a frozen pan of enchiladas, remove the pan from the freezer, leave one layer of foil on top, and place in the oven (no need to preheat). Set the oven to 350° and bake for about 40-45 minutes or so, or until it is hot in the middle. Then add cheese and bake until it is melted on top.)

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:

4-5 frozen or thawed chicken breasts
1 jar salsa (any kind - use what you like)
1 can green enchilada sauce
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained

Cook in Crockpot for 4-5 hours on low. You can put in taco shells or on top of rice.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 cans cream of potato soup

1 can Veg-all (I also add some frozen mixed veggies. The more veggies, the better in my opinion)

2 cups diced chicken (1 large breast or 2 smaller)

1/2 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Pour into frozen pie crust*. Stab with fork several times. Bake at 350 for about 40-45 minutes, or until crust turns golden brown.

*Can use 2 regular pie crusts to fill 2 smaller pies, or deep dish on the bottom topped with the regular size for 1 larger pie. The filling recipe is enough for 2 smaller pies or 1 large pie.

**Freezing directions: prepare filling as directed but freeze separately from the crusts. Take out of the freezer to thaw the night before or the morning of then pour into crusts and bake as directed.

Chicken Divan

4 large chicken breasts

2 packages frozen broccoli

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon curry powder

Simmer chicken until tender and cool. Cook broccoli according to directions on package and cool. Cut chicken and broccoli into serving pieces and place in a large 9x13 dish. Mix soup with mayonnaise, cheese, lemon juice and curry powder. Pour over chicken and broccoli. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour at 350 until bubbly.