Chicken Crescents

This is a delicious recipe I recently found in my parents’ church cookbook “Deltona Alliance Church Cookbook.”  We have enjoyed it!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
• 2 tbsp. butter or margarine
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2  8count crescent roll packages
• 6oz. cream cheese
• 4-6 tbsp. milk
• bread crumbs

1. In a large bowl, add cream cheese and butter.  Microwave on low power to soften. Add milk, salt and pepper to the cream cheese mixture and blend together.  The consistency should be thin but not too runny.
2. Add chicken and toss to coat.
3. Separate crescent rolls so that you have 4 squares per package (two triangles together for each).  Spread each square on a cookie sheet until it forms a 5×5 square.  (Squeeze together the center diagonal seam).  You will have 8 squares.
4. Spoon the chicken mixture into the center of the squares and pull up the edges of the dough and twist to secure. Sprinkle with plain or Italian bread crumbs. 
5. Bake at 375 until rolls are nicely browned, about 10-12 minutes.

Stuffed Peppers

Image via Wikipedia

 

Last week I found this recipe while browsing through Jane Maynard’s blog “This Week For Dinner.”  She gives credit to a lady named Julia Axtell for giving her the recipe.  While on the blog, I was searching for something a little different than our family’s typical dinner recipe and this did the trick.  The rice mixture that fills the peppers is especially delicious!  I only made half the recipe (I used 4 peppers and half the rice mixture) and it was plently for my husband and I.  Our son has an amazing dislike for green peppers, one of the only foods he does not like,  so we graciously allowed him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner and all was well!

Ingredients:

• 6-7 bell peppers of any color, 1 3/4 to 2 pounds
• 2-4 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
• 3 Cups cooked rice
• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (I left this out only because I did not have any)
• 1/4 Cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2  8-oz. cans tomato sauce
• 1/2 Cup water

Jane Maynard’s Instructions:

1. “Preheat oven to 350
2. Cut tops from peppers and remove seeds and ribs. If your peppers don’t want to stand up nicely, cut off part of the bottom as well to level the base of the pepper.  Try not to cut throught to the inside, but if you do it’s not the end of the world.  Brush outside of peppers with oil.
3. In a medium frying pan, heat remaining olive oil over medium heat, Add onion and cook 2-4 minutes or until softened.  Crumble sausage meat into pan and cook, stirring to break up lumps, until it begins to lose its pinkness, 5-7 minutes. Drain the fat (use a slotted spoon or pat with papertowels).
4. Slightly beat egg in a large-ish mixing bowl.  Add rice, parsley, cheese, salt, pepper and sausage/onion mixture.  Mix well.
5. Stuff the bell peppers with rice filling, mounding top slightly.  Place peppers ina 9″ X 13″ baking dish. Mix tomato sauce with water and pour into dish around peppers. Bake 45 minutes.”

Chicken Parmesan Stromboli

I found this recipe in a “chicken” themed cookbook shortly after Larry and were married and it has been one of our favorites ever since.  This is a really easy dish to bring as a meal to someone, and is “kid-friendly” as it can be cut into bite size pieces and eaten with your fingers…after dipping in the remaining “dipping sauce!”  Hope you all enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 lb Boneless Chicken Breast

2 Cups Shredded Mozzerella Cheese  

1 Jar (28 ounces) Pasta Sauce

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

1 lb Fresh or Thawed Frozed Bread Dough (I normally just prepare 2 packages of pizza crust dough according to the directions on the package and use that instead.  The Kroger brand works very well and they are only about 50 cents per package)

2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cook the chicken beforehand and shred

Combine Chicken, mozzerella cheese, 1 cup of the sauce, parmesan cheese, and the parsley; set aside.

Press or roll the dough out to form a 12X10 inch rectangle.

Arrange the chicken mixture down the center of the dough.

Cover the filling, bringing one side into center and overlapping with the other side; pinch the seam to seal. 

Fold in the ends as well and pinch them to seal.

Arrange the loaf on a baking pan, seam side down. 

Gently press in sides to shape the loaf.

Bake 30 mins. or until cooked and golden.

Heat remaining pasta sauce and serve with the Stromboli.

Flourless Peanut Chocolate Cookies

Image via Wikipedia

 During one of the busiest times of the year I thought I would post one of my simplest recipes.  It is a no fail cookie recipe that requires very little ingredients and can easily be whipped together if you need a dessert on short notice.  A wonderful lady in Auburn, AL  gave me the recipe after letting me try some she had just made.  She and her family  thought they tasted a little like reeses peanut butter cups.  They can be made even if you don’t have the chocolate chips to add in, though according to my husband Larry they are better with the chocolate.  You could even omit the chocolate chips and press a hershey kiss in the center of each cookie when you take them from the oven, then let cool completely.   

1 Cup Peanut Butter

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 Egg (lightly beaten)

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Stir together all the ingredients until well combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

With moistened hands, roll dough into balls.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake just until cookies are golden and puffed.  12-14 minutes.

Cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet; transfer to rack to cool completely.

Cajun Chicken Linguine

 

                     This is a “Winn-Dixie Signature Recipe” that we have loved and adapted to our own tastes.  The recipe below is the original, but when we make it we always seem to add a little extra chicken broth, we cut the chicken into smaller pieces for cooking, and we add just a sprinkle or two more of the Cajun seasoning…trying to find the balance between bold flavor and something that Amos will still find edible and not too spicy.  In the end, we still find ourselves with the Cajun seasoning on the table by our plates, adding “just a little bit more” to our individual servings…the joys of spicy food!  The seasoning pictured is our favorite…and if you are not a fan of spicy food…you can tone the flavor down by adding less!  The sauce will thicken a bit if you let the pasta cool in it for a few minutes before serving. 

Cajun Chicken Linguine

1 16oz. package linguine

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, split lengthwise

½ tsp. prepared Cajun seasoning

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup chicken broth

1 cup whipping cream

Cook linguine per package instructions.  Drain and set aside.

Rub Cajun seasoning over chicken breasts on both sides.  Place chicken breasts in large sauté pan with heated olive oil and cook on both sides until the chicken is firm and golden brown.

Add broth and heavy cream, let simmer for a few minutes.  Remove chicken to a serving platter and set aside.  Add linguine to simmering sauce and toss to coat.

Serve alongside cooked chicken breasts.