Broccoli Chicken Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup AP flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp gr nutmeg
• 1 can (14 1/2 oz) chicken broth
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 (16 oz) package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
• 9 lasagna noodles, (we use no-boil noodles)
• 1 1/3 cups diced ham
• 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 2 cups cooked chicken, diced

Directions:

1. Saute mushrooms and onion in butter until tender.
2. Gradually add flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg until well blended
3. Next stir in broth and milk, continue to mix well. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir while continuing to cook for an additional 2 minutes - or until mixture has thickened.
4. Add Parmesan cheese and broccoli to sauce - remove from heat. Stir well.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking dish with cooking spray.
6. Begin layering lasagna by first spreading the bottom of the baking dish with the 1/2 cup of the thickened broccoli sauce.
7. Layer 3 noodles on top of the broccoli mixture.
8. Next top the noodles with 1/3 of the remaining sauce, 1 cup of ham, 1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese, and 3 more lasagna noodles.
9. Begin the next layer with 1/3 of the sauce mixture, all of the chicken, and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese - then the 3 remaining lasagna noodles.
10. Last, top the lasagna noodles with the remaining sauce and ham. Sprinkle any remaining cheese on last.
11. Cover with foil, and bake in a 350 degree F oven for 45-50 minutes. Remove foil cover for the last 5-10 minutes to allow cheese to brown slightly.
12. Remove from oven and allow lasagna to rest for 10 minutes before slicing or serving.

This recipe is being shared at the Old Fashioned Recipe Exchange over at Lil House on the Prairie Living - go check it out!!

Luau Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 (20 oz) can sliced pineapple
• 1 TBS brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• boneless, skinless chicken breasts - 1 per person (4 oz each)
• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1 TBS Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp dill weed
• deli rolls, split & toasted
• optional lettuce leaves

Directions:

1. Drain juice from pineapple, reserving 1 cup of juice and 1 pineapple slice per person (serving). Remaining juice and pineapple can be saved to use in another recipe.
2. Combine the brown sugar, ground mustard, garlic salt, pepper, and reserved 1 cup pineapple juice in a large resealable bag with the chicken breasts. Seal bag, turning to coat chicken.
3. Refrigerate chicken in resealable bag with marinade for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Turn occasionally to thoroughly coat chicken in marinade.
4. In a separate small dish, combine the mayo, Dijon mustard, and dill. Once completed mixed, refrigerate (covered) until ready to use.
5. Time to cook! Drain and discard marinade from chicken breasts.
6. Preheat the grill to medium heat. Cook the chicken breasts on a covered grill, using medium heat for 5-6 minutes per side - or until juices run clear.
7. Grill the pineapple slices for 1 minute on each side.
8. Prepare the split, toasted deli rolls with mayo if desired and layer each roll with 1 chicken breast, 1 slice of grilled pineapple, and 1 lettuce leaf (if desired).

Hint: We opted to make these open face - using only 1/2 a deli roll per person. One of our side dishes was a salad, so we also skipped on adding lettuce to the open sandwich. The boys really liked the chicken grilled this way, and all 4 guys requested that we put this back on the menu, soon!


This recipe is shared over at Sweet & Simple #6 at Cups by Kim.  Please visit and tell her I said hello!  Be inspired by all the great shares...and share a recipe from your kitchen too!

Bacon-Chicken Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a favorite at our house, especially when I don't really feel like cooking. Instead of just sending the boys into the kitchen to make a sandwich - I can score mom points for having a hot meal that is both hand-held and delicious.

We have experimented a lot with tweaking several staple recipes in our menu to "Buffalo Chicken" flavor, and last night we tweaked our Quesadillas in the same direction.

These were devoured. No leftovers. None.

I consider that to be a good sign!

Ingredients:

2 fajita size flour flour tortillas per person (10 in our case)
1 large can chicken breast, drained
1/2 cup bacon crumbles
1/4 white onion, diced
1/8 cup ranch salad dressing
2-3 dashes hot sauce
1/2-1 tsp southwest seasoning
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

* Combine chicken breast, bacon crumbles, diced onion, ranch dressing, hot sauce, and shredded mozzarella cheese in a mixing bowl with a fork.

* Prepare cooking surface, preferably a griddle or shallow skillet by preheating after ingredients are assembled and ready to cook. These cook quickly, so be prepared. (I use a double burner griddle.)

* Place 1 flour tortilla on hot cooking surface, then top with filling mixture. Filling should not quite cover the tortilla and make sure to spread it out so that it will melt evenly as it cooks. The more filling, the harder it will be to flip and the cheese will not melt completely. Top with 2nd flour tortilla.

* Cook for 1-2 minutes on medium-high heat on preheated griddle. Tortillas will become crispy and cheese will melt as they cook.

* Cut with a pizza cutter and serve with ranch dressing for dipping...if the kids wait that long!

Enjoy!!



This recipe is linked up to Friday Food at Momtrends - go check out the other recipes linked up today!

Chicken Con Queso Pizza

We are trying different recipes at our house this month. Breaking out of our rut so to speak...

Tonight we made pizza. Pizza? Yes, pizza.

We make pizza here usually about once a week.

Tonight however, we made pizza with Queso in place of the traditional pizza sauce.

And it was good! Really, really GOOD!!


Besides the Queso, the other *secret* ingredient in our pantry tonight was Southwestern Seasoning. Personally, I am a fan of the Pampered Chef bled. It's awesome! But I haven't placed a Pampered Chef order for over a year...and lucky for me look what McCormick is making now and selling at my local grocery store - Southwest Seasoning. Woohoo!!

Now let's talk pizza:


Ingredients:

1 pizza crust, (we used a homemade crust tonight, I like the ones you can buy in the refrigerator section of the grocery store too)
1 cup Queso dip
1 (13 oz) can chicken breast, drained
1 small red pepper, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
2 TBS Southwestern Seasoning
1/2 cup bacon crumbles
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

* Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Prepare pizza crust according to recipe or package directions.

* Combine chicken breast, red pepper, green pepper, red onion, and Southwestern Seasoning in a mixing bowl. Mix well.

* Spread Queso dip over pizza crust.

* Top Queso with chicken and vegetable mixture.

* Add bacon crumbles to top of chicken and vegetables.

* Cover pizza top with shredded Mexican cheese blend.

* Bake for 17-20 minutes at 450 degrees F, or until crust has browned and cheese is golden brown.

Rock Star Chicken Mac-N-Cheese

Why is it Rock Star Chicken Mac-N-Cheese? Because it's AWESOME!!

Me personally, I'm not really a fan of Mac-N-Cheese. Because I love my children, I include it in our menu. My youngest is faithful to order Mac-N-Cheese whenever we eat at a restaurant. I cringe at the idea of paying upwards of $5 for a small bowl of his favorite food, but it makes him happy and I know that it is something he will eat. In my mind the bigger problem would be me paying for chicken tenders or a burger and fries that he doesn't eat.

If my favorite restaurant served this....I would have no problem paying for it! I enjoyed this dish completely!!


Ingredients:

1 lb box of elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
1 (13 oz) can chicken breast, drained
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 large white onion, diced
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 cup prepared ranch salad dressing
1/4 cup hot sauce
1 can cheddar cheese soup
*paprika*

1 - Cook elbow macaroni in boiling water for approximately 8 minutes. Drain, return to pan.
2 - In a deep skillet - saute celery, onion, chicken, and butter until vegetables are beginning to become translucent.
3 - Add cheddar cheese soup, ranch dressing, hot sauce to chicken and vegetable mix. Simmer for about 5-10 minutes until contents are completely combined and thoroughly heated.
4 - Add cheesy chicken mixture to drained macaroni and stir well.
5 - Serve topped with paprika if desired.