Homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu

Super easy! I wanted chicken cordon bleu so I decided to make up my own recipe.  It turned out super yummy!

All you need: chicken breasts, mozerella cheese, deli sliced ham, chicken broth, breadcrumbs

Cut a chicken breast in half (the long way) so you have 2 flat pieces of chicken. 
Put on a layer of Mozerella cheese
Place a piece of deli sliced ham on top
Roll it up
Dip it in chicken broth
Dip it in breadcrumbs

Bake in the oven at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes

Apple Squares

I made these today. I don't know if you are a Taylor unless you like these. They always remind me of Grandma Graham. I don't know if any of you checked the stove top in her kitchen first thing whenever we arrived at her house to see what delicious treat she made for us that day or not, but I did. And when it was apple squares, I think I was the most excited. Probably most of you already have the recipe, but if you don't, you should because they are delicious. They are a little time consuming, but if you're looking for something to do some Saturday during this apple season, here you go...

Crust:
2 1/2 c flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 c shortening

Stir together flour, sugar, salt. Cut in shortening. Beat 1 egg yolk and add enough milk to make 2/3 c  liquid. Add to flour/fat mixture. Roll out half of the dough and place on jelly roll pan with sides. Sprinkle with 2 handfuls crushed corn flakes on dough (this is to absorb some liquid as it cooks I think).

Filling:
1 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp flour (to thicken if desired)
8-10 peeled, sliced apples

Mix together. Spread over crust. Roll out top crust and place over filling. Beat 1 egg white until stiff and spread over crust. Bake at 400 for 40-50 minutes. Make a thin glaze or 1 c powdered sugar and water and drizzle over crust. Cut into squares and serve. *Canned peaches can be used instead of apples but thickening would be needed. 

Enjoy! Mine were definitely not as pretty as Mom's and Grandma's but they were still good. Maybe someday I'll cook like them...maybe.

Spinach Cheese Swirls

I think I have made this for several of you, but it's a good, easy one.

1 package (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (I used fresh spinach and didn't even cook it or anything...just put it on, rolled it up, cooked it, and it was good!)
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1 c finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 refrigerated pizza crust (or make a pizza crust recipe of your choosing...this last time I actually did a roll dough and I liked that even better since it was fluffier)

Combine the first four ingredients and mix well. On a greased baking sheet, roll pizza dough into a 14-in x 10-in rectangle. Spoon filling over crust to within 1-in of edge. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; seal the ends and place seam side down. Bake at 400 for 25-27 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into slices to serve.

Tomato Bisque

1/4 cup butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
2 (14.5 oz) cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained (fresh tomatoes are good too!)
3 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg (sometimes we substitute nutmeg for basil)
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic.  Cook and stir until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes.  Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly.

Stir in the tomato paste, chicken broth, tomatoes, sugar, and nutmeg.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.

pour half to three-quarters of the soup into a blender-depending on how chunky you want it-filling the pitcher no more than halfway full.  Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, suing a few quick pulses to get thew soup moving before leaving it on to puree.

Return the pureed soup to the saucepan and stir in the cream.  Cook over medium heat until the soup is hot.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Black Bean and Salsa Sloppy Joes

I hope this isn't illegal doing this, this picture just makes it look so appetizing!!  Super delicious but doesn't taste like traditional sloppy joes.

Avacado Spring Rolls

So this was probably the most delicious thing I've ever made... and it's super easy! If you ever find avacados on sale you should make these.

Spring roll ingredients:
4-5 avacados
some red onion
some sundried tomatoes
4-5 stem of cilantro
1-2 tsp. salt
spring roll pastries

Mash up the avacados and add the onion, tomatoes, cilantro and salt. Stir it all up. Then put some in the egg roll pastries and roll them up. You can fry them in a little bit of oil or bake them. I baked them so they weren't so greasy and I could do lots at once, but frying is always yummy. I just followed the directions for filling them and baking them that was on the spring roll pastry box thing.

Dipping sauce ingredients (similar to the Cafe Rio cilantro lime dressing):
2 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
2 whole green onions
2 jalepeno peppers (I left these out because I don't really like them)
1 c. sour cream
1 c. mayonaise
salt
pepper

Blend together the lime juice, vinegar, worcestershire sauce, cilantro, green onions, and jalepenos until it's all mixed up really well. Then add the sour cream and mayo and blend it again. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This was seriously so good! I did it with 5 avacados and didn't fill the rolls supper full and it made about 16 I think. And we use this sauce for everything now. We put it on wraps and salads and with mexican food and any other time we can think to use it.

Eggplant Parmesan

Okay so Rodrigo had Eggplant Parmesan at a restaurant a while ago and it was super yummy! So I decided (per request) to try to make it.  Here it is! 

Ingredients:

For the noodles:

• 1 lb brown rice spaghetti noodles

For the cutlets:

• One large eggplant, peeled and sliced vertically into 8 cutlets
• 1 c. milk substitute of your choice
• 3/4 c. brown rice flour (or other flour of your choice)
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 2 cups breadcrumbs (make sure to use gluten free if you're GF)
•  

For the marinara sauce:

• 1 recipe marinara sauce

For the cheese:

·         Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Peel eggplant and cut into vertical strips.  Spread your eggplant slices out on a cookie sheet or cutting board and sprinkle them liberally with salt, letting them sit for 20-30 minutes to sweat. Start boiling a large pot of water for noodles, and start simmering your marinara sauce.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. From the cutlets ingredients list, mix together the milk, brown rice flour, apple cider vinegar, salt, oregano, parsley, and basil in a wide shallow dish until well blended. Rinse your eggplant slices and pat them dry. Dip them in the batter mixture until well coated, and then sprinkle liberally with breadcrumbs. Place on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes per side until breadcrumbs are lightly browned and crispy. When you remove them from the oven, start preheating your broiler.
3. When your water has come to a boil, add spaghetti noodles and boil as directed on the package. Drain and divide evenly amongst 2-4 oven safe plates (or in a 9x13 casserole dish).
4. Once noodles, sauce, and cutlets are prepared, assemble your dishes: place the noodles on the bottom, top with about 2/3 of the sauce, add eggplant cutlets, the rest of the sauce, and then a layer of cheese. Place under the broiler for about three minutes until cheese is lightly browned and bubbling. Serve warm (if you made it on individual plates be sure to place them on placemats or trivets as they will be hot).

Instead of using mozerella cheese, you can make this “cheese” sauce.  I did not even try, mostly because I don’t even know what half of the ingredients are and I didn’t want to buy them all, but it looks good, so try it and tell me how it is!

For the “cheese” (recipe from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak)

• 1 1/2 c. water or plain nondairy milk (I used rice milk)
• 1/4 c. nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/4 cup flour (any kind, I used brown rice flour)
• 2 Tablespoons sesame tahini
• 2 Tablespoons kuzu, arrowroot, or cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• To make the cheese sauce, combine all cheese sauce ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Heat in a small saucepan over medium heat until thickened.

This is the final product.  It was quite scrumptious! But I’d have to say my favorite part was probably the homemade honey whole wheat bread that I made to go with it.  Here’s to being domestic…