Healthy Or Naughty..Your Choice

I wanted to do something a bit different for our last party.  So we did a dessert bar.  And so easy for big gatherings - like Easter...

Main choices - brownie bites, cubed angel food cakes, and sugar cookies

Spreadable Toppings - peanut butter, chocolate butter, caramel sauce, and whipped cream

Other Toppings - orange slices, pomegrantate seeds, apple slices, blackberries, blueberries, sliced strawberries, crushed candy cane, and chocolate chips.

Guests simply make their own dessert bowls up.  Looks good and is easy to do.

Five out of five in our book!!

Chicken Cordon Bleu in a Pot

And it's time for another Chicken in the Pot recipe...what can I say I am a sucker for easy cooking.

Today, it's Chicken Cordon Bleu from Chef-In-Training.  Of course, I did a little tweaking.  I had to find a way to get some vegetables in there.

Chicken Cordon Bleu in a Pot 

 Ingredients

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (frozen)
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup 1 percent milk
4 slices of ham
4 ounces sliced Swiss cheese
1 (8 ounce) package herbed dry bread stuffing mix (Used Arnold brand)
1/4 cup butter, melted
8 oz. frozen peas and carrots
 

Directions

1. Whisk together the cream of chicken soup and milk in a small bowl. Pour enough of the soup into a slow cooker to cover the bottom.
2. Add some of the peas and carrots into the sauce.
3. Layer chicken breasts over the sauce.
4. Cover with slices of ham and then Swiss cheese.
5. Pour the remaining soup over the layers, stirring a little to distribute between layers. Add peas and carrots as possible, trying to keep them in the liquid.
6. Sprinkle the stuffing on top, and drizzle butter over stuffing.
7. Cover, and cook on Low for 4 to 6 hours, or 2 to 3 hours on High.  My crockpot runs really warm so I set it on low for 4 hours and let it warm for another 3.  I thought it was too soupy looking so I left the lid off and let it evaporate for about 1 hour.

Enjoy!

We liked it.  DH gave it a 5 out of 5.  I gave it a 4 out of 5.  So that's a 4.5 for us - we'll be serving this again!

Next time - add double the peas and carrots to the bottom.  They were awesome and cooked up no problem.

Healthier Taquitos

Fast, easy and healthy...my favorite way to make a meal.

Again, I pinned this and wanted to give this baked version of taquitos (or flautas, as she calls them) a shot.  My DH loves taquitos, but I have never made them.  Somehow, that deep-fried meat just never appealed to me.  But, baked I was willing to try.

Baked Chicken and Spinach Taquitos

Yields:10 taquitos
Prep Time: 15 minutes; Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 16 ounces Beer (or chicken broth)
• 2 cups Water
• 1 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 teaspoon ground Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 3 cups Baby Spinach, chopped
• 5 burrito-size Flour Tortillas (9 inches) (we used half Carb Friendly tortillas)
• 1 bag Mexican Cheese, 2%, shredded
• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil, or cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F.
2. Put the chicken in a deep sided saute pan and cover with the beer and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred it. Mix together the chicken and seasonings.
3. Pour out all but 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the spinach and cook over low heat until for 2-3 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted.
4. Cut the tortillas in half. Spoon 1/10th of the chicken (about 1 tablespoon) along the long edge of a tortilla. Repeat with the spinach and cheese. Roll the tortilla up, starting with the straight edge. Place seam-side down on an oiled baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
5. Brush the taquitos with olive oil or spray with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn them over and bake for until 10 minutes, or until crispy.

Each taquito has approx. 180 calories, 9 grams fat, 6 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber, 18 grams protein

The recipe was pretty good...would have better if I hadn't burnt the ends of the taquitos.  I served it with black beans on the side.

Recipe gets a 3.5 out of 5.   I would have preferred more spinach (next time I may double it).

Birthday Treat...& Halloween Gift

So, one of my BFFs has an early October birthday.  I thought I would give her something cool to decorate her house for Halloween.  I had some leftover snakes from two cowboy birthday parties I helped throw this past summer, including on for her son.  And what do you do with leftover snakes?

Duh, you make a wreath.

I bought a grapevine wreath at Michael's  and picked up a few more rubber snakes from several places. Weirdly they can be hard to find. I used a grey metal paint and spray painted each of them in the grass in my yard.  I left a few in their "natural" color - that's the light blue and the two green ones.  I also didn't spray paint their tongues - I thought the itty bit of red made them more interesting.

After letting them dry, I spent forever weaving them onto the wreath.  I didn't want to use clips or ties.  So, they are actually woven through the grapevine shape.

I gave it to her a few days early.  And her kids love it.  While she doesn't love the snakes, she does like having a cool decoration for Halloween.