Cordon Bleu pockets

I was meal prepping this week. I don't always meal prep, but my weeks definitely go better when I do. One of the things I prepped was some sandwich pockets. These can be used as quick easy lunches, grab and go dinners on the run or a great after school snack. 

I love making sandwich pockets! So versatile and easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 lb deli ham

.5 lb Swiss cheese

4 cups Shredded or cubed chicken

3 grands flaky biscuit cans

2 eggs (used for egg wash)

Seasoning of choice (used for tops)

Follow pictures for easy assembly

Cut cheese and ham into 4ths

 Break biscuits apart in half

 Spread half of dough flat.

 Place a slice of cheese on bottom of stretched dough.

 Place a few ham slices on top of cheese.

 Place another cheese slices on top of ham.

 Place a spoonful of chicken on top of the cheese.

Top with another slice of cheese.

 Place top half of dough on meat and cheese layers and pinch sides to close it up.

 Repeat process until all the dough is used. (makes about 24) brush tops of dough with egg wash and sprinkle with seasoning of choice. I used Ms. dash.

 Bake 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 min.

 You can cool and freeze or place in container in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Easy Sunday crockpot French dip sandwiches

I love easy Sunday crockpot dinners. The house smells amazing, I'm not slaving over the stove and everyone gets a delicious tasting meal.

Today we had choir practice after church. The song is so pretty as it comes together. However, my stomach was feeling empty on the way home from church. I have felt uninspired of what to make for dinner. I had thin sliced beef that needed cooking and all I could think of is Philly cheese steak sandwiches which would need bread I don't have, or beef and broccoli which we've had recently. So as I was talking to my hubby about what he might be able to think about to use the meat for. He suggested some kind of meat sandwiches. Then it hit me. The older boys favorite sandwiches are French dip sandwiches. I had some "fancy" buns in the freezer... So here is my take on an easy French dip crockpot sandwiches.

Ingredients

Thin sliced beef (I had stir fry beef)
1  small onion sliced thin
1 PKG dry italian seasoning
1 PKG dry au ju mix
2 cups water
4 tbsp worchestershire sauce

Directions
Add onion, beef and dry italian seasoning to crockpot, mix the water, worchestershire and au ju mix together. Pour over top. Set cook on high 2-4 hours. Serve on buns with cheese.  Use sauce for dipping.

Enjoy!

Easy peasy creamy salsa chicken

Nothing could be easier than this. Not many ingredients, open cans and most if not all are pantry staples.

I love this on busy nights or when I feel overwhelmed, or even just not inspired to make anything.

A quick go to that can even be put in the crockpot early afternoon and be ready for dinner.

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts (mine are almost always frozen)
1 medium size container of salsa of choice
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1 block cream cheese

Cheese for topping when done

Directions:

Use a crockpot liner (such a life saver)

Add chicken, beans, salsa, corn, and block of cream cheese*, Let cook 6-8 hours on low. Shred chicken, stir all together. Serve over rice topped with cheese. Enjoy.

*Note: cream cheese should be on top, it softens as the rest cooks. Stirs on smoothly when ready to mix after chicken has cooked.

Chocolate Chip Apple Strawberry Snack Bars

This recipe uses a lot of food storage items. Freeze dried strawberries, dehydrated apple slices/pieces, Whole wheat, sweetened coconut flakes, oats and granola. These are all items I try to keep in my food storage, as my children love the dried fruits. I had the kids help me add ingredients and asked them if they like the items I put in it. They all said "yes". So I'm hoping that there will be more kids eating these than just me. Last time I made snack bars the boys had one bite and then didn't really want anymore. This time I added more chocolate and chocolate chips to hopefully have them eat them.

Preheat oven 350F

First add Dry Ingredients:
4 cups oats
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups apple slices/dices
2 cups wheat germ
2 cups freeze dried strawberries
1 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sweetened coconut flakes
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Stir to incorporate all dry ingredients. Then add all wet ingredients:

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 pint apple sauce (homemade)
1 cup honey
3 eggs
6 tsp vanilla

Stir to mix all wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.

Spoon or dump all mixture on to a large jelly roll pan. Flatten out and evenly distribute. This should fill the whole pan with mixture all the way to the top of the sides of the jelly roll pan.

Bake 30-35 minutes at 350F and edges are golden brown. Remove from oven let cool slightly and cut in the pan. Makes anywhere from 42-84 snack bars depending on how you slice it.

I loved the last snack bars I made. I'm hoping the kids love these.

Cordon Bleu - Rosemary Garlic Maple Bacon wrapped chicken tenders

I watched this food network show, where the person mentioned that they always brine their poultry chicken breasts and such. So, today I decided I would try it, I was thinking of making an easy version of chicken cordon bleu. I decided that I would brine my chicken tenders before I put together the dish. Mind you this is not your typical cordon bleu. It's my mashed up version using what I have at home. ;) I only have chicken tenders right now, so no splitting the chicken stuffing it with swiss cheese and ham. Here is what I did for the chicken.

Ingredients:

8-10 boneless skinless chicken tenders

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup sugar

4 TBSP rosemary garlic seasoning

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

4 cups of warm water

In a bowl, mix the salt, sugar and water together so the salt and sugar dissolve in the water. I just used my hand to stir it. Then I added the apple cider vinegar and rosemary seasoning to the water. Once that was in the water I placed my chicken tenders in the brine, covered it with saran wrap and placed in the fridge for 1 and 1/2 hours. Next I removed the chicken tenders one at a time patting dry with a paper towel, wrapped the chicken tender with a strip or two of bacon and placed on a parchment lined jelly roll pan. I then sprinkled some smokehouse maple seasoning on top of the bacon wrapped chicken tenders. I placed in a preheated 350F oven for 45 minutes to cook the chicken and the bacon together.

Once those come out of the oven I will pour some cream of mushroom soup over top, then place some swiss cheese on top of the cream of mushroom soup bacon wrapped chicken, Next I will sprinkle with some italian bread crumbs and bake in the oven until cheese is melted.

This will be served with scalloped potatoes and green beans.

What's cooking?

Several friends have said I need a blog to post what my meals are for dinner and other stuffs... I tell them I already have one, I just haven't updated it in a while. Things have been pretty hectic the last two years. We've moved from West Virginia to South Carolina. My husband is working from home full-time. I am in school full-time, while trying to be a mom and all that entails. My oldest moved out and lives on his own in West Virginia and working full-time for a pool cover installation company. My second oldest finished high school in WV then moved home for about a month, then went back to WV for about another month and is now living with us again working full-time at Walmart, and has decided to join the marines as a way to pay for college. My third child (who is 16) graduated from High School, is working full-time at Walmart and also wants to join the marines when he turns 17 at the end of March 2020. My fourth child, who is four yrs old, is rambunctious as ever, growing so big and strong... He is very inquisitive and loves being in the middle of everything. Last but definitely not least my fifth, last and only girl is still not potty trained, 2 1/2 going on 15, super sassy, sleeps on my floor and loves to do everyone's make up is Andys shadow. She wants to be so grown so fast... I can barely keep up.

So, dinners have been hit or miss but I try and share on Facebook what I'm doing if anyone needs ideas of what to make for their dinner if they are tired of the same things all the time. I have made bacon, cheeseburger pockets, egg salad, crockpot Salisbury steaks with crockpot mashed potatoes just to name a few. I've posted recipes on my Facebook page as well.

Tonights dinner of choice:
Crockpot Salisbury steaks with Crockpot Mashed potatoes.

Luckily, I have two different sized crockpots so I am able to cook them both at the same time. It would also work if you only have one crockpot and a small family, the potatoes can be cooked on top of the Salisbury steaks (I would think) with foil dividing them or next to the Salisbury steak divided by foil in the crockpot.

Salisbury steak
Use 6-8 qt crockpot with crockpot liner

Ingredients

 8 - hamburger patties (I prefer frozen) (I've even used flavored ones with like bacon and cheese or vadelia onion ones)
1 pkg dry au ju mix
1 pkg brown gravy mix
1 med onion sliced
1 container of sliced mushrooms
1-2 cups of beef broth
Monterey steak seasoning
Worcestershire sauce


Directions:

In the crockpot place on the bottom a layer of onions. Place 2 or 3 hamburger patties (however many will fit easily). Dash Worcestershire sauce and then sprinkle with Monterey seasoning on top of that. Layer on top of the burgers with seasoning more onion and mushrooms, then repeat hamburger patties, sauce, seasoning, onion and mushrooms. Until all layered. Next mix the au ju, beef broth and gravy mix together, and pour on top of layered meat, mushroom and onions. Set to cook high 4-6 hours or 6-8 hours low. Enjoy over mashed potatoes with green beans, broccoli or Brussel sprouts  on the side.


Crock pot Mashed Potatoes
Use 4-6 qt crockpot with crockpot liner

Ingredients

2 small potatoes per person (if using yellow, yukon gold or red potatoes) or 1 large russet per person
1 onion, diced
2 tsp minced garlic
1-2 cups chicken broth
1-2 sticks of butter cut in chunks
1/2 cup to 1 cup sour cream or 1/2 brick of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup milk or heavy cream
S&p to taste

Directions:

wash and peel potatoes
dice potatoes
dice onion

in crockpot layer potatoes, onion, garlic and butter. Pour chicken broth over top.

cook on low6-8 hours or high 4-6 hours.

mash potatoes, mix in sour cream or cream cheese, milk and S&P. Stir to mix together. Enjoy.

Cinnamon Rolls and Chocolate chip cookies

Today we are making cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies. I'm using the recipe from Pinterest that looks amazing and makes a ton for cinnamon rolls so we can share with our friends. I found the recipe here. I am not going to use raisins... those should never be in cinnamon rolls or even bread pudding... I could go into a whole diatribe about that... but I digress... not going to go there today. So that is one thing that will definitely be changed from the original recipe. I am not quite sure but I also love to add not just white sugar to my cinnamon rolls but also cinnamon chips and brown sugar. We will be also making a cream cheese frosting for the top of these delicious nuggets of goodness. I am grateful to be able to have a friend come and make these with me. It will also be a homeschooling lesson for science for my 15 yr old. I've taught my older two sons to make pretzels and bread from scratch. So we are doing cinnamon rolls for this son. This way all of my older three sons will know how to make something with yeast and learn that powerful lesson of how all things are alive... even the bread we make.

My chocolate chip cookie recipe will be from my Better Homes and Garden cookbook Limited Edition 1930-2000. I love a good Chocolate Chip cookie. I also believe whole heartedly they should have butter and shortening. Not many recipes call for both. So it's hard to find those that call for both. They make a far superior cookie. I double the recipe. I will be listing the ingredients doubled here.

Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1 cup shortening
1 cup butter (I use salted)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups unbleached flour
2 pkg semi sweet chocolate chip pieces


1. In a large mixing bowl (I use my kitchen aid) beat the shortening and butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, and baking soda. Beat mixture until combined, scraping sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the egg and vanilla til combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixture. Stir in remaining flour. Stir in chocolate chips.

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons or an ice-cream scoop about 2 inches apart on uncreased cookie sheet or parchment paper. Bake 375F degrees oven 8-10 min till edges are lightly browned. Let sit for a bout 30 seconds to 1 min before removing from pan. Transfer to wire rack or wax paper and let cool. Makes about 120 cookies... I use a large scoop. So makes about 60.