Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Adapted from: Tyler’s Ultimate Chicken Cordon Bleu on the Food Network.

4 chicken breasts skinless and boneless
4 slices of ham (I use just sandwich meat ham)
4 slices of Swiss Cheese
1/4 cup flour

salt and pepper
1 cup Panko bread crumbs (Find these and use them! They make all the difference. They are just by the normal bread crumbs in a box. I'm in love!)

1 tsp. Thymne
1 clove garlic minced
2 tablespoons margarine or butter melted
2 eggs
Extra-virgin olive oil

First off, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.


Lay out some plastic wrap about 6 inches by 5 inches. I put four down so I could just work with the chicken and not have to get the box out again with yucky hands.

Pound the chicken breasts as thin as you can get it with a meat mallet and if you are desperate cut the chicken breast in half width-wise. I did both to get it really thin.  If they are slightly frozen they don't splatter as much.

Put some ham on the chicken breast and a slice of swiss cheese. Then roll it up into a jelly-rollish shape and wrap up in the plastic wrap to keep it all together or secure with a toothpick.  Repeat.  At this point if you are working with fresh meet you could roll the chicken in foil and freeze for later use.  Don't refreeze chicken that was frozen and then thawed.

Then lay out three pans that you can use to dip the chicken in. Also get out a sheet and put some olive oil on it.

Put flour in one dish and mix some salt and pepper into it.

In the second dish mix the bread crumbs, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, and melted butter. In the third dish beat eggs and season with salt and pepper. (Do you detect a theme here?)

Remove plastic wrap and dust the chicken with the flour. Then dip it in the egg and then coat it with the bread crumbs. In my opinion, the more the better.

Place on the sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

 For the sauce I got this from one of my favorite recipe blogs...http://mmmcafe.blogspot.com/

Ingredients: 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (I made my own from scratch this time!)

1/4 cup Mayonnaise

3 Tbsp Honey

2 Tbsp Brown mustard or Whole Grain Mustard (I just used normal)

1/2 tsp paprika (optional)

3 Tbs Milk

Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and heat thru, add milk to reach the consistency that you desire. Serve the sauce hot with Chicken Cordon Bleu.

All together it is the best stuff!

Valentine's Candy Bar Posters

Every year I try to come up with something different to do for my kids for Valentines.  This year I decided to resurrect the candy bar poster.  Remember doing those?  It was a lot harder than I remember it being.  When I went to buy the stuff I think the cashier thought I had a serious candy problem.  

I made my youngest a poster that would just look nice since she is too young to appreciate words.  My five-year-old declared me, "The best mom ever!"  I told them they could take one piece off and put it in their lunch box but no one wanted to destroy their poster.  Wow.  Wasn't expecting that.  Their favorite part was the 1 billion dollar candy bar.  My 9-year-old thinks he'll be able to trick a cashier into believing its really money.

Other ideas I had for the poster were those individual cereal boxes like Lucky Charms.  I also searched town for a Hunk candy bar with no success.  Thank goodness Snickers put cool things on their candy bars.

Favorite Meatball Recipe

My kids love meatballs and so I make them occasionally and freeze them.  It makes them happy.  Here is my daughter being "a big helper."

Favorite Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef  (Sometimes I mix in half ground turkey to make it healthier.)
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs
4 large eggs
1/2 cup milk (I use skim)
3/4 grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/3 cup minced onions (I like the dehydrated kind you can buy in the spice sections, but fresh work.)
1/8 cup minced garlic or more
1 Tbsp. parsley
2 Tbsp. Basil

Mix all together with your hands.  Don't be shy.  Roll into balls about the size of a golf ball on a greased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40 minutes.

Eat right away with spaghetti, as meatball sandwiches, or allow to cool and freeze.

Doll Swimsuit

My daughter has a doll that she loves.  Obsessed would be a better word.  She loves to buy her things or make her things.  Lately she has wanted to get her a swimsuit but they are ridiculously expensive for clothes.  So we researched and found the idea of making a swimsuit for a doll out of a sock.  At first we didn't believe it would work but we were amazed.

First you need a sock.  I used a knee length girls sock.  Fun patterns are a must.  I think you could use a smaller sock if you needed to.  We had a lot left over.

 Measure the sock against your doll.  You want the toe part on the crotch and then place your finger where the neck is.

I ended up just cutting opposite the heel.

Cut a small oval, really small.

 Then cut the straps.  I just guessed how long.  You can always cut them shorter.

 Cut down and when you near the neck opening curve out and down.

 Now cut the strap piece in half.

 Now you have a swimsuit!  Lay it out flat like so...

 And then cut small ovals for the legs.  Try to cut them so they are symmetrical.

 If you want a wrap cut off the top off the sock.  I would cut it higher up on the right side here.  My next two looked better than this.  Then cut another long piece of sock for the tie.  Stretch the tie piece and wind it a bit.

 Now to try it on the doll.  Tie the neck straps.  Cut them shorter if need be.

 You can also tuck in all the rough edges, but lets face it this is for little girls to take on and off so who really cares!

 Add the wrap and tie on the strip to the short side.  Cute!

 We made two more.

 You can see how even the small cut off the neck can affect the look.  Happy Crafting!

Brownie Pudding

Brownie Pudding 

I saw this recipe weeks ago and I have been dying to try it.  I got it from Mel's Kitchen Cafe which is an site and you should all follow her.  Love her recipes.  I just changed the recipe a tiny bit.

Brownie Pudding

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

5 large eggs

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 sticks (16 Tbsp.) butter, melted

Ice Cream (optional)

• Preheat your oven to 325 Degrees Fahrenheit.  Mix the cocoa powder, flour, and salt together in a bowl.  In a separate bowl beat the eggs and sugar together for about five minutes until it becomes a light yellow color.  Beat in the vanilla and slowly add in the melted butter.  Either cool the butter first or mix it in VERY slowly with a slow stream into the bowl.  Add the dry ingredients and beat until just mixed together. 
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• Prep your pans. You need one 9x13 pan and 5-6 Ramekins.  Fill each Ramekin with brownie batter.  Place them in the 9x13 pan and then into the oven.  Now pour water into the 9x13 pan just until it is half way filled.  This will give the brownie pudding the soft gooeyness.   Bake for 45 minutes and allow to cool for about 15 minutes or they will be like molten lava.  
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• I turned some of them out onto a plate and some we just ate from the Ramekins.  They are very rich so you might want to share one!  Also serving them with ice cream is always a good idea.      

Christmas Crack

I bought this on a whim and decided I needed to do something with it.  Then I found a recipe for Christmas Crack that I decided to beef up.

Christmas Crack

Ingredients:

1 12.8 ounce box Rice Chex cereal

1 12 ounce box Golden Grahams cereal

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup slivered almonds (optional)

1 1/2 cups butter

2 cups sugar

One bag Dream Bar mix Ins or 1 cup chocolate chips, M&Ms, and Peanut butter chips

Mix the cereals, coconut, and almonds together in a big bowl.  In a medium sized saucepan mix the butter, sugar, and corn syrup together.  Stir constantly over medium heat until it comes to Soft Ball stage.

Pour onto the cereal.  Give it a seconds to cool and then add in the bag of chocolate.  Mix in gently and pour out onto 2 greased cookie sheets to cool. Store in airtight containers.  

Christmas Presents