yummy chicken sandwich

I just made this one up today.

{sorry I didn’t really dress up the picture-I wanted to eat it!}

Trust me-it’s good! Here’s how I made one for me and Josh (I stacked his a little higher than mine—this pic was mine-his was a lot thicker!

I used (for 2 of us):

1 chicken breast
1/4 yellow onion sliced
1/2 sweet pepper sliced
Swiss Cheese slices
whole grain bread slices
butter spread
Spicy Mustard (this was the secret ingredient!)
Salt/Pepper/any other desired seasonings

What I did:

First I thawed my chicken and cut it up into large bite size pieces. I sautéed it in a pan with a little Salt, Pepper, and Olive oil. ( I cut it up first because it cooks a lot faster and more even for me). Once it was nicely browned on the outside I took it off and shredded it with 2 forks.
Meanwhile I sautéed the onion and pepper in the same pan in the leftover oil. I cooked them until the onions started to turn golden and they were softened. (We keep a container of sliced sweet peppers in the fridge-we buy the three pack that comes with a red, yellow, and orange pepper-it’s cheaper than getting them all individually. Makes it easy to cook with-they last a while-and Josh takes them to lunch. I used a handful of these for the sandwiches.)
I spread a little butter spread on the outside of the bread slice (to make it brown nicely in the pan) and spread the inside with a little spicy mustard. I layered one thin slice of cheese, then the shredded cooked chicken, then the veggies, then another piece of cheese before the last piece of bread. I’m sure you could use one piece of cheese to make it healthier-but we both like cheese and it was thinly sliced-and I wanted it to help hold everything together.
I carefully browned both sides of the sandwich in a large pan-which also melted the cheese.

Enjoy! (And really-the mustard just made it that much better!)

Feast!

Here’s a view of what we enjoyed today
It was just Josh and I so we have a lot of leftovers!

I had to start with dessert…Homemade pumpkin pie topped with homemade whipped topping! On the side there is some Orange Jello Fruit Salad. We almost forgot about it in the fridge with all the other food (sad!) so it made it’s way on to my dessert plate…

Homemade Rolls :)

Turkey that we roasted (the white meat)

Most of the spread…

Stuffing (from a box-the only place I cheated)…But I did add a little secret ingredients and bake it up in the oven

Cornbread Pudding. I should have taken a picture when you scoop into it-it’s full of yummy corn!

Baked Yams (we had candied yams over the weekend so these were great)

Mashed (Idaho) Potatoes and Homemade turkey gravy (from the drippings!)

More of our turkey (the dark meat)

And another cute pic of the rolls. (I love bread…can you tell?)

 

Phew, no wonder I’m worn out!

One Hour Dinner Rolls

Ok, so I didn’t manage to crank these out in an hour, but they were super fast for homemade rolls! This was also the first time I’ve used whole wheat flour and I have really enjoyed these rolls. I plan to make more very soon. I’m going to also try to make some and freeze the dough (maybe after the second rise?) so they are ready to bake (like the ones you can get from the store-that you just pop in the oven frozen). I’ll have to experiment with that…

60 Minute Rolls

4-5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1 cup milk (re-hydrated powdered milk works great here)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine

Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar and yeast. Heat milk, water, and butter until very warm (120-130°).   Add warm liquid to dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. (If you don’t have a mixer you can use a whisk or fork. Add 1/4 cup flour and 1 tsp salt. Mix for two more minutes. Continue adding the rest of the flour until stiff dough forms. Knead on a lightly floured surface or in your mixer for 2-3 minutes. Place in greased bowl and let rise for 15 minutes (remember you can do this in the oven if you want….if you live in a cold drafty house you may want to do this to ensure your dough rising). Punch down and form dough into 20-24 small dough balls and place on baking sheet. Let rise 15 minutes. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.

I got this recipe from www.themotherhuddle.com
{Click the picture to go to the recipe}

I used my handy dandy kitchen aide to do all the work for me. It made it super fast and I could multi task while it mixed for a couple of minutes. I used quick acting yeast and ended up using two of those little packages for the recipe. I also used about 1/2 of the wheat flour and 1/2 white. I loved how they turned out with the wheat flour. I let them rise in the oven-I preheated it to 200 degrees and turned it off, then let them rise in there. ENJOY!

Broccoli Soup

This was my first cream soup I’ve made homemade. It turned out good and I think I will be making it again.

Broccoli Soup

1 1/2 – 2 lbs broccoli, Fresh or frozen, chopped finely
1 small to medium onion, finely diced
3 regular size carrots, extra finely diced
6-8 cups water
4-6 tsp or chicken bullion
1/4 tsp pepper
dash of salt
1 cup cream or evaporated milk
1-1 1/2 cups instant potatoes
1-2 cups shredded cheese

Put chopped, onion, carrot and broccoli in a large pot. Add water until water is about 1/2 inch above veggies. Add about 1/2 tsp bullion per cup of water you used to cover the veggies. Add dash of regular salt and 1/4 tsp ground black pepper. Boil until veggies are tender. Once veggies are tender add cream or evaporated milk, and instant potatoes. Stir until flakes are all dissolved. Add more potatoes until soup is desired thickness. Remove from heat and add cheese. When the cheese is melted  soup is ready to serve. So easy.

I got this recipe from www.themotherhuddle.com
{Click the picture to go to the recipe}

I used fresh broccoli-one large head. I used most of the large stems since it was soup. I had a big medium white onion, and three regular carrots. I took turns processing everything in my food processor until it was nice and small. It was perfect for the soup and so easy and fast. I used evaporated milk as well.

I made the One Hour Dinner Rolls to go with this soup-they are probably my best batch of rolls yet!

Sausage Meatballs

I found this recipe online somewhere the other night…oops I lost where.

I loved how these turned out. I wanted to do something with our newly purchased pig that we’d just had processed, and wasn’t sure what I could make with the sausage-because that was easiest to defrost at the time hehe.

I’ve always hated making meatballs-and therefore never do-because they never turn out that great. These ones are worthy to write about though-I was very happy with them-and so was Josh!

They went well with our spaghetti but would also make a good appetizer-as the recipe was originally intended for.

SAUSAGE MEATBALLS

1 lb pork sausage (any flavor)
1 1/4 cups Bisquick
6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup onion, very finely chopped
1/4 cup celery, very finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Combine all ingredients and form into 3/4 inch to 1 inch balls; you can use a melon ball scooper.
2. Place meatballs in a greased 13 x 9 casserole dish or on a greased cookie sheet.
3. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.
4. Serve with toothpicks.

MY CHANGES:
I rarely have celery on hand-I just don’t care for it. I used chopped green pepper and it was great. I also seasoned it with just a tiny bit of salt and some fresh ground pepper with the garlic powder.

Pumpkin Gnochii (Dumplings)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds butternut, kuri squash or sugar pumpkin, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 tablespoons EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups whipping cream
• Freshly grated nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon
• A few sprigs fresh sage, very thinly sliced
• 2 bundles farm fresh spinach trimmed and washed or 3/4 pound bagged spinach, stemmed
• 1 pound good quality fresh gnocchi
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for topping

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

On a baking sheet, toss squash with EVOO and season with salt and pepper. Roast 30 minutes, turning once. Remove squash, turn off oven and place a large platter in the oven to warm for a few minutes.

When the squash has been in the oven about 15 minutes, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, heat a skillet or pot with butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook gently 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add wine and stir 1 minute, then add cream and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to keep cream at a rolling simmer and let reduce 7-8 minutes, until cream coats the back of spoon.

When the water comes to a boil, add salt and, working in batches, add spinach and wilt for 30 seconds. Remove to a plate with spider or tongs and drain. To the same pot of water, add gnocchi and cook until they float and are hot through, about 3 minutes.

Remove warm platter from oven. Arrange most of the roast squash and spinach on the platter. Then, toss drained gnocchi with sauce and arrange on top of the squash and spinach. Garnish with remaining squash and spinach and lots of freshly grated cheese.

Boil the yams then mix flour (enough flour to make a dough) and 2 eggs in and roll it into a snake and cut it into pieces and then you boil the noodles

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Soup

I have to be honest, I have not made this recipe yet, but I am going to the store to get the ingredients for tonight's dinner.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  I think it sounds amazing!

1/4 C. Minced onion

1/2 Tblsp. Minced garlic

3/4 C. Butter

3/4 C. Flour

4 C. Chicken broth

1 quart Half & Half

1 1/2 C. Parmesan cheese

2 C. Water

1 bunch broccoli tops, cut

4 C. Cooked cubed chicken

1 1/2 tsp. White pepper

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 C. Bowtie pasta, cooked.

Dash Nutmeg (optional)

Over med. heat, in a heavy sauce pan, saute onion and garlic in butter for 3 min.  Add flour to butter and veggies and cook until blonde in color (5-7 min).  Add chicken broth and Half & Half and cook until thickened.  Add parmesan cheese and cook until cheese is melted.  DO NOT BOIL.  In a separate pan add broccoli and water and simmer just until boiling, NOT SOFT.  DO NOT DRAIN.  Combine all these two pans of ingredients.  Add bowtie pasta.