Thankful for good friends and pretty gardens!

I have a friend who's hubby is gone so I thought hey lets have a girls lunch and catch up! I have to say living here it has been hard to find a really great friend who is there for you when you need it. Most people just want a friend when it's convenient or when they need something from you. It makes me sad. So when my hubby and I became friends with this couple it was such a blessing. Prime example. When our ride  from the airport canceled on us and left us stranded with no ride home they came to our rescue extremely last min! I wanted to do something nice and have some girl catch up time so I made my delicious skillet chicken pot pie and apple crumble. We of course ate the dessert first. It was a girls day after all :). The beauty of these 2 recipes was that I could prep everything for the trip. The pot pie I assembled and tossed in her oven when I got there while we snacked on the fresh from the oven apple crumble. We were going to be healthy and have a salad with the pot pie but somehow that didn't happen haha! Great food, Great company. Such a blessing to have her as a friend and get to spend some much needed girl time with our busy hectic schedules.

And for our garden...We are trying a container garden this season. Our deck will hopefully be a veg paradise in a few months! We have veg, herbs, fruit, and flowers! After a few more seeds we started sprout we may be adding some more! Can't wait to reap the benefits of home grown goodness and a relaxing place to spend some time. God is so good!

Brocolini Pesto Rolled Crescent Rolls

Brocolini Pesto Rolled Crescent Rolls

1 pound brocolini rough chop
1/2 pound deli provolone (in one large chunk)
olive oil
salt
red chili paste to taste (1 tsp)
cayenne (couple dashes)
1 roll crescent rolls

Tear the cheese into large chunks add your chili paste about a teaspoon, add your brocolini and drizzle a fair about of olive oil in. pulse your food processor to help move things along. then begin to drizzle in a bit more until the get a thick paste. If not spicey enough add the cayenne and salt to taste. pulse to mix.

Roll out your crescent dough and pinch into one sheet on a lightly flowered surface. Place your pesto mixture in the center leaving a 1/2 in border on all sides. Roll so that it makes a long tube. slice off into muffin tin sized rolls and place in the tin. Depending how large you cut them you will get 9-12. I did 9 and next time I may stretch it out to 10-11 so they were a bit smaller. 9 was perfect though I just like dainty rolls hah! Bake at 350 about 30 min until all golden brown. Let sit a few min before removing from the pan. EAT!

Oven Roasted Potatoes and Tomatoes

Oven Roasted Potatoes and Tomatoes

FOR THE TOMATOES

3 large tomatoes on the vine, or 5 romas 1/4-inch slices1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil1 teaspoon fresh oregano, finely chopped, 2 cloves chopped garlic Salt and pepper to taste

FOR THE POTATOES

3 to 4 medium potatoes, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped1 teaspoon fresh Italian parsley, bunch of chopped chives 2 tablespoons

TOMATOES

Preheat oven to 325°. Place tomatoes on a baking sheet with a wire rack. Drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with oregano, garlic  season with salt and pepper.Roast for about an hour.

POTATOES

Preheat the oven to 400°Place the potatoes on a baking sheet, add the olive oil, salt, pepper and sprinkle with rosemary and chives , massage them with your hands to combine all the ingredients.Roast the potatoes and onions until they begin to become tender, about 20-30 minutes.Add the tomatoes and keep roasting until the potatoes become golden brown (watch not to over cook 5-7 min is all ).Remove from the oven and sprinkle with parsley.Serve immediately.

They were gone before I could get a picture!

Easter Tasty Casserole and some special hummus

We decided to have a low key Easter dinner this year. So I made my Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole. Amazing!

Chicken Cordon bleu casserole

· FOR THE CASSEROLE:

· 1 whole Cooked Chicken, Bones Removed, Meat Diced Or Shredded (rotisserie Chicken Is Excellent, Should Be 5-6 Cups Of Chicken

· ½ pounds Very Thinly Sliced Deli-style Honey Ham, Rough Chopped

· ¼ pounds Thin Sliced Baby Swiss Cheese

· FOR THE SAUCE:

· 4 Tablespoons Butter

· 4 Tablespoons Flour

· 3 cups Milk

· 2 Tablespoons Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice plus the zest of the lemon

· 2-3 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

· ½  teaspoons Salt (I like a little less)

· ½ teaspoons Smoked Paprika

· ¼ teaspoons Pepper

· ¼ teaspoons cayenne

· ½ tsp better than bullion chicken

· ¼ teaspoons Seasoning Salt or a dash really so maybe less

· FOR THE TOPPING:

· 1-½ cup Panko Breadcrumbs or homemade breadcrumbs

· 4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted

· ½ teaspoons Seasoning Salt

· 2 Tablespoons chopped Parsley

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish. Set aside.

Put cooked shredded or diced chicken on the bottom of the baking dish. Rough chop the ham and scatter it over the top of the chicken. Lay the Swiss cheese on top of the ham.

For the sauce:

Melt the butter in a large sauce pot over medium heat. When butter is melted, quickly stir in the flour to form a smooth roux.  Once the roux is smooth and bubbly, slowly pour in the cold milk and bullion while stirring briskly to make a smooth sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, Dijon mustard, salt, smoked paprika, cayenne, and white pepper. Bring sauce just back to a low boil and turn off heat. Pour sauce evenly over the casserole, being certain to get some of the sauce around the edges of the pan.

For the topping:

Melt the butter in a saucepan and let it begin to brown, add the seasoned salt and then the bread crumbs making sure everything is coated. Stir in the Parsley and then sprinkle over the top of the casserole.

Bake casserole uncovered for 45 minutes until hot and bubbly throughout and topping has turned a light golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes prior to serving.

 I ate mine over a cream biscuit

 

 

NOW the hummus!!!!!

 



Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

¼ cup toasted sesame seeds

½ tsp sesame oil
Olive oil
¼ cup julienned sun dried tomato packed in oil
1 can chickpeas
2 cloves garlic
Salt
½ tsp dried basil

Take your sesame seeds and 2 oils and pulse in your blender until a tahini paste emerges. Then add in your tomato and blend for a few seconds to break it all up. I had to add olive oil here so it wasn’t so thick. I like a smoother texture.  Add your basil, salt, garlic, and chickpeas. Blend blend blend while drizzling in olive oil until you reach the consistency you like. To lighten this up you could use less oil and add some chicken stock or veg stock but I was going for the real thing with all the fat haha!

Enjoy with some veg...

Cream Biscuits and Egg Nests

Trust me. You will never buy store bought biscuits for biscuits and gravy again! OR heck just as a dinner biscuit. These are amazingly tender. AND when you have to find ways of using self rising flour because you didn't pay enough attention at the store this will fit the bill! Now I think I will start keeping the flour around just for these. No joke!

 

Cream biscuits

2 cup self-rising flour, plus more for dusting

1 tbsp sugar

1 1⁄2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and cream until the dough forms a ball. Turn the dough out onto a surface dusted with additional flour. Fold the dough in 1/2 and knead 5 to 7 times, adding just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to your hands. Gently roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch biscuit cutter (or glass because you're not cool enough for a biscuit cutter) coated with flour, cut dough into biscuits. Place on baking sheet coated with cooking spray, leaving at least 1-inch between each biscuit. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

An additional tastyness would be to brush them with melted butter. Just saying.

 

Egg Nests are up next. I made these for breakfast meal prep for my hubby. He can just pop them out of the freezer in the am and by the time he is done with the gym and PT they are thawed and ready to be heated.

Ingredients:

 

Lunch meat ( I used deli turkey and ham)

9 eggs

1/4 heaping cup cottage cheese (makes them very fluffy)

Salt

Pepper

Veg you wish to add

Shredded cheese to sprinkle on top

 

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350.

Layer lunch meat into a cupcake tin. The turkey was large enough for just one slice but the ham required 2 whisk the rest of your ingredients together except the shredded cheese. Use an ice cream scoop to fill the meat nest. Make sure to leave room for the egg to rise as it bakes. Sprinkle Cheese on top. Bake for 20-25 min. Depending on how much veg you put into the egg mixture it will make 12-16 egg nests.

 

 

Busy Life Busy Wife

Boy things are sure in full swing around here. I have been running like a chicken with my head cut off with no rest for the last few weeks. Monday was my first day of no scheduled plans and it was glorious. BUT still so busy as I played catch up on other things that were not getting my full attention. To help with the upcoming craziness I did a whole bunch of food prep. I must say it helps so much!
I roasted a whole chicken in the crockpot and made stock from it, prepped all our weeks worth of fresh veggies, made applesauce from some apples I needed to use up, orange puree, and a low carb dessert to name a few foodie things. Not to mention all the other housey stuff that one must do. But this dessert made everything better and has changed my life I tell you!!! Ok maybe not changed my life but you get what I am saying ;)

2 Ingredient Jello/Greek Yogurt Dessert

1 box of sugar free jello large box (you will only use 1/4 of the prepared mix)
3/4 cup light greek yogurt (I use light and fit vanilla)

Mix 1/4 of your prepared jello and greek yogurt in a blender. Let sit in fridge about 2 hrs. to set up.
Eat!

Simply amazing!

Here is the applesauce I made in the slow cooker...
9 apples or so (cored, skinned mostly, and thinly sliced), 1/2 cup splenda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbs lemon juice, and 1 cup water.

Cook on low in the slow cooker for 6 hours and then pulse through your vitamix or whatever you have handy. tah dah!