Mock Chicken Cordon Bleu

This is another quick and easy recipe that I will modify a bit when preparing the next time. It is very good and smells divine while cooking away in the crock pot!!!

As you can see, there is a topping of seasoned stuffing and that is what I would change the next time...

The chicken cordon bleu was accompanied by a mango/grape side and also a tossed salad with dried cranberries and toasted almonds!

Chicken Cordon Bleu:

6 boneless and skinless chicken breast halves
1 small can Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 cup milk
4 oz. sliced ham
4 oz. sliced Swiss Cheese
1 box Seasoned Stuffing mix (dry)
1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix together the cream of chicken soup and milk (whole) in a small bowl. Place a small amount of the mixture into crock pot, covering the just bottom.
Place the chicken breasts over the sauce and then layer the ham slices and finally the Swiss cheese slices.
Pour remaining soup over all and stir just a bit to make sure all is covered with the soup mixture.
Sprinkle the dry stuffing on top and drizzle the melted butter over the top.
Cover and cook on Low for about 5 hours.

Note:
Personally, the next time I make this I will have a new Crock Pot...mine is tall and deep but I believe this recipe would cook more evenly in an oval Crock Pot that would allow you to distribute the chicken in one layer rather that stacking like I had to do.

Another note:
I would wait until the final hour of cooking to place the stuffing mix on top and remove the lid so the stuffing didn't get soggy.

I hope you enjoy this modified version of the recipe!

Valentine's Day Sweet/Salty Treat

"Granny, Maggie would like an M & M, please"

Maggie placed all the waffle-style pretzels on the parchment lined cookie sheet and then topped each with a Dove Milk Chocolate Heart and did a fine job!

After Maggie completed her "job" the cookie sheet was placed in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and watched carefully...allowing the chocolate to soften (about 2 minutes).

Remove the cookie sheet from oven and place on cooling rack and immediately place festive M & M's in the middle of the yummy chocolate heart (pressing down slightly).

So simple but quite tasty!

Valentine's Day Fun!

Maggie appears to be excited about something, whatever could it be???

Heart shaped pancakes-oh my!!!

Maggie's excitement made me smile!

A heart shaped cookie cutter was my tool of choice, how easy!

Oh Granny, they are hearts!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Goody Baskets

These gift baskets started out as apple baskets that were just plain...I purchased them at McGough's, Inc. in Traverse City.

I decided to paint them purple with lime green accents and although it is time consuming to paint them, I found it gratifying and was pleased with the outcome!

As you can see, there are two baskets with school supplies and Valentine candy...where are they headed you may ask???

Our two daughter's (Caribe & Courtney) teach school and can always use supplies for their classrooms...it is always fun searching for fun items for them!

Teacher's can always use donations of Clorox Wipes, stickers, kleenex, pencils, etc. Also included are candy hugs for those "moments" (for student or teacher)!

Thank you Caribe & Courtney for all you do to prepare the students for the future (not only teaching but setting a great example and loving them).

So very proud of the two of you and your supportive husbands!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Nutella Surprises

February 5th was National Nutella Day...everyday could be Nutella Day in my world!

We are graced with two grocery stores in our community and one of them has been out of Nutella for almost a month...the other market had two jars remaining so either the residents like Nutella on a regular basis or they were aware of National Nutella Day!

As I have mentioned before, our fridge generally has a tube or two of crescent rolls on hand! They were on sale a week or so ago so this recipe went forward without a trip to the grocery store.

Nutella Surprises!

1 tube crescent rolls
Nutella
1 egg
Hershey Symphony Bar
Sugar
Whipping cream, if desired
Mint, if desired
Sprinkles

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Place the crescent roll dough on the parchment paper and separate as you choose...I took two triangles and closed the seam and then placed a small amount of Nutella in the center and placed a Symphony square on top of that...then "played" with the dough to make a little pouch...making sure to leave a hole in the middle. Do this with remaining rolls...doing it this way will result in four "Surprises"! You could make eight pouches by making into actual crescents (place the Nutella and Symphony square at the large end of the dough and then roll into a crescent shape.

Lightly beat the egg and then brush each "Pouch" . Sprinkle with sugar and place in pre-heated oven for 15-20 inutes or until golden brown.

Allow to cool a bit and then top with whipped cream, if desired and a sprig of mint and a few sprinkles!

Enjoy~

Almond Bars

Almonds are good for our health, right?

You can see the glistening sugar...and according to news reports recently we should try to cut back on the sweet product...BUT

You are asked to provide a treat for a funeral luncheon, so the healthy almond outweighs the sugar...Perhaps!

This is a tasty treat and easy to prepare!

Almond Bars:

1-1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar (divided)
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
1 large egg, separated
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Combine flour, cinnamon, and 1/2 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Cut the cold butter in small cubes and add to the dry mixture, cutting in the butter with your nice clean fingers until small crumbs form (almost like a sand mixture). Add egg yolk and work until thoroughly with a fork until well blended (you can use your fingers). Press this mixture into a well greased 9 x 13" glass pan. Slightly beat the egg white and spread on top of cookie dough with a pastry brush. Sprinkle the almonds on top that have been mixed with the remaining 1/4 sugar, pressing to make sure they are not loose.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Cool briefly and cut into squares or diamond shapes with a very sharp knife. This is a very important step...if you allow the bars to cool too much, they will break apart when cutting.

You can add a little almond extract if you really enjoy the unique flavor of almond!

Do enjoy~

Ribbon Christmas Tree

I was the "photographer" in the above pic and didn't do justice to Maggie or the fun shirt!

The beautiful ribbons that are on the market today just call my name and I can't pass them up!

The chosen ribbons were arranged by color that suited my eye and then cut to resemble a tree. I used a glue stick to attach the ribbon pieces to shirt and then machine sewed each on, using a fabric stabilizer on the back of shirt .

Co-ordinating thread was used on the ribbon and the tree was topped off with a large red star button~

Such a happy little girl and modeling her shirt for everyone!

Capelet

Time for a sewing project...give the waistline a break!!!!!!!!

Maggie has arrived at the make-believe stage in her life and needed a cape of some sort . After searching the web for ideas I settled on a capelet pattern!

Maggie seems to like her capelet as she is reading to Max, her friendly dog!

Maggie attempting to tie a bow...

I found the pattern for the capelet on a blog named prudentbaby.com and then went on a hunt for some cute fabric and settled on pink and green.
Since the capelet is reversible I was able to co-ordinate the two fabrics nicely!