Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

 

I just LOVE one pot dinners or casseroles. They're just so much easier with kids busy schedules. And I also can make them ahead of time, put them in the fridge or freezer then pull them out and bake them whenever I need it. Cause sometimes after the kids come home, there's no saying if I'll have time to spend 30 min to an hour in the kitchen.  This way you get it out of the way and be organized for the rest of the day. 

And besides, this casserole is SOO yummy. And really, who has time to make ACTUAL Chicken Cordon Bleu...definitely not me. It combines chicken, ham and delicious swiss cheese into a perfect marrying of flavors that you get from the real dish, just A LOT easier. I REALLY like this sauce too. I love that it's not a canned soup base. Just so much better. This is also a way you can use your trusty Costco rotisserie chicken. Remember how I never leave Costco without one? It's like my secret weapon that I can whip out at any time for a quick and easy dinner:)

1 rotisserie chicken, cut into cubes (about 5-6 cups)

1/2 pound thinly sliced deli honey ham, cut into smaller pieces

1/3 pound swiss cheese, shredded

Sauce:

4 T butter

4 T flour

3 cups milk

2 T lemon juice

1 T dijon mustard

3/4 t salt (or to taste)

1/2 t paprika

1/2 t pepper

Topping:

1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

4 T butter

1/2 t seasoned salt

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

Put cooked diced chicken on the bottom of the baking dish. Rough chop the ham and scatter it over the top of the chicken. Sprinkle most of the Swiss cheese on top of the ham, leaving about 1/4 cup to spare.

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. Do not brown! Once the roux is smooth and bubbly, slowly pour in the cold milk while stirring briskly to make a smooth sauce. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Stir in the lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, paprika and pepper. Bring sauce just back to a low boil and turn off heat. Stir in leftover Swiss cheese until melted and smooth. 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 the microwave in a medium sized microwaveable bowl. Heat it for 30 seconds at a time and stop once it’s melted. Take the bowl out of the microwave and stir in the panko bread crumbs, crushed dried parsley and seasoned salt. 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 5-10 minutes prior to serving. Enjoy!

*Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Hershey's Chocolate Cake with a Mousse Filling

 I'm definitely not going to take credit for this cake. I'm just making sure everyone is aware of how delicious it is:) I put a little twist in there, but for the most part, this cake is Hershey's. They add 1 cup boiling water at the end to stir in. I add boiling hot coffee. You might think this is weird. Well it is kind of weird, but it makes it SO much more chocolatey. And despite what you may think, you can't taste the coffee at all. It just brings out the natural richness of chocolate. I really challenge you to try it!

If you're wanting the BEST chocolate cake there is out there, look no further. This is the definition of the perfect chocolate cake. Dense. Moist. SUPER chocolatey.

 I will, however, take credit for this wonderfully easy chocolate mousse. The best part about it is you can put it in the middle of anything and everything. I sometimes like to fill my chocolate cupcakes with it. It puts them right over the edge.

 

Anyway, this is a knock-your-socks-off kind of chocolate cake. 

Hershey's Chocolate Cake:

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup boiling hot coffee (or boiling water) 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 9-in round baking pans. I also like to line the bottom of my pans with a parchment paper. It guarantees that it comes out clean. In the bowl of your mixer, add the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Turn it on a few times to stir the ingredients together. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat until well combined making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Stir in boiling hot coffee.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes, then remove from pans and let cool on a wire rack. Cool completely. Fill with the Chocolate Mousse Filling then frost with Perfectly Chocolate Frosting.

Chocolate Mousse Filling:

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled

Beat heavy cream in a bowl until stiff peaks form. Stir in melted chocolate until completely combined. Lay one layer of cooled chocolate cake on a cake stand. Top with mousse filling. Top with the other layer. Frost the whole cake with Perfectly Chocolate Frosting.

Perfectly Chocolate Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stilck) butter

2/3 cup cocoa powder

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to a spreading consistency. You may want to add more cream to get to your desired consistency. Beat in vanilla. 

ENJOY your chocolate coma:)

*Adapted from Hershey's

Ham and Cheese Pinwheels

These are an easy, fun dinner. I also love that I can make them for dinner and then put them in Bryce’s lunch for school. I’m contemplating making them and freezing them individually for lunches. I love having different options for school lunches. They were a hit and I will definitely be making them again.

1 1/2 C warm water
2 T sugar
1 T yeast
1/2 t salt
4-4 1/2 C flour
1 pound deli ham, sliced thin
2 C cheddar cheese, shredded


Pour 1 1/2 C warm water into your stand mixer and preheat your oven to 170 degrees. Add sugar and yeast. Turn the mixer on low for about 30 seconds allowing the ingredients to combine. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes, or until it gets all bubbly .Add salt and flour. Turn the mixer on to low and let the flour mix in. Add the rest of the flour (2 1/2 cups worth) one cup at a time. When the dough pulls itself away from the side of the bowl, you have enough flour.


Turn the mixer to medium speed and allow it to knead for 5 minutes.


Spray your counter with cooking spray, divide the dough into two equal parts and allow them to rest on the counter for 10 minutes. Don’t skip this step. If you don’t let the dough rest it won’t roll out nicely. After the dough has rested roll it out into a large rectangle. Cover it with half of the ham and sprinkle it with 1 cup of cheddar cheese.


Roll the dough up starting at the longer end.Spray a large knife with cooking spray and slice the roll into 12 rounds. Place each pinwheel into a greased 9x13 pan barely touching. Repeat steps above with the other half of the dough. If you run out of space, you might have to use an additional 8x8 pan.

Place pans into your warm 170 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until they start to rise just a bit. You don’t want them to get super puffy, you just want the dough to have the chance to expand a little.
Turn the oven up to 350 degrees (don’t take the pans out of the oven) and let the pinwheels bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown along the top and bottom.


Take the pans out of the oven and let the pinwheels rest for about 5 minutes. Enjoy!!


*From jamiecooksitup.net

Oven Omelette

I got this recipe from my Aunt Pam. I can’t count the number of times I’ve made it. It’s SO simple and SO delicious. I get rave reviews every time I make it. I usually like to make it when I have a lot of people visiting or am going to a brunch. It usually makes an appearance for Christmas day brunch or on General Conference Weekend. I recently made it when a bunch of family came into town and thought about making it because General Conference is coming up this next weekend. If you’re having family over, make it! I usually put ham in it, but you can easily substitute breakfast sausage or bacon…whatever you like!

1 dozen eggs

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

3T dry minced onion

2 cups sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1-1 1/2 cups diced ham (I use leftover ham if I have it, otherwise I use deli ham)

Salsa for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat with a whisk eggs, salt and sour cream until foamy. Fold in cheese , onion, pepper and meat. Pour into a 9x13 pan sprayed well with non-stick spray. Bake for 40 minutes until eggs are set and edges are slightly browned. Serve with salsa.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

2 cups cooked, diced chicken

6 oz deli ham, diced

2 cans cream of chicken soup

8 oz sour cream

2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

cooked pasta

milk for consistency

Combine cream of chicken soup, sour cream, cheese and about 1/2 c milk (to thin mixture) in a medium sauce pan until cheese is melted, smooth, and creamy. Pour over whatever pasta you like (I used rotini.) Add chicken and ham. Super good!

*I used leftover honey ham instead of deli ham and it was delicious. I also added about a cup of peas and we LOVED it! It was the PERFECT combo! I would definitely suggest adding them.

*Recipe and picture from Real Mom Kitchen.