Chicken Cordon Bleu

I love Chicken Cordon Bleu. Chicken, ham and melted swiss cheese all rolled into one bite.. yum! If you've never had it, now is the time to try it. It's really not that hard to make, and you'll have dinner on the table in 20 minutes!

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4-6 pieces thinly sliced chicken breasts (you can purchase them already sliced or do it yourself)
4-6 pieces deli ham
4-6 pieces sliced swiss cheese
Italian bread crumbs (I sometimes use Panko, too)

Directions
1 Lay a piece of chicken on a cutting board. Place a piece of ham on top and then a piece of cheese. If the ham and cheese overlap the chicken, trim accordingly.
2 Roll the chicken, jelly-roll style and secure with a toothpick
3 Roll it in the breadcrumbs.
4 Place on a cookie sheet lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray
5 Spray all of the rolls lightly with cooking spray and Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle

Hummus Chicken Salad

So, Hubby and I are trying an all chicken diet. By all chicken, I mean no other kind of meat. We've also cut out fast food and most carbs at dinner time.It's only the first week, so wish me luck! It's our attempt at eating healthier. But, this also forces me to be more creative at meal time. I threw this together for a quick summer dinner and it was amazing! And it's so versatile. You can use whatever veggies you want to, whatever flavor hummus you want to and you can eat it a hundred different ways: On a sandwich, in a pita, with crackers, as lettuce wraps or on a bed of greens. Did I mention it's also Gluten Free?

Why hummus?
Only 60 calories and 3.5 grams of fat vs. the 180 calories and 20 grams of fat in Mayo.

Total calories of my version below: 275 for the entire thing!

HUMMUS CHICKEN SALAD
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Serves: 1-2

Ingredients
1 (5oz.) can of chicken breast (or diced chicken, leftover rotisserie, etc.)
1/2 roma tomato, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 avocado, chopped
2 Tbsp. hummus (I used Athenos Original)

Directions
1 Mix ingredients together.
2 Eat.

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

Even though it was 100 degrees today, I'm craving Fall. So I made this delicious Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup. The recipe called for sun dried tomatoes, but I knew my boys wouldn't like it, so I omitted those. They do, however, love pasta, so I doubled the amount of tortellini. Next time I think we'll add some sliced mushrooms. Yum!

Oh, and did I mention that it literally takes 10 minutes to throw together?

CREAMY TOMATO TORTELLINI SOUP
Serves: 6-8
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cans condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped OR 2 Tbsp. sun dried tomato paste (we left this out)
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp. onion powder
2 Tbsp. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 package cheese filled tortellini (9 oz.) (we used a 19 oz. bag of frozen tortellini)
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Directions
1 Saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat in a large stock pot until golden brown.
2 When garlic is done, add tomato soup, tomatoes, milk, half-and-half, chicken stock and seasonings. Bring to a simmer.
3 Once simmering, drop noodles into the soup and cook according to package directions.
4 Ladle into bowls. Top with parmesan cheese and serve with french bread

Slow Cooker Ham & Beans

This is a comfort food. I remember eating this when I was a kid. Simmered on the stovetop and probably made from leftover Easter or Christmas ham. I cheated and made mine in the Slow Cooker and with a ham steak. Still delicious, much easier and yep... comforting! This would be a great dinner on a fall or winter night!

SLOW COOKER HAM & BEANS
Serves: 6-8
Cook Time: 8 hours

Ingredients
1 lb. package dried northern beans
Ham bone, hocks, shanks, or diced ham (approx. 1 lb.)
2 tsp. onion powder
6 cups water
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
1 Rinse and sort the beans for any pebbles.
2 Add all ingredients to slow cooker and cook on low for approx. 8 hours or until beans are tender.
3 Remove ham bone, shanks or hocks and pull off meat. Add meat back to crock pot and mix.

Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

Looking for a new way to cook chicken? How about one that only takes 5 ingredients? Sounds good to me!

This is my first time making this dish and my photos didn't quite turn out like theirs, but the taste is amazing! The brown sugar carmelizes and creates a sweet, garlicky sauce underneath the chicken. Definitely worth a try! And the fact that it only takes 30 minutes and you probably have all 5 ingredients on hand? Bonus!

INGREDIENTS
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onions

DIRECTIONS
1 Preheat oven to 500 degrees and lightly grease a casserole dish
2 In a small pan, saute the garlic and onion with the olive oil until tender
3 Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar
4 Place chicken breasts in the baking dish and pour brown sugar mixture over the top
5 Add salt and pepper to taste
6 Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes

Hubby likes onions, so we added extra