Cheese and Ham Spirals

This is an easy "fancy" recipe. I made it for a lunch with friends and it makes you look like you really know how to cook, but little do they know it is SO easy.

1 egg
1 Tbl. water
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
8 slices shaved ham (sandwich meat)

Preheat oven to 400. Beat egg and water until blended, set aside. Unfold pastry on lightly floured surface. Roll out and cut in half lengthwise. Brush both halves lightly with some of the egg mixture.

Sprinkle 3 Tbls. of the cheese and pepper evenly over one of the pastry pieces; cover with ham slices. Place remaining pastry piece, egg-side down. Roll gently with rolling pin to seal. Brush with additional egg mixture.

Roll up tightly to form a 14 inch log. Cut crosswise into 24 pieces. Place on baking sheet. Brush with remaining egg mixture and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake for 12-14 min. or until browned.

Montery Chicken

Whenever I go to a restaurant I order my food and I always end up picking it apart to find out if I can make it at home. This one is from Chili's. I changed it so it is more "family style". It can be made with a lot of variety. These are some ideas on how to make it and you can make as much or little as you need.
Here is how I make mine:

Chicken breasts
BBQ sauce
Mushrooms
Green Onions
Bacon
Cheese
Tomatoes

I usually make 4 chicken breasts for my family. I boil them and cut them into chunks. I put them in the bottom of my casserole dish.
I add about 1 cup of BBQ sauce all over chicken
I cook my bacon (we love bacon so I use about 5 or 6 strips) I cook it so it will crumble very easily.
Layer that on the chicken.
Chop the mushrooms (about 1/2 cup) and saute them until tender.
Chop about 1/2 cup green onions and tomatoes. Layer on the chicken.
Next I add a lot of cheese (we LOVE cheese) You can add as much as you like.

Bake at 350 until cheese is melted.

I serve mine with cheesy mashed potatoes and green beans.

Cinnabon Rolls

These are so good. The name of them should be "I want to gain 9000 lbs rolls". These are not something to make if you are on a diet. I HATE to make cinnamon rolls, but these are worth it. They take a very long time (about 6 hours start to finish) but they are totally worth it. They are very moist and stay that way for a long time. It must be the pudding in them. Anyway, try them and just don't think about how bad they are for you because, just enjoy.

ROLLS:
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages dry yeast
2 Tbl. sugar
3 1/2 oz. pkg. vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup margarine −− melted
2 eggs
1 teas. salt
6 cups flour
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup margarine
1 teas. vanilla
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 Tbl. milk
To make frosting, mix all ingredients until smooth.
In a bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.
In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package
directions. Add margarine, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast
mixture. Blend.
Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Place in a greased
bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled.
Punch down dough and let rise again.
Then roll out on floured board to 34 x 21" size. Take 1
cup soft butter and spread over surface. In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar
and 4 teas. cinnamon. Sprinkle over top. Roll up very tightly.
With knife, put a notch every 2". Cut with thread or knife.
Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 2" apart.
Take hand and lightly press down on each roll.
Cover and let rise until double
again. Bake at 350 15−20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden.
DON'T OVER BAKE.
Frost warm rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

When I had Blaze, someone brought us Chicken Spaghetti as a meal. I fell in love with it and searched FOREVER for a recipe similar to the one they brought. This is pretty close (I think better Ssshhh, don't tell). I had never heard of Chicken Spaghetti and in searching I found out that it is a Southern recipe. I am not sure why because there is nothing southern really in it. I guess it is just because they make it in the south. Anyway, ENJOY.

10 oz. cooked spaghetti
2 c. diced, cooked chicken (reserve some broth)
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1/2 c. green or red pepper, chopped
3 tbsp. butter
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 of a sm. Velveeta cheese

Saute onion and green pepper in butter in a large saucepan. Add soups and stir to mix. Thin soup with chicken broth as needed. When hot, add cubed Velveeta cheese and stir until it melts. Stir in chicken and thin with broth again if needed. Mix chicken mixture with cooked spaghetti. Place in a greased casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

**The last time I made it I added about 1/2 c. fresh mushrooms. I added them with the peppers and sauteed them together. I also add more cheese. We love cheese. I thought it made it even better**

French Breakfast Puffs

I honestly can't say enough about these. I LOVE THEM!! If they were not one of the most fattening muffins in the world, I truly could eat the whole dozen myself. Did I say I LOVE THEM. They are SO easy to make and you can eat them warm so you don't have to wait forever after you make them. Zach wanted me to note: they get better with each day they sit. Ours lasted almost 3 days and the last one was just as good after a couple days. I got these from The Pioneer Woman blog. She is an amazing cook and funny too. I am going to just give you the website because she explains them so much better than I can. I hope you try these.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/12/french_breakfast_puffs/

Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas

These are SO good. I am always looking for something new to do with chicken. These flavors are excellent. Very easy and quick.

1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. minced onions
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. oregano leaves
1/2 tsp. cilantro leaves
1/2 coarse ground black pepper
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbl. olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 medium green or red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
8 flour tortillas (8 inch)

Mix juices, oil, all of the spices and salt in small bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade. Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag. Add remaining marinade; turn to coat well. Refrigerate 30 min. or longer for extra flavor.

Cook and stir chicken in large heated skillet on medium-high. Heat 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from skillet. Add bell pepper, onion and reserved marinade; cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender. Return chicken to skillet. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through.

Spoon chicken mixture into warmed tortillas.

*We added cheese, sour cream and guacamole in out tortillas. They were great!*

**The next time I make these I will probably just leave the chicken as chicken breasts but still do everything the same and add the peppers and onions as a side. I am also looking for a great lime and cilantro rice as a side for this. We are not HUGE fajita fans otherwise I would leave the recipe as is. **

Rice Pilaf

I made this tonight for dinner. It was pretty easy to make. I will add more seasonings the next time I make it though. It was a little bland for me, but I only added half the season salt so I will add what the recipe calls for next time. Still good though.

2 cups white rice (preferably long grain)
2 teaspoons of chicken fat or olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion - green onion (scallions) or yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
Up to 4 cups of stock (amount depends on the type of rice you are using), either chicken stock or vegetable stock for vegetarian option, or a mix of water and stock
2 teaspoons of Vegesal (or other seasoned salt)
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 Look at the cooking instructions for your rice. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice then you will need a total of 4 cups of liquid. If your rice calls for 1 2/3 cups of water for every cup of rice, you will need a total of 3 1/3 cups of liquid.
Heat the measured amount of stock needed in a saucepan, at least 2-qt sized

While the stock is heating, heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Add the chicken fat (or oil), melting it so it coats the bottom of the pan. Add the uncooked rice and brown the rice, stirring occasionally, for a couple of minutes. Add the onions and celery and cook a few minutes longer, until the onions begin to soften.

If you are using canned or boxed broth, be careful of how much seasoning you add. We usually use homemade, unsalted chicken stock, so we add 2 teaspoons of Vegesal (can use plain salt or other seasoned salt) along with ground pepper and a dash of cayenne. If you are starting with seasoned broth, you may only need to add a teaspoon of Vegesal or salt. Taste test the broth/stock. It can be a little on the salty side because the rice will absorb a lot of the salt.

Carefully empty the slightly browned rice into the saucepan with the stock. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, cover, and cook for as long as the instructions say on your package of rice. Usually between 15 to 25 minutes. Use a timer. After the set amount of cooking time, remove the pan from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes, covered. At no point during the cooking of the rice should you uncover the pan.

Note that you could also pour the stock into the pan with the rice, cover and cook. This is the more usual way to make pilaf. We have found however more consistent results by pouring the rice into the saucepan of stock.

Fluff with a fork to serve. You can also mix in heated peas, chopped parsley, toasted almonds, or raisins to the pilaf to make it more interesting.