Crustless Chicken Pot Pie

Comfort food at it’s finest!

8 chicken tenders (frozen)

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1 can Cream of  Mushroom with Roasted Garlic soup

28 oz. pkg frozen mixed vegetables

Place chicken, soups and vegetables into crock pot, cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.

You could also add a can of chicken broth to make more soupy before cooking.

Stir and serve with biscuits. 

Big Bite Spinach Calzones

 

• 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed  very dry
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tubes refrigerator pizza dough

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 400*
2. Mix together the ricotta cheese, eggs, Italian seasoning, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and spinach. Set aside.
3. Roll dough out into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle shape and spoon all the cheese mixture onto dough and spread evenly.  Roll several times across lengthwise and place seam side down onto a greased (foil lined for less clean up) cookie sheet.
4. Brush the top of the roll with olive oil to encourage browning while baking.
5. Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until nicely browned on the tops and bottoms.
6. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes then cut into 1-2 inch slices

I served mine with Tomato Mozzarella Slicers

Tomato and Mozzarella Slicer

• large slicing tomatoes, sliced
• soft mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 1/4 cup olive
• 1/8  cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons dried basil

I used two large tomatoes for my family of five and about 4 oz (ish) of mozzarella.

DIRECTIONS

1. On a large serving platter, alternate tomatoes and mozzarella slices. In a small bowl combine the oil, salt and pepper; shake well.  Lightly baste oil over cheese and tomatoes.

I served this with Big Bite Spinach Calzones

 

Just Fruit! Salad

Ingredients

Blackberries

Blueberries

Granny Smith apples, diced

Strawberries, sliced

Bananas, sliced

Grapes, sliced

(add granola for an even more filling meal)

Topping

Yoplait Light Very Vanilla – one or two ‘cups’ depending on how many you need to serve

Cinnamon, a pinch

Nutmeg, a sprinkling

Directions

Mix fruit in a large bowl.

Mix topping in a separate bowl.

Add fruit and topping to individual serving dishes and enjoy!

Seafood Manicotti

This is a delicious dish, and fairly easy to make. About an hour and twenty minutes altogether with prep and cook time.
What You Need:

one package of uncooked manicotti shells
15 oz. ricotta cheese
6 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup of green onions, chopped
1/2 lb frozen cooked small shrimp, thawed, tails removed, cut in half crosswise
1 (6oz) can crabmeat, drained and flaked
1 jar of meatless tomato pasta sauce (I used Classico Tomato Basil sauce)
3 to 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

What You Do:

Preheat oven to 375*
Prepare manicotti according to package directions; drain, rinse with cold water to cool
In a medium bowl, combine ricotta and cream cheese; mix well- gently stir in onions, crabmeat and shrimp (I also added half a cup of the shredded mozzarella to this mixture)
Spread a cup of pasta sauce in the bottom of ungreased glass baking pan
Fill each cooked manicotti with seafood mixture;place over sauce
Spread remaining sauce over manicotti; cover tightly with foil
Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly; Uncover baking dish, sprinkle mozzarella over top. Bake uncovered 5 to 8 minutes or until cheese is good and melted. Let stand five minutes before serving (as if!)

I paired this with sautéed zucchini and French bread.
On a side note, this recipe feeds seven, with some seafood mixture left over (not much). Halve the recipe for fewer diners :)

Zesty Herb Chicken & Artichoke with Lemon

Taken and adapted from For the Love of Cooking
Ingredients
10 chicken tenders
1 tbsp olive oil (for coating pan)
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

14 oz can artichoke hearts, chopped
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 tbsp Mozzarella cheese
Juice of 1 lemon
1-2 tbsp butter
2 Tablespoons basil
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Cheese tortellini
Marinade
‘McCormick Grill Mates Zesty Herb’ seasoning packet
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons white vinegar
1/3 cup water

Directions
Place chicken into a large zip lock bag and add the 3 Tablespoons of olive oil, vinegar, water and McCormick Seasoning packet.  Mix well and let marinate in refrigerator for at least one hour (the longer the better). 
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add all the chicken and marinade.  Cook for 7-9 minutes until one side is golden brown.  Flip to other side and cook an additional 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove chicken from heat leaving the remaining marinade in the pan. 
Allow chicken to sit for 5 minutes to allow juices to reabsorb then cut with kitchen shears into bite size pieces.


Cook the cheese tortellini per instructions. While the pasta is cooking, add mushrooms to the hot skillet you cooked the chicken in.  Sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add the artichoke hearts, tomatoes and minced garlic to the pan then stir frequently for 60 seconds. Add the tortellini, chicken chunks, lemon juice, butter, Parmesan, basil and sea salt.  Serve immediately.
This was intended to serve my family of 5 with enough for leftover but it was SO GOOD, we ate the entire dish in one night!

Apple "Stuff"

6 medium apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into bite-size chunks
1 bag toffee pieces (without chocolate)
1 bag mini-chocolate chips
1 bag butterscotch chips
**i substitute 1 bag of toffee pieces WITH chocolate and skip the chocolate chips!
1 1/2 blocks of cream cheese (12 oz.), softened to room temp.
16 oz. cool whip, thawed
1/2 cup brown sugar

1. Cream brown sugar and cream cheese. Then stir in cool whip.
2. Add apples, toffee, and chips.
3. Chill and serve. Keep leftovers in airtight container in fridge for 2-3 days.

Easy peasy!