Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 chicken breast halves, pounded thin

4-8 slices of ham
4-8 slices of swiss cheese

can of your favorite cream-of-something soup
2 T low fat milk
        or
1 T butter
3 T flour
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper

Spray crockpot with cooking spray.  Pound chicken breasts flat.  Put a slice of the ham and a slice of the swiss cheese on the chicken breast and roll it up. Put it into the crockpot, seam side down.  Open can of cream-of soup. Pour into crockpot. Put the 2T of low fat milk into your empty can and swirl it around and pour it in.  If you are not using a can of cream-of-soup, make a roux on the stovetop with the butter and flour, and whisk in the broth, milk, and spices. Pour on top of the chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-5.

I was not a big fan Chicken Cordon Bleu, although I'm not even sure if I ever tried it! I usually don't like cheese with my meat.  (I'm a hamburger kind of gal no cheese.)  My husband Justin loves chicken cordon bleu and his mather used to make every Christmas.  I decided to make it for him especially since I found a recipe for it using a crock pot.  I love using my crock pot and found this recipe from my new favorite source http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/.  It was very easy to make and we loved it!  I was surprised that I liked it so much.  I used only 3 chicken breasts and choose to make my own sauce with the roux.   I don't particularly like those cream of whatever soups.  I also used turkey instead of ham and american insead of swiss cheese.  I only had to cook it for 1 1/2 hour on high and it was perfectly done!  We will definitely be cooking this again!

Catalina Chicken Stir-Fry

Catalina Chicken Stir-Fry


3/4 cup Catalina dressing (Kraft)

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 clove fresh garlic, minced

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed

1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen mixed Oriental Vegetables

Cooked rice

In a wok or fry pan, sauté garlic in a little of the dressing. Add rest of dressing, soy sauce, and chicken. Cook 5 minutes. Add vegetables. Cover. Simmer 5-7 minutes until vegetables are crisp tender. Serve hot over cooked rice.

This recipe was very easy to make. The rice took the longest to cook so we started that first while I cubed the chicken. I put in more garlic than the recipe called for because we really like garlic. I also just used a mixed vegetables consisting of peas, corn, carrots and green beans because that was what we had in the freezer. There was a lot of sauce which was a big plus for my husband because he loves to have some sort of sauce over his rice. We enjoyed this meal. I wouldn't call it one of my favorites but since it was easy to make and tasted good, I would make it again.

Crispy Parmesan-Ranch Chicken Breasts

Crispy Parmesan-Ranch Chicken Breasts

1 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (1 ounce) package hidden valley ranch dry ranch dressing mix
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup melted butter

Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Set oven to 350 degrees F. In a shallow dish mix together the bread crumbs with Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, black pepper and dry ranch dressing mix. Place the melted butter in a shallow dish. Coat the chicken breasts in the melted butter, then roll into the bread crumb mixture. Place in prepared baking dish. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Broil for a few minutes to get them a little crispier.

We really enjoyed the Crispy Parmesan-Ranch Chicken Breasts. I did cut the recipe in half since we weren't going to eat 8 chicken breast between two adults and one 20 month old. The only thing I didn't cut in half was the packet of ranch dry dressing mix. The chicken took longer than 30 minutes to cook, although the pieces were kinda thick. We liked the flavor of it better than if you just bread the chicken with the bread crumbs and bake it. We ate the chicken with white rice, peas and the No-Knead Rolls.

I found the recipe on the Babycenter boards, in the group Cooking for Your Family. There are a lot of good recipes floating around that board that I'm going to try!