Cooking: Chicken Pillows from Scratch

Well, we've survived our first month and a half without starving. Of course, lots of thanks to the other colleagues here who fed us in the beginning and several other times. However, I have done some cooking. We can get things here - American things in fact - it's just expensive. And believe me, we're willing to spend it sometimes. We can get potatoes out the wazoo on the side of the road, but when you have to make every thing else from scratch, instant mashed potatoes are a life saver. All of that being said, let me introduce you to Chicken Pillows. (I don't have my own picture since we devoured them too fast.)

I love pillsbury crescent rolls. Like love. And even more so, love it when a recipe calls for them. But alas, we cannot get them here :) So, if you try out this recipe you can buy some pillsbury in my honor (not the fat free kind) or make them from scratch like me. (side note: the night before I made this, I tried hamburger buns from scratch. They were flat, think, and all around not good. So, I didn't have much confidence in making another dough item from scratch.) I found a very simple recipe here and successfully made it, this time.

Anyway, onto the chicken pillows. Trey said, "Oh wow, these are great. Seriously, the best meal you've made since we've been here." Obviously, that is why they are blog worthy.

INGREDIENTS

1 (8 oz) can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2-3 cups cooked and shredded chicken
• 1 egg
• 1 sleeve Saltine Crackers crushed
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 spoonfuls sour cream
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. Soften 1/4 cup butter and 8oz. block of cream cheese. Then stir to a smooth consistency. Add cooked shredded chicken to the bowl.
3. Lay out the 8 crescents on a cookie sheet. Stretch the crescent out. 
4. Place a couple spoon fulls of the creamy chicken mixture into the center of the crescent to fill it. Then fold the crescent around the mixture so that none of it is showing. I'll call this the "pillow".
5. In a separate smaller bowl, put the egg and a little bit of water, maybe a couple Tablespoons worth and beat together.Dip the "pillow" into the blended egg. After dipping into the blended egg, proceed to dip it into the crushed saltine crackers and place on cookie sheet. Repeat for the remaining 7 crescents.
6. Cook the pillows at 400 F for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them your oven might cook them quicker.
7. For the sauce topping: Put can of cream of chicken and milk into a sauce pan. Add as much milk as you want to get it to the consistency you want i.e. thicker or runnier. When hot enough add 2 spoon fulls of sour cream and cheese to your liking.

Alright, what I did different: well, we can find cream of mushroom here (for now at least) but not cream of chicken. So, I cooked my chicken in a pressure cooker & used the broth from that to add to the cream of mushroom. I also added milk, gouda cheese (since it was already shredded), and a little bit of adobo (Trey's favorite seasoning). Also, when you put the chicken mixture in the crescent roll, make sure it's in the center. I messed up with the first one, but figured it out by the second one :) This actually made 10 for us - could be because the crescent roll recipe makes more, but we had plenty of chicken mixture to fill 10. The whole household was pleased. Can't wait to make them again!

Cooking: Delicious Breakfast Casserole

I honestly don't know what to call this. I got the recipe a bit ago when I worked at the school board and needed a quick and easy breakfast dish. This is probably one of the absolute best breakfast recipes I've ever eaten... and that's not because I make it. Trey could eat the entire 9x13" dish if his stomach would let him.

ingredients:
1 lb. ground breakfast sausage
8 oz. cream cheese
shredded cheese (I use the prepackaged mix blend)
2 packages crescent rolls (Pillsbury seem to work best)
9x13" dish
Pam

instructions:
Brown sausage. Preheat oven 350 degrees (or whatever the crescent roll package says). Melt cream cheese in pan with sausage. Coat the sausage with the cream cheese. Spray Pam in dish. Put 1 can of crescent rolls in bottom of dish. Use fingers to push dough together, blending the "triangles". Evenly spread sausage cream cheese mix. Sprinkle with shredded cheese, as much as desired. Top with can of crescent rolls. Bake according to crescent roll package, or until brown.

The great part about this is you can prepare everything except the last baking. Put it in the fridge overnight & bake the next morning. You'll just need to bake a bit longer because it'll be cold.

Seriously, so easy & delicious.

Cooking: Baked Spaghetti Deliciousness

Who doesn't love spaghetti? I mean, I know there are people that don't like it, but they're crazy, right? And even though I don't enjoy cooking, spaghetti is something I can make. It's not that hard. Especially when I can buy sauce in a jar. Trey had asked me if we could eat something normal for a couple of nights... said he liked my pinterest recipes I was trying, but just wanted something simple. So, one night we made spaghetti... but when there are only 2 people to cook for, we don't have to make the whole box of noodles or jar of sauce... so we just used what we needed. And I saved the rest for this delicious pinterest dish...

I've actually had it pinned for a while and must have forgotten about it because it's so incredibly easy... if I had remembered it before now I would have already made it twice. The actual recipe is called Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti Casserole.. but that's too long. So I will call it Baked Spaghetti Deliciousness.

ingredients:
12 oz spaghetto
1 (28 oz) jar prepared spaghetti sauce
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 parmesan cheese, grated

instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 F degrees
• Brown the ground beef, drain fat & stir in spaghetti sauce. Set aside.
• Cook spaghetti, drain & place in bowl. Add cream cheese, Italian seasoning, & minced garlic. Stir until cream cheese is melted & spaghetti is thoroughly coated.
• Lightly grease 9x13" dish. Spread a small amount of meat sauce in the bottom of the dish. Put spaghetti mixture on top & top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top.
• Bake for 30 minutes.

What I did different:

I didn't really measure everything by ounces or pounds... mainly because they use the metric system here unlike the system we use in the states. So I was dealing with milliliters & grams. I estimated everything (which I guess means I'm getting better at this whole cooking thing!). And I'm not sure what they mean by Italian seasoning, so I used a couple of "shakes" of onion salt & a couple of "shakes" of Adobo seasoning. AND I'm not sure what a clove of garlic is... is it the whole thing of garlic or one of the little pieces inside? If you can clarify, that would be great. I used one of the little pieces inside :) It all turned out wonderful. I will DEFINITELY be making this again, with all the changes I already made. The only other thing I would do differently is to set the cream cheese out a little earlier so it melts easier in the noodles.

This was a nice change to the normal spaghetti. Try it out :)

Cooking: Tex-Mex Chicken Casserole

We love Mexican food. We I love chicken. And what good southerner doesn't love a casserole. This recipe is all that and more.

Ingredients:
2 cups penne pasta, cooked
2 cups chicken, cooked
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup corn
Salt & pepper
1 jar salsa verde
3/4 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/2 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
Lightly crushed tortilla chips
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees & spray a 9"x13" baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Place cooked pasta, chicken, black beans, tomatoes & corn in prepared dish. Season with salt & pepper, then toss to mix.
3. In another bowl, combine the salsa & sour cream. Pour evenly over chicken mixture. Sprinkle evenly with shredded cheeses, then cover with foil & bake for 15 minutes.
4. Remove foil & bake for another 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted & bubbly. Sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips & cilantro. Serve using a slotted spoon.

So, of course I did something different here... but the catch is, I didn't do it on purpose. More than once I read this recipe wrong. Instead of salsa verde, I just saw salsa. And instead of 3/4 cup sour cream, I saw whole package of sour cream :) So, since Trey isn't a tomato fan, I put the salsa in without the diced tomatoes. And I used the blend of cheddar cheeses we already had at the house. My taste tester was a fan, but would like something a little more spicy next time. Also, for just 2 people, I would cut the recipe in half... all except for the chicken. It makes a LOT of food.

Cooking: turkey sliders & corn on the cob

So, who doesn't like a slider. Anything that is a miniature version is always better, right? It seems like you aren't eating as much. I found a recipe on Pinterest for leftover ham after Thanksgiving & Christmas. Ham Sliders. However, Trey's not a fan of ham... so we went for Turkey Sliders.

Here's the link for the recipe I used.

Ingredients:

24 good white dinner rolls

24 pieces good honey ham
24 small slices Swiss cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup miracle whip

Poppy seed sauce
1 Tablespoon poppyseeds
1 1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tablespoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Instructions:
In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. You do not have to use all of the sauce! Just use enough to cover the tops. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes or until tops are slightly brown and crispy. Serve warm.

OK, and here's what I did different. I only made 6 sliders, since there is only 2 of us. However, what I did wrong was making the full amount of sauce :) let's just say it was a little strong tasting. I also used turkey instead of ham and only mayo (no miracle whip). And no onion.. since I bought a whole onion and did not want my eyes watering for just 1 tablespoon worth of onion.

Overall, there was approval in the household. We did have to scrape the excess sauce off the top and bottom, but Trey ate
the leftovers the next day.

Now for the corn. I've never made anything so easy. As I was searching for how to cook corn on the cob I went to several websites because I could not believe it could be that easy. What do you do?? Simply heat the oven to 350 degrees & place the cobs straight on the rack. Bake for 30 minutes and voila. That's it. Add some butter and salt & there you have delicious corn on the cob.

Cooking: Easy Shepherd's Pie

One of Trey's favorite dishes is Shepherd's Pie. I've wanted to make this for him before, but it's pretty intimidating. So what did I do? Google: Easy Shepherd's Pie. Google helps with all of those questions :) So here's the link to the recipe I found & the recipe with my taste tester's thoughts.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs ground round beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 1-2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas
• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)
• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

Directions

1 Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).

2 While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) in large frying pan.

3 Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.

4 Add ground beef and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add worcesterchire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.

5 Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

6 Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.

7 Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.

Overall, my taste tester approved. He doesn't like carrots, so the veggies we used were onion, corn, peas, & green beans. Next time, I'll put some carrots in there. Also, one more potato.. probably medium sized.. for just a little bid more mashed potatoes. My cousin suggested (via facebook) to add taco seasoning to the ground beef. After we ate it, we decided that it would definitely add some great flavor.

As a beginner cooker, accomplishing Shepherd's Pie was a big task for me. BUT I will say it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be!

Cooking: Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie

I don't like to cook. At all. It doesn't mean I can't cook, I just don't actually enjoy it. When I was younger I dreamed of a husband that loved to cook. And I got that! Trey actually enjoys the whole cooking thing. I don't understand that mindset. When we were at home we had the ability and accessibility to eat out a lot... so I didn't have to cook much. I did master box macaroni & cheese & we ate that with almost every meal. Here, however, eating out here is very expensive. Our first lunch in town, we ate at the mall food court & spent $20 at a fast food taco place... and were still hungry after we ate what we ordered. Once we get to Africa, I'll be cooking lots. Therefore, I'm using the time here to practice my cooking skills. So, I'll be giving you some of these recipes I'm trying out here & let you know what my official taste tester (a.k.a. Trey) thinks about the food.


The first recipe to share is Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie. I found the recipe on Pinterest, which is where I'm finding most of my new recipes. I will be sure to always post the link to the original recipe, as to not take credit for anything!

my actual pot pie! Yummy!

ingredients:

1 can (10 ¾ ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 can (about 8 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 package (8 ½ ounces) corn muffin mix
¾ cup milk
1 egg
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

instructions:

1.  Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Stir soup, corn and chicken in a 9" pie plate.

2.  Stir the muffin mix, milk and egg with a fork in a small bowl until the ingredients are mixed. Spoon over the chicken mixture.

3.  Bake for 30 minutes until the cornbread is golden. Sprinkle with the cheese. Serve with sliced fresh tomatoes.

The only difference we had was no fresh sliced tomatoes, since my taste tester is not a fan! But I'm sure that would be delicious.

Now, here's what I would change the next time I make the recipe. I would add different veggies. Maybe 1 ½ cups of mixed veggies. My mom always told me in order to get different nutrients make sure my plate was "colorful". This meal was pretty yellow. Also, my taste tester said he would have liked the cornbread to be a little sweeter. And I thought some cheese inside the pie would have been delicious.

Try it out & let me know what you think! It is really a simple, quick meal! I'm still not much of a fan of cooking, but I do feel extremely accomplished after each meal :)