Menu Plan Monday June 27

Monday: Baked Scallops (with some changes from last time) over Pasta

Tuesday:  MM Sandwich PW Style

Wednesday:  Homemade Shake and Bake Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Veggie

Thursday:   Egg Salad Meet's the BLT

Friday: Out of Town

Saturday:  Wedding

Sunday: Jalapeno Poppers Grill Steaks, Green Bean Bacon Bundles, Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes, & Cheesy Garlic-Herb Bread

Chicken Pillows {A.K.A. Chicken Baseballs or Chicken Crescent Rolls}

I have been making something called Chicken Baseballs for years.  I have modified my recipe several times and shared it with many, many friends.  I think I originally got the recipe off of the Weight Watchers online recipe exchange after I had my 2nd child.  It is one of the few recipes that has stood the test of time, because they are quick, tasty, and kid-friendly!  

A few weeks ago I saw a very similar recipe on The Girl Who Ate Everything, one of my favorite foodie blogs.  Her version took the Chicken Baseballs that I knew and loved to the next level, something I would even be proud to serve up to company!  The secret is, they are still EASY!  It is a win-win!  Give them a try, I bet your whole family will love them too!

Ingredients Needed...plus chicken.  I guess I forgot to put the chicken in the shot.  Please note the beautiful chives!  These are from my herb garden!  My herbs are finally big enough to start using!

Chicken Pillows

Mix together with mixer (or by hand if your cream cheese is soft enough):

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup sour cream

Stir in:

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 ½ Tablespoons dried chives

1 ½ Tablespoons fresh onion minced

3 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (around 3 cups)

Assemble Pillows:

2 (8 ounce) cans Pillsbury crescent rolls

1/4 cup melted butter

Italian bread crumbs (around 2 cups)

Gravy:

1 (14.5 ounce) can cream of chicken soup

1 (0.87) package chicken gravy mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and sour cream until well combined. You can do this by hand if your cream cheese is soft enough. Stir in salt, pepper, onion, chives, and diced chicken.

Using Pillsbury crescent rolls, take 2 triangular rolls and push together at perforated seam to make into a square. Make sure you seal the perforations well so your filling doesn't come out. Put about 3 tablespoons of chicken mixture in the center of each square. Fold the dough corners to the center over the chicken mixture forming a pillow.

 Dip each pillow in melted butter on both sides. Roll in bread crumbs on both sides. Shake excess crumbs off.  {My pillows started to fall apart when I did it this way.  Here is what I did instead: Place pillows on a greased baking sheet.  Using a basting brush, coat the pillows with the melted butter.  Liberally sprinkle with bread crumbs.} Place chicken pillow on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Make gravy by mixing one package of chicken gravy mix, one can of cream of chicken soup and 3/4 can of water in a small pot. Mix together and heat until warm. Serve chicken pillows with gravy poured over top.

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Shrimp Enchiladas

We are back from vacation at the my in-laws and I am sporting  many, many bruises.  My in-laws live in the woods of MN and one of our favorite things to do there is paintball.  I have discovered a whole new side of myself through paintballing.  We create random teams by drawing paintballs and complete missions.  The two games we played this weekend were capture the flag and protect the fort.  I did not enjoy protecting the fort.  You are like a sitting duck in there!  My hubby had a German friend there to visit from his high school days living on base in Germany.  It was a good time!

Back to the food!

Here are some exceptionally good shrimp enchiladas that I made before we left.  Writing up this blog post I am finding myself salivating while looking at the pictures.  I want them again!  Living in ND we don't have are good options for good, authentic Mexican food.  I can say that these were better than any I've ever had, I wouldn't know if they are authentic though!  Try them!

Shrimp Enchiladas

Cheese Sauce:

½ cup sweet red pepper, chopped

½ cup onion, minced

½ cup green pepper, chopped (I used yellow instead)

1/4 cup butter

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whipping cream

1 ½ cups Monterey Jack cheese or Pepper Jack cheese

½ cup sour cream

Shrimp Mixture:

2 tablespoons butter

1 ½ pounds shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped into bite-size pieces

½ cup onion, chopped

2 cups ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 ½ cups Monterey Jack cheese or Pepper Jack cheese

8 (9-inch) flour tortillas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch dish and set aside.

Saute red pepper, onion and green pepper in 1/4 cup butter until crisp-tender. Add oregano, salt, garlic powder, pepper, cayenne pepper, and flour; blend well and cook, stirring constantly for about a minute. Whisk in the cream and continue cooking for 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add 1 1/2 cups cheese; stir until melted. Add sour cream, stir to blend. Set aside.

In another skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Saute shrimp and 1/2 cup onion until shrimp are pink (don’t overcook or the shrimp will be tough). Add chopped tomatoes and 1/2 of the cheese sauce. Spoon 1/3 cup shrimp mixture into each tortilla. Sprinkle a bit of cheese on top of shrimp mixture. Roll the enchiladas up tightly. Arrange seam side down in a 9X13-inch glass baking dish. Spoon remaining cheese sauce over tortillas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

Source: Siggy Spice & Mel's Kitchen Cafe 

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:

Tuesday:  Chicken Pillows & Sichuan Green Bean

Wednesday:  Gorgonzola Steak Rolls & Spring Peas with Pancetta

Thursday:  Crab Legs, Ultimate Cheddar Bay Biscuits, Rice Pilaf & Steamed Mixed Veggies

Friday:  Creamy Chicken Taquitos & Refried Beans

Saturday:  Mini Mac Sliders & Fries & Homemade Hamburger Buns

Sunday: Brats, Buns, Sauerkraut & Potato Salad

{Easy & Delicious} Grilled Salmon

Salmon is one of my families favorite types of fish to eat.  I have tried countless recipes {hey, I get bored easily}.  This is one I keep coming back to.  It doesn't sound very impressive judging from the ingredient list, but is better than many of the far "fancier" recipes that I have tried.  Please, give it a try!  It is a perfect recipe for an easy weeknight meal for summer!  

{Easy & Delicious} Grilled Salmon

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets

lemon pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste

salt to taste

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder, and salt.

In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and vegetable oil until sugar is dissolved. Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag with the soy sauce mixture, seal, and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Lightly oil grill grate.  Preheat grill for medium heat.

 Place salmon on the preheated grill, and discard marinade. Cook salmon for 6 to 8 minutes per side, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Source:  Allrecipes

Knock You Naked Brownies

Need an over-the-top fantastic sweet recipe to take somewhere?  PLEASE, try these!  You won't regret it!  They are so rich and fantastic, they beg to be shared.  This is my new favorite brownie recipe, hand down!  I apologize for the poor picture!  It was late, dark, and you can see the hand of my 2 youngest battling for "who gets the first brownie after mom takes her picture".  Oh, the joys of sibling rivalry!   

Knock You Naked Brownies

1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix

1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans

⅓ cups Evaporated Milk

½ cups Evaporated Milk (additional)

½ cups Butter, Melted

60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped {one 14 oz. package}

⅓ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

¼ cups Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.

Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk. When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.

Source: The Pioneer Woman

Homemade Soft Pretzels

My kids L~O~V~E pretzels.  OK, so do I {especially jalapeño ones like the one pictured below}.  I have been meaning to come up with a recipe we really like for a long time.  Why have I waited so long???  They really are not that complicated and they are SO worth it!  They are actually kind of fun to make!  Get creative and personalize them according to what YOU like!  What would you get yourself if you were actually at the pretzel shop?  Once you have the basic recipe down, it is so easy to do!  

Homemade Soft Pretzels

makes 12 pretzels

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup baking soda

4 cups hot water

4 Tbsp melted butter, for topping

Kosher salt, for topping

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough {I use my kitchen aide bread hook which makes my life very easy}. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. 

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. {I can never find a good place for dough to rise around here, so I warm the oven to 120-170 degrees, then turn it off.  It is then a perfect environment for dough to rise}.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope {about 24" long} and twist into a pretzel shape.

 Bring baking soda and water to a boil in a large skillet.  Place pretzels in the boiling solution 2 at a time for about 15-20 seconds.  Remove with a large spatula to a kitchen towel or paper towels to dry the excess water {to prevent the bottoms from burning}.  Place the pretzels on a greased baking sheet. 

Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

Melt 4 Tbsp. of butter.  As soon as you remove the pretzels from the oven, lightly brush them with butter using a pastry brush.  Immediately sprinkle them with kosher salt.

Enjoy plain or with a dipping sauce of your choice!  Our favorite is cheese sauce!

Variation: Add 1/4-1/3 c. of Jalapenos to the dough for spicy Jalapeno Pretzels!  This is a favorite of mine!  That is what you see in many of the pictures above!  You can get creative and add just about anything your heart desires to the dough!  Don't be afraid to experiment with other toppings too!  Parmesan cheese is a delicious coating instead of the kosher salt!