#16 Chicken pot pie muffins

I love chicken pot pie. There's a reason it's called comfort food. It brings back memories of my youth and there's nothing that makes a house smell better. Ok maybe apples do, but that's the only thing. I've tried several variations and when I saw this I thought it looked fun. How does food look fun? I don't know, but trust me when I say it, this looks fun. It's also quick, which in case you haven't figured it out, is very important in my life.

I didn't exactly plan for this meal; I was hungry, nothing else looked good and I figured this would be simple enough, so I substituted a few ingredients from the original version and got to cooking. My version of the chicken pot pie is infused with different cultures a la Mexican cheese & Italian seasoning. Also, I only had one big pack of 10 biscuits instead of 2 small packs, so I pulled a layer off a couple and squished them together to make up my two missing biscuits.

I have no idea what family thought about this recipe because right after I made my plate, my toddler fell asleep, so I took him off to bed. I personally added a little salt & pepper to the final dish to suit my taste buds. Of course, if you stick with the original ingredients, it might have been perfect.

Chicken Pot Pie muffins

• 2 cups diced cooked chicken breast (I used 1 large can of chicken and shredded it)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup frozen mixed veggies (I thawed my veggies so they would be tender)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used mexican cheese)
• 1/2 tbsp dried thyme (I substituted italian seasoning for this and the basil)
• 1/2 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 2 (10 oz) cans of biscuits

1.  Preheat oven to 400F
2. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients (except the biscuits)
3. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin an place the biscuits into each cup, pressing into the bottom and up the sides to spread them out. 
4. Spoon the mixture evenly into each biscuit. 
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes. 
6. Let sit for 5 minutes and serve

#15 Southwestern Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Roll-Ups

You know you see something that makes you stop in your tracks? Well this recipe right here definitely did that for me. I had my week planned, but when I saw this the record screeched and I made immediate changes to fit this into my plans. I had company over for dinner and it was a #1 hit!
http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/southwestern-cheese-stuffed-chicken-roll-ups-recipe/1/print/

Now I'll be entirely honest, this recipe says it takes 30 minutes prep time, for me it was more like an hour to hour and half. That doesn't include the extra grocery run I had to make when I realized I purchased the wrong ingredient the day before. When I finally got it in the oven I said I will NEVER do something so time & labor intensive again, (I probably lied to myself). And be warned this is not a toddler friendly meal at all. Not in the prep stage, nor in the eating stage. This recipe packs a ton of heat but for anyone who can handle some spice, it is very yummy.

My chicken didn't look anywhere near as pretty as the original recipe photo, but I'm keeping it real, and showing you what mine looked like! I used 3-5 toothpicks on each piece of chicken to hold it together, yet there was still some leakage. No worries because that didn't affect the taste at all. I served it with steamed broccoli and my favorite go to side dish, Idahoan baby red instant potatoes. I think the broccoli went with it best. If you're up for the prep work, this is a great dish to try. 

Southwest Cheese-stuffed Chicken Roll-ups

• 1  8 oz container chives-and-onion cream cheese spread
• 3/4  tsp garlic powder
• 1/3  cup drained jalapeño slices 
• 1/2  cup canned drained whole kernel corn
• 6  taco shells coarsely broken (I used tortilla chips and crushed them with the meat mallet)
• 3/4  tsp chili powder
• 4  boneless skinless chicken breasts (I had 6 and still had leftover filling)
• 2  tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2  to 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3  tbsp honey
• 1  cup shredded Mexican cheese blend 
• 1 2/3  cups chunky salsa
• 2/3  cup sour cream

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, stir together cream cheese, garlic powder, jalapeños and corn; set aside.
2. Place broken taco shells (chips) in resealable plastic bag. Crush with rolling pin (hammer) until coarsely ground. Pour crumbs into shallow dish; stir in chili powder. (I added my chili powder to the bag as I crushed, and it mixed quickly and easy)
3. 3Between pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper, place each chicken breast, smoothside down; gently pound with flat side of meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/4 inch thick. 
4. Spread butter over one side of each chicken breast.
5. 4Place about 1/3 cup cream cheese mixture on center of buttered side of each chicken breast; roll up chicken. 
6. Pour buttermilk into shallow dish. Dip chicken rolls in buttermilk, then coat with crumb mixture. Insert toothpick to secure. Place in ungreased 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish. 
7. Drizzle with honey.
8. 5Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. 
9. Sprinkle with Mexican cheese blend; bake 4 to 5 minutes longer until cheese is melted. 
10. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

#14 Tex-Mex Pork Chops

Have you ever heard photos can be deceiving? This one deceived me for sure! But despite the difference in appearance, this recipe was absolutely delicious. Very simple to prepare, not too time consuming, and 100% satisfying. Check out the difference between these two photos! 

Tex-Mex Chops

• 1 tsp oil
• 4-5 pork chops
• 1.5 cup chunky salsa
• 1/2 cup chopped green chilies
• 1/4 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese

1. Heat oil over med-high heat in skillet
2. Brown chops on one side about 2 minutes (mine took about 5 mins to brown any)
3. Turn chops and add salsa & chilies
4. Mix well and reduce heat to low. 
5. Cover & simmer about 8 minutes
6. Uncover and sprinkle cheese over pork chops
7. Cover and simmer 2-3 additional minutes

#13 Crockpot Ham & Potato soup

This is my second failure. It was partially my fault, partially the toddler hanging onto my legs while I was trying to concentrate, and perhaps, partially the recipes fault. I've cooked this once before and it was good, but this time it wasn't very good. I got about 10 minutes into preparing the food for this before my toddler started crying and wanting to be held and then proceeded to hang onto my legs for dear life.

I rushed through, cutting the veggies into any ol' shape and size. That was problem number one. If you cut veggies into smaller pieces and try to get them into similar sizes they will all cook at the same rate. Number two, (recipes fault) I should have started dissolving my bouillon before I started cutting veggies so it would be ready to go when needed (and my toddler wouldn't need to wait an extra 10+ minutes).  Once I got everything in the crockpot I turned it on high and took my little man to go nap. I was quite relieved thinking after nap I would finish up the recipe and have a nice lunch served. Much to my disappointment, we came out to an UNPLUGGED crockpot. Yep, problem #3. So I plugged it in and fast-forward 3.5 hours and it was finally ready. But when I tried it, most of the veggies were still crunchy as if they were barely cooked at all. So I let it cook longer to soften the veggies, but here comes problem #4, once the milk and sour cream is added, it starts to separate while cooking and turns brown and looks yucky. So I finally had soft veggies, but in a very yucky looking broth. TWELVE cups of unappealing soup. Yes this recipe is large enough to feed a small army, so I recommend cutting it in half if you make it. And let the veggies cook extra before the last step of putting milk and sour cream in. With a few tweaks, and an attention span, this recipe should be a success instead of a failure. Forgive my picture, but this is the truth behind a failed recipe.

Crockpot Ham & Potato Soup (updated version with my tweaks)

• 7 c. diced potatoes (about 4 medium)
• 1 c. diced onion (about 1 medium)
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 c. ham, diced
• 5 c. hot water
• Chicken Bullion (1 extra large cube that makes 1 quart broth or 4 small cubes that make 1 cup each)
• 1 c. 2% milk
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Dissolve chicken bullion in 5 cups hot water,
2. Add diced potatoes, onion, carrot, and ham to a crock pot.
3. Add water & bouillon to the crock pot also.
4. Cook on low 7 hours, or high 3 hours. (check to see if veggies are soft, if not cook longer)
5. Add milk and sour cream. Stir and cook an additional 15 minutes.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

#12 Applesauce BBQ Chicken

I've been hit with a couple of failures recently. I wasn't sure whether they were "blog worthy", but then I thought about it, this is the story of my journey through these recipes and obviously not everything will be golden but it should all be included.

The first recipe letdown was Applesauce BBQ chicken. It looked delicious, smelled delicious, was simple to throw together, didn't consist of too many ingredients, it met all the requirements for a great meal. This was a slow cooker recipe that I waited for all day. I went out to run errands and came home thankful my meal would be ready to eat, but the end result was just BLAH. It was lacking in flavor. I immediately remembered the sweet Russian chicken I made a few weeks back. The basic taste was very similar, but this was missing a key note to be yummy. If I were to ever be convinced to try cooking this meal again I would try honey bbq in place of regular. But in all honesty, I'll stick with the Russian chicken dish.

The original recipe can be found here
http://www.welltraveledwife.com/2013/03/applesauce-barbecue-chicken.html