Chicken Loaded Potato Casserole

1/2 lb. deli sliced chicken
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. dehydrated minced onions
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
4 med. potatoes sliced into 1/4" thick circles
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Boil sliced potatoes until tender.  In a large bowl mix cream cheese, onions and lemon juice.  Chop deli chicken into bite size pieces.  Mix chicken and potatoes with cream cheese mix.  Spread into a baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake 20 minutes or until cheese melts and dish is hot.  Sprinkle with Panko and bake another 5 minutes or until Panko starts to brown.  Serves 4 - 6

Martha:  This is the dish I told you about that can be made from leftovers from the Chicken Cream Cheese Rolls.  If made using the leftovers you'll simply cut up the rolls and stir them into the cooked potatoes, top with shredded cheese, bake and then sprinkle with the Panko.  Personally, I like both so well that there never seems to be leftovers to use so I make it from scratch.  This is also a dish that can be made with beef or ham.  It's a fun dish to play with changing the cheese to different blends such as Italian or Mexican and even changing the seasonings.

Chicken Cream Cheese Rolls

1 lb. deli sliced chicken
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp. dehydrated minced onions
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. Italian seasonings
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix cream cheese, onions, lemon juice, garlic and Italian seasonings until well blended and smooth.  Separate the chicken slices putting 3-4 together creating about an 1/8" thickness.  Spread evenly with cream cheese mixture.  Roll like a jelly roll.  Place in a baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Bake 20 minutes or until cheese melts and filling is hot.  Sprinkle with a thin layer of Panko.  Bake another 5 minutes or until Panko starts to brown.  Serves 4 - 6.

Martha:  I found a recipe for Cream Cheese Filled Chicken on Pinterest and loved the idea but I wanted to find a short cut for making these so I came up with using the deli sliced chicken.  You can have the deli slice it to about 1/8" thick or you can buy the pre-cut and layer the pieces to give you the thickness.  One pound of chicken gave me about 12 rolls.  The original recipe had a few other ingredients that I eliminated because I had another recipe in mind to make with the leftovers, if there were any.  The leftovers will go into what I'm calling Chicken Loaded Potato Casserole so make sure you see that one too.  I did eliminate the garlic salt from the original recipe and used the minced garlic.  The garlic salt along with the salt from the other ingredients would be too much for me.  Two to three rolls served with some cole slaw, green peas or beans and a roll gives you a simple yet delicious meal.

Chicken Divan

3/4 cup milk
4 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1 box broccoli, thawed
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
French fried onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat milk and cream cheese over low heat, stirring until melted and smooth.  Place broccoli in 10 x 6 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.  Top with 1/2 cup cheese and chicken.  Pour cream sauce over chicken.  Bake 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and sprinkle with French fried onions.  Bake another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Serves 6

Comments:  I found a recipe for Chicken Divan in a Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbook dated 1981.  It was sounded so simple to make that I couldn't pass it by.  I did make a few changes.  I increased the cream cheese, left out the Worcestershire sauce, used uncooked broccoli and added the French fried onions.  This dish is delicious!  And its even better the next day, if that's possible.  If you're a broccoli lover, increase the amount and if you want to try adding the Worcestershire sauce, the original recipe called for 1/2 tsp.  If you aren't a French fried onion lover, use Panko instead to give it that little crunch on top.

Cheezy Chicken Pasta

2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
1/2 1 lb. bag of egg noodles (no yolk)
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
8 oz. shredded cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup water
thyme
oregano
French fried onions (optional)

Cook noodles according to package.  While cooking, in a large frying pan melt butter over med. heat.  Add flour and whisk to combine.  Add wine, garlic and mustard.  Reduce heat to medium.  Add milk and water.  Allow to simmer 5-7 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken.  Add cheese, chicken and pasta.  When dished up, sprinkle with thyme, oregano and French fried onions.  Serves 6-8

Comments:  The idea for this came from a recipe found on Home is Where the Holmes' Are and her recipe was for White Cheddar Chicken Pasta.  I made several changed starting with the chicken.  I had chicken that had been cooked the night before waiting on me to find something to do with it so eliminated the chicken cooking that the original recipe called for. I also made several changed in the cheese base of the dish.  There were a couple of things I didn't want to include and some that I wanted to add.  This all boils down to my Thinking With My Taste Buds which ends up creating an entirely new recipe. 

Mac & Cheese with Chicken

6 oz. pkg of pasta noodles, cooked and drained
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
2 cups milk
3 cups cheese, shredded
bread crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl whisk milk and flour.  Add 2 1/2 cups cheese, chicken and noodles.  Mix well.  Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and bread crumbs.  Drizzle with butter.  Bake 40-45 minutes or until cheese has melted, dish is bubbly and crumbs are browned.  Serves 6-8.

Comment:  I found chicken breasts on sale for $.99 lb. and couldn't resist buying.  Now what to do with them.  I decided to boil and think about it later.  Later came and some went to chicken salad but the rest went into a true comfort food...mac & cheese.  I boiled my noodles in some of the chicken broth which gave them a delicious flavor and for my cheese I used half of a cheddar blend and half of an Italian blend.  This turned out so good.

Chickens with Mushrooms and White Wine

4 chicken legs
6 fresh sage leaves (1/4 tsp. dried)
1 cup white wine
salt and pepper
1 pkd (about 8 oz.) mushrooms
1 Tbsp. crushed garlic
2 Tbsp. olive oil

In a large frying pan over medium high heat saute garlic in oil.  Salt and pepper chicken and place in hot pan over garlic.  Cook about 5 minutes on each side or until both are golden brown.  Add sage, wine and chopped mushrooms.  Cook about 5 minutes.  Cover, turn the heat down to a simmer and continue to cook for about 40-45 minutes.

Comments:  The original recipe for this dish came from Petitchef.com.  It called for a 'drop' of white wine and I was never able to find anyone who knew what a 'drop' was so I decided to use a cup.  It called for 8.82 oz of fresh mushrooms and to chop them finely.  I used Portabella and cut them into chunks.  It also used 2 cloves of garlic but I always use minced, due to it's ease of using, plus I wanted a bit more of the garlic taste.  Their dish was served as-is.  Well, apparently I didn't let the wine evaporate enough or used more than a 'drop' and mine had about 1/2 of liquid that had such a wonderful taste that I didn't want it wasted.  I served mine over Basmati Rice which turned out to be a hit with my food tasters.  There is one change I will make when making this dish again.  I'll use chicken breasts instead of legs/thighs.  I personally like the white meat best and this creates a moist juicy meat so the breast will work nicely.

Rice With Chicken Casserole

1 cup chopped chicken (1-2 no bone, no skin chicken breasts, cooked)
2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup green bell peppers, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup mayonaise
1/2 cup sour cream
salt & pepper to taste
shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix everything but cheese.  Pour into a casserole dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Bake 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Top with cheese and bake until cheese melts.

Comments - I used 2 boiled chicken breasts which gave me just over 1 cup.  For the rice I used 1 pkg of boiling bag rice.  And for my cheese I used a thin topping of mozzarella and topped that with cheddar.  I wasn't sure how this dish would come out.  The idea came from a recipe for rice and tuna which had olives, boiled eggs and lemon juice as additional ingredients.  I changed to chicken, left out these 3 ingredients and added the onions. This comes out with a slightly sweet taste from the peppers and oh so good.  I took a dish over to 2 of my food testers and they simply loved it and she doesn't care that much for bell peppers.  This is a real keeper! 

Chicken Broccoli Stir-fry

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 pkg. (12 oz.) Broccoli Slaw
3 + 1/4 cups water, divided
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 cup cornstarch

In a large skillet sprayed with non-stick spray, stir-fry chicken in canola oil until the chicken is no longer pink.  Move to a large bowl and set aside.  Add broccoli slaw to the pan and stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and add to chicken.  Add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Add bouillon cubes and stir until dissolved.  Reduce heat and add soy sauce, ginger, chicken and vegetables.  Cook about 5 minutes.  Mix cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water creating a paste.  Stir into chicken/broccoli and bring to a boil.  Cook about 2 minutes stirring constantly or until the sauce thickens to the consistency of a thick gravy.  Serve over rice.  Serves 4-6 depending on serving size.

Comments - My food testers loved this one.  The broccoli slaw simplified the recipe eliminating the need to cut up the broccoli and shred the carrots.  The mix I bought also had shredded purple cabbage adding another color and taste to the dish.  Now, what do you do with the leftovers, if you have any?  I wrapped them in flour tortilla, placed them in a baking dish, covered with cheese and baked on 350 until the cheese melted and the dish was piping hot.  Yum Yum!

Chicken Rolls

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into strips
3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (12 oz.)
1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
6 flour tortillas (6")
1/2 can (2.8oz. size) French fried onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl mix Monterey Jack, salt, ricotta cheese and egg. Lay out tortillas, spoon 1/3 cup of cheese mixture down the center of each tortilla. Top with chicken, roll up. Place filled tortillas, seam side down in an 8 x 11 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Spoon any remaining cheese mix over the top of the tortillas. Sprinkle with fried onions. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Serves 3-6

Change suggestions - add black olives, spinach, finely chopped broccoli, top with salsa, sour cream or use cooked jumbo shells instead of the tortillas.