I love a dinner you can cook in one pot. Less clean up is a very good thing! This recipe was inspired by Martha Stewart and my need to use up the mushrooms, broccoli and chicken I had in the fridge. I never thought of cooking a meal like this, and it might very well be life changing for me!
The idea of this recipe is to throw everything into the same pot and cook it all at once. I had to use up some chicken that was already cooked, otherwise, I would have thrown in the raw chicken as well. But since it was pre-cooked, I didn’t want to dry it out. So I added it at the end, just to heat it up.
Here is the recipe for this fabulous dinner.
Ingredients:
8 ounces of pasta
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup cubed chicken
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
Salt & pepper to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
Place the pasta in your pot, along with the chicken, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms. Pour the chicken broth over the top and add the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Reduce to medium heat and cook. Stir the pasta frequently with a wooden spoon to break it up and prevent it from sticking to the pan. Cook the pasta for about 9-10 minutes. Most of the liquid will have evaporated. Add the half and half and heat until warm. Remove the pan from the stove and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese before serving. Enjoy!
It’s the last week of 2014 and we’re going out with a bang. Or should I say, we’re going to try to empty the refrigerator and freezer this week. We bought a 14 lb. turkey before Thanksgiving (it was on sale for $4!) and I’m going to cook it this week. We’ll have amazing leftovers, plus I’ll get a huge empty spot in my freezer. We had a ‘leftover’ night last night just to try to get the fridge cleaned out too. How does this much food accumulate in such a short amount of time?!
What a mess — how many cool whip containers can one refrigerator hold?? And guess what? None of those containers actually has cool whip in it! So yeah, it’s time to clean out the fridge. Especially since it’ll be full of turkey after today.
This afternoon, my husband mentioned that we should find something to do with the 2 packages of crescent rolls we didn’t use for Thanksgiving. So I went to Pinterest and there it was. The Chicken Pot Pie Crescent Braid. It was fantastic and not as difficult to make as I thought it would be. I would definitely make this again! It’s rich and creamy and perfect for a winter evening.
Here is my version of the recipe:
Ingredients:
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup chopped peeled potatoes
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. minced onion
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
4 oz. of cream cheese
2 packages (8 oz. each) of crescent rolls
Directions:
1. In a saucepan on medium high heat, combine the carrots and potatoes. Bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Drain and set aside.
2. In a saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter Turn the heat to low and whisk in the flour, salt, pepper, and minced onion. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and milk. Simmer until the liquid becomes thick. Add in the cream cheese and stir until well combined.
3. Add the vegetable-chicken mixture with the sauce. Mix well.
4. Take the crescent rolls and arrange in a flat rectangle and roll it out on the surface on which you plan to bake. Make sure all of the seams have flattened and are no longer seems. With a knife, cut 1 inch slits across each side, making sure to leave at least 2-3 inches in the middle. (See photo above for visual.)
5. Take your filling and spread it up and down the center. Starting with the end closest to you, take the strips and place them over each other, like you are braiding them. Continue to do this with each strip until you reach the end.
6. Seal any edges that you may see to prevent the filling from leaking out.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 or until the top is golden brown.
* The recipe that I got this from used crescent seamless dough sheets, I did not have those, so I adapted the recipe to the regular crescent rolls that I had on hand. They worked just fine.
Here is another perfect comfort food dish that everyone in the family will enjoy. My husband went back for seconds and took leftovers for lunch! That’s a sure sign it’s a winner in my house.
Ingredients and instructions:
4 cups cooked chopped chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup
16 oz container French Onion Dip (I made my own with a dry mix and sour cream)
1 cup cheddar cheese
12 oz egg noodles
1 cup crushed French fried onions
Cook egg noodles according to package directions, drain. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Combine chicken, soup, dip, and cheese. Stir in cooked egg noodles. Pour mixture into casserole dish. Top with crushed french fried onions. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until heated through and until the onions are slightly browned. Serve with a nice vegetable on the side and enjoy!
The week of Thanksgiving is always a difficult week to plan for me. People are coming and going, plus there’s a giant meal to prepare for on Thanksgiving. Oh, and my birthday falls somewhere during the week too. It can be a hectic week that is 100% revolved around food. But this year I have a plan. Sort of.
