Poppyseed Chicken - tried and true!

5-6 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
2 cans cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
1 roll Ritz crackers, crushed
1/4 cup melted butter
2 T poppyseeds ( I don't think I use nearly this much... )

Place chicken in greased 9x13 pan. Combine soups and sour cream, and most of poppy seeds, and spread evenly over chicken. Spread crumbs over soups, drizzle butter over crumbs, sprinkle a bit more poppyseeds over crumbs.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 min or until bubbly. Serve over noodles (egg noodles) or rice.

Farmhouse Chicken

4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cup milk
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
4 celery ribs, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
12 ounce package of stuffing mix

Instructions:
1. Saute onion, and prepare stuffing mix according to package directions and set aside.
2. In a medium sauce pan, melt butter and then add flour. Stir until bubbly, then cook one minute. Slowly add in milk, stirring continually to avoid lumps.
3. Add chicken, celery, onion, salt and pepper. Cook and stir for 5-10 minutes, until chicken is done and celery is starting to get tender.
4. Pour mixture into an 8x8-inch casserole dish. Top with stuffing. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Avocado Chicken

6-8 chicken breasts
salt, pepper and flour
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pkg. fresh sliced mushrooms
2 Tsp. flour
1 tsp. celery salt
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/2 c. chicken stock
1/2 c. white grape juice
1 avocado, peeled and mashed
1 1/2 c. grated Monterey jack cheese , or colby jack

Between waxed paper, pound chicken to 1/4 inch thickness. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dust with flour. Melt 1/4 c. butter and quickly saute breasts, a few at a time until golden. Remove to plate and set aside. Preheat oven to 350. Melt remaining butter in same skillet and saute onin, garlic and mushrooms slowly until cooked, not brown. Stir in flour, celery salt, white pepper, chicken stock and juice. Cook over low heat until thickened, about 4-5 mins. Stir in mashed avocado and 1/2 c. cheese and season to taste. Arrange breasts in 9x13 pan and spoon avocado mix on each and sprinkle with remaining cheese over top of chicken breasts. Bake 20-30 mins at 350 until chicken is cooked and cheese is melted.

Chicken Parmesan Bundles

4 oz. Brick Cream Cheese, softened
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained ***I used a bit less
1-1/4 cups KRAFT Mozzarella Shredded Cheese, divided
6 Tbsp. KRAFT 100% Parmesan Grated Cheese, divided **I used fresh grated Romano
6 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (1-1/2 lb./750 g), pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
1 egg
10 RITZ Crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup)
1-1/2 cups pasta sauce, heated

PREHEAT oven to 375ºF. Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and 3 Tbsp. of the Parmesan cheese until well blended; spread evenly onto chicken breasts. Starting at one of the short ends of each breast, roll up chicken tightly. Secure with wooden toothpicks, if desired. Set aside.
BEAT egg in shallow bowl or pie plate. Mix remaining 3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese and the cracker crumbs in separate shallow bowl or pie plate. Dip chicken bundles in egg, then roll in crumb mixture. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170ºF). Remove and discard toothpicks, if using. Serve topped with the pasta sauce and remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese.

Taco Salad with Creamy Lime Dressing

Ingredients
grilled chicken, grilled steak, beans, etc.
vegetables — such as colored peppers, lightly cooked corn, diced tomato, etc.
something from the onion family, like chopped scallions or chopped red onion
shredded red or green cabbage
cheese (a must!) — pepper jack, monterey jack, sharp cheddar, queso fresco, etc.
diced avocado
chopped cilantro
your favorite kind of salad greens
tortilla chips, either crumbled over or served alongside
sour cream, salsa, guacamole — you can serve the salad with a dollop of these toppings, or serve the salsa and guac on the side for chip dipping

For the creamy lime dressing (makes enough for 4 salads):
zest & juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons juice)
1 small shallot, minced
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon cumin
pinch of coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped

Directions

Prep all your ingredients before dressing the greens, and have them ready to go.

Make the dressing — whisk together all the ingredients until well blended.

Wash and spin dry your salad greens, season them with a little coarse salt and pepper, then toss them with about 2/3 of the dressing. Divide the dressed greens among 4 plates, then top with whatever toppings you’re using. Spoon the remaining dressing over the top of each salad and serve.

Cheesy Chicken & Mushroom Lasagna

2 boxes lasagna noodles
6 chicken breast cooked, cooled and cut into pieces
2 large onions
3 garlic cloves; minced
4 cups mushrooms, sliced
6 cups grated parmesan cheese (approx)
1 recipe béchamel sauce (below)
1 recipe tomato sauce (below)

1. Sauté onions, garlic, mushroom in a little bit of EVOO for about 5 minutes.
2. Place a small amount of tomato sauce on the bottom of the baking dish
3. Place lasagna noodles on top
4. Make layer as follows:
· béchamel sauce
· chicken
· onion mixture
· tomato sauce
· Parmesan cheese
· noodles

5. Repeat until you have about six layers or the pan is full. Leave enough room at the top to spread some tomato sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and dot with butter.
6. Bake in a 400 degree oven covered with foil for about 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes or until a crust has formed on top.

Béchamel Sauce
2 cups milk
4 TBSP butter
½ cup all purpose flour
Dash of salt
Dash of freshly grated nutmeg

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt the butter and add the flour. Mix together until it pulls into a soft dough.
Add the milk and bring to boil until thickened—stirring constantly.
Add nutmeg. Add salt to taste.
Set aside ready to use.

Tomato Sauce
1 clove garlic
1 onion finely chopped
4 TBSP butter
10 Roma tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp sugar
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
EVVO as needed

Sauté garlic, onion, and dried basil in the butter until the onion is transparent.
Add Roma tomatoes and sugar. Cook for approximately 20 minutes
Salt and pepper to taste

The Soup Nazi’s Mexican Chicken Chili

1 lb chicken breast fillets (4 fillets)
1 Tbs olive oil
10 cups water
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 potato, peeled & chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 cup frozen yellow corn
1/2 carrot, sliced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, plus liquid
1/4 cup diced canned pimento
1 jalapeno, diced
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
dash cayenne pepper
dash basil
dash oregano
On the side
Sour cream
pinch chopped Italian parsley


1 Sauté the chicken breasts in the olive oil in a large pot over medium/high heat. Cook the chicken on both side until done — about 7-10 minutes per side. Cool the chicken until it can be handled. Do not rinse the pot.
2 Shred the chicken by hand into bite-sizes pieces and place the pieces back into the pot.
3 Add the remaining ingredients to the pot and turn heat to high. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 4-5 hours. Stir mixture often so that many of the chicken pieces shred into much smaller bits. Chili should reduce substantially to thicken and darken (less orange, more brown) when done.
4 Combine some chopped Italian parsley with sour cream and serve it on the side for topping the chili, if desired.

Zesty Crockpot Chicken

4 boneless, thawed chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pkg Good Seasons zesty italian salad dressing mix
1 c. water
1 tsp. parsley
1 pkg cream cheese

Place chicken in crock pot. Blend soup, dresssing mix, water and parsley, add to crock pot. Cook on low for 6to8 hours. 1 hour before serving, add the package of cream cheese. Serve over rice or noodles.