Cordon Bleu Meatloaf

While looking around for a new meatloaf recipe, this one caught my eye.  I found it on All Recipes, and it is definitely a little different than your everyday meatloaf.  It has the yummy ham and cheese in the middle to make it extra good!  This definitely was not a dry meatloaf, just moist and scrumptious!

2 pounds extra-lean ground beef (substituting one lb. of sausage for one pound of beef would probably be good as well)
1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 small onion, chopped
2 eggs, beaten
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
4 ounces thinly sliced cooked ham
4 ounces provolone cheese, sliced

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pat the meat mixture out onto a piece of waxed paper, and flatten to 1/2 inch thick. Lay slices of ham onto the flattened meat, and top with slices of cheese. Pick up the edge of the waxed paper to roll the flattened meat up into a log. Remove waxed paper, seal the ends and seam, and place the loaf into a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

3.Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the loaf is no longer pink inside.

Orange Chicken

My husband said this is better than takeout Chinese food!  Oh so yummy!  We served it over rice to complete the meal.  It was really tasty, and the leftovers were great as well!  Unfortunately, can't take credit for this yummy Make-Your-Own-Takeout.  I have to give credit to blogchef.net.  It is one of many tasty treasures!

Chicken:

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1-1/2” cubes)
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 eggs (beaten)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Oil (for frying)

Orange Sauce:

1 cup water
2 tablespoons FRESH orange juice
¼ cup FRESH lemon juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon orange zest (grated)
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon ginger root (minced)
½ teaspoon garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons green onion (chopped)
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dip chicken in egg mixture and shake in flour mixture to coat. Deep fry chicken in batches at 375 degrees in a deep fryer (or use a wok) until completely cooked.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, lemon juice, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil.

Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired add red pepper flakes and garnish with green onions.

Amazing Sauce

What does Ohio NOT have, WINGERS!  There are days when we crave our favorite Sticky Finger dinner.  We used to buy bottles of Amazing sauce when we'd fly back to Utah for vacation, but $6.00 a bottle, there had to be a better way to re-create this yummy goodness.... and this is it! I honestly can't remember where this came from, but it seems that everyone knows about it!

For the sauce:

**Covers about 8 sticky fingers
3 Tbsp. Franks Hot Sauce (It has to be Franks Hot Sauce... no other sauce will taste as good)
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. water

Heat up hot sauce, brown sugar and water in a saucepot until all the sugar dissolves.

For the Sticky Fingers:
1 c. oil
1 pkg. frozen breaded chicken fingers

In a frying pan, heat oil and cook chicken fingers until crispy and warm. Pour sauce over (or put them in a Tupperware with some of the sauce and shake it up until the chicken is completely covered in sauce). Serve with ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells

This recipe is one that I came up with after looking at about 5 different recipes and pulling out bits and pieces from each one.  They turned out really good!

1 box jumbo shells, cooked per box instructions (drained and set aside)

1 1/2 c. chicken, cooked and diced

1 box frozen spinach, thawed

3 cloves garlic, minced

15 oz. ricotta cheese

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. parmesean cheese grated or the powder stuff

1 egg, beaten

2 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 Tbsp. dried parsley

2 tsp. italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place small amount of sauce in bottom of a 9x13 inch pan, just enough to lightly coat.  Combine all ingredients (except spaghetti sauce and 1c. of the mozzarella cheese) in bowl and blend well.  Spoon into shells.  Spoon the rest of the spaghetti sauce over shells.  Place foil over top of pan and cook for 40 minutes.  Remove foil and place the other 1c. mozzarella on shells and cook for additional 5-7 minutes or until cheese is bubbling.

Chicken Piccata Pasta

I never had chicken piccata until I worked at McKay-Dee Hospital.  I loved it, and everytime they had it, I had to get it.  I found a good recipe for it on Everyday Italian (Giada DeLaurentis), and have loved  it.  Now, I have found the pasta version of this yummy lemony chicken and had to try!  Since I don't have any white wine around, I just use some extra chicken stock, and things turn out just fine.

8 oz penne rigate, dry, cooked
4 chicken breast halves, boneless skinless, 4 oz each
1 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp flour
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth, low sodium
2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh)
2 tbsp capers, drained

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain.

2. Coat skillet with nonstick spray. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and brown on all sides over medium-high heat (about 4 - 5 minutes). Remove chicken from pan.

3. Reduce heat to medium. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Saute garlic for 1 minute. Add flour and cook until thick and bubbly (1-2 min). Then whisk in wine for 1 minute, then the juice from one half lemon and broth. Stir in capers. Add more lemon juice to taste.

4. Add chicken back to the pan and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes. Toss hot pasta with chicken and sauce.

Layered Chocolate Dessert

One of my favorites growing up.  Anything that has chocolate and whip cream is okay in my book!

Crust:


1 c. flour
½ c. chopped walnuts
½ c. melted butter

Combine and spread in a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes then cool.

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese
1 c. powdered. sugar
1 c. cool whip

Blend cream cheese and sugar fold in whip cream. Then spread on crust.  Make 2 small packages of chocolate pudding according to the directions on the package and spread on cream cheese layer. Spread the rest of cool whip on top. Let chill at least 4 hours before serving.