Halloween Dinner: Chicken Parmesan Mummies

We had our Halloween dinner last night!

As tradition, we dimmed the lights to eat our spooky meal...

Chicken Parmesan Mummies

on a bed of baby bats (Farfalle pasta dyed gray while cooking)

with blood red sauce.

We also had Halloween shaped Parmesan garlic bread

& Halloween jello jigglers (:

I got the idea for the Chicken Parmesan Mummies from Somewhat Simple

although I ended up using crescent roll dough instead of biscuits.

It was super easy & so tasty!

Do you like having fun holiday meals?

Check out our other Halloween dinners:
Nightmare Before Christmas
Mummy Braided Chicken Roll

xoxo

Easy Cheesy White Chicken Enchilada Casserole

A few months ago,

my friend Lisa from Pebbles & Piggytails posted a recipe

for Easy Chicken Tortilla Casserole on her blog.

We tried it for dinner a while back & absolutely loved it!

My pregnant mind started thinking of different variations of it that we could try since it's so simple...

Hubby even had an awesome idea that I'm going to withhold for now

since I'm sure I'll post about it later!

This dinner was another one of those weird pregnancy thoughts

that turned out to be wonderfully delicious!

Easy Chicken Tortilla Casserole meets Cheesy White Chicken Enchiladas.

They fall madly in love.

Easy Cheesy.

25-30 corn tortillas

2 cups cooked chicken (diced or shredded)

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 tsp chicken base

1 can diced green chiles

3/4 cup cheddar cheese separated (1/2 cup & 1/4 cup)

2 cups monterey jack cheese

Chop tortillas into bite sized pieces. Heat water with chicken base in the microwave 30 seconds at a time until chicken base is fully melted. Mix together heavy whipping cream, sour cream, & chicken base melted in water. Add chicken, green chiles, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, & tortillas then mix well. Pour mixture into a 9x13 casserole dish and sprinkle with monterey jack cheese & remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned.

xoxo

Braided Chicken Roll

I remember having this simple yet tasty meal while growing up.

This year we turned it into a mummy & had it as our Halloween dinner

just by adding a couple olive slices for eyes.

Pretty spooky, huh?

Alright, so it's not that spooky.

But it is delicious.

2 cans crescent rolls
2 cans cooked chicken (or 2 large chicken breasts, shredded)
1/2 cup mayo
1 tsp dill weed
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup grated cheese
Sliced olives (optional - I usually leave them out since Hubby doesn't like olives, but I'll occasionally put them in my half)

Drain chicken, then shred it in a large mixing bowl. Mix mayo, dill weed, & salt with chicken until well combined. Add grated cheese & olives, and stir until completely coated. Unroll crescent roll dough & arrange flat on a cookie sheet. Pinch perforations together until it is one large, flat piece of dough. Cut inch-wide slits in the dough towards the center across the length of the sheet forming a fringe on 2 sides. Leave a solid 3-4" strip in the middle for the chicken mixture. Spread chicken mixture evenly onto the solid section. Fold the strips over the chicken mixture, alternating strips from each side and pinch to seal. Sprinkle with cheese if desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown & no longer doughy.

xoxo

Cheesy Chicken Bacon Ranch

Cheesy CBR.
Parmesan Chicken meets Chicken Bacon Ranch.
They fall in love.
So do my taste buds.
It's quite the love triangle.

4 Tbsp butter (melted)

1 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 dry ranch packet

4-5 large chicken breasts

bacon bits

grated cheese (I use cheddar & monterey jack)

Melt butter in small microwaveable bowl. Combine parmesan cheese & 1/2 of a dry ranch packet in another bowl. Dip chicken in butter, then coat with parmesan ranch mixture on both sides. Place coated chicken into glass 9x13 pan. Sprinkle generous amount of bacon bits & grated cheese on each piece of chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Featured at:

xoxo

Alice Springs Braided Chicken Roll

I love Outback Steakhouse's Alice Springs Chicken.

Every single time I drive by Outback Steakhouse, I crave it.

I've been seeing a lot of copycat recipes lately on Pinterest & Facebook that have been making my mouth water.

So I decided I was going to make it to see if it tasted just as good.

That was the plan, but I had a couple cans of crescent rolls I needed to use up.

So I decided to dress-it-down a bit & turn it into a Braided Chicken Roll.

It was bonza mate!

2 cans crescent rolls

2 large chicken breasts (shredded)

1/4 cup mustard

1/3 cup honey

2 Tbsp mayo

1/4 tsp seasoning salt

1 1/2 tsp dried onion flakes

2-3 Tbsp bacon bits

1 cup colby jack cheese (shredded)

optional: Sliced fresh mushrooms (Outback Steakhouse uses mushrooms, but we don't like them so we left them out)

Cook & shred chicken. Mix mustard, honey, mayo, seasoning salt, & dried onion flakes until well combined. Add shredded chicken to sauce and stir until coated. Add bacon bits & colby jack cheese, and stir until completely coated. Unroll crescent roll dough & arrange flat on a cookie sheet. Pinch perforations together until it is one large, flat piece of dough. Cut inch-wide slits in the dough towards the center across the length of the sheet forming a fringe on 2 sides. Leave a solid 3-4" strip in the middle for the chicken mixture. Spread chicken mixture evenly onto the solid section. Fold the strips over the chicken mixture, alternating strips from each side and pinch to seal. Sprinkle with cheese if desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown & no longer doughy.

Note: I left out the dried onion flakes since I didn't have any, so that measurement was based off of the recipes I've seen that call for 1/2 Tbsp. Next time I will be sure to try it with the dried onion flakes!

Chicken Parmesan

We had Heart Shaped Chicken Parmesan w/ Spaghetti for our family Valentine's Dinner this year...
I got the idea for the heart shaped chicken here, but didn't want to mess with attempting to fry it.
I'm no good at that.
Then I saw this recipe for a baked version...
After looking at it I realized that it was somewhat similar to a recipe I had growing up,
so I pulled that one out & ended up using a mix between them!

3 large chicken breast halves (sliced in half to make 6)
4 Tbsp butter (melted)
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 jar of favorite spaghetti sauce
Mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice chicken in half to make 6 thin chicken breasts. {Opt: Cut chicken into heart shapes.} Melt butter in small bowl. Combine breadcrumbs & Parmesan cheese in another bowl. Dip chicken in butter then coat with crumb mixture on both sides. Place in foil-lined pan & bake for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over & bake for another 5 minutes. Spoon 1-2 Tbsp of sauce over each piece of chicken & spread evenly so that it is covering the chicken but not dripping off the sides. Place a slice of mozzarella cheese on each piece of chicken & bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve over spaghetti or your favorite noodles.

Notes:
- To make the heart shaped chicken, I pressed a cookie cutter on each chicken breast to sort of give me an outline to follow, then I cut the hearts using my kitchen scissors.
- Don't forget to coat & cook the scraps of chicken breast if you make heart shapes since they're still yummy, but they probably won't need to cook as long!

Cheesy White Chicken Enchiladas

I grew up with this yummy recipe & love it!

4-6 large chicken breast halves, cooked & cubed

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 cups sour cream

1 small can green chilies diced or chopped (optional)

1 small can or jar of sliced green or black olives (optional)

3-4 green onions, sliced (optional)

2 cups monterey jack cheese (if you don't have it, cheddar is fine)

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

tortillas

Cook chicken & dice; set aside. In large bowl combine soup, sour cream, chilies, olives, & green onions. Add monterey jack cheese to mixture once well combined. Remove 2 cups of mixture & add to chicken. Place chicken mixture into tortillas & roll up. Place in 2 large pans so they are somewhat separated. Spoon remaining mixture over top & cover with cheddar cheese. Cover with foil & bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove foil & bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until cheese begins to lightly brown.

Notes:

- I find it helps to put a thin layer of soup mixture on the pan first so that the bottoms of the tortillas don't get too tough

- I usually cut the recipe in half to make just one 9x13 & freeze the other half of the can of chilies in a snack bag

The only problem is that I can't remember any sides that we used to eat with it...

Suggestions anyone?

xoxo

Honey Curried Chicken

I got this simple recipe from a friend from church.

We've changed it a little, but it sure is tasty!

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (shredded or cubed)

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup mustard

1 tsp salt

2 tsp curry powder

1/4 cup melted butter (I just melt it with everything else in the microwave)

Mix together honey, brown sugar, mustard, salt, curry powder, and butter. Heat mixture together in a saucepan or microwavable bowl to make it come together more. Mix chicken in, then pour everything into 9x9. Cook at 375 for about 15 minutes. Serve over rice.

Note: I usually add some extra mustard

Crockpot Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

I was so excited when I stumbled across this easy recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff on Pinterest a while back. I love that it's only 3 ingredients and it requires practically no prep (or cleanup for that matter if you use those wonderful Reynolds Crockpot liners).

Ingredients:

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I use frozen ones)

1 bottle Archer Farms Hawaiian-Style Barbecue Sauce (from Target)

1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks, drained

Directions:

Place chicken breasts in the crockpot and cover with sauce. Empty can of drained pineapple chunks on top. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken with two forks while still in crockpot so chicken will be well coated with sauce. Serve over rice and enjoy.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Taquitos

I first saw the idea for this delicious & addicting meal from Six Sisters' Stuff on Pinterest. It became an instant favorite at our house once I finally got around to making it!

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened

12 slices of bacon, cooked & crumbled (I usually just use real bacon bits)

4 cups cooked, shredded chicken

1 (1 oz) packet dry ranch dressing mix

2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

15-20 (6-inch) flour tortillas (recipe calls for 20 but I usually can only make about 15)

Salt

Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cover a large baking sheet (or cookie sheet) with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Mix together cream cheese, chicken, cheese, and bacon (I just sprinkle a layer of bacon on top, then mix it until I'm satisfied with the amount since I use real bacon bits.) Add in about 1/2 of the dry Ranch packet, mix well and taste. Add more if you want more of a Ranch taste, then mix well (I use the whole packet). Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture into a tortilla and roll it up. Place taquito seam-side down on baking sheet. Repeat until all of the chicken mixture is inside tortillas (approx 15-20 times). You may need to use two baking sheets depending on how many you make. Once finished, spray the tops of the taquitos with non-stick cooking spray (or you could lightly brush some olive oil on them) and sprinkle with salt. Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges and tops are golden. Let cool for a couple of minutes. We like to eat them with the suggested "Salsa Ranch" dip, which is equal parts salsa and ranch, but she also mentioned dipping them in plain Ranch dressing, or Blue Cheese dressing. Enjoy!

A little side story about the nickname:

We call any sort of Chicken Bacon Ranch meal at our house CBR,

just for the sake of shortening the obvious deliciousness of the Chicken Bacon Ranch combination.

Our son called Taquitos "Tiko Tikos" once, & we liked how it flowed so it just stuck with us.

Hence the nickname, CBR Tiko Tikos...

xoxo

Green Bay Chicken

This dinner is sooo yummy & it is super easy! Maybe that's why the original recipe that I found over at allrecipes.com is called Easy Company Chicken...

Well, my husband thought Easy Company Chicken wasn't catchy enough for him to remember. We found it tastes great with green grapes & peas, and the sauce is gold. Green & gold make him think of the Green Bay Packers, hence the name Green Bay Chicken. Funny though, since neither of us are Packers fans...

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cooked & diced)

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup mayo

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1-2 cups of shredded cheddar

Cook & dice the chicken breasts. Combine the diced chicken, soup, mayo, curry powder, & parmesan cheese in a medium bowl. Mix well & pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle desired amount of grated cheddar over the top. Cover dish and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Remove cover for last 10 minutes of baking to lightly brown the top.

Note: You can leave the chicken breasts whole and just pour the soup mixture on top, but I usually use diced chicken.

Poppyseed Chicken

This recipe is so yummy that I almost hesitate to share it! It's one that I grew up with & I make it enough that I have it memorized. I guess you can say it's one of our family favorites... Thanks Mom!

Mix together following ingredients, then pour into a 9x13:
3 chicken breasts, cooked & cubed (or if you're short on time you can use canned chicken, just 2 drained cans)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chicken broth
2 cans cream of chicken soup

To make the topping:
2 pkg Ritz crackers (crushed)
2 tsp poppyseeds
1 stick butter (melted)

Crush Ritz crackers in a gallon size ziplock. Mix poppyseeds in with crackers while melting butter. Pour butter into ziplock & mix well. Pour crumb mixture onto chicken/soup mixture in 9x13 and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes. Serve over rice & enjoy!

Crockpot Italian Chicken

I got this wonderful recipe from my friend's blog... It is way delish & super easy! She has plenty of other delicious recipes you should check out sometime. Head on over to Kaye's Cupboard to see what she's got cookin!

3 or 4 chicken breasts, thawed

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup Italian dressing (She uses creamy, but I've only tried it with regular)

10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup

salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients into a crockpot on high for an hour or two. Switch to low heat for another 2-3 hours. When the chicken is cooked, shred with a fork.

Tastes great served over rice.

{Kudos to the Kaye family!}