This has been a regular dinner for us since 2002. I found it on AllRecipes.com where it was submitted by Debra Slaughter. It only takes 5 minutes to put together and then about 50 minutes in the oven. Anyone can do it! There are so many possible variations including using real crab or different cheeses. I have added fresh chives or green onions and/or fresh or dried dill. I actually added in 5 oz. of thawed chopped frozen spinach and he ate it and said he didn’t even taste the spinach!! This dish is also great warmed up for leftovers.
2 eggs lightly beaten ½ c. milk ½ c. mayonnaise 1 tsp. cornstarch 8 oz. imitation crab 1 ½ c. shredded Swiss cheese 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust (I use the pre-made refrigerated kind)
Preheat oven to 350
In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, milk, mayonnaise and cornstarch.
Mix in the imitation crab and Swiss cheese and pour into pie shell.
Bake in preheated oven until it’s set in the middle or very close to being set if you can because it will continue to cook a little after you take it out.
Let it rest 10-15 minutes before slicing if you have the time. The pieces will come out cleaner and….well, it won’t be so HOT!
These were in a cookbook from our church in Knoxville.I made a few changes and do them a little different from time to time based on what ingredients I have on hand.We eat these for dinner, but I think they would also make a good appetizer if you made them smaller.I think they would be great with spinach, mushrooms, or broccoli added in.
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
Salt & pepper to taste
2 T green onions, chopped
3T melted butter
1T Mayonnaise
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
½ c. Croutons, crushed
Handful of shredded cheese
Preheat oven to 350.
Blend cream cheese, 2T of the melted butter
Add all ingredients except chicken and croutons; mix well
Add chicken and 1 ½ T crushed croutons.
Separate each can of crescents into four rectangles.
Place about ½ c. mixture into each rectangle.
Pull the four corners of the crescents to the middle over mixture and squeeze together
Brush filled crescents with melted butter, and top with croutons.
About two years ago we got satellite TV for the first time in our married life. Even better is the DVR!!! We always just had the old rabbit ears system, with a timer set on our VCR for our favorite shows. Wow! I will never watch TV again without my DVR! I could go on and on, but that's another post.
What I want to tell you about is FOOD NETWORK!! I LOVE it! I never understood how people could watch it so much, but now I'm a believer. It has revolutionized the way I cook. I have learned so many techniques, how to cook with different ingredients, healthy recipes and just a passion for cooking. I started to get more creative in feeding my palate challenged hubby (formerly unfairly labeled as "picky eater") and our recipe folder for "regulars" has multiplied by at least 200%. I've even gotten to the point where I don't always measure everything exactly and I'm learning how to better season my food and taste as I go. It's so fun!
I've been wanting to share some of the best recipes I've found (allrecipes.com and foodnetwork.com are my favorite sources) and old family favorites. The following is a family favorite from my Mom that I've tweaked according to my new found knowledge:
Chicken & Dumplings
This recipe is more of a concept than a stick to it recipe. These measurements will turn out well, but you can use different cuts of chicken, different quantities of chicken and/or dumplings, soup, all according to your tastes and what you like the best and what you want to have the most leftover. You might want more gravy if you’re serving it over noodles for example. Jason likes the chicken in decent size chunks. I like it smaller – chopped or shredded almost. One time I sautéed some onion, celery, and carrots in a bit of oil and then simmered it in the skillet with a bit of chicken broth. I pureed this mixture in a blender and added it to the pot. It added a nice bit of flavor and hopefully nutrition and Jason didn’t mind it at all. If it he was not eating, I would add chunks of vegetables. He also likes occasionally to crunch up some cheddar sun chips or Doritos and put them on top.
I usually serve with Mashed Potatoes or Egg noodles, and then hopefully some other vegetables.
3 T olive oil. 1 - 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into whatever size pieces you’d like – or boneless skinless tenders Paprika to taste Pepper to taste 1 can cream of mushroom 2 cans cream of chicken or 1 family size can low sodium chicken broth & water to cover chicken by an inch or so for boiling. Bisquick and milk for dumplings ( you can add some chives if you like) Fresh or dried parsley to sprinkle over the top. (optional)
Coat the bottom of a large soup pan with the oil and allow it to heat up to medium high.
Season chicken with pepper and paprika and then brown chicken in the oil (I don’t use salt because there is so much in the canned soups). Do not cook it all the way through as it will get completely cooked later in the stew.
Add chicken broth and water. Cover. Let boil on Medium High until chicken is no longer pink in middle.
Add the soup. Return to boil Reduce to medium heat!!!! and cover. Be careful of having the heat too high as it will burn on the bottom of the pan and/or it will boil over.
Mix up dumpling batter (measurements are on side of bisquick box. I just add mix and milk together until it’s the right consistency, a little thinner than biscuit dough).
Drop large spoonfuls (2-3TBS. for each spoon) of dumplings into boiling liquid.
Mix gently, trying not to break up the dumplings. When they get a little more cooked I give them a light dunk into the boiling liquid, maybe gently flip them over.
I haven’t checked a celebrity gossip site in many months, maybe even a year. I do click on the occasional headline on MSN.com, my start page at work. This keeps me informed of the big stuff, but I’m not wasting my time with photos of celebrities getting their morning coffee, or constant baby bump watches. I knew I was cured of my addiction when I saw that Gwen Stefani had had another baby, and I didn’t even know she was pregnant.
So what brought about this change? Several things – going from a part time job to full time left me with less web surfing time and it just wasn’t worth the time anymore. That’s the practical answer, but the heart answer is this – Britney Spears. Her meltdown broke my heart. Until then, I had never seen the footage of paparazzi surrounding people and cars to get those shots, I had only seen the resulting photos. This footage made me sick. No wonder she runs over people’s feet! How could she not? And no wonder she was completely losing it! I had to separate myself from the whole situation. I have prayed and prayed for Britney. I know I’m not the only one.
Bebo Norman was so kind as to put his feelings about it into words, and it’s like he read my mind as well. If you get a chance, check out his new song Britney (lyrics below). Here’s what he had to say about the inspiration behind the song:
I was up late, couldn’t sleep, watching some news channel, when yet another story about Britney Spears came on. My first instinct was to scoff and write it off, but then there was this freeze-frame shot of a look on her face of utter and absolute despair and confusion and brokenness—a look that I recognized. And I remember thinking “This girl is a child of God.” Suddenly, I saw her story not as something to mock, but as a real-life tragedy that is desperate for redemption and hope—a story not so different from any of our stories. Take away all the lights and cameras, and it’s really just a narrative of a girl so clearly in need of love, so clearly in need of the redeeming love of our God.
And suddenly, all I wanted to do was just apologize, over and over. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...on behalf of this fallen world, on behalf of our consumerism that so consistently devours what it wants and leaves the remnants in the wake of the search for the next fix, on behalf of believers, like myself, who mock and hurl stones rather than scribbling a message in the sand.
"Britney"
Britney, I'm sorry for the lies we told We took you into our arms, then left you cold Britney, I'm sorry for this cruel, cruel world We sell the beauty but destroy the girl
Britney, I'm sorry for your broken heart We stood aside and watched you fall apart I'm sorry we told you fame would fill you up And money moves the man, so drink the cup
(chorus) I know loves goes around the world, we know And you never see it coming back But I can see it coming back for you It's coming back for you
Britney, I'm sorry for the stones we throw We tear you down just so we can watch the show Britney, I'm sorry for the words we say We point the finger as you fall from grace
(chorus)
Britney, I do believe that love has come Here for the broken, here for the ones like us
