fancy food that was so fun-will make again!

Chicken and Sun dried Tomato Bruschetta
(from oneshetwoshe.com)

Ingredients:

• 2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 1/4 cups of Italian dressing, divided
• 1/3 cup feta cheese
• 8 sun dried tomatoes, without oil chopped (mine were in oil and it tasted great!)
• 1 loaf foccacia bread cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
• 1/4 cup olive oil (I skipped this step)

Directions

1. Place the chicken in a bowl with 1 cup of the dressing. Marinate for at least three hours. (I just threw one chicken breast in the crock pot with some of the dressing and cooked for a few hours).
2. Cook the chicken. After the chicken has cooled a little, either shred it or cut it.
3. Add chopped sun dried tomatoes, torn up spinach, feta and the rest of the dressing. Mix together.
4. Cut up the bread and drizzle with olive oil. Broil until lightly toasted. Add the chicken mixture to the bread and serve!

This is something I fell in love with! So did Russell, and 1 out of 4 kids liked it. Sure, not a hit there, but the oldest has the most mature taste buds, and she liked it. I loved the contrast of flavors, and the dressing was excellent. This could be served as a dip as well. You can pretty much use as much of each ingredient (spinach, cheese, tomatoes, etc) as you like.

Lasagna Roll-Ups

(goodthingsutah.com)

Ingredients:

• 14-18 lasagna noodles (about 1 pkg), cooked al dente (I didn't use all of mine)
• 1 16 oz jar Alfredo sauce
• 1 16 oz jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 packet creamy pesto sauce, prepared with all milk (found next to the spaghetti seasoning packets)
• ½ C parmesan cheese
• 
  

• 1 lb ground turkey
• ½ lg onion, diced
• 4 slices bacon, chopped (optional)
• 1 2 lb container ricotta cheese
• ½ box frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
• Heaping ¼ C sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (optional)
• 1 ½ C 5 Italian cheese blend
• 1 lg egg, lightly beaten
• spices: salt, black pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, & ground nutmeg

1) Cook lasagna noodles until al dente. They should still have a good bite to them.
2) Combine chopped bacon and onion in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté until onions are translucent. Drain all but 2 Tbs bacon grease.
3) Add ground turkey to the bacon & onion. Season with salt and pepper to taste, ½ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp nutmeg and 1 tsp Italian seasoning, or to taste. Cook through.
3) Place meat/onion mixture in large bowl along with remaining filling ingredients. Season with ¼ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp salt,1/8 tsp black pepper, & ½ tsp Italian seasoning. Combine thoroughly.
4) Spoon ¼-1/3 C filling along entire noodle then roll’er up. Continue with remaining noodles.
5) Spread ½ the jar of Alfredo sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan. Place lasagna rolls, seam side down in the pan. Pour remaining Alfredo sauce, then marinara and finally the pesto sauce atop rolls. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
6) Bake @ 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until parmesan is golden and lasagna rolls are cooked through. Enjoy!


These were a hit at our house, well relatively; half the kids ate them happily. I liked the sauciness, and the spinach/ricotta cheese. I used regular ground beef and skipped the bacon and sun-dried tomatoes. Of course you could do it meatless, too. The pesto sauce is pretty optional too but I think it adds a little something.

Such a great dinner, I promise!

Chicken and Broccoli Braid
(adapted from pampered chef)

• 2 (8oz) packages refrigerated crescent rolls (I used pizza dough instead, I dont really like the flavor of crescent rolls from the store)
  
• 2 c. coarsely chopped cooked chicken (I used rotisserie; canned chicken could work well too)
  
• 1 1/2 c. coarsely chopped broccoli (I steamed it lightly first)
  
• 1/2 C diced red bell pepper (I skipped because I had none, but used some sun-dried tomatoes and caramelized onions I had)
  
• 1/3 C mayonnaise
• 1-2 c. cheddar cheese
  
• 2 tsp dried dill weed
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 garlic clove, pressed (I skipped)
  
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl, combine chicken, broccoli, cheese, bell pepper, mayonnaise, dill, salt and garlic. Mix well.

2. Roll out rolls or dough into the size of your cookie sheet, then lay it in the greased cookie sheet.
3. Place filling along the center of the dough, lengthwise. Cut slits into the dough along the sides about 2 inches, braiding over top. Look at mine- it's not that pretty but it did the job.
4. Brush with egg white. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

We loved this. Like I mention, try the pizza dough if you aren't a fan of crescent rolls. The flavor of this meal is great, and it's got a good serving of veggies in there, too! This meal doesn't take that long if you have prepared chicken ready as well as dough. It is very flexible, too...add mushrooms, different cheeses and veggies- whatever suits you.

lovin' my sun-dried tomatoes; 2 salads

Bow-tie Pasta Salad

• your choice of pasta
• sun-dried tomatoes
• drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper (or Italian dressing, if that's what you prefer)
• cubed cheese
• olives
• sun-dried tomatoes (I love their slightly chewiness, and their longevity in salads vs. fresh)
• sliced red pepper, or zukes, cucumber, whatever
• parmesan cheese sprinkled on top
  

1. Combine the above and chill in fridge an hour before serving.
   

Couscous Pea and Sun-Dried Tomato Salad

• 1 1/2 c. plain couscous, cooked
  
• peas, thawed
• sun-dried tomatoes
• green onion (optional)
• drizzle of olive oil
• sprinkle of garlic powder
• lemon pepper, sprinkled generously

1. Combine the above. Chill in fridge an hour before serving. (Tastes really good the day after).

These are two very versatile salads. I'm kind of posting them as templates for me to reference. You pretty much can use whatever seasonings/veggies you like in these salads. I bought my sun-dried tomatoes at Walmart and they are about 3 dollars a jar in the canned vegetable aisle. They come slightly seasoned in oil, but you just throw them in (drained) as is and they are great. anyway..these are great side dishes. Also great in the summer as cold salads. Throw in chicken in either one and have dinner!