Tag Archives: easy dinners

Chicken Cordon Bleu Crescent Rolls

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Sorry for the dry spell, folks! I’ve been busy making a baby and nesting like a maniac. Three weeks until our due date, and my checklist is shrinking. All the showers are over. The nursery is almost done. My hospital bag is packed. We even traded in the hubby’s convertible for a mommy car!

These last few weeks, I’ve been focused on getting ready to be out of work on maternity leave, but I’ve also been trying to mentally prepare for life with Baby Peebles. I know we will be so happy and in love, but we will also be unsure, overwhelmed, stressed, confused, disgusted, sleep deprived … life will be both wonderful and chaotic.

Our priorities, our habits, our schedules – everything will change. How do you prepare for that?

Aside from lots of organizing and simplifying around the house, I have begun collecting easy, quick recipes like this little gem from Mom on Timeout. Finding time to cook will be hard, so simple and fast meals will be needed.

I only tweaked a few things, like using good deli chicken instead of roasting and slicing your own. The recipes has zero mixing, doesn’t dirty up pots or pans, and takes no time to prepare! You could even make them the night before and just pop them in the oven when you get home from work.

Ingredients:

  • 1 can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
  • 8 slices Swiss cheese
  • 6 slices Boar’s Head Black Forest Ham, cut thin
  • 3 slices Boar’s Head EverRoast Chicken, cut thick
  • Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper

You could use whatever deli brand you prefer; I just love Boar’s Head.

Directions:

(1) Preheat oven to 375°F. While the oven is preheating, lay out the crescent rolls in one large rectangle on a cutting board and press the seams together.

(2) Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and a little salt and pepper. Layer the Swiss cheese, then ham, and finally the chicken. Roll it all up, starting with a long side, and cut into 8 rolls.

Just FYI, in the picture, the chicken slices are straight up and down, but you actually need to angle them so there’s an even amount of chicken in each roll.

Image

(4) Place the rolls in a 9-inch pan, evenly spaced, and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

My hubby’s not big on sauces. Sadly, I am. Oh, the compromises of marriage! 😉 Instead of mixing up honey with Dijon mustard like the original recipe, I just bought some Honey Dijon Mustard at the grocery store. It’s nice the dip the rolls into, but they are equally as delicious without the sauce!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Crescent Rolls

Chicken Cordon Bleu Crescent Rolls

I’m a big fan of cooking to have leftovers for lunches, so I doubled up the recipe. Most packages of sliced cheese have 12 or more slices, so just get two cans of crescent rolls and ask the deli for 1/2 pound of chicken and 1/2 pound of ham.

Lasagna Roll Ups

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When it comes to food, pregnancy makes you fickle. When I pinned a recipe for Chicken & Bacon Lasagna Roll Ups, I fully intended to make this dish as soon as possible and devour every last bite … until we were grocery shopping for the ingredients, and it suddenly sounded awful to me.

No biggie. I decided to just make regular lasagna instead. The problem is when I make lasagna, there are enough leftovers to feed a family of five for an entire week. And right now, we’re sitting pretty at two and a half Peebles, if you count the kiddo I’m making as we speak.

So, I improvised! What I liked about the original roll up recipe was the smaller portions, using only 8 lasagna noodles, instead of a whole box. I know there are plenty of recipes out there for lasagna roll ups, but I’m glad I worked from the SimplyGloria version because my new creation turned out so delicious!

Main Ingredients

  • 10 lasagna noodles
  • 1 lb sweet Italian sausage
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 cups spaghetti sauce (make it or buy it, as you prefer)

Filling

  • 15 oz ricotta cheese
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon parsley
  • salt and pepper, to taste

My Go-To Spaghetti Sauce

  • 15 oz organic tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup champagne
  • 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon thyme
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Start a large pot of water boiling and add 1 tablespoon of vegetable or olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking together. Add the pasta noodles and cook for 8 minutes (about 2 minutes less than the directions).

(2) In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients together for the filling. Easy-peasy. By the way, I really love how the sour cream pairs with the ricotta! Set aside.

(3) Start making your spaghetti sauce. For my recipe, you literally just dump everything in a saucepan and warm on medium heat for about 5 minutes. When the sauce is done, pour about half of it into the bottom of a baking dish.

(4) In a skillet, cook up the sweet Italian sausage, breaking into small pieces. Make sure to drain off the excess fat. I usually also take a paper towel and dab off as much residual grease as I can. Set aside.

(5) When the pasta is done, drain and lay flat onto cutting board. Use paper towels to dry off excess water. I found I could get 5 noodles on one board and get all the rolls done in two batches.

(6) Divide and spread the filling onto the cooked pasta evenly. Add the sweet Italian sausage onto each noodle. Roll the noodles jelly-roll style and add to the baking dish, seam side down. I make two columns with five noodles in each. It’s a tight fit, but try putting the rolls open-end to open-end so the filling doesn’t spill out.

Lasagna Roll Ups

The filling.

How to arrange your roll ups.

How to arrange your roll ups.

(7) Cover the rolls with the remaining sauce. Then sprinkle the entire thing with mozzarella cheese and throw it into the oven for about 30 minutes. Let the roll ups sit for about 5 minutes after they’re done.

Lasagna Roll Ups

Lasagna Roll Ups

I think these Lasagna Roll Ups are being added to the Big Red Cookbook as a family favorite. The hubby really loves this recipe, and I really love not having to eat lasagna for two weeks. Sometimes pregnancy symptoms work out in your favor! 🙂