Chicken and Broccoli Braid

This is an easy recipe and is really delicious. One great thing about it is that it has so many food groups. There's meat, dairy, vegetable, and grain. If you have a salad, it's a perfect meal and very easy. You can use leftover chicken or even buy a roasted or rotisserie chicken from the store. You can also use precooked packaged chicken from the refrigerated section at the store. You can use either fresh or frozen (thawed) broccoli. It's a great "go to" recipe when you're tired or don't have a lot of time to spend. You can put together a salad or do whatever else while it bakes.

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 packages (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place chicken and broccoli in large bowl. Add pepper and cheese. Press garlic over vegetable and chicken mixture. Add mayonnaise and salt; mix well. Unroll 1 package of crescent roll dough; do not separate. Arrange longest sides of dough across width of 12" x 15" pan(a cookie sheet works well). Repeat with remaining package of dough. Seal perforations, so that you have one large rectangle of dough. On longest sides of dough cut into strips 1 1/2 inches apart, 3 inches deep (there will be 6 inches in the center for the filling). Spread filling evenly over middle of dough. To braid, lift strips of dough across mixture to meet in center, twisting each strip one turn to help them stick together. Brush on a bit of water for "glue", if you need to. Continue alternating strips to form a braid. Tuck ends up to form a rim at the end of braid. Brush egg white over dough. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake 25-28 minutes or until deep golden brown.
Cut crosswise to serve.

You can use mayonnaise instead of the ranch dressing. You can also add 1 teaspoon of dill weed to the filling, if you like.

It's still good if you use reduced fat cheese, light ranch dressing, and reduced fat crescent rolls.

Makes: 10 servings

Chocolate Glaze

This was made in my Little Theater Class. It was made to go with cream puffs, but can be used with any dessert.

2 Tbsp butter
1 cup chocolate chips (any variety)
3 tsp light corn syrup
3 tsp milk

Melt butter, chocolate chips and corn syrup in small saucepan. After they are melted and smooth add the milk. Mix well. Drizzle over cream puffs, ice cream or cake or any dessert you feel could benefit from some chocolate glaze.

Ham 'n' Cheese Pasta

I made this at my Little Theater Class. Some of the members thought they would like it better without the horseradish. Others wanted to try it with bacon instead of the ham, or even chicken. They also thought to substitute broccoli or green beans for the peas. Have fun with it and try different combinations.

8 ounces uncooked medium pasta shells
1 pound process cheese (Velveeta), cubed
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp prepared horseradish
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 pkg (8 ounces) frozen peas, thawed

Cook pasta shells according to the package directions. Meanwhile in a microwave-safe bowl, combine the process cheese and milk. Cover and microwave on high for 2 minutes; stir. Heat 1-2 minutes longer or until smooth, stirring twice. Stir in the ketchup and horseradish until blended.
Drain pasta and place in a large bowl. Stir in the ham, peas and cheese sauce. Transfer to a greased 2 quart baking dish. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly.
Serves 4.
A while back, I read an article about cooking pasta. It said to bring the water to a boil and add the pasta. Bring it back to a boil and turn off stove. Let sit for 10-15 minutes. The pasta will be done.

Chocolate Bliss Cheesecake

I made this for my Little Theater Class. It was a big hit.

18 Oreo cookies, finely crushed
2 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
3 pkg (8oz each) PHILDELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 pkg. (8 squares) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted, cooled
3 eggs

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Press combined crumbs and butter onto bottom of 9 inch springform pan.
Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until blended. Add chocolate, mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
Bake 55 min. to 1 hour or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.
Dust cheesecake with unsweetened cocoa powder or powdered sugar. Or garnish with fresh strawberried or raspberries just before serving.

Makes 12 servings

Black-and-White Molten Chocolate Cakes

I made this for my Little Theater Class. The class raved about the taste and ease of preparation.

This is so much easier to make that it looks. This is not a diet friendly dessert. But, it is so good. The melted chocolate running out of the cake is wonderful. Half of the cake is 8 Weight Watchers points. Sometimes it would be worth them. At the end I will put the amounts to make 2 custard dishes instead of 6. 2 is 4 servings.

1 pkg (6 squares) Baker's Select Bittersweet Chocolate (I couldn't find bittersweet so I used semi-sweet)
10 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup flour
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 squares Baker's White Chocolate, cut into 6 chunks

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Microwave bittesweet chocolate and butter in microwavable bowl on HIGH 2 min.; whisk until melted. Stir in sugar, flour, whole eggs and egg yolks.
Pour into six greased 6-oz. custard cups on baking sheet. Press 1 white chocolate chunk into batter in each cup.
Bake 15 min. or until cakes are firm around edges but still soft in centers. Let stand 1 min. Run knife around edges to loosen. Invert onto plate; cut in half. Serve warm. Makes 12 servings.

2 squares chocolate

3 1/2 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

6 tsp flour

1 egg

1 egg white

1/2 square white chocolate

Make the same as for the regular cake recipe.

Famous Salsa

This is a great salsa. Very quick and easy to make and tastes delicious. So any time you can't have or don't want salsa with fresh tomatoes, this is the salsa to choose.

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients
2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
½ onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
juice from ½ lime
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup canned sliced green chiles, or to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions
Combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, lime juice, salt, green chiles, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Blend on low to desired smoothness.

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

I made these for Super Bowl Sunday. I really like mozzarella sticks, but they have so many calories and so much fat. So I reworked a recipe I had and this is what I came up with. They are very light and crispy--really delicious.

Makes: 32 appetizers
8 light string cheese sticks cut once vertically and once horizontally. Each stick will then be cut into 4 sticks
Vegetable oil enough for deep fryer or 2 inches deep in heavy saucepan
1/2 cup Kodiak Cakes pancake and waffle mix (You could probably use a different brand, but it may be a little different.)
1/2 teaspoon paprika (I like smoky paprika, but use whatever you have.)
1/4 cup fat free milk
2 Tbsp egg Beaters or other pasteurized egg product
Marinara sauce, if desired for dipping

1. Place cheese sticks on tray; freeze at least 1 hour.
2. Heat 2 inches of oil to 375ºF in large heavy saucepan or follow manufacturer's directions on deep fryer. Beat pancake mix, paprika, milk and egg beaters until smooth. Dip cheese, 1 stick at a time, into batter, covering cheese completely. Be sure to cover the cheese completely or it will melt and run out.
3. Fry 8 to 10 sticks at a time 1 to 2 minutes, turning carefully, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Serve cheese sticks with marinara, salsa, spaghetti or pizza sauces.

Freezing the cheese first allows the outside to get crispy before the cheese starts to melt.
If you can't cook at least 6 or so at a time keep them in the freezer so they won't thaw before you get to them.
Coat them all before you start frying. They cook very quickly and you need to be ready. Don't try to fry and coat at the same time.
You can also use cheddar cheese cut into about the same size sticks. They are also yummy.

1 serving = 2 sticks and is 3 points