0 Instant Pot Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

I had pre-cooked chicken (leftover from the other night's Chicken Marsala, actually) so I only cooked it for 7 minutes instead of 25. The pasta was PERFECTLY cooked. Also used 1/2 the amount of Swiss after reading some reviews. This would also be really good with the addition of frozen peas, and sauteed pancetta instead of ham. YUM!

I pre-sprayed the inner pot with cooking spray to help any pasta sticking issues. No problem.

http://www.adventuresofanurse.com/2016/09/30/instant-pot-chicken-cordon-blue-casserole/

Ingredients:

16 oz Rotini pasta (I used farfalle)
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
1 pound Cubed Ham
16 oz Swiss cheese
8 oz Gouda cheese
8 oz heavy cream
2 cups chicken broth
1 tbs spicy mustard
2 tbs butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Pour uncooked pasta into your instant pot cover with 2 cups chicken broth. Place thin chicken strips and ham on top. Place on Manual High Pressure for 25 minutes. Or use your poultry button. Do a quick release Stir and pour heavy cream, mustard and both of the cheeses into the pan. Stir until creamy and smooth. In a small pan melt butter and add panko bread crumbs stir until all are toasty and golden brown about 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle on top of cordon blue. Enjoy!

26 Bento #268 - Froggie World Animal Day Blog Hop

We're hopping again! ;)  Today is World Animal Day and my bento friends and I are each doing a different animal-themed lunch today.  I selected the noble frog.

The past few days we have been enjoying some delicious deli meats courtesy of Columbus Salame.  Today we're using their applewood smoked ham, which has this really savory, smokey taste.  It's great quality and flavor!  I've been having it grilled with melty cheddar and a smidge of deli mustard.  Delish!  I've prepared it today in E's lunch as ham spirals with cute froggie picks, with a side of carrots.

We have another CuteZCute cheddar sandwich, and this time I used the adorable froggie plate for the face.  I was able to emboss the bread as well with the tool, which is such a nifty feature!

Bento #267 - Columbus applewood smoked ham spirals, carrots, cheddar on whole wheat, mini bananas and Willamette Valley Granola chips.

Pssst...I have a Willamette Valley Granola giveaway going on, click here to enter!

Now, check out what Astrid has for WAD at Lunch Fit For a Kid!  Click below.

3 Bento #265 - Butterfly Ham & Cheese

Lunch today is in a Lego lunchbox with some butterflies.  It's ham and cheddar on whole wheat, and in the butterfly shape with a LunchPunch. You can't really see the butterfly sandwich very well, but next to it is a cute silicone butterfly cup filled with organic cucumber wedges, and a mini banana.

Bento #265 - Columbus ham and cheddar cheese on whole wheat, organic cucumber, mini banana and an apple strawberry Crusher.

 

6 Bento #233 - Ham Rolls, Baby Bel & Cucumber Flowers

I did a crazy amount of grocery shopping this week.  I think I need to start watching one of those extreme couponing shows to get some tips.  I had heart palpitations when I added it all up.  Don't tell my husband.  ;)

Okay, so today we have ham rolls with adorable puppy and kitty picks, and a couple of Baby Bels in the main box.

In the side box there are cucumber flowers, fresh organic blueberries and some rice pilaf in cute heart cups.

Snack is a spiced apple & craisin muffin and a sweet clementine.

These are the boxes I picked up in a housewares shop in Chichester, England in June.  Love these!  They are really simple and easy to use.

Bento # 233 - Baby Bel, ham, rice pilaf, fresh blueberries & cucumbers.  Snack - Apple spice muffin & clementine.

0 Bento #207 - Scrambled Eggs & Ham

I think one of the best simple meals in the world is scrambled eggs.  It's even better with a little baked ham and cheese (or cream cheese if you want to just die of bliss.)  I scrambled a couple of free-range eggies with some ham and shredded cheese.

Fresh kiwi and sweet corn-off-the-cob round out this lunch!  We also have some of the Indian Spiced Nuts as part of her afternoon snack.

Bento #207 - Scrambled eggs with ham & cheese, fresh sliced kiwi, and sweet corn.  Snack - Apple carrot Apple Crusher and Indian spiced nuts.

0 Bento #197 - Inside-Out Tulip Sandwiches (and trip photos)

Today we have "inside-out" tulip sandwiches with cheese and ham, and a large helping of fresh fruit salad.  E likes to make her sandwiches herself and be creative with the order in which she eats them, so it's a good lunch for her.

Bento #197 - 12 grain whole wheat toast, cheddar and Colby cheese, deli ham, broccoli & cauliflower, and fresh mixed fruit salad.

Now, a food picture from our trip.  These stuffed green and black olives were the appetizer at Spaghi Pizzeria Ristorante, North London - we chose a couple of delicious handmade pizzas.  The Quattro Stagioni (ham, mushrooms, artichokes & olives) and the Pizza Romana (ham, mozzarella, tomato, pepperoni & mushrooms.)  Excellent!  

We were literally stranded at this restaurant, so I'm very happy that it was a great meal.  Long story short, our Peugeot rental car died (in a roundabout during rush hour!) on our way out of London on the third day, so we dined here while we waited for the tow truck to rescue us.  (Big thank-you to Lady MiniCabs for being so incredibly helpful and friendly!  In fact, if you click on their link you will see that the green arrow is pointing exactly where we broke down.)

Poor Peugeot.

0 Bento #181 - Gluten-Free Pancakes & Ham

Whenever I make pancakes, I always make extra to layer between sheets of parchment paper and store in the freezer for quick meals.  These pancakes are made from a gluten-free mix, and are really good, tender and fluffy.  

Bento #181 - Gluten-free pancakes, ham, cheese, organic cauliflower florets, and veggie dip.

0 Bento #155 - Toast & Apple Cheese

Well, it's not really apple cheese, (though I'm sure someone, somewhere out there makes such a concoction) but apple shaped Havaarti cheese.  There are two slices, one is a "red delicious" and the other is a "golden delicious" with green leaves and brown stem.  The ham is also cut into the apple shape.  What's funny is that this bento is devoid of actual apples. ha!

Bento #155 - Melba toasts, Havaarti cheese, ham, carrots, cucumber, macadamia nuts and dried blueberries.

4 Baked Mashed Potatoes

Okay, so we're really stretching it here in our house.  We haven't been out of the house since Sunday!  Today is yet another snow day stuck at home.  We're getting creative with the items I have left in my fridge.  Remember those mashed potatoes I served with the stuffed peppers?  Well, I used the leftovers in last night's dinner.

When I was vacationing in England as a girl, a fast food staple besides fish & chips, bangers & mash and Cornish pasties was a loaded baked potato.  You could get them almost anywhere.  They had a variety of hearty and delicious toppings, my favourite of which was ham, cheese and broccoli.  It's really so simple with mashed potatoes, just layer the potatoes in an oven-safe dish (and I mix it with a little shredded cheese), diced ham, lightly steamed broccoli and cover with as much cheese as you like.  Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes or until it's heated through and the cheese on top is bubbly.

Hmmmmm.

Ella really threw a fit when she saw hers because she did not want to try it.  However when she did, she said it was "REALLY good" (several times!) and ate it right up.

Hopefully we'll be able to get out at some point today.  Otherwise one or more of us may go nuts!

0 Bento #152 - Crackers & Cucumber Spears

SNOW DAY!  We had about 6 inches of snow dumped on us last night, which is crazy unusual for the Atlanta area.  We had no school, but this was the bento I made.  I spread a little cream cheese on the crackers and some sliced ham "sticks", as well as a sliced baby cucumber.

Bento #152 - Triscut crackers, provolone cheese, cream cheese, ham, cucumber spears, dried cherries and blueberries.

2 Bento #147 - Naan Pizza

Today E and I made a naan bread pizza, with fresh tomato basil bruschetta as the base, shredded cheese, and  a couple slices of ham. I buy naan in the frozen section at Trader Joe's, and now they sell it in the bakery area of Costco (which is where this naan came from.)  It was baked at 400 for about 9 minutes.

Bento #147 - Naan pizza, fresh fruit salad, yogurt stars, sunflower seeds and celery.

8 Bento #127 - Steak & Ham Pocket

I made these little melty pastry pockets out of some leftover steak and ham, which I sauteed in a little butter, Italian herbs and a pinch of garlic powder.  Then I encased spoonfuls of the meat in some refrigerated dough rectangles along with some shredded cheese and baked for about 11 minutes.  Ella declared them to be delicious (she called them "pants pockets"!), and the rest we have here in her bento, along with a fresh batch of basil pesto, which is happily pine nut-less this time.  I used walnuts.  I also ensured that there were plenty of celery sticks.  A few days ago she complained that she only had four.

Bento #127 - Steak, ham & cheese pastry pocket, celery sticks, basil pesto, macadamia nuts, yogurt stars and fresh strawberries.

2 Bento #124 - Mac & Ham Flowers

Miss E requested her favorite organic mac n' cheese for dinner, and some went into this bento.  It's topped with cucumber and ham flowers.  The celery is topped with peanut butter and chopped pecan pieces for a nice crunchy bite.

Bento #124 - Organic mac n' cheese, cucumbers, ham, Aussie apple, celery and peanut butter pecan sticks.

0 Bento #121 - Scrambled Ham & Egg-Stuffed Shells

These shells are so cute in this underwater-inspired bento!  I cooked them in purple boiling water colored with all natural food coloring.  They are more brightly violet than they appear in the picture, and E was delighted.  I filled them with scrambled eggs made with cheese and chopped ham (who doesn't like that?) and the dip is one I made last night with spinach and onions.

Bento #121 - Scrambed egg, cheese and ham-stuffed shells, organic baby carrots & sugar snap peas, spinach and onion dip, and green grapes.

5 Bento #120 - Ham & Cheese on Toasts

E was thrilled with this lunch, she thought it was so cool that she could make her own ham and cheese sandwiches.  The toasts are Alessi crispy biscotte, which are small and fit perfectly into one side of this bento box.  Also, the Aussie apple is stuffed with peanut butter, an idea I got from a commenter on my Facebook page.  Great idea!  E loved that too.  The little banana on top is a small spoon to help spread.

Bento #120 - Deconstructed ham and cheese, baby carrots, Aussie apple stuffed with organic peanut butter.

7 Bento #98 - Carbonara Twirls

This isn't really carbonara, but a less pungent, more kid-friendly version.  And no eggs.  We had a batch of some recalled eggs that my husband was actually sick from last week, and thus I have no eggs right now.  I took some Black Forest ham I'd cut into ribbons and sauteed it in some garlic-infused oil and a little butter, and then added some cooked Dreamfields low-carb spaghetti noodles and tossed everything with a bit of black pepper and cheddar cheese (rather than pecorino.)   I thought it was really tasty. E thought it was cute but ate less than half, even though I twirled it all for her (funnily enough, she mentioned that her teachers liked her lunch.)  The apples stayed nice and crisp after a fresh lemon water soak.

Bento #98 - "Carbonara" twirls, sugar snap peas, and a sliced Pink Lady apple.

2 Baked Tortelloni with Asparagus & Ham

I got my camera charger back today!  I left it in Maryland a few weeks ago, and my sister was kind enough to mail it to me.  Since then I've been eking out every drop of battery life I could.  It finally quit the other day, just in time for me to miss (for the second time!) snapping pix of boeuf bourguignon a la Julia Child and Dijon-braised fingerling potatoes (though I'll make this again in a day or two since I have a lot of potatoes left.)



Today however, I decided to make E something a little different, and very cheesy.  


Ingredients:
Tortelloni (any kind, I used spinach & ricotta) cooked al dente
2 tbls cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup grated hard, melty cheese (I used a Mexican blend)
few slices of chopped ham
2-3 asparagus stalks, cut into equal bite-sized pieces


Now a note before I begin - I don't usually use recipes unless I'm baking, so I just wing it and add as I see fit.  I didn't add any herbs or spices to this because I wanted to keep it simple, BUT, if I were making this for dinner, I'd add Italian herbs, garlic and probably roasted red peppers or maybe some sun dried tomatoes.  *drool*.  Maybe some red pepper flakes.  Okay, let's not get carried away!  If you want to make this for a crowd, at least double the following recipe!  I only made a small portion today.


Preheat oven to 350, and cook your tortelloni to al dente (if it says cook for 10-11 minutes, cook for 7.)

In a small sauce pot over low heat add the cream cheese and milk, melt down and stir well.

Next, add the parmesan cheese, and whisk in until melted.

Then the other shredded cheese of your choice

At this point I might add a dash or two of nutmeg to give it a more alfredo-y taste.....  So, remove the sauce from the heat.  It should be fairly thick, like this, but if it's too thick, whisk in some more milk.

In a small fry pan over medium heat with a tiny bit of olive oil or butter, throw in the chopped ham and asparagus (and other veg that you want to use.)  Add pepper to taste.  Cook until the ham is a bit browned and the veg gets a little color on them.

Then add the ham mixture to your sauce and fold in gently.

Take your cooked tortelloni and very gently fold that in through the sauce.

At this point you can dump the entire mixture into a small casserole, or break out the ramekins for individual kid-sized portions.

Pop these bad boys into your 350 oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until they are nice and bubbly, and slightly browning on top.  Top with some parsley, and enjoy!

My sister-in-law came over and ate one (or two) of these, and declared it's the first meal she's been able to eat since she had her first bout of morning-sickness several weeks ago.  And now she's napping on my couch,  hehe!