Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup salsa or picante sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded Monteray Jack or Mexican Blend cheese
6-8 flour tortillas
1 small tomato, chopped
1 green onion, chopped

I used a couple of frozen chicken breasts to make this dish.  Simply browned them in a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of bacon grease.

Then, I used the Pampered Chef Salad Choppers to cut the hot chicken breasts into chunks.  It made fast work of the chopping, speeded up my prep time, and prevented my fingers from burning!

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Stir soup, sour cream, salsa, and chili powder together in a medium bowl.

• In a large bowl, mix chicken, 1 cup of soup mixture, and cheese together to make filling.

• Divide chicken mixture among tortillas, roll one-by-one, and place seam-side down in a 13x9 baking dish.
• Pour remaining soup mixture over filled tortillas.
• Cover baking dish.
• Bake 40 minutes or till enchiladas are hot and bubbling.  (I baked for about 30 minutes covered and uncovered for the last 8-10 minutes to reach a rich golden brown.
• Top with tomato and onion and serve with Mexican or Spanish rice and pico de gallo.

Company Club Braid

This is one of those recipes that is quick, easy, and looks fabulous.  Pictured here I have laid it out as a rectangle but I have also separated the crescent rolls into triangles and laid them around the bread stone in a circular shape and it comes out looking like a wreath.  Either way, it looks elegant and it is super easy!

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 cup mayo
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, snipped
1 Tbsp. finely chopped onion
4 slices crisply cooked and chopped bacon
1 cup (4-oz) Swiss cheese
2 pkg. crescent rolls
2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 medium-sized sliced red bell pepper
2 cups shredded lettuce

Preparation Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Brown ground beef, onions, and peppers.

• Combine mayo and mustard and add parsley.
• Fold in ground beef.
• Arrange crescent rolls on cookie sheet in a rectangle, mashing edges together.

• Snip outside edges of dough into 1" strips.
• Scoop beef mixture onto center of dough.

• Top with tomatoes and cheese.  (Usually I use grated cheese but this time I had a variety of mild, sharp, and white cheddars in slices on hand.)

• Braid strips over the top.

• Bake 20-25 minutes.
• Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese and serve on a leaf of lettuce.

* This is also wonderful using chicken or sausage instead of ground beef.  I have been known to forget to include tomatoes inside and simply placed them decoratively on top and it turned out fine as well.