Chicken Florentine

Another recipe from my mother. She loves this one, because you can actually make the whole thing in the microwave with leftover chicken. I love to buy a rotisserie chicken from Costco and then use the leftovers to make this.


1 package frozen spinach
2 tbl chopped onion
1 c chopped cooked chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbl vinegar
1 cup chicken broth
1-2 tbl butter
1/4 - 1/2 c bread crumbs



Cook onions in a small amount of oil. Mix in spinach and chicken. Remove 1 tablespoon broth and replace with 1 tablespoon vinegar (this is a wine substitute: you could also use wine, but I don't) Mix soup, cheese and 2-3 tbl of chicken broth mixture. If you are using the microwave, heat this until cheese is melted. Stir sauce into chicken mixture. Melt butter and mix in bread crumbs. Cook in microwave about 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Top chicken/sauce mixture with bread crumbs. Heat in microwave until hot through. Or cook at 350 until bubbly.


I usually use the oven, just because I am not a fan of food cooked in the microwave. But it still tastes fine when my mother makes it in the microwave. And it's faster. And although my friends I made it for loved it, my little penguins refused to eat it,

Meatloaf

I always loved when my mother made meatloaf when I was growing up, mostly likely because she covered the top in cheese. And I have always loved baked cheese. I think my mother wasn't a fan of traditional meatloaf, so she added several things to lighten it up. She would also sometimes hard boil eggs and place them in the middle of it. I, of course, am never this on top of things and always forget to boil the eggs. However, this week I had some extra turkey lying around (or taking up space in my freezer) and I thought it would be an easy meal to make. I haven't been cooking much lately. The baby penguin doesn't nap much during the day and by the end of a day of refereeing the two older ones and walking while patting the baby, I just don't have much energy or enough hands to cook. So meatloaf it was.



1 1/2 lb ground beef or ground turkey
1 egg
1 scant cup oatmeal
1 small can tomato sauce
1 tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 c grated cheese

Beat egg in medium bowl. Add ground meat, oatmeal, Worcestershire sauce, spices, 1/2 c grated cheese and tomato sauce minus 2 tbl and combine. Place in loaf pan and top with reserved tomato sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.


I loved it. My husband loved it. The older penguin took one look at it and said, "Nasty!" But don't take that opinion for too much; every thing I've made in the last three weeks has elicited that comment or "gross-y." It's amazing he's still alive with how little he eats at dinner.