Cheesy Chicken Roll-Ups

I grew up with these little rolls of deliciousness, so they bring back all kinds of good memories for me. Specifically, I remember my grandmother making them for me on my 8th birthday in Sun River, Oregon...but I digress. I made them the other night for my family and they were a hit, which wasn't surprising. I didn't find them quite as tasty as I used to, but I also rarely cook with processed ingredients like the crescent rolls in this recipe. I subbed out my homemade mac-and-cheese sauce for the cream-of-chicken soup, adding some chicken broth to make the flavor a little more full-bodied. But the original recipe is easy to follow and tastes great without causing too much work; it's how I made it for years. I will write the recipe as-is, but include my updates next to each ingredient and you can decide how you want to make it. (Once again I used my cell phone for pics...sorry for the poor quality!)

Ingredients:

2 cans crescent rolls (*name brand works best)
2 small cans (6-7 oz) chopped chicken breast (or 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken)
1 can cream of chicken soup (or use the mac and cheese sauce mentioned above)
milk
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

Oven Temperature: 350 degrees
Baking Time: 20-25 minutes

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Start out by cooking the soup per the can directions, but use milk in place of the water. Keep the soup at a medium temperature the entire time. While it is heating up, start working on the roll ups.

Mix the chicken and half of the cheese. Open up the crescent rolls and pull at the perforations to make triangle-shaped dough. Place the chicken and cheese mixture into the center of the wide end of each dough piece and roll up.

Place the chicken rolls into a 9x13" glass pan.

By now your soup should be heated through. Add the remaining cheese and allow it to melt in the soup. Once it has melted, stir the soup well and then pour it over the top of the crescent rolls. Pop it in the oven (uncovered) and bake it for 20-25 minutes, or until the rolls are golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.

Scoop the rolls out of the pan, place any excess sauce over the top, and serve hot!

Creamy Mac and Cheese

We love all things pasta at our house, and that includes something as basic as macaroni and cheese. I already have an easy mac and cheese recipe that I made up on my own, but I never shared it as the texture was a little bit grainy due to using REAL cheese as opposed to the processed fake stuff. The other week I decided to add an extra ingredient just for fun...and discovered that there is indeed a way to make homemade mac and cheese sauce just as smooth and creamy as the fake kind! Read on to discover the secret ingredient that makes all the difference. (And my apologies as I used the camera on my phone for these photos, so they are not very high quality!)

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 c. milk (any kind works, but 2% or higher fat allows for an extra creamy content!)
1 8-oz. block cream cheese (this is the key!)
2-3 cups of shredded cheese, your choice (I use cheddar since that's what I always have on hand)
16 oz. macaroni noodles (any variety will work, but I prefer the ones with more nooks and crannies to better hold the sauce!)

Start off by getting a large pot of water on the stove set to boil. Once that is going, you'll start to make your mac and cheese sauce.

In a medium saucepan set to low heat, melt the stick of butter. Once it's melted, stir in the flour, salt, and pepper until all the ingredients are well-combined. Allow it to cook for a couple of minutes, then add the milk. Turn the heat up to medium, and stir the sauce frequently to avoid lumps. Using a whisk provides the best results. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens. You'll know it's getting close when it adheres to a spoon and you can see that the drips coming off the spoon are not very runny. At this point, turn the heat back down to a lower setting. (By now your big pot of water should be boiling and you can throw in your pasta so that gets going in time.) You will add the block of cream cheese to your white-sauce mixture and stir it in until it is fully melted. At this point, it's time to add your shredded cheese to the mixture. Keep the burner at a low setting so that the cheese doesn't curdle and wind up with a weird texture. By the time it's melted, it should look something like this:

Once your sauce is ready, turn the burner off. When your pasta is cooked to your liking, go ahead and drain it, then put it back in the pot you cooked it in. Take your cheese sauce and pour it over the pasta, stirring well to incorporate all the cheese on every noodle.

Serve immediately as it tastes best when it's hot! Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!