Ground Beef Wellington

Nolan gave this 5 stars! He asked if we could have it on the menu every month. Very easy and pretty too!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mushrooms
1 Tbs light margarine
2 tsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper, divided
1/2 cup fat free half & half
1 egg yolk
3 Tbs finely chopped onion
1/4 tsp salt
1 lb ground beef
1 tube reduced fat pilsburry crescent rolls

Directions
Sauce
Use a saucepan to saute mushrooms in the margarine.
Stir in the flour and 1/8 tsp of the pepper.
Slowly add the cream as you stir and bring it to a boil
Cook and stir for about 2 minutes (until it is thick)
Remove from heat and set aside
Meat Filling
In a bowl, combine egg yolk, onion, 2 Tbs of the mushroom sauce, salt and remaining pepper.
Crumble the beef over the mixture and mix with your hands.
Shape into two loaves.
Unroll the crescent dough onto a cookie sheet and separate into two equal rectangles
Gently Press down the perforations to seal
Place meat loaf onto each rectangle

Bring the corners to the middle
Pinch the seams of the dough to seal.

Bake @ 350 for 24 minutes.
(You may want to cover at the end to prevent over-browning. I didn't need to but it is an option.)
Ok. A friend tried this and said her breading burned so she was forced to take it out early. Consequently, the meat was not thoroughly cooked in the middle. Cover them with foil so that you can cook for the full time. Then remove foil to brown after the 24 minutes. Sorry friend!!!
Meanwhile, warm the remaining sauce. Add a splash of milk if needed.

I skinned and chopped two potatoes while these were baking. Boiled for about 10 minutes and blended with a little margarine and milk. Yummy side for this dish.

Chicken Manicotti

MMM! This is really good. The recipe makes two pans so that you can freeze one at the end. I like this recipe because you don't have to try and stuff filling  into slimy limp pasta without ripping it. It saves on time and energy. I made this for dinner guests last week and didn't have time to take pics.

Ingredients:
1 Tbs. granulated garlic
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
16 uncooked manicotti shells
2 jars/cans spaghetti sauce (26 oz each)
1 pound Italian turkey sausage, cooked and drained
6 mushrooms chopped
1 can sliced olives
8 oz mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Cut the chicken into 1 x 3 inch strips and rub with garlic and pepper
Spread one cup of spaghetti sauce into each baking dish/pan ( You can use 2-7 x 11 or 13 x 19 pans. )
Stuff the chicken into the manicotti
Place eight stuffed shell into each dish
Sprinkle sausage, mushroom and olives over the top of the row of shells
Pour the remaining sauce over  the top
Sprinkle with cheese
Cover and bake one casserole @ 375 for 70 minutes.
Cover and freeze the remaining casserole for up to 1 month

To use the frozen casserole: Thaw in the fridge over night. Let it sit on the counter at room temp for about 30 minutes before you pop it in the oven. Bake as directed above.

Chicken Tortilla Chowder

Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked & cubed(Can use 1 package of ready-to-serve chicken breast strips, chopped)

2 cans cream of potato soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups skim milk
1 can chicken broth (98% fat free)
1 can mexicorn, drained (11 oz)
1 can chopped green chiles
3 flour tortillas cut into 2 inch x 1/2 inch strips
2 oz shredded cheese (I used half cheddar, half pepper jack)

Prepare:
Combine soups, milk and broth in a large pan and heat it up. Stir it often so it doesn't burn on the bottom.  Add the corn, chicken, & chilies and bring it to a boil.  Stir in the tortillas and cheese. Heat about two more minutes and serve. 

1 cup was 5 pts. The cheese could have been left out making it 3 pts.  SO YUMMY!