Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole + 10 Miles.

Good Morning and Happy Friday!

I'm still recovering from last night's ten miler with Lauretta.  I know this because my legs are truly "dead" right now.  However, the run was quite interesting, I must say.

Here we are about to leave from my husband's office. 

Once we got started, my stomach immediately started to not feel well.  I had to stop to go to the bathroom not once, but twice, during the course of the run.  Ugh!  The second time, the guy from the taco stand handed me a menu on the way out, which I thought was pretty funny. Ha!

Lauretta took me on a trail that I have never been on in my life (and I have lived here for 37 years!)  We felt pretty good and ended up running approximately 7:30 - 7:50 pace for a final time of 1 hour, seventeen minutes.  Being the crazy runners we are, we decided to do a half lap around the track at the finish to make it an even 10.  


Lauretta had the time on her watch.

Thanks for a great run, Lauretta!  



On to the recipe...

The other day I made a special dinner for my family.  Since they love my chicken cordon bleu, I decided to take all of the ingredients in that dish and turn them into a tasty casserole.  Rather than pounding, stuffing, and rolling...I cut the chicken and ham into cubes, topped it with shredded cheese and some stuffing mix, popped it into the oven, and tada...done!  


It was easy and delicious!  


Here's what I did:

5 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless, cut into large pieces

1 ham steak, cut into ½ inch cubes

1 ½ - 2 cups Gruyere cheese, shredded

1 can cheddar cheese soup (or cream of chicken)

¾ cup water

1 stick butter, melted

2 cups Herb stuffing mix (I used Pepperidge Farms)

Paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.  Place chicken pieces in the pan and top with cubed ham.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the top.

Add the grated cheese over chicken and ham layer.  

Combine soup and water.  Pour over casserole. 

Melt butter and mix stuffing mix together.  

Spread over casserole.   Sprinkle top with paprika for extra flavor and color.   

Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour.  Cover with foil if the stuffing is getting too brown.  

I served this dish with baked asparagus and quinoa...

...along with a side of fresh fruit.

The finished product!

My family gave this dish a perfect ten!  Delicious!


Make it great Friday!


Tracy