Cream Cheese Chicken Poppers

It's Super Bowl Sunday!! 

(Confession, we don't watch football, and hubby is gone to work, ha!)

I have been seeing recipes all over for Super Bowl food...appetizers and chips/dips that people are dying over. Well I have one of my own, that I created today for lunch.  And it is AMAZING!! 

I call it
"Cream Cheese Chicken Poppers"

I have two toddlers, ages 3 and 1...and they both devoured these!

A few nights ago, someone recommended to me that I try a crockpot meal.  All it consisted of was cooked chicken breasts, a jar of salsa and a block of cream cheese. 

SO....this was made from the left overs of that.

**To make the crockpot meal, I diced 1 pound of chicken breast and simply cooked them in a pan with butter and seasoned salt.  Once it is browned, dump it in your crockpot.  Add a block of cream cheese, and a jar of salsa.  I bought a large jar (24 ounces) and used a little more than half.  Cook that on low for 4-6 hours.**

When I did this, it turned out a little too thick.  It did have a great flavor though!

But we had leftovers, so I stuck them in a container in my fridge until I could think of what else to do with it!

So here is my Cream Cheese Chicken Popper recipe:

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast

1 8 oz block of cream cheese

1 jar salsa

egg roll wrappers

*Here, you can cook the chicken in your crockpot, like my instructions above in blue, OR cook the chicken in a pan with butter and seasoned salt. Drain (if there is anything in there to drain), add your cream cheese and salsa and cook until bubbly*

CHILL YOUR CHICKEN MIXTURE! <--- This is important for consistency.

You want it to chill until thick...the cream cheese will try to resolidify.  I would say chill overnight, or at least a couple of hours. 

Once it is chilled, scoop the mixture into a food processor, blender, chopper...whatever you have.  The smoother the better, but a few chunks of chicken won't make a difference.

Next, take your eggroll wrappers and fold/cut them in half.  Eggroll wrappers are a pasta, so they should fold in half and tear very easily.

Spoon a dollop of the chilled chicken mixture onto your eggroll wrapper.

(The one on the left was perfect...on the right was a tad too much.)

Next, fold in your corners.

Fold your sides over...

 Finish by folding down the top.

Here they are on a cookie sheet (I know, I need to get after this one and clean it!  Another blog post, because I do know HOW to get all the brown gunk off!)

A few options here... brush the tops with olive oil, cooking spray or egg whites.

I used cooking spray on these since it was my first time...and that was the fastest and least expensive if these were a BUST.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until they start to brown.

Yum!!  My toddlers loved them.  We ate them plain but they would be good dipped in sour cream or salsa.

I think next time I might add BACON or CHIVES!

This recipe will make PLENTY for a party.  I had some left over (STILL), so I decided to freeze the chicken mixture to use another time!

P.S.  Eggroll wrappers freeze very well too!!!

Let me know what you think!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

BTW, I wonder who is winning???  :-/

Secret Ingredient in Southern French Toast!!

French toast is one of my favorite comfort foods...if it is cooked correctly!  I have tried different recipes...but I always go back to my own, simple way of making it!

My secret ingredient isn't really a "secret", because it's found in recipes for french toast everywhere! BUT, it is with THIS ingredient that it tastes the best, and reminds me of good, down-home country cookin'! 

SO - Here it is!  My favorite "secret" ingredient in French Toast!

Vanilla :)

So...what do I do?  ....

1.  I get out 4 pieces of white bread

2.  3 eggs.

3. Whisk eggs in a bowl, add salt AND pepper (many recipes omit pepper!) to taste

4.  Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla to your egg mix, or more depending on your taste

5.  Heat PLENTY of butter in a pan (at least 2 tablespoons to start with...you'll add more later)

6.  Dunk your white bread in the egg mix - both sides - but do not let it SOAK, do it just enough to get the whole piece of bread coated

7.  Gently place in down in your heated pan of butter (My pan holds 2 pieces at a time)

8.  Let it sizzle until slightly brown (resist the urge to press down on the bread!) then flip!  Do the same on that side and take them out. :) 

9.  Add another 2 tablespoons of butter and do the other 2 pieces of bread

Taa-daa!!!  Perfect french toast!  The key is the VANILLA (for taste!), pepper (for even more taste, but omit it if you'd like), not letting the bread SOAK (yuck) and PLENTY of butter to help it get brown and slightly crisp on the outside.

Serve with syrup, honey, powdered sugar, fruit, etc!