Chicken Pesto Pizza

This week has been a bit challenging with family matters, and so instead of selecting a new recipe to try, I made one of our favorites that my husband created after I stopped eating tomatoes (and tomato sauce) cold turkey. I love pizza, and this helped quench my taste for a good slice. We make it for friends and family all the time, and it's a crowd pleaser! The best part is when Monkey 1 helps "decorate the pizza" with all of the ingredients. ;)

Pillsbury or Boboli pizza dough
Rotisserie chicken, shredded
Refigerated pesto sauce
Spinach leaves
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

1. Place the dough on a cookie sheet or pizza pan, and spread pesto sauce. We usually only use half the container per crust.

2. Add the shredded chicken.

3. Add the spinach leaves.

4. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. We also usually add a touch of parmasan.

5. Bake according to dough directions, and enjoy!

Mou Shu Chicken

The kids loved this Betty Crocker recipe because I served it with thin pancakes. I loved it because they didn't care that they were eating vegetables! The recipe calls for preparing the chicken and vegetables first, but I'd suggest preparing the pancakes first and keep them warm until the chicken is ready so it doesn't dry out. Enjoy!

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 bag (16 oz) coleslaw mix
1 package (8 ounces) sliced mushrooms
2 cup shredded cooked chicken
1 tablespoon grated gingerroot
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce (we used more!)

Pancakes
1 1/4 cups Bisquick(r) mix
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
Green onions, chopped, if desired

1. Heat oil in 4-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook coleslaw mix, mushrooms, chicken and gingerroot in oil, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender. Stir in hoisin sauce. Reduce heat; keep warm.

2. Stir Bisquick mix, milk and egg in medium bowl until blended. Stir in onions.

3. Lightly spray 10-inch skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Pour less than 1/4 cup batter into skillet; rotate skillet to make a thin pankcake, 5 to 6 inches in diameter. Cook until bubbles break on surface; turn. Cook other side until golden brown. Keep warm while making remaining pancakes.

4. Spoon about 1/2 cup vegetable mixture onto each pancake; roll up.

Week 1: Chicken Chili with Cornbread Dumplings

I kicked off my new year of new meal with this hearty, semi-homemade meal, mildly adapted from Betty Crocker. I love chili, but don't eat it because I haven't a found a good recipe that doesn't call for tomatoes. This one is tasty and smells really good, too.

Chili

3 cups cubed cooked chicken

1 1/2 cups water

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Frozen corn (to your liking)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Dumplings

1 1/3 cups Heart Healthy Bisquick(r) mix

2/3 cup yellow cornmeal

2/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat chili ingredients over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbly.

2. Meanwhile, stir dumpling ingredients in a medium bowl until soft dough forms.

3. Drop dough by 6 rounded spoonfuls onto simmering chili. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook 13-15 minutes or until dumplings are dry. Dumplings will expand during cooking.

Note that 3 average sized chicken breasts, boiled and shredded, will yield about 3 cups of chicken. Or you can use one deli-roasted chicken to save even more time.

I omitted cumin from the dumplings to cut down on the spice factor. The dumplings need a little flavor, though. Add vanilla or some sugar. We also used kidney beans instead of navy beans, and regular corn instead of Mexicorn(r) so the color is a bit different than pictured.