Running 13.1 miles seems deserving of a treat, right?  Or maybe two!  🙂

After finishing my fastest half-marathon on Sunday, I chose to celebrate with a couple of recipes I found on Pinterest…one was new, and one is an old standby that I love.  Both turned out great!  The first, the main dish, is shown below.  You can find the dessert here.  And, as an added bonus, I’ve included a recipe for an ingredient staple I use quite often.

After I ran the race, I didn’t have much time to rest, because Jamie had a hockey game an hour later, and then Daniel had a hockey practice.  I attended both, and I even managed to take 340 pictures at the game. (I have no idea where I got that energy.)  Once I got home, though, I had a ton of laundry to do, plus I wanted to write up my half-marathon report.  Luckily, I’d found this recipe on Pinterest the day before, and I decided to give it a try.  It was really easy to put together…just layer chicken breast, deli ham, Swiss cheese, and stuffing with cream of chicken soup and a little butter and voila—a meal in 2-3 hours (or 4-6 hours if you cook on low).

 

 

I will say that my photos of it didn’t turn out as well as I’d like, but I had run out of daylight by the time it was done, and this is actually a picture of leftovers taken the next day.  Take a look at the picture from the source link for a better shot of all the ingredients…the ham and Swiss really did make it a rich and delicious main dish.

 

 

I wouldn’t call it “light” by any stretch, but I was able to lighten up the original recipe by using some of my usual “tricks,” such as substituting fat-free milk for whole, and Brummel & Brown yogurt spread for the butter. (You could use low-fat Swiss if you wish, but I couldn’t find any when I was shopping.)  In addition, I used my “mock” cream of chicken soup recipe instead of the canned stuff.  Since I’ve used it in several recipes already, I finally made a post about it here.  It’s a true stand-by in my house now…I’ll never use canned cream of chicken soup again!

 

 

In retrospect, I think I would add more than the 1/4 cup of water that was originally called for.  I think 1/2 a cup would make the chicken moister, so I’ve adjusted the recipe for that.  Truly, though, this was  one of the easiest recipes I’ve ever done, and I can guarantee it will be served again in our house!

 

 

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

 

 

• 6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (16 oz. raw)
• 1 single-batch of “Mock Cream of Chicken Soup”
• 1 Cup Fat Free Milk
• 12 slices of thinly-sliced deli ham (I used Oscar Meyer Honey Ham)
• 5 Oz. Swiss Cheese (6 Slices)
• 1 6 Oz. box Stove Top Stuffing (I used Savory Herb)
• 1/4 Cup Brummel & Brown spread (melted)
• 1/2 Cup Water

Directions

1. In a bowl whisk together the mock cream of chicken soup and milk until combined.  (You can mix it right in the pan that you used to make the soup if you want.  I actually heated it a bit just to thicken it some more.)
2. Pour half of the soup & milk mixture in the bottom of a 6-7 quart oval crock-pot.
3. Lay the chicken breasts on top of the soup mixture.
4. Layer the slices of ham (I actually used 2 slices per chicken breast) and then slices of Swiss cheese (1 slice per breast) over the top of the chicken breasts.
5. Pour remaining soup & milk mixture over everything.
6. Cover top of chicken, ham & Swiss cheese with the dry stuffing mix.
7. Pour melted butter and water over the top of the dry stuffing mix.
8. Cover crock-pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for for 2-3 hours. (I would go 5 hours and 2.5 hours respectively, but just make sure your chicken is done inside!)

 

Servings: 6
Points: 10