Tuesday, November 15, 2011

CHICKEN PILLOWS

I found this recipe from a posting on the Philadelphia Cream Cheese facebook posting.  I have converted it to a Weight Watchers PointsPlus friendly meal.  It is a great and easy make ahead freezer meal.  So far I haven't found anyone that doesn't like it.

My mom was sweet to cook a whole chicken the other day in preparation for this.  She even boned the chicken and chopped it.  It sure made it easy when it came time to put these together.  Now, one more thing is we kept the broth from the chicken and froze it.  We do this a lot, this way we know how much sodium we have in our chicken broth and it saves us money in the long run.  We have done this with vegetables, also, and it makes great vegetable soup stock.

This is an incredibly easy recipe and it is a lot of fun to make it with someone.  My mom and I like making it together because it does help to have an extra hand.  While one is pinching the crescent rolls together, the other can be putting the mixture on them.  And it also helps to speed things up for one to make them into the pillows while the other puts them in the butter and the bread crumbs.



Back to the recipe.  Below is the recipe.  

Chicken Pillows

Ingredients:

1 cup fat-free cream cheese
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp. Chives, freeze-dried
1 1/2 Tbsp. onion(s), chopped or dried minced onions
3 cups Chicken breast, chopped
8 oz. reduced-fat crescent roll dough
1/4 cup I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! Soft Margarine or similar margarine
1 cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 package McCormick Chicken Gravy Mix

Instructions:

1. Usiing a mixer, beat cream cheese and sour cream until well combined.  Add in salt, pepper, onion, chives, and diced chicken.

(This picture is everything before the chicken.  Normally I use an onion, but today it was early and didn't want to go to work smelling like an onion so I used minced onions.)

2. Using reduced fat crescent rolls, take 2 triangular pieces and push together at perforated seam to make into a square.  make sure you seal the perforations well so your filling doesn't come out.  Put about 3 tablespoons of chicken misture in the center of each square. Fold the dough corners to the center over the chicken mixture forming a pillow.



3.  Dip each pillow in melted butter on both sides.  Roll in bread crumbs on both sides.  Shake excess crumbs off.  Place chicken pillow on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.




4. Make gravy by mixing one package of chicken gravy mix, one can of cream of chicken soup and 3/4 can of water in a small pot.  Mix together and heat until warm.  Serve chicken pillows with gravy spooned over the top.



The Chicken Pillows with the gravy has a PointsPlus value of 10.  It serves 8.  The above plate is a total of 10 points as the green beans and carrots have a 0 PointsPlus value.

Now to freeze them for future meals.  My mom and I made 24 pillows and froze all but 7 of them (lunch today).  To freeze them, make up the pillows to the 2nd step (prior to the butter and bread crumbs).  Put them on a cookie sheet, uncovered and place them in the freezer for a few hours or until they are firmly frozen.  Once they are frozen remove them from the freezer and put them in a freezer bag.  You can remove as many as you want and the bake them according to step 3 and make the gravy at that time according to step 4 of the recipe.

I hope your family and friends enjoy this recipe as much as my family does.  I love anything that is easy, yummy and works with my new lifestyle.  ENJOY!!



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