Menu Plan Monday

Not much for a menu plan here since it's Christmas week, but we'll give it a go...


Monday - Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup! Mmmm Mmmm Good!
Tuesday - DH's extended family Christmas party, I'm making buffalo chicken dip (see recipe below)
Wednesday - Christmas Eve with DH's family friends - I might be making Spinach Dip (see recipe below)
Thursday - Christmas Day! Breakfast w/ ILs & then late lunch at my grandmother's house
Friday - Low-key at my parents' house - probably take out
Saturday - My extended family Christmas party - I'm making baked brie & chicken & rice casserole (see those recipes below, too!)

Buffalo Chicken Dip
1. Preheat the oven to 425
2. Boil & shred 3-4 chicken breasts (or just use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken & shred all of that up)
3. In a bowl, stir together chicken, 2 bricks cream cheese (softened), 1 small bottle chunky bleu cheese dressing and 1/2 to 1 cup hot sauce depending on how hot you like it (I use Texas Pete or Crystal's).
4. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray & pour in the chicken mixture. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
5. Serve with tortilla scoops, crackers or pita/bagel chips!
6. Be prepared to give the recipe out to practically everyone you encounter! (This keeps great in a mini crock-pot, although I find that mine doesn't last long enough for it to get cold! It's devoured as soon as it hits the table!)

Spinach Dip
1. In a bowl, combine 1 box frozen spinach (thawed and drained well), 1 8oz. container of cream cheese, 1 packet of dry vegetable soup mix (Knorr's is what I use), and 1 cup mayo.
2. Chill for at least an hour for flavors to meld.
3. Serve with bread chunks, from a hollowed-out wheel of pumpernickel or rye!

Baked Brie
1. Take 3 sheets of thawed Phyllo dough & spray lightly with cooking spray (to prevent drying out), stack them one on top of the other.
2. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of brown sugar in the center of the Phyllo (in about the same diameter as the wheel of brie), sprinkle on some sliced almonds.
3. Place the wheel of brie on the brown sugar & almonds, & then place more brown sugar and almonds on top.
4. Fold the sides of the Phyllo around the brie & then carefully flip it over onto the baking sheet (seam side down).
5. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes (until Phyllo is golden)
6. Serve with crackers or bagel chips

Chicken & Rice Bake (pot-luck style)
This is a recipe I found online, but modified it to make it more potluck-worthy, as it started out using whole pieces of chicken (on the bone) to feed a family of 4. Hubby is in LOVE with this rice and I will admit that it is one of my favorites, as well.
1. In a large casserole dish, melt a stick and a half of butter (in the oven) while preheating your oven to 350
2. Once the butter is melted, add to that 3 cups of rice, 3 packets of Lipton onion soup mix and 3 cans (10.5 oz, I think) of (hot) chicken broth. Stir to combine.
3. Cut 3 chicken breasts into smallish chunks & add these into the chicken mixture.
4. Cover and cook for one hour, or until chicken is cooked and rice is tender.

Merry Christmas to you & yours! Please see my Sharing Christmas post & I hope you'll link up to my friend's post to share your home's Christmas! God Bless!