Luncheon Chicken Quesadillas

This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting a ladies luncheon.

What great fun to get a few girlfriends together to celebrate our friendship!  We've been friends a long time and sometimes it's hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time.  We certainly try, but with the busy schedule of life getting in the way we end of pairing off and seeing each other in smaller groups.  So it was time to have an outdoor luncheon for all the girls and relax and enjoy just being girls!  

We had an array of food items that we all made together. We kept it simple and light.  Sangria was on the list, as well as a beautiful fruit salad along with a crostini with a wonderful white bean dip.  Most of the dishes were finger food friendly.  It's easier to have small bites to choose from which allow you to interact and move around enjoying the spring weather, rather than having a sit down meal.  More like tapa style.

I wanted to share with you one of the dishes that we made. A quick but hearty Chicken Quesadilla was perfect for us to share.  We made several of them to serve 6 hungry girls. We filled them with chicken, (I usually have roasted chicken shredded on hand!) cheeses, chilis, and tomatoes.  This dish was tasty and quick. Served along a side of sour cream for dipping this was a yummy treat!

So, if you need a quick lunch, or want to serve appetizers to your friends or family, this is a versatile dish that is easy to make.  You can vary the ingredients to suit your mood as well.  Be creative and let your taste buds lead the way!



Chicken Quesadillas

Makes 2 8" quesadillas

4 8” flour tortillas
1 cup shredded Colby jack
1/3 cup finely chopped green chilis
1 medium tomato, diced
1 cup cooked chicken, shredded
sour cream, guacamole (optional)

Brush one side of each tortilla with butter. Place two tortillas, on a griddle or do one at a time in a large skillet. Sprinkle with cheese, chilis, tomato and chicken. Top with remaining tortillas. Cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Cut into wedges. Serve with sour cream or guacamole if desired.

Banana Pudding Parfait

I think this dish is a Southern staple...

I also think this dish is the perfect dessert for spring and summer.

Who doesn't love a creamy pudding?  And when you layer it with ripe bananas and some vanilla wafers that soften to a cake-like consistency over time...mmmnnn!  Heaven!

There are so many variations of Banana pudding out there but I wanted to share with you my mom's version.

To make this easy for entertaining I took the recipe and created parfaits with it.  Speaking of entertaining, Memorial Day Weekend is coming up.  We always celebrate with a big barbecue and this would be the PERFECT dessert!

I hope you try my mom's version of this soul soothing dessert.  It's one that everyone will enjoy!

Banana Pudding Parfaits


Servings: 6

For the Pudding: 
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt
6 egg yolks
3-1/2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For Assembling:
3-4 large bananas, very ripe but not mushy, sliced
1 box Vanilla Wafers

For Topping (Optional)
Whipped Cream or Non-Dairy Whipped Topping
Meringue

In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, salt and yolks. Whisk in the milk and bring to simmer, stirring frequently, over medium heat 5-8 minutes. When the mixture starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low and continue cooking, whisking constantly, for 1-2 minutes until the mixture thickens. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately whisk in the butter and vanilla. 

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper directly over the pudding to prevent a film from forming. Chill in the refrigerator until cool about 2 hours.

To assemble, place one vanilla wafer in the bottom of each parfait glass. Spoon a large dollop of the pudding on top. Add a layer of vanilla wafers standing up against the sides of the glasses . Layer on some sliced bananas on top of the pudding. Repeat layers with pudding, vanilla wafers around the sides, and bananas layered to the top of the dish. Top with whipped cream or whipped topping, or some baked meringue for an authentic banana pudding. Top with a vanilla cookie or crumbs if desired.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Apple Raisin Muffins

One of my friends had a baby in mid-January.  Her first baby, and a it's a beautiful little girl!  So this past Mother's Day was a special one for her as this baby has been a long time in coming.  

Being about 4 months old now she doesn't get much time to cook elaborate meals often grabbing and eating when she can.  So I thought I would come over and surprise her with a wonderful breakfast.  Eggs, and bacon, some fresh fruit, and some wonderful homemade muffins.

Today I wanted to share with you the muffin recipe.  This muffin has two of my favorite fruits inside.  Apples which I just love, love, love.  I eat them almost daily and always have them around to snack on or put in salads, cakes, muffins...you get the picture.  The other fruit is raisins.  I grew loving raisins as snacks.  I loved them in my cinnamon rolls, and would just eat them out of that little box mom would pack for me in my lunch. Remember those?  So I threw in some raisins in the muffins and they go great with the cinnamon and apples.

These are wonderful moist muffins that will lift your morning.

The breakfast was a complete success and so appreciated and enjoyable, but the muffins were truly a hit!

Enjoy!


Raisin Apple Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup chopped peeled tart apple
1/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Add the egg, milk and oil and mix all ingredients just until combined.  Fold in the apple and raisins.

Coat muffin cups with cooking spray and fill about 3/4 of the way with batter using a ice cream scoop.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.  Serve warm.