Meal in Minutes

With just a few staples like canned vegetables and cream cheese, you can feed 16 people in 60 minutes with tips and recipes from home economist Sandra Phillips.

Chicken Puffs

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken, cubed (or ham)
16 oz. cream cheese (softened in microwave)
1/2 cup fresh onion
salt and pepper to taste
2 tubes biscuit dough
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Preparation:

Combine meat, cheese, onion and seasonings. Roll out biscuits on lightly floured board so that each forms a circle about five to six inches in diameter.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill the center of each circle, then pull the edges of the dough up into the center and crimp closed.

Melt butter in a wide bowl. Dip the bottom of the pouch in the butter, then in the breadcrumbs and place on a cookie sheet, crumb side up.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Dress the pouches with a packet of sauce, such as béarnaise or hollandaise, made and put on hold while the pouches cook.

Cheesy Cream Corn

Ingredients:

15 oz. can cream corn
30 oz. canned kernel corn
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 pepper, chopped (use red or orange for color)

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and heat through.

Ambrosia Salad

Ingredients:

10 oz. whipped topping
two 15-oz. cans mandarin oranges
two 20-oz. cans pineapple
1 cup shredded coconut

Preparation:

Combine and serve.

Cookies

The secret to quick cookies is the freezer. Prepare a package mix of cookies, but don’t bake them. Form the dough into balls and freeze them.

Keep them on hand, and when company comes, just pop them in the oven and bake them according to package directions. This works especially well with brownie mix. Slip into the oven while it is still hot from baking the chicken puffs.