Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Chicken Bacon Ranch Crescent Bundles


There is one battle that my husband and I no longer fight in our house, and that is the Dinner Battle. I’m sure most of you who are parents know what I’m talking about: “Just eat one bite, honey. Just taste it. You’ll like it. How can you say you don’t like it when you won’t even try it?”

We fought with both of our boys about eating their dinner countless times before we just accepted that no amount of wheedling, threatening, or bargaining was going to work on them. So here’s how dinner works in our house: What’s on your plate is your dinner. If you don’t eat all of that dinner, you don’t get dessert. If you don’t want to eat any of it – okay, but you won’t be getting any snacks later. And that’s it. Dinners have been much more pleasant since I stopped trying to coerce them into eating. Granted, there are nights they just won’t eat (like last night, when I made them peanut butter and honey sandwiches, pretzels, and apples and they barely touched their plates; what kid won’t eat those things?!), but in those instances I just sigh and store the food for the next day’s lunches. My boys are not going to waste away to nothing. I constantly have to remind myself of this.

But then there are nights when I make something like these crescent bundles for dinner, and they absolutely cannot get enough of them. This is one of those dinners that elicited “Mmm” and “That’s yummy, Mommy” and “I want more, please” from both of them. I can’t give these a more rousing recommendation than that!

These bundles are so simple and flavorful, and they’re ready in no time. They’re a perfect weeknight dinner, and a hit with both kids and adults.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Crescent Bundles
adapted from Tablespoon

1 package refrigerated crescent rolls
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
7 slices bacon, diced and cooked until crisp
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon dry ranch dressing mix

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Separate the crescent roll dough into 4 rectangles, press them together to make sure the perforations are sealed, and then cut across them to make 8 squares.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, bacon, and cheese. Place about 1/4 cup of this mixture in the center of each crescent roll square. Bring the four corners over the filling and twist to seal.

3. Place bundles on an ungreased baking sheet. Combine melted butter and ranch dressing mix and brush evenly across the top of each bundle.

4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the bundles are golden brown.

4 comments:

4*KowBoys said...

I completely agree with you. I have 3 small boys (and 1 teenager, but we won't talk about his eating habits-which are overly healthy, lol), and we do the same thing. If you don't eat, no desert. If you are hungry later I will be happy to warm up your supper that you didn't eat earlier. No snacks unless you did eat supper. :) We're good mommies! These crescent roll bundles look delicious, too! Something I know my kids would devour!

Maria@La_Piattini said...

Just bookmarked this for next week! I love the simplicity of crescent roll recipes- so easy but always delicious! Thanks for the new twist :)

Pam the Realtor said...

Made these last night. While we all liked them, we all agreed something was just missing. But none of us could say what. Seemed a little dry for us? Not sure.

Deborah said...

I have started the same thing. I refuse to be one of those moms who makes chicken nuggets for the kids every night because that is all they will eat. Abbi knows that she can eat what is on her plate, or nothing at all. Kids are pretty smart, I think, and they will eat before they get too hungry. And hopefully they'll learn to be better eaters!! (Easton, on the other hand, will eat absolutely everything. I hope he stays that way!!)

These definitely look like a family friendly meal. I'm sure even my picky eater would eat these!