Book Club Dinner

This past Friday, I hosted our monthly Book Club. It's a group of 8-10 women that I've been friends with for years. While the main purpose is to discuss that month's selection and enjoy dinner, we always end talking about anything and everything. It's always a GREAT time!

I prepared chicken & dressing with roasted green beans, Pinot Grigio and chocolate cake for dessert.

Chicken & Dressing

8 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts*
8 slices Provolone cheese**
2 cans Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic soup
1/2 cup water
1/2 of a 16 oz. package Pepperidge Farms Herb-Seasoned stuffing
1/2 stick of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Arrange chicken breasts in 2 9x13 baking dishes. Place a slice of Provolone on each chicken breast. Combine the soup and water in a measuring cup and pour evenly over each chicken breast. Sprinkle the stuffing over all the chicken and drizzle with butter. Bake for 45-60 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts.

*I use Tyson boneless, skinless chicken breasts from Costco and yes, I do put them in the baking dish frozen. The chicken stays moister that way.
**I've used provolone, swiss and mozzarella interchangeably for the cheese. You could even use cheddar if you like.

Oven-roasted Green Beans

1 pound fresh green beans, rinsed and patted dry
Olive oil
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 14x18 jelly roll pan with cooking spray. Spread the green beans evenly on the pan, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle a pinch of salt. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the green beans are crisp-tender.

Chocolate Cake
recipe adapted from Hershey's Kitchens

2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. boiling water

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a bundt pan. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to serving plate. Cool completely. Enjoy!