Chicken and Cream Cheese Ball

I guess this is the week of recipes. I was busy making lots of goodies this holiday season so I decided to take pictures and blog about a few of them. This recipe is actually one I got from a coworker. The recipe calls for:
1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened
1 packet dry ranch dressing mix
1 chicken breast, boiled (or 1 can shredded chicken)
Crushed pecans

If you are using fresh chicken, boil until done, then shred. If you are using canned chicken, skip this step. Mix cream cheese, ranch, and chicken. Roll into ball then refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Roll ball in pecans. Eat with your favorite crackers.

Normally, I like to use real chicken. The taste is so much better. I was pretty busy when I was making these and I used the canned chicken. I've made it with the canned chicken before and it tasted fine. But for some reason, it didn't taste right this time. I would definitely recommend using fresh chicken if you have time. It's worth the extra effort. If you want to use the canned chicken, rinse it with water first. This is also good just as a dip without the pecans.

I didn't take any pictures of it once it was rolled in pecans. Oops. I'm such a bad blogger. :)
Hope you enjoy!

The best sausage balls ever?

I recently pinned a recipe for sausage balls on Pinterest. They claimed to be the best sausage balls ever because they had cream cheese in them. I am no stranger to sausage balls. I love them, especially around the holidays. Who doesn't? So I got all my ingredients ready and started.
The recipe calls for:
1 lb hot sausage, uncooked
1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cup Bisquick
4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix all ingredients well. (You can use your Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough attachment to make this easier). Roll into 1 inch balls. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until brown.

I quadrupled the recipe since I had four Christmases to take food to. BAD idea. Do you know how hard it is to mix 16 oz of cheese, 4 blocks of cream cheese, 4 lb of cold, uncooked meat, and 5 cups of powder? HARD.

This is all I ended up making. I was so tired of rolling balls after these that I gave up. I wrapped up the rest of this mix and froze it to use later.

I know some of the bottoms look a little burnt, but they tasted fine. Even though I put the two pans in and took them out at the same time, one was done faster.
So I ended up like these a lot. They stayed moist and I love anything with cream cheese so I think I will make them again.
The only problem I had was that when they were done the pans were full of grease! Yuck! My mother-in-law gave me a little tip for this. She said that no recipe will tell you this, but cook the sausage a little before. Don't cook  it thoroughly, just a little. This will prevent all that yucky grease from coating your sausage balls. So next time I make these, I'm doing them one batch at a time and cooking the meat before. Otherwise, I definitely recommend these!
Hope you all had a fantastic holiday!