Italian Chicken Cordon Bleu

This sounded fairly easy, and you make it all in the microwave, which is good for a hot day, like today was. Thankfully not as hot as yesterday, but still hot. It's from the same Simple & Delicious that I have been working through. Tonight I asked Sam to help me, since the other 2 helped me other nights this week. He just wasn't into it though. He was excited at first, but quickly lost interest. Oh well, I will try again next week. I told him he needs to learn how to cook so he can bless his wife when he grows up. Ha ha.

Italian Chicken Cordon Bleu
2 tbsp butter, cubed
1/2 tsp rubbed sage (I didn't rub it, I just put it in the pan)
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 green pepper, julienned
1/3 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (omitted)
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning (I had to buy this, which was the first time in a long time I've had to buy a spice...I thought I had one of everything! Except stupid expensive saffron)
6 slices deli ham
6 slices Swiss cheese (I used 1 cup shredded, because I had it already)

Place butter and sage (rub it first if you want, I guess) in a microwave-safe 11x7 inch dish. Microwave uncovered on high for 30 seconds or until butter is melted. Place chicken in dish; turn to coat. Top with green pepper and mushrooms. Cook, uncovered, on high 8-10 minutes or until chicken juices run clear, turning and rearranging chicken twice.

Remove chicken and vegetables; keep warm. Add the tomato sauce, sugar, and seasonings to cooking juice; mix well. Microwave, uncovered, on high x 2 minutes or until heated through. Return chicken to dish. Top with ham, cheese, and vegetables. Cook on high for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

We had this with green beans and what we call "wacky mac" which is those funny shaped different colored noodles. I make them with the Buttered Cheese Noodles recipe which is elsewhere on the blog. I would post the link here but I'm afraid to navigate away from this page. What if all I've typed so far ends up lost in cyberspace? But I know the recipe is there.

Steve really liked this. I thought it was pretty good. The swiss cheese definitely gave it a different flavor. The kids weren't crazy about it, even though I told them they didn't have to eat the green pepper. So I'm not sure about this one. It was okay but not great. But since Steve liked it, I'll save it. In case he asks for it some day. Also did you know that "cordon bleu" means blue ribbon? I didn't know that. I told the kids what the recipe was called and Emma was like "what does that mean??" I knew that bleu was blue (that's a toughie) but I was trying to figure out if ham was cordon or something. Steve says, very drily and as if he knows it all, "it means blue ribbon." I said "you don't know French!!" And he said "I am the master of many languages." Which is just not true. I bet it was just a random factoid in his head. The type of thing they ask you on Jeopardy! or something. He just got lucky.