Spicy Prickly Pear Glazed Chicken

I found a recipe online that sounded good, but it made 24 chicken thighs and used bourbon, which we don't have and didn't want to figure out what to do with the extras. I wanted to make this in much smaller portions and leave the bourbon out so I used the recipe as my base and then tweaked it. This turned out really really yummy! It was incredibly moist and tender and the sauce was perfect. I sautéed some canned green beans to go with this and tasted excellent with the sauce as well. Here is how I made it:

Spicy Prickly Pear Glazed Chicken:

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• 1/2 chopped red onion
• 2 seeded and chopped serrano chile (use more to give this more kick, or less for a more mild kick. 2 chiles gave it just barely a detectable pinch of spice without making this too hot)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• juice from one lime (not key lime!)
• zest from one lime
• 2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• 3 TBS brown sugar
• 1 1/2 c. prickly pear juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 TBS butter
• 6 Chicken thighs (we used boneless, skinless)
• Chopped cilantro as garnish

Directions:

1. In a sauce pot, heat the oil. Saute the onion over medium heat until browned. 
2. Add the chile and garlic and saute until softened. 
3. Add the cumin and coriander and cook for 2 minutes. 
4. Add the lime juice and zest, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. 
5. Transfer the mixture to an electric blender and puree until smooth. Return the mixture to the pot. 
6. Add the prickly pear juice, salt, and butter. Return to a boil. Cook until the mixture has thickened. You almost want a paste, but not too gummy. 
7. In a large resealable bag, combine the thighs with 1/3 of the sauce. Toss to cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 
8. Preheat the oven to 375. 
9. Lightly oil a baking pan (or I just lined mine with tin foil). Lay the thighs in the pan, and brush 1/2 the remaining sauce over the top.
10. Bake for 25 minutes. 
11. Turn the thighs over and brush on the remaining sauce. Bake for 20 minutes. 
12. Broil the thighs for 3-4 minutes to finish off. 
13. Top with cilantro

Creamy Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Soup

If we had different colored bowls, this would look way more appetizing I'm sure, but we have yellow bowls so the yellowish green soup when in the yellow bowls.

We read a few crockpot green chile soup recipes online, but it was already dinner time so we decided to just wing it and make up our own. It hit the spot and was delicious!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups green enchilada sauce
• 1 small can green chile (we didn't actually use this since the enchilada sauce we used had a ton of green chile chunks in it)
• 2 cups chicken broth (we didn't have real broth, so we actually used 2 cups hot water and a chicken bouillon cube)
• 1/4-1/2 tsp chile powder (we have red chile powder and green chile powder so we used green chile powder but all the recipe we read called for red chile powder)
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• I'm not going to lie...I just sprinkled the cumin, onion powder, and garlic powder in...I didn't measure...so those are my guestimate amounts
• 3 potatoes, peeled and chopped (we only had 3 small potatoes left in the bag...but you can put more in and it'd taste fine)
• 1 large chicken breast, cut into smallish chunks
• 1 cup minute rice
• 4 oz cream cheese
• A handful (maybe 1/3 c.) of shredded swiss cheese. (optional! I only used this because we had it. This recipe will work fine without swiss cheese)
• Shredded cheddar cheese for top
• Other garnishes could include sour cream, tortilla strips, or cilantro

Directions

1. Combine the enchilada sauce, chile, broth, seasonings, potatoes, and chicken into a saucepot over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. 
2. Boil until the potatoes are half way to tender, and add the minute rice. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked through. 
3. Stir in cream cheese (and swiss if you're going to use it). 
4. Serve topped with cheese and any other garnishes you want. 

Makes 4 hearty bowls of soup. 

Jambalaya

Alright, here is one of my recipes for Jambalaya. I had this a few times in Mississippi, and this tastes almost just like what I had in the South.

·         2 chicken breasts

·         1 smoked sausage or polska or something like that. The authentic recipe always calls for anduille sausage, but that is kind of hard to find.

·         1 onion

·         1 bell pepper

·         5 or 6 cloves of garlic (or however much you like)

·         5 ribs of celery

·         3 cans of tomato paste

·         1 can of diced tomatos

·         8 cups of chicken stock (Diedre told me to make it with 1 cube of bullion per cup of water)

·         Seasoning mix: 2 tsp cayenne, 2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp white pepper, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp thyme. Careful with the cayenne, 2 tsp makes it spicy. If your spouse doesn’t like spicy stuff you will be stuck with a whole pot of this stuff that you have to eat on your own. This may sound alright until you are on your 3rd day of it. The thyme really makes it, you may add more if you like it.

·         2 bay leaves

·         Salt

·         4 cups rice

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and brown the chicken with salt and pepper.  Next lightly fry the sausage. Saute the onions, garlic, peppers, and celery.  Once the sauté is almost done add the tomato paste and le that caramelize a little. Careful not to burn it.  Pour in two cans of the chicken stock and stir it around. Add the seasoning, tomatoes, and salt to taste. Cook for ~10 minutes. Add the meat and cook another 10 minutes. Add the rest of the stock. Add any seasoning to taste. Stir in the rice and cook until the rice is done.  I have done this both in a pot on the stove and in a dutch oven in the oven. It worked so much better in the oven. The pot on the stove burned on the bottom and the seasoning didn’t seem to combine all that well. This makes a bunch, so half it if you don’t want to eat on it for a while.  

Cam's Chicken and Dumplings

Before church we decided chicken and dumplings sounded amazing for lunch. So I looked up recipes to get the gist of the meal and put together my own concoction. If you don't try anything that we've posted so far, try this! And...I'm a genius. This shtuff is good! -Cameron

This really was amazing. So good, easy, and filling. This is going in our must have fall/winter recipe rotation.

Gravy/Soup Ingredients:

• 16-20 oz chicken broth (that's 2 to 2.5 cups...how much we put in varies by whether we're using homemade broth and have it saved in 2 cup increments, or if we're using the boxed soup from the store). 
• 1 can Cream of Chicken/Cream of Mushroom soup (I used the Campbell's soup combined can when I made this the first time...in later makes I've done just cream of chicken or just cream of mushroom and all ways turn out yummy)
• 2 large chicken breasts (can use thighs), cut into big bite size chunks
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 medium to large onion, chopped
• 1 scant tsp. celery seed OR 2-3 stalks chopped celery (I didn't have celery on hand the first time but wanted the celery flavor, so I used the celery seed instead)
• 1/4 tsp ground sage
• 1/4 tsp ground thyme
• 1/8-1/4 tsp of cumin
• 1/4 tsp parsley flakes
• 1/4 tsp basil leaves
• 3 1/2 tbs unsalted sweet cream butter 
• 7 small green onions, chopped
• 3 large carrots (quartered coins)
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 oz. cream cheese

Dumpling Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. yellow cornmeal
• 1 heaping Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 c. half and half
• 1 c. milk 

Directions:

1. Combine broth, soup, chicken chunks, garlic, onion, and spices/herbs (celery seed, sage, thyme, cumin, parsley, and basil)
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until chicken is cooked. 
3. Add the butter, vegetables, and salt. 
4. Let simmer while you mix up the dumplings. The dumplings dough/batter will be more runny than dough, but stiffer than brownie batter. Let it sit and it will fluff up a little. 
5. Simmer until vegetables are nearly done (or all the way done if you like your veggies a little more mushy), add the cream cheese and stir until melted into the soup. 
6. Drop dumpling dough by heaping tablespoon (or fork full) onto top of soup.
7. Cover (leaving the lid cracked) and simmer for 15-20 minutes. 
8. Spoon into bowl and devour. 

Le Bonhomme de Neige 7 Course Meal

When my brother was 14 or so, I told him that I'd do a full 7 course meal for him for a date if he ever wanted me to. Well, he finally called that in this past weekend. He and my cousin asked out two girls from my church and brought them out to the house for dinner, then took them bowling. I had so much fun deciding on a theme, putting the menu together, and getting decorations up. I LOVE doing these dinner parties. 

Brig and I decided on a Snowman theme and tried to incorporate that into as many of the courses as we could. I had plans to make snowmen for the table centerpiece as well, but I ran out of time. I do like what did pull together though. I hit up the after Christmas 50% off sale and got me a pack of 20 mini trees, some glittered and scented pinecones, 4 silver snowman ornaments, and 4 gold plate chargers. I also picked up 2 small packs of gold and silver ornaments for our New Years Tree (since we didn't get the tree decorated in time for Christmas, we ended up with a New Years Tree instead), and Cameron Brig and I worked on making ornaments as well. 

(click on any photo to see it larger)

The Decorations:

Thanks to Google Translate, we did the whole menu in French. I knew that no one coming to dinner knew French, but I figured it would help provide some good conversation (which it did) as they tried to figure out what each course was. 

And then we had the New Years Tree nearby for added awesomeness.  

The Menu:

Course 1: Cheese Balls with Crackers

Course 2: Curried Carrot Soup with Rye Bread Bowl

Course 3: Salad

This was just a generic salad, with garlic cheese croutons and their choice of dressing (we have tons). Then I had the great idea to buy mozzarella cheese pearls and put three on a toothpick, topped with an olive to make a snowman. Only I found out when we opened the package of cheese that cheese pearls aren't necessarily round...so the cheese snowmen looked more like modern art then snowmen. Oh well. 

Course 4: Mango Sorbet. 

I forgot to get a picture of this course. We bought mango sorbet at the store (I made my own once and that was more than I wanted to deal with this go around). We served the sorbet in small decorative canning jars with a gold ribbon tied around the top. 

Course 5: Mashed Potato Snowman with Chicken gravy, served with Parmesan Asparagus,

Course 6: Chicken Cordon Bleu with Sauteed Peppers

I didn't end up getting a picture of this course either. But it was yummy! Cameron cooked up the chicken and it was perfection. We were going to serve it face up with a piece of rye toast cut into the shape of a hat so it would be a snowman head, but I forgot to do that...I forgot to even pull out the toast. But it was still delicious. 

Course 7: Snowman Cheesecake

Beverages:

Everyone had a water glass, but then we also gave them the option of Homemade Egg Nog or a Homemade Vanilla Cream Soda. We served the Egg Nog and Cream Soda in our fun "fancy" glasses, and drew on snowman faces with dry erase markers. 

For homemade vanilla cream sodas, fill a glass 3/4 of the way with shaved ice (like you get at sonic). Pour in your flavored Torrani syrup (found in the coffee aisle in your grocery store). In these glasses Cameron filled the cup about 1/4 of the way with the syrup. Pour Club Soda in the glass, filling about 3/4 of the remaining space. Finally pour in some heavy whipping cream or half and half (we used heavy whipping cream this go around). Stir and enjoy!

It was so much fun to serve the dishes and to carry out the dinner. I loved it. Cameron would periodically go out and provide some entertainment. He juggled osage oranges, he did a "magic show", he read the menu in his best and worst French accents, and was just a hit. All in all, I think it was a success. 

Chicken Broccoli Supreme

YUM! That's about all I can say to sum this up. It's sooo good. Not a low fat option by any means, but who would expect something with the word supreme in the title to be healthy, right? I know it's not the prettiest looking dish ever, but it's definitely something we'll be eating again. And, like most good things these days, I found it here via pinterest.com

What you need:
1 Lb fresh broccoli, broken in pieces and steamed for 2 minutes (I think next time I'll cook mine a little more)
3 cups cooked chicken breast, broken into small pieces
3 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
2 tubes Ritz crackers (put in a zip-lock bag and crush, but not too much)
1 stick melted butter
1 TBS poppy seeds
Sauce:
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup cornstarch, dissolved in 1/2 cup COLD water
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups of the cheddar cheese (listed above)


What you do:

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the melted butter, cornstarch/water mixture, chicken broth, seasonings, and milk. Stir well, and continue stirring until sauce has thickened. Meanwhile, in greased 9x13 in. pan, layer the broccoli and chicken then set aside. 

Turn heat down to low, and add 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese to the sauce. Stir until melted. Pour over the chicken and broccoli. Top with 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese.

Melt the butter, and add the poppy seeds, and stir well. Add cracker crumbs to the melted butter. Sprinkle crumbs over the top of the grated cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until hot & bubbly.

Vicki's Chicken and Grapes with Creamy Mustard Sauce and Couscous

Okay, so I know that name is a little long, but I didn't make it up. I got this recipe from a Rachel Ray 30 minutes meals cookbook (I think it's in the one I gave you Kate), and I finally got around to trying it. I'd never had couscous before, so it was fun to try something new. Just so you know, couscous is VERY easy to make, so don't let it scare you!

What you need:
3 TBS all-purpose flour
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 TBS butter
1.25-1.5 lbs chicken tenders (I only had chicken breasts, so I just sliced them into smaller pieces)
salt and pepper
1/3 c white wine (I substitute chicken broth whenever wine is called for)
1 c. half and half (I used evaporated milk)
1/4 c grainy stone ground mustard (I used regular Dijon)
1 c seedless red grapes, halved
2 c chicken broth
2 c couscous
drizzle of EVOO

What you do:
Put the 2 c. chicken broth in a pan with the drizzle of EVOO and bring to a boil while you do the following:
Place flour in a shallow bowl. Place lg. skillet over med-high heat; add 1 TBS EVOO and butter. Dredge chicken in flour; season with salt and pepper. Add chicken to skillet and cook until browned, 7-8 minutes. Add wine and deglaze (this means stir all the brown crispy bits up off the bottom of the pan) as wine comes to a bubble; cook liquid down 30 seconds to 1 min. Combine half and half and mustard and pour mixture over chicken.
Add grapes to the skillet with the chicken and mustard sauce, and shake to coat chicken and grapes in sauce. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 3-5 minutes more.
Add the couscous to the pan with the boiling chicken broth. Stir briefly and then remove from heat and cover with a lid. Let sit for 5 minutes. 
When the time is up on the couscous, fluff it with a fork before serving with plenty of the mustard sauce. YUM!

Citrus and Rosemary Roast Chicken

When I found this recipe at http://tksinclair.com/ I knew I had to make it. It sounded SOOO yummy (and it was). 

It's not burned. Really. It was just right. It looks burned, and when  we first opened the oven and looked at it I winced...but upon closer look, it was just the marinade, not the chicken itself, that was dark. 

 This was so juicy and yummy and easy!

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, patted dry (about 5 lbs)
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh rosemary leaves (I used 2 TBS of dried rosemary leaves, because that's what we already had in the cupboard)
one orange, zested
one lemon, zested
juice of 1 lemon
juice of half an orange
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Directions:

In a small food processor, combine rosemary, lemon zest, lemon juice, orange zest, orange juice, and garlic. Pulse a few times until it looks like pesto. Add olive oil, salt and pepper and pulse to combine.

Using your hands, rub lemon-oregano marinade all over chicken. Using your fingers, gently lift the skin on either side of the neck and rub plenty of marinade directly onto the breast meat, under the skin. Don’t forget to get some inside the cavity (where the organs were).

Refrigerate for 2-8 hours to allow the marinade to infuse the meat. Remove from fridge about an hour before cooking. (We let it refrigerate for 9 hours, because that's how long we were gone today for work and school. And we didn't let it sit out of the fridge for an hour before cooking. We just pulled it out, put it in the pan, and put it in the oven).

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place chicken in roasting pan breast side up and place in oven. If desired, place small red potatoes all around the chicken and brush them with olive oil or melted butter. Roast for ten minutes. Reduce heat to 400°F and roast about 1 hour and 45 minutes, checking for doneness after 1 1/4 hours. (Ours was done at 1 hour 15 min.)

Remove from oven, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let stand 20 minutes before slicing.

Pomegranate Glazed Cornish Hens with Wild Rice Stuffing

I'm sitting here eating the leftovers of this as I type up this post, and it's sure yummy! It was such a pretty looking dish and it was fun to each get our own bird. It wasn't hard to make either, as long as your not bothered by handling raw poultry. The rice stuffing is so flavorful and moist and delicious. In this dish, there were a couple of ingredients I had never cooked with before. In the rice I used a Shallot and fresh pomegranate seeds (called arils). The hens are glazed with a mixture containing pomegranate molasses, which I had never had before and which I had to make myself because I couldn't find it anywhere.

What you Need:

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 Cornish hens (about 1 1/4 pounds each), rinsed and dried
• 15 jarred grape leaves (optional)(I didn't use these, I don't think they have them at my local grocery store)
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups wild rice blend
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 cup pomegranate seeds, plus more for serving
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, plus sprigs for serving
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus sprigs for serving
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

What you do:

Mix the cinnamon, 4 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl; sprinkle all over the hens and inside the cavities. Place the hens on a rack set on a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, at least 2 hours or overnight. Meanwhile, soak the grape leaves in water 1 hour.

Bring the chicken broth and 2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan; add the rice blend and cook as the label directs. Drain and rinse under cold water.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallot, garlic, ginger and cumin and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat; add the cooked rice, pomegranate seeds, and chopped parsley and cilantro; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Add the egg yolks and stir to combine.

Make the glaze: Bring the orange juice and pomegranate molasses to a boil in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.A good way to measure how much something has reduced is to stick the handle end of a wooden spoon in the liquid and then mark how high up the handle it came with a rubberband or piece of string. Then, you can use the same spoon and keep checking until the liquid only comes half way up to the mark you made. Remove from the heat and swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter.

Fill the cavity of each hen with about 1/2 cup of the rice mixture (reserve the rest); tie the legs together with twine. Roast 20 minutes, then brush with the pomegranate glaze. Continue roasting, glazing every 10 minutes, until a thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 165 degrees F to 170 degrees F, 1 hour to 1 hour, 10 minutes. (Rotate the hens halfway through cooking; if the skin gets too dark, cover loosely with foil.)
If you don't tie the legs together it won't affect the cooking, but it does leave the bird free to sprawl out all over the pan and then it doesn't look as pretty when you serve it. I just used some yarn I had left over from some project, and I also tied the wings as well so they'd stay put and looking nice. When tying the legs it helps to cross one over the other like I did in the second picture, and then tie the yarn around the feet and the pope's nose (that's what the tail is called, I'm not kidding).

Meanwhile, drain the grape leaves and pat dry. Use some of the leaves to line a 9-inch pie dish. Fill with the reserved rice mixture and drizzle with 2 tablespoons water. Cover with the remaining grape leaves, shiny side up, then cover with foil. (If you aren't using grape leaves, spoon the rice into a pie dish, sprinkle with water and cover with foil.) After the hens have roasted about 20 minutes, transfer the rice to the oven and cook until heated through, about 45 minutes.

Transfer the hens to a platter and add some parsley and cilantro sprigs and pomegranate seeds. Peel the grape leaves off the top of the rice and serve alongside the hens.

I got this recipe from Food Network Magazine.

Bacon-Cheese Topped Chicken

This is a new favorite. I almost always get chicken too dry, but this was perfect and it tastes sooo good. I made this as the main part of our Autumnal Equinox dinner that we did last night (even though the Equinox is today). 

Ingredients:

1/4 c. dijon mustard
1/4 c. honey
2 1/4 tsp olive oil (divided)
1/3 tsp. lemon juice
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
Salt and pepper
Dash paprika
1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms (we used one small can of cut mushrooms)
1 T. butter
1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1/2 c. shredded Cheddar Cheese
4 bacon strips, partially cooked (we usually only use ends and pieces because it's cheaper and works better in soups and gravy and stuff, so we just cut of a chunk and spread the pieces)
1 tsp minced fresh parsley (I was going to use dried parsley, but I completely forgot to add it in)

Method:
1. In a bowl, combine the mustard, honey, 3/4 tsp oil and lemon juice.
2. Pour 1/4 c. into a large resealable plastic bag; add the chicken.
3. Seal the bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 2 hours.
4. Cover and refrigerate the remaining marinade.
5. After 2 hours, drain and discard marinade from chicken.
6. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown chicken in remaining oil on all sides. You're not cooking the chicken all the way, just browning the outside.
7. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika.
8. Transfer to a greased backing dish.
9. In the same skillet, saute mushrooms in butter until tender.
10. Spoon reserved marinade over chicken.
11. Top with cheeses and mushrooms. Place bacon strips in a criss-cross pattern over chicken.
12. Bake, uncovered, @ 375 for 20-25 minutes.
13. Sprinkle with parsley.

Cordon Bleu Bake

I pulled this recipe out of a Taste of Home magazine when we were first married, but I hadn't ever made it. We liked it. It's quick, easy, and yummy yummy yummy. Here's my picture, and then the picture from the website (it's the picture that was in my book too). We ended up having to use more stuffing than the recipe called for because I did 1 c. water instead of 1/2 c. by accident. And I didn't want to figure out how to use the leftover cream of mushroom soup, so I used the whole can and I should have stuck to the recipe (not that it was bad, there was just too much cream of mushroom soup). It probably would have tasted  better with cream of chicken soup too. Those are things to try out next time. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 cup stuffing mix 
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
• 2/3 cup condensed cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup, undiluted, divided
• 3/4 cup cubed cooked chicken breast
• 2 ounces (that's 1/8 lb.) thinly sliced deli ham, cut into strips
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Directions 

 

In a small saucepan, bring water and 1 tablespoon butter to a boil. Stir in stuffing mix. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 5 minutes. 

 

Meanwhile, in a shallow 1-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray, combine vegetables with 1/3 cup soup. 

 

Combine the chicken with remaining soup; spoon over vegetables. 

 

Layer with ham and cheese. 

 

Fluff stuffing with a fork; spoon over cheese. 

 

Melt remaining butter; drizzle over stuffing. 

 

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until heated through. 

 

Yield: 2 servings.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts

2 apples

1/3 vine of grapes

4 celery sticks

1/3 cup diced walnuts or pecans

miracle whip or mayo

cooked bacon (optional)

salt & pepper

Instructions

Boil the chicken until cooked. Dice up all ingredients and put them into a big bowl. Mix in miracle whip until there’s just enough to make ingredients start to stick together. Serve immediately or refrigerate until you’re ready to eat it! (great for planning ahead and leftovers). Serve sandwiched in bread or rolls.

Notes:

These measurements are estimated. Paralee Richins and Diedre made them and just told me what she put in them and I just made up how much of what goes in and they turned out great. Use however much of each ingredient you want according to what you like. This just gives you a feeling for about how much I used.

Summer Solstice Dinner: Creamy Chicken (like Alfredo)

I found this recipe in a forum for 17 Day Diet recipes. It was amazing. I loved it. Cameron loved it. We're going to have this more often (on and off the diet). 

3-4 boneless chicken breasts-cut up into bite sized pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
3 cups broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
1 can low sodium chicken broth
1 8oz. bar of fat free cream cheese
1 packet hidden valley ranch powder dip mix

In a skillet:
Saute the chicken in olive oil until almost cooked through
Add all veggies to chicken and saute until nearly all cooked. 
Add 1/2 the can of chicken broth and allow veggies to finish cooking. 

Meanwhile, in a seperate sauce pot add:
Last 1/2 of chicken broth
8oz fat free cream cheese
1 packet hidden valley ranch dip mixCook until mixture is smooth.

Add sauce to saute mixture and serve!

This mixture can be served on top of a pasta of choice, but it is really great just plain too. 

Chicken Pot Pie

What you Need:
10 oz. frozen peas and carrots (I use frozen peas and then just chop up a fresh carrot or two)
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 1/2 to 3 cups cut-up cooked chicken or turkey
Pastry for a two-crust pie

What to Do:
Rinse frozen veggies in cold water to separate; drain.
In saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, onion, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in chicken and veggies; remove from heat.
Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Make pastry. Roll two-thirds of the pastry dough into 13 inch square. Ease into ungreased 9 inch square pan. Pour chicken mixture into pastry-lined pan.
Roll remaining pastry into 11 inch square. Place square over chicken mixtrue. Turn edges of pastry under and pinch to seal. Use a sharp knife to cut vents in the top of the crust.
Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Italian Chicken Skillet

What you need:

8 chicken breast halves, skin removed

3/4 cup sliced celery

3/4 cup chopped green pepper

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 can(4oz) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

2 cans(14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes

1 tsp dried parsley flakes

1 tsp vinegar

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp pepper

What to Do:

In a large skillet coated with non-stick cooking spray(I usually just use a little melted butter), saute chicken over medium heat until browned. Remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, saute celery, green pepper, onion, and mushrooms until tender. Return chicken to pan. Combine the rest of the ingredients; pour over chicken and vegetables. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Uncover; simmer 10 minutes longer or until chicken juices run clear.

Serve over warm rice.

Seasoned Baked Chicken

This is one of our favorite meals lately...1. because it is scrumptious, 2. because it is super easy and pretty quick to make.

Ingredients you'll need:

-Chicken pieces. Any cut you want. Frozen or thawed. We've been using frozen chicken thighs lately because that is what is in our freezer.
-Flour
-Seasoning. Now, we have used taco seasoning and malibu seasoning (a combination of spices we got at the store), but you could use really whatever seasoning you have on hand.
-1 egg for every 2 or so pieces of chicken.

How to make this tasty meal:

1. Crack open an egg into a bowl and then beat it with a fork until it's all beat up.
2. In a plastic bag or a bowl combine about 1/2 c. flour (or more if you're doing a lot of chicken) and a tablespoon or so of seasoning (careful with how much seasoning you put in...some go a long way while others you can't get enough of...even if you get too much...some mashed potatoes in the same bite as the chicken help to even things out).
3. Dip the chicken in the egg so it's completely covered, then dip it in the flour/seasoning on all sides.
4. Place on a greased/sprayed pan and place in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30-40 minutes.
5. The chicken is done when the juices run clear when a knife is inserted.