Chicken Cordon Blue

so it's been AGES since I posted on here last, but never fear I have returned! I am sure you all noticed right? ;) 


I tried this recipe tonight and LOVED it and for those of you who might care it is Weight Watchers approved! :) BONUS!! 


Ingredients:

	1 pound uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, four 4-oz pieces
	1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground, divided
	1/4 tsp table salt
	1 oz deli ham, very thinly sliced
	2 oz low-fat Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
	1/3 cup dried bread crumbs, plain-variety
	1/3 cup parsley, fresh, minced   (I cut this in half and just added more bread crumbs, because I don't really love parsley)
	2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
	2 large egg whites
	2 sprays cooking spray
	1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
	1/2 Tbsp olive oil    Instructions:

• Place chicken between two sheets of wax paper or plastic (I just used a gallon sized ziploc bag); using a rolling pin, pound chicken to 1/4 inch thickness. 
  
• Rub chicken with 1/4 teaspoon each pepper and salt. Evenly divide prosciutto and cheese over chicken; fold chicken in half to cover prosciutto and cheese and press down to hold shape.
  
• In a shallow bowl, combine bread crumbs, parsley and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place flour on a plate. In another shallow bowl, whip egg whites until soft peaks form.
  
• To coat chicken, dredge each piece of chicken in flour; turn to coat. Then dip each chicken breast in egg whites; turn to coat. Next, dredge chicken in bread crumb-mixture and press down to make sure all sides are covered. Repeat until all four chicken breasts are coated.
  
• Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat; add butter and oil. When they begin to simmer (about 1 or 2 minutes), place chicken in a single layer in skillet; cook, flipping once, until nicely browned and chicken is completely cooked through, about 6 to 8 minutes each side. 1 chicken breast per serving.
• 
  

I was in a hurry to get dinner cooked so I rushed through the instructions and wound up breading my chicken before adding the cheese and ham. This caused a problem with the whole folding technique. Because I could no longer fold the cheese and ham inside I preheated the oven to 350 and placed the ham and cheese on top of the cooked chicken and let it melt for about 5 minutes. It turned out rather well I thought. Although next time I think I'll make it the correct way. 

It may look complicated but this meal was SUPER easy and SO yummy! It probably took me a whole of 30 minutes to have dinner ready and on the table. I served it with a baked potato and green salad. 

Leftover suggestion: serve it cold in thin slices over salad greens. (I'm gonna try this tomorrow)! 

Salsa Chicken

This recipe is so easy and so yummy!

2 Chicken Breasts
1/2 jar of salsa
Taco Seasoning

(Sorry I really don't measure much when I cook so I don't have exact measurements. Just put however much seasoning as you want).

Put all of this in the crockpot on high for around 5 hours or until chicken is very tender. When I put the chicken in the crockpot it was frozen so it won't take as long if it isn't frozen.

Take chicken out of crock pot and shred. Return to crockpot and mix with salsa and seasoning.

Serve over rice. I topped it with sour cream and olives.

Quick and Easy Stovetop Stuffing Chicken Bake

I wanted to post a quick variation to this recipe that I posted a while back. I made this for dinner tonight and tweaked it a little bit to make it work better. Sorry if any of you tried to make it before and it didn't work out well, that's my fault  because of the way I posted it. This time, I cooked and shredded the chicken beforehand. Then I only had to bake it long enough to warm it through. It's such a quick and easy meal and tasty!

Easy Stovetop Stuffing Chicken Bake

1 box Stovetop Stuffing - chicken flavored
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, shredded (I just boiled them)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2/3 cup sour cream

Prepare stuffing as directed on box, set aside. Mix together chicken, soup, and sour cream and spread in a 9 X 13 pan. Spread stuffing over the top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until warmed through.

Chicken Fingers

These are sooooo easy! I got the recipe from my cousin who said her kids just love them.

chicken breasts (cut into slices)

Honey Bunches of Oats cereal (crushed)

2 eggs, beaten

After slicing the chicken breasts, dip them thoroughly in the egg, and then into the crushed cereal. The less you touch them at that point, the better the coating will stay on the chicken. Place them on a cookie sheet... or the better way is to put it on a cooling rack set on top of a cookie sheet (see picture). That keeps the chicken from being soggy on one side. Bake in the oven at 375 for 25 minutes. Dip in honey mustard, BBQ sauce, ranch, or whatever you like.

*** For some reason I didn't think about the fact that Honey Bunches of Oats (which is my all time favorite cereal) is really sweet. So when I tried the chicken fingers for the first time I was surprised that they still had that sweet quality to them. They're very satisfying though! Try it!

Crockpot Shredded Lime Chicken w/Cilantro Lime Rice

SHREDDED LIME CHICKEN

4-5 boneless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cup sprite
1/2-1 t. cumin
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
2 limes

Cook in a crockpot on medium heat for 6-8 hours or until chicken falls apart with a fork. Stir in the juice of two limes before serving.

CILANTRO LIME RICE

1 c. white rice
2 c. chicken broth
1 T. lime juice
1 garlic clove
1 pinch salt
1/2 c. fresh cilantro

Cook rice according to package directions using broth instead of water. When done, fluff with a fork and add other ingredients.

Recipe courtesy of Karly http://recipestopasson.blogspot.com/

Homemade Pizza Dough (BBQ chicken pizza)

This week I made my first ever pizza dough from scratch. I don't know what I was afraid of all this time! I can't believe I used to drive all the way to Trader Joe's or Fresh n Easy to get their $1.25 pre-mixed dough instead of just making it myself. Duh. Honestly you can't mess this up!

Combine and let sit for 5 minutes:

3/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 t yeast

1 T sugar

Add:

1 t salt

1 1/2-2 cups flour

Let rise for 30 minutes. Roll out with a little extra flour out, if necessary. Let sit 5 minutes. Roll out again. Top with whatever you like! This makes one 15 inch pizza. For thicker crust, double the recipe. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

***I used both cups of flour because my dough still seemed really sticky.

***I did double it, thinking we'd have a nice thick crust, but it ended up being way too much for one pizza. I ended up pulling off about a quarter of the dough and making it into breadsticks.

***When our pizza came out after 20 minutes it was a little overcooked. I would suggest a shorter amount of time... maybe 15 minutes? Just make sure your toppings and cheese are hot and melty.

BBQ PIZZA RECIPE (pictured above):

1) Simply cook a chicken breast and shred/chop it up, or use leftover rotisserie chicken. Toss it with your favorite BBQ sauce. I actually cooked a couple of breasts in the crockpot with some BBQ sauce, shredded them and used that. (I had leftover shredded chicken for dinner the next night too)

2) Chop up some red onion and saute it with a little oil until they are cooked and golden.

3) Spread BBQ sauce on the pizza dough, put the red onion all over, then the chicken, then lots of cheese. We like the Italian blend pre-shredded kind, for ease, and some parmesan on top.

Mexican Casserole

So, I failed. I meant to take a photo of our meal tonight and show you how amazingly yummy this casserole is... but I forgot. And taking a picture of the leftovers in my fridge might turn you off, because cold leftovers never look as appetizing. Oh well. You'll have to picture it and make it yourself! Super yummy, people!

3 cooked, shredded chicken breasts (I just boil mine)

1 diced green pepper (I did about 3/4 of green and 1/4 of red)

1/4 c diced red onion

1 can corn (drained)

1 can kidney beans (drained and rinsed)

1 can garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)

1 can tomato sauce

1 c salsa (or you could add a little more salsa or tomato sauce to make it more moist when cooked - ours was a little dry tonight for some reason)

1/4 c chopped cilantro

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt & pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl. Spray a 9x13 pan with pam and put a layer of crushed tortilla chips on the bottom. Layer half the mixture, then some cheddar & monterey jack cheese, then the rest of the mixture, and then top with more cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 mins.

p.s. This is a great drop-off meal if you are making someone dinner. It's super easy to do, but I admit it's a little time-consuming chopping things up, cooking the chicken, and rinsing beans. Anyway, we did that tonight and it made enough for one of those throw-away 8x8 pans to drop off to our friends and then another whole pan to keep for our dinner.

Baked Chicken Parmesan

So I found this recipe the other day. Made it for dinner last night. Oh.My.Deliciousness. I LOVED IT!! My husband loved it. And my toddler ate it up (which is always a triple plus for a meal in my book). Hope you guys like it as much as we did!

Baked Chicken Parmesan

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
2 tsp mustard
2-3 lb chicken breasts
1 T dry Italian dressing mix
1/2 cup parmesan
2 T parsley
3/4 cup bread crumbs

Melt butter in a 9x13 pan in oven at 350 degrees. Add salt, Worchestershire sauce, and mustard to the butter. Cut up chicken (I did it in strips) and soak in butter mixture. Mix dry ingredients. Dip chicken in dry mixture. Place back in pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Comfort Chicken

Is it seriously my turn to post again?!? Now that the cat's out of the bag that I'm pregnant, I can honestly say that I really haven't cooked more than a handful of times in months. Very sad and pathetic. I love to cook and experiment with my own recipes and all that stuff, but with the extreme nausea and food aversion, it just hasn't happened. So I just flipped through my recipes and found one that we like (definitely not a low fat meal so it's not eaten too frequently in our house!)

1 lb. chicken, baked & cut

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 c. butter

4 med. potatoes, bite-size pieces

20 baby carrots, bite-size pieces

1 c. cream

1 tbsp.parsley

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

In a large skillet, saute onion in butter (I actually reduce the amount of butter in this recipe). Add chicken and brown on all sides. Add potatoes & carrots (partially steamed in microwave first). Cover and cook on medium-low until veggies are tender. Stir in remaining ingredients and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer uncovered for 8 minutes. Enjoy!

I adjust my seasonings to make sure it doesn't turn out bland. Simple seasonings, but with the right adjustment it's perfect!

Not your Average Parmesan Chicken

Apologies for not posting yesterday. At least I remembered today right?

This is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite recipes!! Just make sure to only add 2 tsp. and not 2 TBS. of garlic salt or else it won't turn out so great. (Oh the journeys of trying to cook in a hurry and reading the recipe too quickly...and I had even made it a million times before)!!

As the recipe says "This is a winner you can count on". I AGREE! :)

Parmesan Chicken

2 cups crushed Ritz crackers
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons garlic salt
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup plain yogurt (I've also made this with sour cream and it was DELICIOUS)! 
1/4 cup butter, melted

1 recipe Sour Cream Chicken Sauce (optional) I've actually only ever made the recipe with this sauce once and it is yummy either way.

Combine cracker crumbs, parmesan cheese, and garlic salt. Dip each piece of chicken in yogurt to coat and then cover breast in crumb mixture. Arrange in greased 9X13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with melted butter. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Top with Sour Cream Chicken Sauce, if desired. Serves 8.


Sour Cream Chicken Sauce

2 (10 ounce) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup sour cream

In a small saucepan heat soup and sour cream together over low heat. stirring frequently.

I most often serve this with mashed potatoes and fresh steamed veggies. It is also delicious with rice.

Easy Mango Chicken

• 4-5 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless, I use 3 large breasts)
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 cups mango salsa 
• Cumin to taste
• Lemon Pepper to taste

1. Put chicken breasts in crock pot. Add cumin and lemon pepper. Cover and cook chicken until tender. Shred chicken on a plate and return to crock pot. Save juices in separate bowl.
2. Add corn, beans and salsa. More salsa can be added to taste. If mixture seems dry, add some of reserved juices.
3. Serve over coconut jasmine rice. Garnish with cilantro or parsely, if desired.

Coconut Rice (rice cooker version)

• 2 cups Thai jasmine-scented white rice (note that other types of rice, such as brown rice, do not work for this recipe)
• 1 1/2 cups good-quality coconut milk (not “lite”)
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp brown sugar

1. Place rice in rice cooker. Add the water, coconut milk, sugar and salt. Stir well (use a plastic or wooden utensil to avoid scraping off the non-stick surface).
2. Cover and set to cook.
3. Once your rice cooker switches to “warm” mode, allow another 8-10 minutes for rice to finish “steaming”. This will ensure your coconut rice is fully cooked and pleasantly sticky.
4. Gently fluff with chopsticks before serving. Serves 4

Coconut Rice (stovetop version)

• 2 cups Thai jasmine-scented white rice*
• 2 cups good-quality coconut milk
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. coconut oil, OR other vegetable oil
• 1 tsp brown sugar

1. Rub oil over the bottom of a deep-sided pot. You will also need a tight-fitting lid.
2. Place rice, coconut milk, water, sugar and salt in the pot and set over medium-high to high heat.
3. Stir until liquid comes to a gentle boil (stirring will keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot and burning).
4. Once the coconut-water has begun to gently bubble, stop stirring and reduce heat to low (just above minimum). Cover tightly with a lid and let simmer about 15 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice (to check, pull rice aside with a fork to see down to the bottom of the pot).
5. When the liquid is gone, turn off the heat, but leave the covered pot on the burner to steam another 5-10 minutes, or until you’re ready to eat. Tip: Your Coconut Rice will stay warm this way for up to 1 hour or more, great for when you’re expecting company!
6. When ready to serve, remove the lid and fluff rice with a fork or chopsticks. Taste-test the rice for salt, adding a little more if needed. Serve right out of the pot, or place in another serving bowl.

YUM!!! 

Quick N' Easy BBQ Chicken

Okay so I am extremely busy and most of the time just have to throw some things together (okay okay so that is what I do 99% of the time). I love the marinade section in Walmart and that is where I found this:

It is the best sauce EVER...(it is spicy). I actually cover whatever amount of chicken I want to grill or bake and let it marinate for awhile. If I'm baking then I put the oven at 350 degrees and bake for 20-30 min depending on size of chicken. Or I grill and keep basting the chicken the whole time..num num num, also an amazing side dish is grilled asparagus just cover them in EVOO and Sea Salt and put on tinfoil on grill. Let them get blackened (my fav). So here is just another simple dinner but oh so good!!!

Greek Chicken Pitas

My sister posted this recipe on her blog last month, but instead of chicken she made her own falafel. You can check out the falafel recipe here. I have a small fear of frying things in a lot of oil (could stem from a room mates accident in college.) Anyway, so I just grilled some chicken and then served the pitas with thinly sliced red onion, tomatoes and lettuce. If you're in a pinch you could always use store bought pitas... but don't be in a pinch.

Chicken

2 chicken breasts

2-3 T olive oil

1 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/4 tsp dried minced garlic (I didn't have this so I just did a couple shakes of garlic powder)

Pinch of Salt

Combine all ingredients in a ziploc bag and shake/smoosh it around until the chicken is evenly coated with the seasonings. Grill chicken until it's no longer pink and the juices run clear.

Soft Pita Bread

Makes 8 flatbreads3 c. flour
1 1/2 c. boiling water

1/4 c. potato flour OR 1/2 c. potato flakes
1 1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 tsp. INSTANT yeast
Directions:
Place 2 cups of the flour into a large mixing bowl (or Kitchen Aid). Pour the boiling water over the flour, and stir till smooth. Cover the bowl and set the mixture aside for 30 minutes. This process will cook out some of the starch, making the bread very soft and pliable.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the potato flour (or flakes) and 1 cup of the remaining flour with the salt, oil and yeast. Add this to the cooled flour/water mixture, stir, then knead for several (5-7) minutes to form a soft dough. Add additional flour only if necessary-- The dough should form a ball, but will remain somewhat soft. Let the dough rise, covered, for 1 hour. (Note: Since this is a flatbread, the dough will not rise very much due to the small amount of yeast-- But it should still rise noticeably.)

Divide the dough into 8 pieces (each around 3-4 oz.-- I use my kitchen scale for this), cover, and let rest on an oiled surface for 15 to 30 minutes. Roll each piece into an 8-inch circle, and dry-fry them (fry without oil) on a griddle or frying pan over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until they’re flecked with brown spots. Adjust the heat if they seem to be cooking either too quickly, or too slowly; cooking too quickly means they may be raw in the center, while too slowly will dry them out. Stack the cooked bread in between a soft, clean towel to keep them warm and soft. Serve immediately, or cool before storing in a plastic bag.

Tzatziki Sauce:

You can alter this to your taste (I like a lot more lemon juice in mine, so I doubled the amount).

1 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt (that's 2 6-oz. containers)

1 clove garlic, minced

1-2 tsp. lemon juice

3 green onions, firm ends finely chopped

1 tsp. dry dill weed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced

Combine ingredients in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Store covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Salsa Chicken

This is one of my new favorite recipes. It's so easy and really yummy! I made this the other night (only 1/2 the recipe) and served it over rice and had enough leftovers the next night to use for chicken tacos.

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 jar of salsa
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken and serve over rice (or on tacos!).

Basil Chicken Alfredo

This is such an easy meal. So different. So yummy. The basil leaves give the chicken a really good taste. Delish!

*Check out the calzone recipe if you were confused on how to put it together - I made it tonight and posted pictures of how to criss-cross and wrap it up.

Chicken Breasts
Fresh Basil Leaves
Sliced Deli Ham
Sliced Provolone Cheese
Alfredo Sauce
Cooked noodles (I used penne)

Cook chicken breasts, place fresh basil leaves on chicken breasts, then lay the slices of ham, and the slices of provolone cheese over the basil leaves. Pour the cooked noodles in around the chicken breasts, pour alfredo over everything. Bake at 350 until warmed through.

Ranch Chicken

I wish I had pictures of this but I didn't get a chance to make it this week so I don't have any pictures. However, I am making this recipe on Saturday for the missionaries and I will post pictures then! Once again this is a fast recipe (because I don't get home from work until 6) and super easy. And Brighton likes it too!

8 Servings Prep: 10 min. Bake: 45 min.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup crushed cornflakes (sometimes I use Total)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)

Directions
Place butter in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine the
cornflakes, cheese and salad dressing mix. Dip chicken in butter,
then roll in cornflake mixture to coat.

Place in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at
350° for 45 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170°.

Yield: 8 servings.

Italian Dressing Chicken & Peppers

We love this meal in our house - no recipe necessary and is really yummy. As a healthier alternative, I usually use low fat or no fat italian dressing.

1 lb. chicken

2 bell peppers (red, orange, & yellow go better than green)

italian dressing

italian blend cheese (or mozzarella - again, lower fat option)

Brown chicken in skillet (I like to cut the chicken into chunks). Add chopped bell peppers (1" cubes, or so) & enough italian dressing to really coat all the chicken & peppers. Cover with lid and simmer until peppers are crisp tender. Right before eating, add in enough cheese to your liking and stir it in to melt. Serve over rice. Mmm...it's kind of making my mouth water a little bit just thinking about it!

We've been super busy lately and I haven't cooked as much as I normally do so I am still pictureless for my recipes - sorry!

sorry I'm late!!

This is a simple recipe!

CHICKEN PARMESIAN!

spaghetti noodles
jar of marinara sauce
tyson chicken patties
slices of cheese (whatever you like)


cook noodles and heat up sauce, cook patties in microwave, oven, or toaster oven put cheese on top at the very end of cooking so it can melt. Then add everything together and cover with the warm spaghetti sauce. This is a recipe for when you don't have a ton of time and you don't want just noodles and sauce (which is what we call a poor mans meal)! So yah this is a nummy easy turn on the normal chicken parmesian.

Salsa Crockpot Chicken

Hello?? Is anyone out there?? No one is adding recipes anymore! Sorry I've been MIA for a few weeks. We were on vacation and just got moved in and settled down finally. Hopefully I'll see more recipes from you all soon...I will update the posting schedule.

Here is what I am making for dinner tonight. It's SO easy and really yummy. I probably only did about 1/4 of the recipe for just me and Dan. Or you could do the entire recipe and have lots of leftovers, but I'm the queen of wasting leftovers so I don't like to have extras.

6-8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 jar of salsa
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup

Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken and serve over rice.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole!!

Ingredients:

diced cooked chicken (probably 2 lb)
1/4 cup Butter
1/2 cup flour
1 small can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayo
broccoli flourets
Mozz Cheese
Minute rice (wheat or white)

Cook Broccoli (set aside)
cook chicken diced (set aside)

mix together butter, flour, soup, mayo

get a 9x13 pan and add broccoli to bottom (i'd probably spray with pam)
then added chicken on top, then top chicken and broccoli with sauce.

On the top sprinkle Mozz Cheese all over

Cook at 325 degrees fro about 30-35 minutes (everything will be starting to bubble)

serve over rice!

I know I suck at writing these out but this is what I have to work with. It's an extremely nummy casserole and I think having it for leftovers tastes even better.

p.s. I add a little extra soup and broth to make it cover everything!