Chicken Souvlaki

This is one of our favorite meals. But a MUST is the tzatziki sauce to accompany it

Use recipe found here - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-souvlaki-gyro-style/detail.aspx

• Souvlaki Marinade:
• 3/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• • 4 large pita bread rounds
  • 1 heart of romaine lettuce, cut into 1/4 inch slices
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 tomato, halved and sliced
  • 1/2 cup pepperoncini (I use sometimes)
  • 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (let's face it, rarely have, but still yummy!)

  Directions

  1. In a small bowl, mix the balsamic vinaigrette, juice from 1/2 lemon, oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag. Pour marinade over the chicken, seal, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  2. Remove chicken from marinade and place on prepared grill. Discard remaining marinade. Cook chicken until juices run clear, about 8 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from heat, and allow to sit about 10 minutes before slicing into thin strips.
  3. Place pita rounds on the grill, and cook for about 2 minutes, until warm, turning frequently to avoid burning. Arrange warmed pita, sliced chicken, lettuce, onion, tomato, and pepperoncini on a serving platter. Serve tzatziki sauce and feta cheese in separate bowls on the side. Stuff pita pockets with chicken and toppings to serve.
  4. 
     

  

Shake and Bake Chicken

I really liked this! I used the recipe here - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/easy-shake-and-bake-chicken/detail.aspx

adding slight alteration using recipe found here - http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/shake-n-bake-spicy-74651.aspx

• chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup BBQ sauce*
• 1/2 Tbsp mustard*
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon sage
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Mix together BBQ sauce and mustard. Lightly brush the chicken breasts. *came from 2nd recipe
3. Mix flour, salt, paprika, sage and pepper together in a bag. Add chicken in a bag and shake until well coated.
4. Melt butter/margarine in a 9x13 inch baking dish in the preheated oven. Place chicken in the baking dish skin side down and bake for 20 minutes. Turn pieces and bake another 20 minutes until tender and juices run clear.

Oriental Chicken Salad

Found recipe here - http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Applebees-Oriental-Chicken-Salad-Recipe.html

I've used this recipe before, and the corn flake covered chicken is really delicious! But to cut back on time, I just used store-bought chicken strips, placed on a bed of lettuce and topped with the yummy dressing, green onions and almonds. It made this amazing salad, amazingly simple.

DRESSING

3 Tbsp honey

1 1/2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (3 parts white vinegar 1 part water)

1/4 cup mayo

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/8 tsp sesame oil

Blend and refrigerate.

Salad
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn flake crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast half
2-4 cups vegetable oil (for frying)
3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup red cabbage
1 cup Napa cabbage
1/2 carrot, julienned or shredded
1 green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon sliced almonds
1/3 cup chow mein noodles

1. Preheat oil in deep fryer or deep pan over medium heat.
You want the temperature of the oil to be around 350 degrees.
2. Blend together all ingredients for dressing in a small
bowl with an electric mixer. Put dressing in refrigerator
to chill while you prepare the salad.
3. In a small, shallow bowl beat egg, add milk, and mix well.
4. In another bowl, combine flour with corn flake crumbs, salt
and pepper.
5. Cut chicken breast into 4 or 5 long strips. Dip each strip
of chicken first into egg mixture then into the flour mixture,
coating each piece completely.
6. Fry each chicken finger for 5 minutes or until coating has
darkened to brown.
7. Prepare salad by tossing the chopped romaine with the chopped
red cabbage, Napa cabbage, and carrots.
8. Sprinkle sliced green onion on top of the lettuce.
9. Sprinkle almonds over the salad, then the chow mein noodles.
10. Cut the chicken into small bite-size chunks. Place the
chicken onto the salad forming a pile in the middle. Serve
with salad dressing on the side.

Balsamic Chicken Pasta Salad

Found the recipe here- http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Balsamic-Chicken-Pasta-Salad

• bow tie pasta
• cubed cooked chicken breast
• tomatoes
• chopped red onion
• bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (I used bacon bits)

*I halved the dressing recipe

• 1/4 cup Crisco® Olive Oil
• 1 Tbsp dried basil
• 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water; transfer to a large bowl. Add the chicken, tomatoes, onion, and bacon.
• In a small bowl, whisk the oil, basil, vinegar, brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Cranberry Chicken Pasta Salad

I needed to use the other half of my can of Costco chicken and was in the mood for a cold pasta salad. I couldn't decide between 2 I found so I made a little of both. :) I think they would be much better with cubed chicken, but not bad for what it was. I'll include the other recipe in the above post.

Found recipe here - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/chicken-pasta-salad-with-cashews-and-dried-cranberries/detail.aspx

• bow tie (farfalle) pasta
• coleslaw dressing
• cubed cooked chicken
• seedless green grapes, halved
• seedless red grapes, halved
• water chestnuts (I left out)
• thinly sliced celery
• sliced green onions
• cashew halves
• dried cranberries

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken, green grapes, red grapes, water chestnuts, celery, and green onions. Stir in dressing, and mix well. Place the salad in the refrigerator to marinate for 2 hours, or overnight. Mix in cashews and dried cranberries just before serving. Serve cold.

I mixed up my own coleslaw dressing found here - http://southernfood.about.com/od/saladdressings/r/bl60117c.htm

*I only made a quarter of the recipe below, but I also didn't make very much pasta

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 full of a 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup cider vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• salt, to taste

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a jar; shake well. Refrigerate for about an hour.

White Sauce Enchiladas

I found the recipe here- http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-enchiladas-white-sauce-rich-131628

For my review, see below-

• 1/8 cup butter
• 1/8 cup flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4 ounces sour cream
• 4 ounces chopped green chilies, undrained
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts (I use 1/2 can Costco chicken)
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 cups monterey jack cheese
• 4 flour tortillas

Directions:

1. 1
   In medium saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour, add chicken stock, heat and stir until thickened and bubbly.
2. 2
   Add sour cream, green chilies and cayenne. Remove from heat.
3. 3
   In a separate bowl, toss cooked chicken and chopped onion. To this bowl, add 1/2 cup sauce mixture from the saucepan. Stir well.
4. 4
   Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture, roll up and place seamside down in oblong greased casserole.
5. 5
   Pour remaining sauce on top.
6. 6
   Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, covered.
7. 7
   Remove from oven, take off foil and sprinkle cheese over top.
8. 8
   Return to oven and broil until cheese becomes browned a little.
   
   
   
   
   

Jack and I really aren't enchilada fans. We don't like them mushy so usually let the cheese brown. There is another recipe I normally use, which I will include below. With that, the cheese gets crispy, but this recipe called out to me because it looked like cheesy goodness so I thought I would give it a try. Plus, it's pretty fast and simple. I liked the taste of this one better. I topped with lettuce, tomatoes, and corn. Jack threw some tortilla chips on his to give it a crunch, but he likes my other recipe better. He felt this was too greasy. And with the butter it does have more of that texture. So if you're looking for a similar taste, with less grease, my other enchilada recipe is as follows:

1/2 can Costco chicken

cream cheese

onions

I mix these together in a saucepan until the cheese is melted. Sorry I don't know how much cream cheese I use, just to get a good consistency. I roll it up in tortillas. Open a can of green enchilada sauce pour a little on the bottom of the pan, put my tortillas in, pour a little on top of the tortillas and top with cheddar cheese. I then let it cook until the cheese gets crispy. And that's it!

Mesquite Chicken Pasta

I've made a few variations of this in the past, but this time it was my favorite, and easiest. Maybe that's why it was my favorite? I used a variation found here - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/cajun-chicken-pasta/detail.aspx

pasta

chicken

mesquite seasoning

butter

sour cream

I had previously cooked some pasta shells that were in the fridge I needed to use so I thawed a chicken breast and cooked it in a skillet with some mesquite seasoning. I added a little butter and cut the chicken breast into bite-sized strips. Once fully cooked I set aside on plate.

Turned heat to low and with the burning mesquite seasoning on the bottom of the pan I added 1/2 cup sour cream, stirring constantly and a little milk to get a good sauce consistency and all the flavor from the bottom of the pan was mixed in. Added about 1/4 tsp of the following-

onion flakes

dried basil

lemon pepper

garlic powder

salt

pepper

Added some parmesan cheese and threw my cooked pasta into the pan, mixing until it was all coated. I add the chicken and there you have it!

I forgot after I ate it I wanted to add some cherry tomatoes I had sitting in the fridge. You could also saute some red and green bell pepper with your chicken that would be tasty!

Chicken Potato Carrot Crockpot Meal

CI don't remember where I found this recipe originally, but I think it's a yummy crockpot meal!

Potatoes

Carrots

Onion

2 Tbsp melted butter

1 tsp dried parsley

salt and pepper

Wash and cube your potatoes, throw them in the pot. Peel and cut carrots, throw them in the pot. Cut an onion and throw that in the pot. Mix in melted butter, parsley, salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl mix the following ingredients:

2 Tbsp melted butter

1 Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp honey

dash cumin

salt

Cut up a few chicken breasts, throw them in the pot on top of vegetables and spread/pour sauce over the chicken. Let it cook until tender. (I think I had it on high for 1 hour before church and turned to low, let it cook for 4 hours while we were gone and when we got back it was perfect!)

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

YUM. I'm always weak for mexican but I thought these took my basic chicken tacos up a few notches, without any extra effort.

I found the recipe here - http://sherj.blogspot.com/search/label/tacos

KA's Crockpot Chicken Tacos

All you need:

3 chicken breasts
1 package of taco seasoning
1 can of diced tomatoes with green chiles
1/4 cup water
1/8 cup of olive oil


Directions:

Set crockpot on low. Add Taco Seasoning. Put chicken breasts on top of the taco seasoning. Add the tomatoes, water and oil. Leave in crockpot for 6-8 hours. Around the sixth hour, turn up heat to high. (I don't remember how I cooked it, but probably just on high for a few hours and it still tasted great!)

This step is optional: Pour contents of crockpot in a a deep skillet (including liquid.) Push chicken pieces to the sides of the pan, leaving a 'hole filled with sauce'. Add two tablespoons of flour or cornstarch to the 'hole' for thickening the sauce. As the sauce thickens, shred chicken with 2 forks. (I added a little cornstarch just into the crockpot and mixed it in with the liquid a little).

I like to fry my own taco shells. They taste so much better, especially with this chicken! So heat your oil over medium heat until when you place a corner of the tortilla in it will bubble. Cook your corn tortilla for 30 seconds, flip and fold cooking 30 more seconds on each side. Drain on paper towel. (I like them a little flimsy). Topped with monterey jack cheese and lettuce. It was delicious!

Chicken Crescent Roll-ups

This is just a recipe we had a lot growing up. I love the cans of chicken Costco sells. One of those things that is SO much cheaper at Costco and so easy. There's not a whole lot of chicken in them, but when I cook I always go light on the meat so only use half a can at a time, meaning I need to make something else soon after to use the rest of it. So with the leftover from my chicken noodle soup I made these.

Truly a simple recipe. You'll need

chicken

1/2 onion

2 stalks celery (optional)

2 oz cream cheese

butter

1can crescents

crushed croutons

Saute a small onion and celery in butter until soft. Add cream cheese and chicken then scoop into 2 crescents (shaped as a rectangle like they come when you roll them out of the can). Pull up the edges and pinch together at the top. Spread some butter atop and sprinkle with crushed croutons. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or so until golden brown.

*These also work with biscuits. In my opinion not quite as good, but you can always find biscuits for a lot cheaper. Whatever floats your boat, or fits your budget! ;)

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Found the recipe here - http://southernfood.about.com/od/chickensouprecipes/r/r80401c.htm

This is a good basic, simple soup

• tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/8 cup fresh chopped parsley or about 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 cup diced chicken (I used half a Costco can)
• 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup carrots (you can use frozen or I diced some and cooked them in the microwave with water for a couple minutes)
• 3/4 cups heavy cream or half-and-half (see my substitute)
• 4 ounces medium noodles, cooked and drained
• Salt, to taste

Preparation:

In a large pot melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and celery and sauté until onion is tender. Add the parsley, chicken, chicken broth, soups, poultry seasoning, thyme, and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the frozen peas and carrots, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes longer. Stir in the cream or half-and-half, along with the cooked noodles; add salt to taste. Heat through.
Serves 8.