Green Chili Chicken

 I made up this recipe last night and everyone liked it.

Melt butter in a cast iron pan over medium heat.

Add raw chicken breasts.  

Season chicken breasts with garlic salt and black pepper.

After awhile turn the chicken breasts over and season other side with garlic salt and black pepper.

In a separate pan make a sauce with 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1/2 block of cream cheese and 1 small can diced green chilies.  Cook over medium heat until cream cheese is melted and sauce is heated through.

Pour sauce over chicken.  Continue cooking on stovetop or place cast iron pan in oven to finish cooking.

Cook until chicken reaches an internal temp of 165 F.

Before serving sprinkle the top with smoked paprika and Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning.

If you do not want it spicy, then leave off the creole seasoning.

Balsamic Strawberry Chicken

I had some extra strawberries and wanted to make some type of strawberry chicken dish.  After a quick google search, this was the recipe I settled on.  It was one of the best things I have ever tasted in my life!  Seriously!

I got it from the Taste of Home website, and the recipe was called Barbecued Strawberry Chicken, you can find the recipe here.

Ingredients
2 T. Canola oil
4 Boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 T. butter
1/4 C. finely chopped red onion (about 1/4 of a medium onion)
1 C. BBQ sauce  (I used Heinz Kansas City...but I'm sure any will work)
2 T. Brown Sugar
2 T. Balsamic Vinegar
2 T. honey
1 C. sliced fresh strawberries

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.
2.  In a large oven-proof skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
3.  Brown chicken in oil.
4.  Remove chicken from pan
5.  Add butter and onions to pan.  Cook and stir until tender about 1 minute.  (I do a little longer)
6.  Add remaining ingredients (excluding the chicken and strawberries) to the onions.
7.  Stir sauce and bring to a boil.
8.  Reduce heat.  Simmer uncovered until thickened, about 4-6 minutes.
9.  Return chicken to pan.  Spoon sauce over chicken.
10.  Bake until thermometer reads 165 F.  About 12-15 minutes.  (Mine took 15 min).
11.  Remove from oven.  Stir in strawberries. 
12.  Serve immediately.  Spoon sauce over chicken.

Chicken Pot Pie

Ashley B. brought this to our family and we all loved it...even the kids!  So I asked her for the recipe and asked if I could share it here!  Here it is...

I don't have an exact recipe, but I can give you the basics.  Mine are usually a tiny bit different each time.

2 pie crusts (the recipe I use is below, you just want one that isn't really sweet)

2 large chicken breasts (or more, whatever you want)

1 lb bag frozen mixed veggies, thawed (or whatever veggies you want, broccoli, zucchini, sometimes I throw leftovers in)

2-3 C diced potatoes, cooked

(maybe eyeball your chicken, potatoes & veggies to make sure they fit in the pan)

1/4 cup butter or oil

1/4 cup flour

4 cups liquid (milk, chicken broth, water + chicken bouillon; I use half milk and half water+bouillon)

Mix pie crusts and refrigerate.

Cook potatoes if you need to (boil, bake, microwave), cool and dice.  Sometimes I use frozen diced hashbrowns, whatever, just let them thaw a bit while you work.  Set aside.

Cook chicken - sometimes I cook the breasts whole by browning in a pan then finishing in the oven, then dicing.  sometimes I dice then pan fry.  whatever is easier for my day.  Season well, I usually use Montreal Steak Seasoning, because I'm lazy.  Set aside.

Roll out the bottom crust and place in the bottom of a 13X9 pan.  It doesn't have to be pretty, it doesn't even have to come up the sides, really.  Par bake @ 400F for about 15 min.  This isn't critical, but it makes the bottom a little less soggy, and Frank doesn't like soggy bottoms.  I don't even bother with pie crust weights, half the time I don't even prick with a fork.  It will bubble up, but it'll sink back down when you put stuff in it.

To make the sauce for the pie, I use the dirty chicken pan.  Add butter/oil and flour, cook over medium heat for a few minutes, letting the mixture bubble but don't let it brown, at least not a lot, a little is fine.  Add your 4 C liquid slowly, whisking as you go, bring to a low boil.  Mixture should thicken slightly, but it'll still be pretty runny, because it will thicken up inside the pie.  Season to taste here - salt, pepper, more steak seasoning, poultry seasoning, thyme, whatever you like.  This is what your pie will taste like, make it good!

Assemble the pie - once the bottom crust is out, everything goes in it.  Sometimes I stir it all together, sometimes I layer, it doesn't matter at all.  Roll out top crust & cover pie, doesn't have to be pretty.  Bake on the center rack @ 400F for about 60 min.   Everything is cooked except for the crust, so you're waiting for the top crust to brown to your liking.  Just keep an eye on it after 45 min or so. Let sit for 15ish min before serving.

I've done the same pie with beef - just use sometime that'll be tender, or cook a pot roast until tender & dice.  And use seasonings for beef.

Pie Crust - I've used my food processor and stand mixer for this.  I'm not that careful to not overmix and it hasn't been a problem.  This recipe is for ONE pie crust, and I don't double it, I just make it twice.

1 1/4 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbl sugar (I leave out or use less for a savory pie)

6 Tbl cold butter (I use salted), cut into 1/2 in pieces

1/4 chilled vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces

1/4 c ice water

Process 3/4 C flour, salt, sugar until combined.  Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps (dough will resemble cottage cheese with some very small pieces of butter remaining, but there should be no uncoated flour).  Scrape down sides of bowl, redistribute dough around blade/mixer, and add remaining 1/2 C flour.  Pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up. (I keep going until it looks like its all together, I don't worry about it).  Move to bowl, if using food processor.  Sprinkle water over the mixture, with rubber spatula, use a folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough sticks together.  Flatten into a 4 inch disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 min or up to 2 days.  (This recipe is wetter/stickier than any I've ever tried, but I can use tons of flour when rolling it out so that it doesn't stick, and it doesn't get too dry.)

Ground Chicken Pizza Crust (Keto-Low Carb-Gluten Free)

This is a pizza crust substitute that is high in protein and low in carbs.  It is very filling.

1 1/4 pound ground chicken, raw (I did 1 lb ground turkey)
1/3 C. fresh parmesan, shredded
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic salt (or regular salt)
2 tsp italian seasoning

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2.  Line large cookie sheet or pizza pan with parchment
3.  Spray parchment with cooking spray
4.  In a medium bowl combine the chicken, cheese and spices.  Mix until well incorporated.
5.  Spread the chicken mixture on the parchment in a thin layer
6.  Bake for 20 minutes
7.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  (I did not cool mine)
8.  Refrigerate or freeze if not going to use imediately.
9.  To make pizza, add sauce and toppings and bake 10 more minutes until cheese is melted.

Using the ground turkey as listed above it was 2.54 net carbs for the entire crust.

Crockpot Mexican Chicken

From Mikael S. from June 2014 RS Newsletter

Serves 4-6

4 chicken breasts

2 C. salsa

2 packages taco seasoning

Cook on low in crockpot for 4-5 hours on low.  Remove chicken and shred with 2 forks.  Return chicken to crock pot.  Serve in tortillas, over taco salad, on nachos, over rice, quesadillas, etc…

I did 1 C. mild salsa and 1 C. medium salsa and it was perfect.  But if you don't like spicy things then just stick with mild salsa all around.

Easy Crockpot Fiesta Chicken

From Mikael S. from May 2014 RS Newsletter

Makes  5 cups.  Serves 4-6.

4 chicken breasts (I did 1 lb.)

15.5 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

15 oz frozen or canned corn, if canned then drain first

15 oz salsa (I did ½ hot and ½ mild and it was a little too spicy…so maybe medium and mild or just mild)

8 oz cream cheese

Take 4 frozen or thawed chicken breasts and put into crock pot.  Add remaining ingredients except cream cheese.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours.  Remove chicken and shred it with 2 forks.  Put chicken back in crock pot.  Add cream cheese, just put it on top.  It will look a little weird at this point.  Let it cook for another ½ hour.  Then stir in the cream cheese and serve over rice or in tortillas.  Recipe from recipezaar.com

Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup

Mikael brought this to Souper Saturday.  It is from one of the Lion House Cookbooks with a few slight alterations.  My Mom has been making this for years and it is always a hit.

1 1/2 T. Chicken Soup Base (by the boillion)  (Macey's carries it...I will post a pic below)
3 C. Chicken soup stock (by the broth) (I will post a pic below) (I think you could use broth, but it just wouldn't be quite as strong?!?!?!?!)
2 C. chopped carrots (I used the already cut shoestring carrots to save time cutting and cooking...but you can chop them yourself if desired) (1 (10.5 oz) bag of shoestring carrots is 3 1/2 C.)
2 C. chopped celery (I used a mandolin to slice them thin...to save time cutting and cooking)
3/4 C. chopped onion (I used yellow) (It is about 1/2 of a large yellow onion)
2 Cans (10.5 oz each) cream of chicken soup
1/4 C. evaporated milk or 1/2 C. whole milk (I have used skim before)
Roux (see recipe below) (see picture below)
2 C. frozen peas (optional)
2 C. diced cooked chicken
2 1/2 oz (about 4 C.) cooked noodles (I like the homemade style from Maceys...found by the regular noodles)
Pepper to taste

Heat soup base, and stock together.  Add vegetables except peas.  Simmer until vegetables are tender.  Add cream of chicken soup and milk.  Thicken with roux as desired, then add cooked chicken and noodles.  Add pepper to taste.  Makes about 2 1/2 quarts, or 10 (1 cup) servings.  Took me about 1 3/4 hours from start to finish to make.  Not including thawing chicken, but yes including cooking chicken and cooking noodles.

Chicken base

Chicken stock

Roux
Roux is used to thicken the soup.  The amount used depends on individual taste.  I used about 3/4 of the recipe of roux.
Melt 1/2 C. butter in frying pan.  Whisk in 1 C. flour.  Whisk until blended, it will be clumpy.  Store in the refrigerator.  When ready to use, add it to your hot soup a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

This is what the roux looks like

Aunt Olive's Soup

I brought this to Souper Saturday yesterday.  Aunt Olive was my Grandma's older sister.  So this recipe has made it through several generations of my family.  The way this recipe was handed down to me was that you make huge batches and bottle them.  A few years ago I experimented with it and made the recipe smaller so you could just make 1 dinner.  I will include both recipes.  It has basically the same ingredients as salsa...so you can grow the same items in your garden.  Sister Dabb has a really similar recipe (the larger canning version), but she does not put the noodles in before canning.  There are advantages to this...you could then use rice or noodles and the noodles don't take up space in your jars.  But the advantage to having the noodles already in the soup are that it makes it easier to open up and have a quick dinner.  I have listed spicy sausage to add...but you could alternately add ground beef or ground turkey or shredded or cubed chicken.  It is also good without meat.  We were brainstorming yesterday and saying it would be good with beans in it also...but I have never tried that.  Please note that the  bottling methods listed have not been approved by the Utah State Extension Office...they are just what my family has always done.

This is the bottling recipe...

1/2 bushel tomatoes

1/4 C. salt

1 C. sugar

1 tsp. pepper

9 C. macaroni (cooked and drained)

3 large bell peppers, diced

1 bunch celery, diced

5 medium onions, diced

1/2 lb. of real butter

Melt butter in large frying pan add vegetables.  Saute until light brown and fully cooked.

Peel tomatoes (can blanch if desired).  Cut into small pieces or blend in blender.

Fully cook macaroni (do not overcook).

Combine all ingredients except macaroni and boil hard for 15 minutes.  Add hot (and drained) macaroni).

Put in bottles.  Process in water bath.  Pints 20 minutes, Quarts 25 minutes.

Makes about 35 pints.

When serving, if desired, you can add any of the following: sausage, hamburger, chicken, cheese.  I also think it is too thick when I open a jar so I will blend a bottle of tomatoes and add that in.

Here is the 1 dinner recipe...

10 tomatoes peeled and blended in blender, OR 2 quarts of bottled tomatoes (with a possibility of 3 total).  If you do fresh tomatoes you may want to have 1 jar of bottled tomatoes on hand just in case it is too thick.

1 T. salt

3 T. sugar

quite a bit of pepper

2 1/2 C. macaroni (or other noodles), cooked and drained

1 bell pepper, any color

2 ribs celery, diced

1 medium yellow onion diced

2 T. oil or butter  (add more if vegetables start to stick while sauteing)

1 tube Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage (by the hot dogs)

1.  To peel the tomatoes you cna blanch them first to make it easier.

2.  Saute vegetables until lightly browned and cooked through.  

3.  Brown meat, drain if desired (I did not for Souper Saturday...but sometimes I do).

4.  Cook noodles through and drain

5.  Combine all ingredients

6.  Boil hard 15 minutes

7.  If not soupy enough when done, add blended up jar of bottled tomatoes.  And heat through.

Instead of the hot sausage you can do hamburger or chicken if desired.  And instead of noodles you can do cooked rice if desired.

If you double this recipe it will completely fill a large crockpot.

Easy Crockpot Fiesta Chicken

Makes  5 cups.  Serves 4-6.

4 chicken breasts (I did 1 lb.)

15.5 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

15 oz frozen or canned corn, if canned then drain first

15 oz salsa (I did ½ hot and ½ mild and it was a little too spicy…so maybe medium and mild or just mild)

8 oz cream cheese

Take 4 frozen or thawed chicken breasts and put into crock pot.  Add remaining ingredients except cream cheese.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours.  Remove chicken and shred it with 2 forks.  Put chicken back in crock pot.  Add cream cheese, just put it on top.  It will look a little weird at this point.  Let it cook for another ½ hour.  Then stir in the cream cheese and serve over rice or in tortillas.  Recipe from recipezaar.com

Parmesan Chicken

This recipe is taken from an old ward cookbook from K. Dabb

4 chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 C. melted butter
1 C. Bread crumbs (I usually use italian)
1/2 C. parmesan (I just use the cheap green can stuff)
1/2 C. Shredded cheese
2 tsp. basil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper (I use coarse)

Dip cubed chicken in melted butter.  In separate bowl combine rest of ingredients.  Roll chicken in dry ingredients.  Place chicken on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

California Chicken (Chicken Marinade)

1 C. canola oil
3/4 C. soy sauce
1/2 C. lemon juice
1/4 C. worcestershire sauce
1/4 C. prepared mustard
2 tsp. pepper
6 garlic cloves, smashed through a garlic press (or 3 tsp. minced garlic from a bottle)

Mix all ingredients.  Place 6-8 trimmed boneless skinless chicken breasts in marinade.  Place marinade and chicken in a gallon size ziploc (or cover top of bowl with saran).  Refrigerate overnight (I did mine for about 10 hours and it was great, but you could do a full 24 hours).  Grill on the BBQ on low or medium.  Turn every 5 minutes until cooked through.  Throw the marinade out.  The chicken had good flavor and was really moist.

Teriyaki Sauce

This is a nice thick teriyaki sauce. 

1/4 C. soy sauce
1 c. water
1/2 tsp ground ginger (I used the dried spice kind...not fresh)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
5 Tablespoons packed brown sugar (I reduced it to 1/4 C. which is 4 T just to lower the sugar content and it tasted great)
1-2 T. honey (I missed this when I was reading the recipe---So I didn't add this either)
2 T. cornstarch
1/4 C. cold water

Mix all but cornstarch and 1/4 C. cold water.  Heat until boiling.  Reduce heat.  Mix cornstarch and water separately.  Add corstarch to 1st mixture and heat until thick.

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

These were yummy.

1 medium onion, thinly sliced (I did thin rings cut in half---but my family didn't like the "big" chunks of onion---so next time I will have to dice them to hide them in the sauce)

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 C. ketchup

1/2 C. BBQ sauce

2 T. cider vinegar

2 T. molasses

1 T. yellow mustard

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp cumin (I did scant, because I don't like Cumin)

1/2 tsp garlic pwd.

1/2 tsp. Tobasco (I don't like tobasco, so I did 1/4 tsp cayenne---it was not spicy at all)

1 pinch of salt

Brown the onions (they take longer than the chicken to cook...so they need a little extra cooking time at the beginning). Line the bottom of crock pot with onions.

Trim the chicken breasts and place on bed of onions.

Mix sauce ingredients together in separate bowl. Pour sauce over chicken.

Cook for 5 hours on low, or until chicken is done. When the chicken is falling apart tender, remove chicken from sauce, use two forks to shred the chicken.

Serve on top of split buns or hamburger buns, etc.. I toasted mine first.

It was not spicy at all. I doubled the recipe for my family of eaters and had leftovers, but I don't think 1 recipe would have been enough.

The total weight watchers points plus for the chicken and sauce was 67 point plus. It made (12) half cup servings. Which comes to about 6 points for 1/2 C. Plus the bun. (mine were 5 points for a large hamburger bun, so I only ate the bottom bun and had it open-face with a fork).

Chicken Cordon Bleu

P. 47 from my new crockpot cookbook.

I gave this 4.5 out of 5 stars.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts.

1/2 lb deli-sliced cooked ham (I just did lunchmeat in a package and I chopped it)

1/2 lb. baby swiss cheese (I just did grated swiss cheese)

1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup

1 box dry stuffing mix, prepared according to box directions (I didn't read this...so I put it on dry...Dry was good, but I think this way would be better)

Layer all ingredients in the order listed in your crockpot. cover and cook on low 6-8 hours of until chicken in tender but not dry.

Apricot Stuffing and Chicken

p. 46 in my new crockpot cookbook.

1 stick of butter (divided)

1 box of cornbread stuffing mix

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

6-8 oz jar apricot preserves

In a mixing bowl make stuffing using 1/2 stick butter and the amount of water asked for on stuffing. Set aside

Cut up chicken into 1" pieces. Place chicken in bottom of crock-pot. Spoon stuffing over top.

In microwave melt remaining butter with preserves. Pour over stuffing.

Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 3 1/2 hours or until chicken is tender, but not dry.

The stuffing will not be like stuffing...it will be mushy. It sounds gross, but it was good. I might try next time pouring the jam on the chicken, then put the stuffing on top to see how that tastes. But I liked it this mushy way also.

J gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars. I gave it 4 out of 5.

Honey Mustard Chicken

From p. 33 in my new cookbook

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 1/2 C. honey mustard dressing (It was exactly 1 bottle of Kens Steakhouse dressing from Smiths) (16 oz)

1/2 C. water

Spray inside of crockpot with non-stick spray. Cut chicken into 2" pieces. (I did whole chicken breasts...but it would have been better to follow the recipe and cut them into pieces...I was just lazy). Place chicken in crockpot. In separate bowl mix dressing and water. Pour dressing over chicken. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or on low 6-7 hours.

We gave this a 4 or 4.5 out of 5 stars. Parents liked, kids didn't.

Chicken Delicious

This was on p. 44 from my new crockpot cookbook.

10 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I did less)

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice (I did lemon juice from the fridge...not freshly squeezed)

salt and pepper to taste

2 (10 3/4 oz) cans cream of celery soup (I did cream of chicken)

1/3 C. sherry or wine, optional (I omitted)

1/4 C. grated parmesan cheese (I just did the cheap stuff in the green can)

Place chicken in slow cooker in layers. Season each layer with a sprinkling of lemon juice, salt and pepper. In a separate bowl mix soups and wine. Pour soup over chicken. SPrinkle with parmesan cheese. Cover and cook on Low 8-10 hours or on high 4-5 hours until chicken is tender but not dry.

We gave this 4.5 out of 5 stars. I couldn't taste the parmesan. I would try fresh parmesan next time.

Hawaiin chicken

I made up this new recipe last night. It was really good and the kids liked it too (although my kids aren't very picky). I made fried chicken like I usually do. Then I made sweet and sour sauce like I usually do, except that I didn't have any pineapple juice. So I drained a can of pineapple tidbits (soup can size) and used that juice (it was about 7 oz). After the sweet and sour had thickened, I added the can of pineapple tidbits (when I make it again, I will only add 1/2 of the tidbits). I then placed the chicken in the bottom of a pan and poured the sauce over the top. It would be good over rice, but I didn't think far enough ahead.

Here is a link to my fried chicken

http://just2morebites.blogspot.com/2011/07/fried-chicken.html

here is a link to my sweet and sour sauce

http://just2morebites.blogspot.com/2011/07/sweet-and-sour-sauce-won-ton-sauce.html

Nancy's chicken

Becca N. and I have bragged about this meal before (we have both been lucky enough to have Nancy P. bring it to us after having a baby).

1 whole fryer chicken

clean the chicken.

baste with melted butter or olive oil.

Salt and pepper the chicken.

Bake at 325 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.

Start baking covered with foil. Just before done remove the foil to brown.

Serve with stove top, mashed potatoes and root vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions) sprinkled with parsley. You can cook the root vegs at the same time as the chicken (I can't remember how long though?!?!?!)

I have made this before it is moist and delicious and easy.

Chicken Fajitas

This is the way I always make chicken fajitas.  It sounds weird having italian dressing in a mexican dish but it's not.  It's really yummy.

Abt. 2-4 Chicken Breasts, diced or cut in strips
1 pkg. dry Italian seasoning mix (like you would make italian salad dressing out of)

Whatever toppings you like:

sour cream
cheese
lettuce
salsa

tomatoes, chopped
Tortilla 

Green Peppers and onion, sauteed

Mushrooms, sauteed

Cook chicken in frying pan sprayed with pam. Once cooked through (do not overcook), add seasoning pkt and some water (like you're making taco meat). Once liquid has evaporated, make your fajitas with whatever toppings you want.