Breaded Ranch Chicken

Good recipe for those days you can't think of what else to make! ☺



Breaded Ranch Chicken

3/4 c. Cornflake or bread crumbs (I've done both and the cornflake is better)

3/4 c. Parmesan Cheese

1 pkg Ranch Dressing mix

8 Chicken Breasts

1/2 c. melted Butter or Margarine (if you want a lower fat version, do 1/2 c. buttermilk and 1 egg, whisked)

Mix the crumbs, dressing mix and parmesan cheese together. (I like to add some garlic powder and pepper) Dip the chicken into the melted butter and then into crumb mixture, then place on a pan.

Bake at 350 for 25-40 minutes depending on how big your pieces of chicken are. (the juices should be clear)

I've made this a day ahead, put them on a cooking sheet, covered in plastic wrap in the fridge and then uncovered the next day when it was time to cook. It turned out really well that way too, very flavorful and not dry!

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili  (Slow Cooker)

6 skinless chicken thighs (1 1/2 lb) (I just used chicken breasts)
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper sauce (I use tabasco)
2 cans (15 to 16 oz each) great northern beans, drained, rinsed
1 can (11 oz) white shoepeg corn, drained (or frozen)
3 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1. Combine everything but the lime juice and cilantro in the crockpot
2. Cook on high for 4-6 hours, or low for 8-10
3. Shred the chicken and add the lime juice and cilantro
4. Eat!

everything combined

shred the chicken after it's cooked

add the cilantro and lime juice

*recipe from Betty Crocker

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1-1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) chicken broth (or make your own)
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 corn tortillas (6 inches), cut into 1/2-inch strips (I don't like corn tortillas so I used my favorite) ☺

Broil chicken 3-4 in. from the heat for 5-6 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. (Or cheat and use rotisserie chicken like I did)
In a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray (I used olive oil), cook onion and garlic until tender. Stir in the broth, tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, tomato paste, chilies and seasonings. Shred chicken with two forks; add to soup. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place tortilla strips on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until crisp. Serve with soup. Yield: 8 servings (3 quarts).

Nutrition Facts: 1-1/2 cups equals 227 calories, 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 39 mg cholesterol, 818 mg sodium, 30 g carbohydrate, 8 g fiber, 23 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2-1/2 very lean meat, 2 starch.

Cooking garlic and onion till tender

After everything has been added

Baking the tortillas

I garnished with sour cream and cilantro.

*Recipe from Taste of Home

Simple Stir-Fry

The other night I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner and not have to go grocery shopping. We were hitting the mother hubbards empty cupboard stage too. I did have one piece of chicken left though, rice and a bunch of frozen and fresh vegetables, so stir fry seemed to be the perfect meal. The nice thing about stir fry is that it's so versatile, you can just do broccoli and it will taste good or go all out and have a different varieties of veggies, rice or noodles, chicken or beef, etc....

So here is what I did.

Stir Fry

Chicken

Teriyaki Sauce (optional)

Soy Sauce

Garlic (powder or minced)

Onion Powder

Ginger, ground

Sesame seed oil (optional)

Pepper

Veggies (I used broccoli, carrots, peas, squash, I would put an onion in there too, but my last one was bad)

Rice

I marinated the chicken in the teriyaki, soy, sesame seed oil, garlic, and onion powder

started sauteing the veggies

cooked the chicken

once the chicken was cooked I tossed it with the cooked marinade into the veggies.

Serve over rice and have extra soy sauce on hand to sprinkle over the top if you like more flavor.

Chicken Parmesan

 Chicken Parmesan

12 Chicken Tenders (I cut up 2 chicken breasts)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup Bread Crumbs

1 Egg

1 cup Marinara Sauce

Basil, dried or fresh

1 c shredded cheese  (I used Cheddar and Mozarella)

Oil for cooking

Mix up your parmesan and breadcrumbs together in a shallow bowl. Mix up the one egg in a separate bowl. Dip the chicken into the egg, and then cover with the bread crumb mixture and cook in a pan for about 3 minutes on each side. After chicken is cooked, place in the bottom of a baking pan. Sprinkle with basil (or place basil leaves on top) Spoon the cup of marinara sauce over the chicken and sprinkle the cheese over the top.

Bake for 10 minutes at 375

Chicken cut into tenders

Bread crumb mixture

cooking the chicken in a pan for 3 minutes on each side

Place the cooked chicken on the bottom of baking dish

Sprinkle with basil, marinara, and cheese. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

(optional) Serve chicken over cooked pasta such as ziti or penne and marinara sauce

Chicken Fried Rice

This is an adapted Weight Watchers recipe, I just do it the unhealthful way. I've made it before with ground turkey instead of chicken too.

Chicken Fried Rice

2 spray(s) cooking spray

4 large egg white(s) (I just scrambled 2 eggs)

1/2 cup(s) scallion(s), chopped, green and white parts
2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
12 oz uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup(s) carrot(s), diced  (I did 1 cup just to have more veggies)
2 cup(s) cooked brown rice, regular or instant, kept hot
1/2 cup(s) frozen green peas, thawed
3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set pan over medium-high heat. Add egg whites and cook, until scrambled, stirring frequently, about 3 to 5 minutes; remove from pan and set aside.

Offheat, recoat skillet with cooking spray and place back over medium-high heat. Add scallions and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add chicken and carrots; sauté until chicken is golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes.
Stir in reserved cooked egg whites, cooked brown rice, peas and soy sauce; cook until heated through, stirring once or twice, about 1 minute. Yields about 1 cup per serving.

I did things a little different than the recipe...I cook the chicken and carrots first

chop up the chicken

add the scallions, peas, rice, heat up

then add the scrambled egg...

I also like to add extra soy sauce before eating for more flavor. :o)

Crock-pot Buffalo Chicken

There are many ways to do this, but this is what I did. This can go on salads or be used for sandwiches.

Crock-pot Buffalo Chicken

3-4 boneless skinless breasts

1 bottle of Buffalo Wing Sauce (I used Franks)

1 packet Ranch salad dressing mix

 Sprinkle of Garlic Powder

Mix everything in the crockpot, shred chicken when done.

The sauce I used

We like blue cheese, and so I mixed blue cheese and sour cream together to spread over the bread for our sandwich.

Chicken and Rice Soup

Probably one of my favorite soups this winter!

Chicken and Rice Soup

2-3 Chicken Breasts (they can be frozen)

1-2 Carrots, chopped or shredded

1 Celery, chopped

1 small Onion, chopped

Garlic Powder

Pepper

6 c Water

6 tsp Chicken Bouillon

1 box Wild and long grain rice

(If you don't use boxed rice, you'll just want to add more of your own spices)

Throw everything but the rice in the crockpot

Shred the chicken with two forks when it's cooked enough. Add box of rice about an hour before eating.

Chicken Parmesan Bundles

another Kraft Foods recipe

Chicken Parmesan Bundles

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, softened

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained

 1-1/4 cups Mozzarella Cheese, divided

6 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.), pounded to 1/4-inch thickness

 1 egg

 10 RITZ Crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup)

 1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, heated

HEAT oven to 375ºF. Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup mozzarella and 3 Tbsp. Parmesan until well blended; spread onto chicken breasts. Starting at one short end of each breast, roll up chicken tightly. Secure with wooden toothpicks, if desired. Set aside.

BEAT egg in shallow dish. Mix remaining Parmesan and cracker crumbs in separate shallow dish. Dip chicken bundles in egg, then roll in crumb mixture. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.



BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF). Remove and discard toothpicks, if using. Serve topped with spaghetti sauce and remaining mozzarella.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

I've seen a couple of different recipes for this and I tried one that called for cream cheese and sour cream. I thought it ended up being too much "cream" flavor so I'm saying to do either or.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese or sour cream
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1.Put chicken, margarine and dressing mix in slow cooker; mix together and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.


2.Add cream cheese and soup, mix together and cook on high for another 1/2 hour or until heated through and warm

Place the chicken and italian dressing seasoning in crockpot. I added carrots and a little bit of water on the bottom.

Crockpot hint: Crockpots cook their best when they are about 2/3 to almost full, if you have a large crockpot like I do, then make a secondary covering out of tin foil to create a lower "lid" about an 1"-2" from the food.

After the meat has cooked, I cut it into cubes using a metal spatula

Add the cream cheese, cream of chicken soup and mix and cook for another 30-60 minutes. Serve over rice or noodles.

Garlic Cheddar Chicken

This is a recipe from Kitchen Smack

Garlic Cheddar Chicken

1/2 cup butter
4 cloves garlic, minced (or you can get the jar of minced garlic)
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.

In a shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano, pepper, and salt.

Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.

Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Heating the butter and garlic

Dip the chicken in the butter and garlic

Press into bread crumb/ cheese mixture

Place in pan and bake