Asian Glazed Chicken

This recipe takes a little patience, but the end result is worth it! The sauce takes quite a while to thicken up, but I promise it happens eventually. So save this one for a weekend, but make sure you save it, its delicious! Of course, being me, I had to change at least one thing about this recipe. It calls for chicken drumsticks, but I never have those on hand because we prefer boobies, so thats what I used. I'm sure its fine with either. So the next time you think about Chinese take out, try this instead, you won't be sorry!

Asian Glazed Drumsticks

recipe via Gina's Skinny Recipes
8 medium chicken drumsticks, skin removed
Pam spray oil
1 cup water
1 Tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (more or less to taste)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 tsp agave nectar (or sugar)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp ginger, grated
2 Tbsp chives or scallions, chopped
1 tsp sesame seeds

In a heavy large saucepan, brown chicken on high for 3-4 minutes with a little spray oil. Add water, balsamic, soy sauce, agave, garlic, ginger, hot sauce and cook on high until liquid comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Remove cover and bring heat to high, allowing sauce to reduce down, about 8-10 minutes, until it becomes a thick glaze, turning chicken occasionally. (Keep an eye on glaze, you don't want it to burn when it start becoming thick) Transfer chicken to a platter and pour glaze on top. Top with chives and sesame seeds and serve.

Pizza Chicken

Do you ever look around your kitchen, wondering what's for dinner and then decide to just start throwing things together and see how it turns out? That's how today's recipe was born! I love it when I take random things I have on hand and combine them to make what ends up to be a really delicious meal. It totally validates the domestic goddess in me. Like...I got this, I don't even need a recipe. Who needs recipes?

Well, I guess you guys do actually so you can recreate this dinner! Just an FYI, if you are watching your carbs this would be the perfect recipe for you. I actually whipped this together the week before my wedding when I was trying (and failing miserably) to cut carbs out of my diet for the week. One last ditch effort to be skinny and stunning on my wedding day. Not like I didn't have a year to work on that, nah, I'll just put all my faith into that last week and see if I can drop ten pounds! (By the way, that doesn't work.) This would be excellent topped with mushrooms, sausage, or any other pizza toppings you might have laying around!

Pizza Chicken

chicken breasts
mozzarella cheese, shredded
pepperoni (I used the mini ones, because they're cute.)
garlic salt

Directions:
Season chicken with garlic salt and cook. (I used my Foreman grill but you can do it in the oven, skillet, outdoor grill, whatever you prefer!)
Top with 2-3T shredded cheese and top with pepperoni.
Microwave for 30-45 seconds until cheese is melted.

Taco Soup

I love it when dinner has cooked itself while I'm at work! Isn't that the best? I'm speaking of slow cookers here, in case you hadn't caught on yet. This is a filling and warm meal that's actually good for you too! It's called "soup" but its really more like a chili. It's very thick and hearty. In fact I prefer to just scoop it up with tortilla chips instead of my spoon!

 

In other news, I will be MIA for a little while. I'm getting married on Saturday and then off the Bahamas I go for a week! I'm sorry, but no I cannot take you all with me, my suitcase simply isn't large enough. I will get back to posting the week of January 24th, but until then, stay well and thanks for following!

 

 

 

 

Taco Soup

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cut into pieces
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can navy beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can corn
• 1 can diced tomatoes 
• 1 envelope dry ranch dressing
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 1 cup of water

Directions:

Do not drain beans, corn or tomatoes

Put all ingredients in crock pot, stir and cook on low 6-10 hours.

If you are going to be cooking the soup for more than 6 hours, add the chicken in for the last 2 hours only, as it can dry out easily.

Chicken and Spinach Alfredo Bake

I'm not sure why I call this a "bake" instead of a "casserole." For some reason, a casserole just sounds like something your mother makes, and we're not mothers right? We're cool, trendy cooks! Okay, so some of us are mothers who just pretend to be cool, trendy cooks...but whatever.

You may recall my Tortellini Alfredo recipe from a while back. This meal uses nearly the same alfredo sauce recipe, which is to die for. If you don't want to bake this, you really don't have to it would be wonderful just tossed together. However, I like the crunchy, cheesy topping that results from a quick trip to the oven. Its your choice. This is a dish fancy enough to serve to guests, or it could be a paper-plate-kind-of-dinner...but I don't know who would serve a meal this nice on paper plates...

Chicken and Spinach Alfredo Bake

• 1 - 1.5lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (or you could strip a rotisserie chicken!)
• 1 box (roughly a pound) of short pasta (I used Ronzini Smart Taste Rotini)
• 1 bag of fresh spinach
• 1C mozzarella cheese
• 1t garlic powder
• salt and pepper

Sauce:

• 1 pint fat free half and half
• 3T low fat cream cheese
• 2/3C grated parmesan cheese
• 1 stick of light butter
• 1t garlic powder

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and saute on medium heat in a large pan with cooking spray. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Sauce:

Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat.

Add in cream cheese until melted.

Whisk in half and half and garlic powder.

Allow sauce to simmer for 15-20 minutes, adding the parmesan cheese in the last 5 minutes of cooking.

Steam spinach in the microwave.

Toss pasta, chicken, spinach and sauce together until well mixed.

Pour into a greased baking dish and top with 1C of mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted.

Chicken Tortellini Soup

I'm not usually a soup person. I can't say exactly why, its just not usually my favorite food. There are two exceptions though, the first being tomato soup with a grilled cheese. The second being when its colder than an eskimo outside and it becomes necessary to consume something warm and filling to keep yourself from turning into a popsicle.

I threw this soup together with ingredients I mostly had on hand. You can change things up according to what you have on hand too! Any short pasta would work in this soup, or you could use navy or northern beans in place of pasta. Peas or carrots might be nice additions as well. This is a good "clean out the pantry" type soup. Its also hearty enough to be a complete meal, as long as you serve it with crusty bread for dipping. In my mind, you have to have something to dip or dunk in your soup (crackers, bread, croutons, sandwich). I hope you enjoy this one, stay warm!

Chicken Tortellini Soup

• 4 cups of low sodium chicken stock
• 1-2 cups water (start with one and add more if needed to gain the desired consistency)
• 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
• 1 can of corn
• 1 can of creamed corn
• 1/4C grated parmesan cheese
• 2T cornstarch
• 1 package of cheese tortellini
• 1/2t garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Bring stock and 1 cup of water to a simmer.
Add in garlic powder, salt, pepper, creamed corn, corn, and shredded chicken.
Allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
Put 2T of cornstarch in a small bowl, ladle in some of the hot broth and stir until smooth.
Pour mixture into soup, and add tortellini and 1/4C parmesan cheese.
Allow to simmer another 10 minutes before serving. Add in more water if needed.
Note: You could throw this in the crock pot and let it simmer all day, just don't add the tortellini and parmesan cheese until the very end.

Crispy Onion Chicken

Around this time of year, you start to see displays of seasonal items in the grocery stores. Items you don't give a second glance any other time of year. Those crunchy little french fried onions, for example. The only time I ever use those is once a year, on Thanksgiving, in green bean casserole. It doesn't make any sense! They are so yummy and available all year round!

So, this year when I saw them start to be displayed I grabbed a can, and then sent them to the back of my pantry to await their green bean casserole destiny. Then a few days later, I picked up a sushi roll for lunch called a "crunch roll" that had crab salad, shrimp, avocado and a spicy sauce rolled in crispy onions. I found it weird and fascinating all at the same time. It also happened to be the best sushi roll I've ever had (and that's a bold statement). I thought if crispy onions tasted good on something as bizarre as sushi, surely they are capable of more than a green bean casserole topper...and what do you know!?

A three ingredient dinner on the table in thirty minutes, now that is my kind of meal! (Garlic-butter asparagus coming soon!)

Crispy Onion Chicken

• 1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (I cut them in half for shorter cooking time)
• 2 eggs
• 1C french fried onions, crushed (I just do this with my hands)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375.

Whisk eggs in a shallow bowl.
Dip on side of the chicken in the egg, and then the onions.
Place chicken, onion side up, in a baking dish. If there are any onion crumbs left, smash them down over the top of the chicken.
Bake at 375 for 30 mins or until juices run clear.

Grilled BBQ Chicken Wraps

Just because its Fall doesn't mean I'm putting my grill away! I love to grill all year round. And when I say "I", I technically mean The Mr....but I'm the mastermind behind the food creations, so I think I still get to take the credit for grilling. Right? Good, I'll take your silence as agreement.

This is one of those whip-up-really-quick-because-you-forgot-to-plan-for-dinner meals. What? You don't have a tab with that label on it in your cookbook? Well, go make one! I'll wait...

These ingredients are all things that I normally have on hand at all times. Chicken, cheese, BBQ sauce, tortilla and lettuce. Surely you guys have all those things, right? And if you don't have a grill, no worries, you can cook your chicken either in a skillet or in the oven and the result will still be delicious!

Grilled BBQ Chicken Wraps

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/2C shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/4C BBQ sauce
• 2 large (burrito style) tortillas
• lettuce

Directions:
Grill chicken breasts until cooked through, occasionally brushing with BBQ sauce. (Or bake/fry)
After chicken is finished, cut into strips.
Heat tortillas in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to make them more pliable.
Assemble chicken, cheese lettuce and an extra drizzle of BBQ sauce in the center of each tortilla.
Roll up burrito style, tucking both ends in.
You can eat this right now and it will be delicious, however if you want to take an extra step you can toast the tortillas.
Heat a skillet on medium and spray with cooking spray.
Place the wrap seam side down in the pan for about 3 minutes and then flip to brown the other side.

Chicken & Rice Skillet

This meal is what I like to call a "leftover round up" recipe. I basically took a few ingredients I had sitting around, mixed them together, and bam - dinner was born. I did a basic chicken and rice version, but on any given day I could have also had corn, mushrooms, peas, spinach, broccoli or other vegetables sitting in my fridge that would have been great additions to this casserole. I wasn't even expecting to post this recipe on the blog because honestly, I didn't have high hopes for its outcome. I didn't think it would be bad, but I didn't think it would be "blogworthy" either. Boy, was I wrong! This ended up being so delicious, you have to give it a try!

Now, its not "pretty," but a casserole's job isn't to be pretty, its to taste great...and this one does!

Chicken & Rice Skillet

• 2C cooked rice (I used one cup of wild rice and one cup of white rice. Any rice will do, but I really love wild rice. If I'd had two full cups I would have used all wild rice.)
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 can cream of chicken (or mushroom) soup
• 1/2C fat free sour cream
• 1C 2% shredded cheese
• 1t garlic salt (or 1/2t of salt and 1/2t garlic powder)
• cooking spray
• any other veggies you want to add!

Directions:
Cut chicken into bite size pieces.
Put a large skillet on medium high heat and add chicken and garlic salt. Saute until chicken is browned.
Add in all other ingredients until well incorporated, and serve!
If you like that crunchy, cheesy "casserole" top, you can put it in a baking dish and pop it under the broiler for a couple minutes.

Crispy Ranch Chicken

As promised yesterday, I am delivering to you Crispy Ranch Chicken! I almost called this "Fried" Ranch Chicken because it truly has that much crunch, but you are all such good people and I'd hate to lie to you. Even though you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference! Okay there, now that was a lie. Nothing tastes like fried chicken except fried chicken. You and I know this. But this chicken is still pretty damn good, and it won't give you thunder thighs.

My two older kids told me that this was "the best chicken they've ever eaten." Now, being their mother's child and all, they may have inherited a teensy bit of flare for the dramatic. Nonetheless, I still think this endorsement by the Picky Twins speaks pretty highly of the chicken!

Crispy Ranch Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts

1C corn flake crumbs (They sell them now with the breadcrumbs in the store, already crushed if you don't want to crush them yourself. We actually think thats kind of fun in my house though!)
1/4C grated parmesan cheese
1T dry ranch dressing mix (or if you are using the leftover from Cheesy Ranch Potatoes, just pour the rest of the packet in, it will be a little more than 1T, but that will just add extra flavor!)
1 container greek fage yogurt (about 4-5oz)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375
Mix corn flake crumbs, parmesan cheese and ranch mix together in a large shallow dish.
Using a pastry brush, coat both sides of the chicken breast with yogurt.
Dip chicken into corn flake mixture, coating both sides.
Place on a greased baking sheet (or rack if you have one) and bake for 30-40 mins until chicken is cooked inside and crispy outside.

BBQ Chicken Nachos

We make a lot of nachos in our house. There are a couple of males, who shall remain nameless, that love to snack while they watch football, and nachos are the perfect finger food to munch on mindlessly. The possibilities are basically endless when it comes to nachos, but today I'm sharing a non-traditional nachos "recipe", if you can even call it that. I know nachos are more of a "snack" food, but these really are substantial enough to eat for dinner. Want to know how I know? Because I ate them for dinner last night.

This probably isn't the healthiest thing I'll ever post, but it can be a decent if you use 2% cheese. Now, I'm all about easy and fast, so I used canned chicken in this recipe. Let me just say a word about canned chicken because I know a lot of people just read that and went "gross!" I am not canned chicken's biggest fan, but somehow when you add BBQ Sauce to it, it transforms into something magical. No really, it does. Stop looking at me like that. Sometimes we have BBQ Chicken Sandwiches on buns using the same method I used for these nachos, and its really quite good. Of course, if you want to you can use chicken breast that has been cooked and shredded or cubed, thats totally fine...but I'll probably call you names for showing me up. You've been warned.

I am estimating the measurements for this recipe because you can really make as much or as little as you want, and of course if you want more BBQ sauce, add it, etc. If you have extra chicken mixture leftover it keeps for several days in the fridge. Try making a BBQ Quesadilla with the leftovers!


There is also an optional dipping sauce you can use for these, because if you're like me, nachos aren't nachos unless you dip them in something! If this doesn't float your boat you could just use sour cream.

Dipping Sauce

3 parts BBQ sauce (recommend 3-4T)
1 part ranch dressing (recommend 1-2T)

Mix and dip!

BBQ Chicken Nachos

1/2 cup bottled BBQ sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's)
Tortilla chips (I use Restaurant Style Tostitos)
Shredded cheddar or mexican blend cheese
1 10oz can of canned chicken

Preheat oven to 400.

1. Spread tortilla chips out on a large baking sheet in a single layer.

2. Drain chicken and flake into a bowl.

3. Stir 1/2C of your favorite bottled BBQ sauce into the chicken.

4. Heat chicken mixture in the microwave for 1 minute at a time, stirring in between until the mixture is incorporated.

5. Evenly distribute chicken mixture among the tortilla chips.

6. Sprinkle cheese on top.

7. Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is melted.

8. Insert into pie hole!