Sweet and Sour Chicken

I saw this recipe yesterday on My Kitchen Cafe's Blog I made it tonight for dinner, and it is AWESOME. I will definately be making this again. I made an extra dose of Sauce to drizzle on top and served with side of broccoli. I highly recommend this recipe!!!! Brad, my husbad thought it was really good too

Sweet and Sour Chicken
Chicken:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 2)
Salt and pepper (Omitted this part)
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

Sauce:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup (used no salt added)
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt (used garlic powder)

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stove top. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

DinnerDivas Mexican Lasagna

One of the Dinner Divas Recipe this month was Rachel Ray's Mexican Lasagna, I didn't have all the right ingredients so I made my own recipe as i went. I used Chicken Breasts rather than Ground Chicken, and i put the tomatoes, beans, corn, and chicken in the crockpot with Seasonings to cook for the day so i would have shredded chicken to put into my lasagna in the evening when i was ready to make it.
Here is the orginal recipe.


Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case (i used 2 chicken breasts)
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 red onion, chopped (forgot to put it in)
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained (used 2 1/2Cups, kidney, black, and pinto beans, left over from soup)
1 cup medium heat taco sauce or 1 (14-oz) can stewed or fire roasted tomatoes (no salt added diced tomatos)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
Salt (omitted)
8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas, available on dairy aisle of market (plain tortillas)
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack (colby jack)
2 scallions, finely chopped (omitted)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil - twice around the pan. Add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add taco sauce or stewed or fire roasted tomatoes. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.
(I put all that in the crockpot to cook for the day, using the whole breasts rather than ground chicken)

Coat a shallow baking dish (I used pie pan, then i didnt have to cut the tortillas) with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese.
Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with the scallions and serve.

BBQ chicken Sammiches

I put some chicken breasts in the crockpot with BBQ sauce on moving day, then it was ready when we were ready to eat in the evening after a day of moving. Saved from having to order out! worked perfect.

2 chicken breasts

1/2 bottle BBQ of choice

1/2C water (unless chicken breasts are going in Frozen, then don't add water)

Cook on low for the day.

We had some good ol boxed mac n cheese with ours.

chicken salad

I cooked up some chicken the night before in mrs dash seasoning. Added it to mixed spring greens in the morning, topped with some carrots, celery, mushrooms, tomatoes, and walnuts. and added a raspberry dressing at lunch time. was pretty filling and good.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

My little came over and we decided to make buffalo chicken pizza, made it a little different this time.

roll out crust
Sauce
Top with blue cheese dressing and about 1/4C ricotta cheese mixed together
Top with Chicken that has been cooked in fry pan with hot sauce (we use Crystal brand)
Top with Veggies of choice, mushrooms, red onion, green peppers, tomato
Top with cheese, we used colby and montery jack, and some mozerella
Cook on 425 until cheese is browned.
let cool for about 5-10 minutes before cutting into.

Open faced Chicken and muenster Sandwhiches with Apricot-Dijon Spred

Yet another cookinglight recipe. These were really good. i didn't have any muenster cheese so i used swiss and pepperjack, one of each i have to say much better with the swiss cheese, but really really good.

Ingredients
4 teaspoons apricot preserves

4 teaspoons Dijon mustard (i used spicey brown mustard)

4 (2-ounce) slices country bread (used dark wheat bread)

Cooking spray

1 cup thinly sliced peeled Ambrosia or Fuji apple (about 1/3 pound)

1/4 cup prechopped onion

2 1/2 cups bagged prewashed spinach

2 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast (about 12 ounces)

4 (1-ounce) Muenster cheese slices
Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Combine preserves and mustard in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Spread 1 side of each bread slice with 2 teaspoons mustard mixture. Place bread slices, mustard mixture side up, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add apple and onion to pan; cook 3 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add spinach; cook 1 minute or until spinach begins to wilt. Layer each of 4 bread slices with 1/4 cup spinach mixture, 1/2 cup chicken, and 1 cheese slice. Place sandwiches on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; broil 1 1/2 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Remove from heat, and serve immediately.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 sandwhich)
Nutritional Information
CALORIES 440(27% from fat); FAT 13.2g (sat 6.3g,mono 3.8g,poly 1.4g); IRON 3.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 100mg; CALCIUM 286mg; CARBOHYDRATE 40g; SODIUM 750mg; PROTEIN 38.7g; FIBER 2.4g

honey mustard Chicken wings, Crock pot

I used 1/2 C Honey, with about 1/2 C spicey brown mustard, mixed together and thrown in the crockpot over some frozen chicken wings, cooked on low heat for about 5 hours, then places in the oven on a cookie sheet to crisp up a little bit. just put oven on broil and watch closely, doesn't take long.

Kung Pao Chicken

I found this recipe on Cookinglight.com It was really good i think i will make it again. I'm always looking for ways to cut salt back in my diet So for a Asian Dish this is rather low in Sodium. I forgot to put the peanuts on the dish before serving.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
4 cups broccoli florets
1 tablespoon ground fresh ginger (such as Spice World), divided
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped salted peanuts

Preparation
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and 2 teaspoons ginger to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add water. Cover; cook 2 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender. Remove broccoli from pan; keep warm.
Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in pan; add remaining 1 teaspoon ginger, crushed red pepper, and chicken. Cook 4 minutes or until chicken is lightly browned, stirring frequently.
Combine broth and next 5 ingredients (through garlic) in a small bowl, and stir with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan; cook 1 minute or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Return broccoli mixture to pan; toss to coat. Sprinkle with peanuts.


Yield
4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup chicken mixture and 1 1/2 teaspoons peanuts)
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Nutritional Information
CALORIES 239(30% from fat); FAT 7.9g (sat 1.1g,mono 3.7g,poly 2.3g); IRON 1.8mg; CHOLESTEROL 66mg; CALCIUM 60mg; CARBOHYDRATE 11.4g; SODIUM 589mg; PROTEIN 30.9g; FIBER 3g

Buffalo Chicken Sub

I had some left over chicken from the buffalo chicken pizza, So I put it on a sub bun with some Swiss Cheese, Green Peppers, Mushrooms, and topped with Blue Cheese Dressing, It was pretty good.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

We were going to make grilled pizza but since the rain just won't stay away today we decided to make pizza in the oven. Brad had choice between Buffalo Chick pizza or Pepperoni and Sausage. This is what he Chose. He said this was the best pizza ever. It wasn't too spicey b/c i didn't put extra sauce onto the pizza I Think next time i will put a little more hot sauce on his side.
Be careful not to put too much hot sauce or it will be greasy and runny.
Original Recipe had scallions and no veggies.

I got this idea from Oct11 on the nest, I dont believe she has the recipe on her blog, but with a little modification This is what i came up with.

1 ball pizza dough
1lb Chicken
1/2C-1C Louisana Hot Sauce
1 Tbsp Butter
Green Peppers
Mushrooms
Red Onion
1 Pkg Mozerella Cheese
1 jar Marias Blue Cheese Dressing (in frig section)

Cook Chicken in Hot Sauce I would say i used about a 1/2C no more than 1C. and 1 Tbsp Butter.
While chicken is cooking, Wash and cut up veggies.
Place Dough onto pan and spread out. Put 1/2 of Moz cheese on top of dough, Put Blue Cheese Dressing ontop of Moz cheese. I just put dollops all around the crust. I used almost the whole container of dressing. Put Veggies ontop of Blue Cheese. Sprinkle Cooked Chicken ontop of the Veggies. Top of With remainder of Cheese.

Bake in oven on 450* until Cheese golden. Enjoy!

Boubon Chicken with Rice.

I found this in Amber's Blog from thenest.com
We had it with Brown Rice and some Cooked Stir Fry Veggies, with a Homemade Crab Rangoon Side. Sure was Tastey, and Fulling, lots left over for lunch tomorrow.

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces (I only used 2 Chicken Breasts)
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup (I used no salt added)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)

Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet.
Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.
Remove Chicken.
Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve over hot rice and ENJOY.

Slow Cooker Upside-Down Chicken Pot Pie

I have found some crock pot Recipes for brad to make the days i work til 7pm, so that dinner is ready when i get home and neither one of us has to worry about it.
I tried to make my own biscuits to go with this recipe to try and cut some of the salt out of it, as they didn't turn out the greatest, maybe then will turn out better next time. But it was still very good and so simple to make.

Source BettyCrocker.com


Prep Time:10 min
Start to Finish:10 hr 25 min
Makes:8 servings (3/4 cup each

Ingrediants:
1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon instant chopped onion
1 dried bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 jar (18 oz) chicken gravy
2 medium celery stalks, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 1/4 cups Original Bisquick® mix
2/3 cup milk
1 bag (1 lb) Green Giant® frozen mixed vegetables


1. Place chicken in 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker. Top with onion, bay leaf, pepper and gravy. Place celery on gravy.
2. Cover and cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10 hours.
3. About 30 minutes before serving, make and bake 8 biscuits using Bisquick mix and milk as directed on package.
4. Meanwhile, gently stir frozen vegetables into chicken mixture. Increase heat setting to High. Cover and cook 15 minutes. Remove bay leaf.
5. For each serving, split biscuit and place in soup bowl or tart pan. Spoon about 3/4 cup chicken mixture on top of biscuit. Note: This recipe was tested in slow cookers with heating elements in the side and bottom of the cooker, not in cookers that stand only on a heated base. For slow cookers with just a heated base, follow the manufacturer’s directions for layering ingredients and choosing a temperature.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Thaw frozen vegetables before adding to slow cooker.


Nutrition Information
1 Serving: Calories 335 (Calories from Fat 135 ); Total Fat 15 g (Saturated Fat 4 g); Cholesterol 45 mg; Sodium 940 mg; Total Carbohydrate 29 g (Dietary Fiber 3 g); Protein 21 g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 42 %; Vitamin C 16 %; Calcium 14 %; Iron 16 % Exchanges: 2 Starch; 2 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Fat *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

buffalo chicken fingers

Buffalo-Style Chicken Strips with Ranch Dressing(Adapted from: CookingLight.com)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (I omitted)
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed cornflakes
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
Cooking spray

1/3 cup hot sauce (such as Crystal), I used budweiser wing sauce
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup fat-free ranch dressing
4 celery stalks, cut into 1/4 x 3-inch sticks
4 carrots, cut into 1/4 x 3-inch sticks

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine first 6 ingredients in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk.
Place egg whites in a shallow dish.
Place cornflakes in a shallow dish.
Working with 1 chicken strip at a time, dredge in flour mixture. Dip in egg whites; dredge in cornflakes.
Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
Repeat procedure with remaining chicken strips, flour mixture, egg whites, and cornflakes.
Lightly coat chicken strips with cooking spray.
Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until done, turning once.

Combine hot sauce, pepper sauce, and Worcestershire in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter. Drizzle hot sauce mixture over chicken. Serve with ranch dressing, celery, and carrots.


Since Brad loves spicey things and i like them a little more mild, i thought i would give these a try. They turned out really good, make a good weekend lunch, We had ours with some homemade French Fries

Spice-Rubbed Chicken Breast with Mustard Barbecue Sauce

I found this recipe in this months magazine of Cooking Light But it was for Pork Tenderloin so I tried it on Chicken, it was really goood..... Just click on Cooking light above to go to the recipe

Jambalaya Pasta with Penne, Chicken, Shrimp and Andouille

My "little sister" came over a week ago and we made my recipe exchange recipe. She wanted to try some homemade rangoons too even though they don't go together it was still a good mix. Certainly was a bit spicey! I would tone down the spice next time. otherwise very good. It's a Emeril Recipe i got in the Recipe Exchange on thenest.com

I have Since submitted this recipes to Joelens Culinary Adventures, Cajun/NOLA Eats Contest.


1/4 cup plus 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided (omitted completely, in my adventures to cut salt down)
1 pound dry penne rigate
3 tablespoons olive oil,
divided 1 pound peeled, deveined large shrimp
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon Essence, divided, recipe follows
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast,
1-inch diced 3/4 pound andouille sausage, diced into 1/2-inch pieces (we used johnsonville andouille sausage)
1/2 cup yellow onion, small diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, small diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil leaves
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Fill a large, 1-gallon stock pot with a pasta insert, 3/4 full with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and add 1/4 cup of the salt as it boils. Place the penne in the salted water and return to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook the pasta until nearly al dente, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and set aside, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.
While the pasta cooks, set a 14-inch saute pan over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, swirl the pan to evenly coat with the oil. Season the shrimp with 2 teaspoons of the Essence and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Place the shrimp in the pan and sear for 1 minute per side. Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside. Add another tablespoon of the olive oil to the saute pan and season the chicken breast with 2 teaspoons of the Essence and 1/8 teaspoon of the salt. Place the chicken breast in the pan and sear for 3 minutes, turning to ensure even browning. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside with the seared shrimp.
Place the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the saute pan and add the sausage, onions and bell peppers. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is lightly caramelized and the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and saute for 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock to the pan and scrape with a spoon to remove any browned bits that have formed in the bottom of the pan, about 30 seconds. Add the diced tomatoes, fresh thyme, the remaining tablespoon of Essence and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook for 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream to the pan and cook an additional 2 minutes. Return the shrimp and chicken to the pan, as well as the nearly al dente pasta and the reserved 1 cup of pasta cooking water. Continue to cook the sauce and pasta, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp and chicken are cooked through, the pasta is al dente and most of the pasta cooking water has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the basil and Parmesan. Toss to combine and serve while hot.
Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast): 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika 2 tablespoons salt 2 tablespoons garlic powder 1 tablespoon black pepper 1 tablespoon onion powder 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon dried oregano 1 tablespoon dried thyme Combine all ingredients thoroughly. Yield: 2/3 cup Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch Published by William Morrow, 1993.

Crock Pot Salsa Chicken

2 Chicken Breasts
1 Jar Salsa of Choice


Well I will put all good and bad on here. This wasn't as tastey as it sounded, Maybe it was the kind of Salsa we used? But basically you put a couple chicken breasts in the crockpot and pour salsa over it and let cook all day then serve with some rice. I got this recipe from the Girls on thenest.com

Chicken cordon blue

These are so much better to eat than the frozen ones, and they are so good and easy to make. hope you like them as much as we do!

Ingrediants

1 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast for each cordon blue
1 slice of ham per cordon blue
1 slice cheese of choice per cordon blue (i used swiss this time and have used pepper jack in the past, both very good)
a few sliced mushrooms if you like them
toothpicks

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Rinse chicken breast and place in ziploc bag. Pound chicken out flat, not paper thin you dont want it to dry out...
Place chicken on flat surface, what would be skin side down, Lay slice of ham on chicken, topped with slice of cheese, and a couple of sliced mushrooms in the middle of the chicken, roll chicken up and placing toothpicks to hold everything together while baking.

Place on lightly sprayed cooking pan. I think next time i will place mine in baking dish with a little bit of water covered with foil to hold moisture in to ensure it doesnt dry out.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked (not pink anymore)

I served mine with some fresh steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes with butter and parsley

Chicken Parmesan

Ingrediants

Spaghetti Noodles

Marinara Sauce

Chicken

Directions

Cook Spaghetti Noodles as Directed on box

Marinara Sauce Recipe in Blog

Bake Chicken on 400 degrees, Coated Chicken with Ians Breadcrumbs

Chicken Avacado Sandwhich

Got this idea from Faye-D off thenest.com but she didnt give me a recipe so just made something up.

Bake 1 Chicken breast let cool so it's easy to handle

I toasted a Kaiser Roll for DH and he wanted some long grain mustard on it

Cut up some Avacado, and Tomato, Lettece

Spread Mustard on toasted buns, Place Chicken on bottom bun, Top with Avacado, lettece and Tomato (oops I just realized I didn't put cheese on his sandwich, all well next time)

Eat and enjoy!!!

Chicken Pot Pie

I got the pie crust recipe from isaacsbride off thenest.com

Single pie crust: 1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 t salt

1/3 cup cold butter

4-5 T cold water

Mix flour & salt. Cut in butter until the size of peas. With a fork mix in water 1 T at a time until right consistancy. (I use all 5 T) Roll out, bake according to pot pie directions!Enjoy!

Pre-heat oven to 400*

for the insides

2 cooked chicken breasts, cut into small chunks

2Tbsp Italian Dressing

1 can cream of chicken

Frozen mixed veggies

2 potatoes cut small (I boiled mine for a few minutes to ensure they would be cooked all the way

1 1/2C Milk

Mix all above ingrediants into small bowl. place in pie pan place crust over top. pressing down edges cut 4 small slits in the crust to allow ventilation during cooking.

Place in oven and bake until crust golden brown, let cool for 5 minutes before serving.