Broccoli & Chicken Casserole

This recipe was a hands down winner in our home!! I found the recipe off of a fun blog titled, Just Get Off Your Butt and Bake! (Since you said it so nicely lol)! She has tons of great looking recipes that I can't wait to try out! I threw this one together fairly quickly, and once all your ingredients are put together, it goes by more smoothly! (I should also add I was in a major hurry trying to get this done before DJ left for work, and finished just in time!) Let's get started...

Ingredients

1 lb. fresh broccoli-broken into pieces & steamed for 2 minutes

3 cups of cooked chicken-broken into little pieces

1 1/2 c Cheddar Cheese-shredded

2 tubes of Ritz Crackers

1 stick of melted butter

1 TBS Poppy Seeds

SAUCE

1/3 c butter-melted

1/4 c cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 of a cup of cold water

1/3 c Chicken Broth

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 c Milk

1 1/2 c shredded Cheddar cheese

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a greased 9x13 pan layer the steamed broccoli on the bottom, then add the shredded chicken. Set this aside for now! In a saucepan, melt the one stick of butter and add the poppy seeds. Set the temperature to low once these two ingredients have been incorporated. In a large Ziploc bag, add the Ritz crackers, and take a rolling pin and crush the crackers. Don't make the pieces too small (more chunky pieces)! Once you have your cracker crumbs, pour the crumbs into the saucepan with your butter and poppy seeds and stir together! Add the 1 1/2 c of shredded cheddar cheese to the pan (on top of the chicken). Keep the saucepan on low for now! In a separate sauce pan, you're going to melt the 1/3 cup of butter. Add the cornstarch, broth, salt, pepper, and milk and stir together! I waited until this was all heated through before I added the 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Once you have all the ingredients stirred together, your sauce should now be a much thicker consistency. Pour the sauce over the cheddar cheese layer in your pan, then top it off with your Ritz cracker crumb mixture from the other pan! Place all this in the oven (uncovered) for 30 minutes! Let it cool for a couple minutes, and the rest is history!! Seriously, we probably would have taken down the whole pan by ourselves last night if we had been given the chance...it was THAT good!! This is now going in our "favorite dishes" book!! It seems like a lot of work, but there's no chopping, just a lot of standing by the stove making sure all your saucepans are behaving! Had I not been rushing around like a crazy person, this would have been a very easy dinner to make! 

Fresh broccoli (prior to tearing it all apart and steaming it)

Here is the broccoli in it's steam bath!

Make sure when you are making the corn starch and water mixture that your water is VERY COLD! This will thicken up quickly and stick to the bottom of your bowl! So, I made my mix right before I was ready to put it in the sauce pan!

The good thing about this recipe is that it doesn't take all the Ritz crackers from the box! I love to snack on these and club crackers!! 

This is the Ritz cracker, butter and poppy seed mix! If you look closely you can see the tiny poppy seeds in there :)

Here it is out right out of the oven, and part of it is already gone! 

DELICIOUS!! 

Stay tuned for some great recipes!! 

I don't know about ya'll but I am more than excited for Spring to finally be here and STAY here!! We had beautiful weather this past weekend (partially), and now we are back to chilly. cloudy days! (I'm pretty sure it might have just sleeted a little bit here)! I have been looking up Spring accessories, clothes, decorations and recipes for a couple weeks now! I came across this fun Etsy shop with some great items! Check it out if you haven't already found her yourself! 

Jimmy Pickles

This pocket purse is only $14... DEAL!! She really has some crazy cute stuff! 

Now I need to go decide what's next on the menu!

Until next time...

Chicken, Cheddar, Bacon & Rice Bake

I came upon yet another fun food blog titled, What's cooking in the burbs! She has some serious great looking recipes that I can't wait to try! I'm no where near going through them but I did however find this little gem on Pinterest which is what got me to her blog in the first place. She adapted this recipe from AllRecipes and we LOVED it! I really struggled with putting the bacon in or leaving it out (healthy eating...remember?)! However, I still had a ways to go before I reached my goal for the day, so in went the bacon! Just FYI in case you're interested, this recipe, as is, runs about 445 calories per serving. If you leave out the bacon you can subtract 135 calories and come up with 310 calories per serving! If bacon is involved, I will typically favor the bacon IN instead of the bacon OUT! So let's get started, because once you make it, you're not going to want to stop eating it! This recipe serves about 6 people, so for 2 of us we had plenty of leftovers!

Ingredients

4 TB butter

1 medium onion, chopped (about one cup)

4 garlic cloves-minced (I used 3 because they were pretty big)

1 tsp seasoning salt

1 tsp Kosher salt (I forgot this when I made it-tasted just fine)

1/2 tsp black pepper

4 TB flour

3 1/2 c chicken stock

3 1/2 c milk

1 1/2 c long grain rice

3 c cooked chicken

1 1/2 c cheddar cheese-shredded

1/2 c cooked-crumbled bacon

To start it out you're going to melt the butter in a pan and add the onions. Cook the onions until they are tender, then add the garlic, seasoning salt and pepper. Stir this all together and add in the flour. Mix well! It's going to start to "clump" together so make sure you don't leave it alone for too long! Stir in the milk and chicken stock and turn the heat on the stove up to medium-high. Add in ONE CUP of cheese! (NOTE: This is not all the cheese for the recipe! I ALWAYS mess up and see "stir in cheese and add the whole cup and half and then realize later I was only supposed to put in a portion of the ingredient.) 

Continue to whisk until everything comes to a simmer. Add in the rice and lower the heat to medium-low and cook about 20 minutes or until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid! 

While this mixture was cooking, Dee Jay was working on getting the bacon cooked and crumbled!

Once your rice mixture is finished on the stove, add in the chicken and bacon to the rice/sauce mix! Pour all this into a 9x13 pan and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 c of cheese on top! Place it in the oven for 20-25 (we did 22 minutes) and bake until the cheese is bubbly! 

This is everything in the pan EXCEPT for the cheese topping!

I cannot express to you how much we enjoyed this recipe! It's not to heavy or loaded down, it's just...dare I say...perfectly delicious! Stay tuned for some more yummy recipes! 

Until then...

Fantastic Chicken Lo Mein

I did it again! Another Asian dish served up at home, and taken down by the two of us like there was no tomorrow! When I see ingredients like sesame oil and rice wine vinegar something in my brain goes haywire and I immediately have to try it! You can find the original recipe at Prevention.com which includes the nutritional information. If you're not sure about all the health benefits from sesame oil, you can check out this information on Livestrong.com. It's full of anti-oxidants and antibacterial properties that you won't want to pass up! There are other uses as well, including skin benefits among other medicinal health benefits, if you want to do some looking around on their site! So without further ado...let's get started!

Ingredients
8 oz lo mein or thin spaghetti (you could even use a little more, I only had 6 oz and it didn't go very far)
2 TB sesame oil (you can also use olive oil)
1 lb. boneless, skinless, chicken breasts cut into thin strips
1 onion-chopped
1 lg. red bell pepper-chopped
2 lg. garlic cloves-minced
1/2 c chicken broth
3 TB rice wine vinegar
3 TB soy sauce
1 TB fresh grated ginger

Start out by cooking your noodles according to the package.

While you've got your pasta going, heat 1 TB of the oil in a large skillet over medium/high heat. Add the chicken strips and cook the chicken until no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the skillet and cover to keep warm!

Heat the remaining 1 TB of oil in the skillet, and add your red pepper, onion and garlic. Cook for about 8 minutes or until the ingredients are tender. Stir in the broth, ginger, vinegar and soy sauce and cook for another 2 minutes  Add the cooked chicken and the noodles, stir to incorporate everything together and heat through. 

Serve on a plate (or in a bowl) and enjoy!! 

We absolutely loved this and will be eating it again! Very quick and easy and would even taste great if you let the noodles marinade in the mixture over-night, add the chicken, heat up and enjoy!! Stay tuned for a fantastic snack idea! Until then...

~Happy Eating~

Tortilla Roll-up with Spicy Shredded Chicken

Who says a yummy appetizer can't be the main course for dinner?! Not me! I whipped up this party pleaser appetizer last night for dinner and it was delicious! Spicy"ish" chicken and a cream cheese mixture all rolled up in a flour tortilla...Yum! We have left-overs too, which have made a great snack last night and lunch for today!! I grabbed this recipe from a cute "homemade" blog titled, Homemade by Holman. I love the recipes on here, though I haven't gone through them all, but I'm working my way through her blog day by day! This dish can be taken to a party as finger foods, or you can do what we did, and pair with some chips and salsa and have it for dinner! Once again, it's easy to make and will leave you with no regrets! So let's get started!

Ingredients
1.5 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can Rotel (drained)
12 oz cream cheese
1 c shredded Cheddar cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
6 green onions
6-8 large tortillas

Her recipe starts by saying that you coat the chicken breasts in salt, half of the cumin (1/2 tsp), and one teaspoon of the chili powder! I took the "salt" to be the garlic salt instead of regular salt. I'm not sure if this is what she was meaning, but it tasted great so that's how I'll do it next time I make it! Once you have your pieces of chicken coated, add the chicken to a large skillet with one cup of water (you can add more water if needed), and cook on high/medium until the chicken is cooked through. I continued to turn the chicken so it would cook evenly and I think I left it on the stove about 8-10 minutes.

I love spices!! I love spice cabinets and the way they smell when you open them! Yum!

Spicing up the chicken 

Cooking in the skillet

Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the skillet and let it cool slightly before taking two forks, and shredding the chicken!

Shredded chicken

While the chicken is cooling is a good time to get the cream cheese spread mixed together. In a large bowl you're going to mix together, the cream cheese, drained rotel, cheddar cheese, and all the remaining spices with the green onion! Mix together thoroughly!  

Pre-mix spread

Once the spread is mixed together and the chicken is shredded, throw the shredded chicken in with spread and mix everything together. Divide the chicken mix evenly over 6-8 tortillas and spread out thin, making sure the edges of the tortilla remain clear! Roll each tortilla up tightly (not like a burrito...leave the ends open), and cut them into once inch sections. Place them on a serving plate, cover them and place them in a fridge until you're ready to eat! It's easy as a dinner, snack, or party dish...you choose! 

Finished and ready to eat!

I ate one tortilla dipped in salsa, and was satisfied the rest of the evening (until I wanted a snack so I grabbed a couple more from the fridge) lol!! Stay tuned for another Pinterest project in the next couple of days, a wonderful breakfast from Game and Garden, and an update on my reading and photo a day challenge!! In the meantime, I want to wish my mom and huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY today! 

Always having fun in my family! Never a time without laughter and hilarious shenanigans!

Until next time...

~Happy Eating~

Lettuce Wraps-PF Chang style

I love those recipes that are so good, they are asked for again and again! Dee Jay just reminded me that we haven't had lettuce wraps in awhile, so I started on this extremely delicious dinner for us last night! A happy side note is that even though you are "wrapping lettuce" around a mixture of goodness after about four of them Dee Jay decided he was full and that they make a heavier meal than one would imagine! So ladies, get your guys to try them out. I'm going to go out on a limb that they will not be disappointed (or left hungry)! I found this recipe on this cute blog, Bohemian Transplant! If you have some time to look around her blog at all her recipes, you won't be disappointed! She also has great insights for parents, and photography as well! So let's get started with what all you're going to need for this recipe!

Ingredients
1 lb ground chicken
1/2 onion, minced
salt & pepper (to taste)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
1 TB sesame oil
2 1/2 TB soy sauce
1/2 TB water
1 TB peanut butter
1/2 TB honey
1 TB + 1 tsp rice vinegar
2 tsp (+) Chili garlic sauce (you can add sriracha if you want to add a kick)
3 green onions
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped

First, you're going to add the chicken and onion with a dash of salt and pepper and cook in a skillet until nearly done! Next, add the garlic and ginger and continue to cook until the chicken is no longer pink.

Here we are simmering with garlic

and ginger and onion

 

In a small sauce pan, heat the sesame oil, soy sauce, water, peanut butter, honey, rice vinegar, red chili sauce, and another dash of pepper. Stir until the sauce runs smooth and then add the sauce to the skillet and stir to combine everything.

After you have everything mixed, you can add the green onions and cook another couple of minutes and then sprinkle with the chopped peanuts. 

 

Sorry about the blurry photo! I was in a hurry to eat and didn't stop and

look at the pictures I was taking :)

 

When everything is mixed and warmed through, you are going to serve this in the middle of cold lettuce leaves! Wrap the sides of the lettuce around the mixture and enjoy! It's that easy! 

Woo-Hoo

 

I hope you all enjoy this as much as we do! I know it's not exactly PF Chang quality, but sometimes it's nice to bring those recipes home and try them out for yourself! Hope everyone is having a fun and fantastic start to your week!! Stay tuned for more deliciousness from our kitchen to yours!! 

~Happy Eating~

 

 

 

Fall is for Pho and Trix are for Treats

So, one thing I love about cooler weather is the fact that I can make foods that warm our soul! There is a soup called, Pho that is seriously one of my favorite cooler weather delights! It's spicy, it smells wonderful all day while cooking, it's warm and delicious! You really can't beat that! Dee Jay's co-worker was telling him about some Pho he had the other day and came home all excited about it, so I looked up the recipe and remembered what I could from previous times of making it and got to work! The recipe that I went off can be found at steamykitchen.com. Now let's get to work!

Pho is a Vietnamese chicken noodle soup. You can also make it with beef, but for this recipe, I used chicken. To start out you are going to slice up a yellow onion into thin slices and get about an inch of ginger off the root. Turn on your broiler and put the onion and ginger on a cookie sheet and set under your broiler to cook. It took about 10-12 minutes total until the onion and ginger started to brown. You are going to want to check on it and turn over the pieces to make sure you cook evenly on both sides. Once your onion and ginger are finished, you are going to empty two containers (64 ounces total) of chicken stock into a big pot on the stove. Put the broth in a large pot on your stove and add one cinnamon stick and one package of chicken thighs (probably a pound or little more). Add the cut up, broiled ginger to the broth as well. Add about 2 tablespoons of sugar, and I used about one teaspoon of salt. Bring all this to boil and then lower the temperature to simmer the chicken for about 45 minutes or until it's cooked through. Now you are going to remove the chicken thighs from the stock and remove the skin and fat and bones. (We saved the skin for a crunchy surprise to top the soup with). Once you have the chicken meat pulled apart, you are going to put it in a separate bowl and add a little of the broth to keep it moist. Now you are going to strain the stock, and add sliced green onion (about 5-6), two tablespoons of fish sauce and your broiled onion slices. Bring all this back to a boil then simmer until ready to serve.

 

The chicken ready for the soup in a bowl with broth!

 

Now you are going to boil rice noodles as the package directs. It's going to take about 20 minutes total to cook the pasta, so while that's cooking let's get the garnish plate ready! You are going to take the rest of your onion slices that you haven't broiled and set out on a plate. Chop up some cilantro, serrano peppers, jalapenos, thai peppers, and add some bean sprouts to the plate. You are going to want to put out Sriracha hot sauce and Hoisin sauce to add to the bowl once you're ready to eat. By this time your noodles should be cooked, so go ahead and strain the water and rinse off the noodles with cold water! 

This is our garnish plate (minus the bean sprouts which I forgot to pick up at the store because Wal-Mart was out and I forgot to stop by the second store on the way home)

This is the broth simmering and waiting to be served!

Now you are going to prepare the soup to eat! Here is my ideal way to put this all together:

I add a good amount of noodles to cover a little less than half the bowl. I add the broth on top of the noodles until my bowl looks yummy and full! Then I add a little bit of each of the garnishments. (I know the Hoison sauce looks really "not appetizing" in the picture, but trust me that it is is soooo delicious)! Now all that is left for you to do is eat it ALL!!! I'm not kidding you, once you start on a bowl Pho, you are not going to want to stop! We're talking lick the bowl clean, fantastic!!

I warned you that the sauce does not make a pretty picture! 

But you're going to want it in there!! Trust me :)

 Now, onto a little dessert time! This recipe can be found on a fantastic blog titled Cravings of a Lunatic. This is so simple and extremely delicious. The only thing I would add to my description is to make this to eat right away (for parties, or work lunches etc). We let this set (covered) for a day or two and it went stale!! I was sad I only got two huge chunks of it before I had to start it over! All you are going to do it melt a bag of mini marshmallows and 1/4 cup of butter, and pour in about 10 cups of Trix cereal and stir. Put the mixture in a greased 9x13 pan and press down to fit the pan with a greased spoon (so it's doesn't stick), wait for it to set and then eat! It's that easy!!

So Delicious! And very colorful and fun for parties! 

If you have questions or would like to send me your favorite Fall recipes, feel free! I always love to hear your feedback and suggestions!

~Happy Eating~

 

Great Summer Night Meal

I have a confession...not life-altering but just the same...I love sesame oil/seeds...anything sesame "says me" (cheesy)! Anyway, with that off my chest, I made us a sesame pasta chicken salad for dinner the other evening, and it was delightful! Seeing that the weather is hot! hot! hot! I decided to go with something lighter and chilled! So, I chose this off my Pinterest and went to work on our dinner! Here is how you make this exceptional salad...

First you're going to start with a small pan/skillet and heat it up over medium/high heat. Add 1/4 cup of sesame seeds and roast them in the pan. (You won't need oil, water or anything like that). Remember to stir them frequently so they don't burn. After you have "browned" the seeds, remove them from the heat completely and set aside. Now, you are going to cook one package of bow tie pasta in salted water. While you have the pasta cooking you are going to combine the following in an air tight jar (I just whisked mine in a bowl) and mix very well; 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 1/3 cup of light soy sauce, 1/3 cup of rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, 3 tablespoons of sugar, the browned sesame seeds, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Mix this dressing well.

Sorry, this is the only pic I got. (It's the dressing) The camera died right after this! But believe me, it doesn't need a picture to show you how delicious it is. Just read the ingredients and allow your taste buds do the rest of the talking :)

Once the pasta is finished, drain the water and run cold water over the pasta to cool it off. Pour the dressing over the pasta along with 3 cups of shredded and cooked chicken, 1/3 cup of cilantro, and 1/3 cup of chopped green onion and mix well. Voila! You have a fast, easy, super delicious, cool dinner on a hot summer day! I found this recipe at Trickschefs.com. Here is the run down and directions one more time


Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 (16 ounce) package bow tie pasta
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup light soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup chopped green onion

Heat skillet on med/high heat. Add sesame seeds--cook, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and set aside.

Bring salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook about 8-10 minutes or as package directs. Drain the pasta and rinse with cold water then transfer to a large bowl. 

In a jar (or bowl) combine the vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, sesame seeds, giner and pepper. Mix well.

Pour dressing over pasta and toss. Gently mix in chicken, cilantro, and green onions

~Happy Eating~

Cinnamon Chicken in the crock-pot

Okay, I am a little late with today's blog (12:15 am), but I am still awake because our schedules are all messed up, so to me it definitely still feels like "Friday". I found this recipe on my Pinterest board and thought it sounded great...Crock-Pot Cinnamon Chicken, yum! The chicken was great, what I decided to serve it with, not so great lol. We live and learn my friends! Which is great for ya'll because I can tell you that I did not like it with rice. In my head I was thinking back to those days growing up when you pour milk and sugar with a little bit of butter in with your white rice, which is fantastic to me. So, since this recipe kind of made me think of that, I thought to myself, why not! Nope, the flavors did not mix well and I ended up taking the chicken off the rice and eating it by itself. Since I made this error in your favor (haha), I also decided to throw in a spa dip recipe I found while scouring through a recipe book! YUM! Both recipes are so simple it's kind of ridiculous! I'll start with the chicken and move on from there!

The recipe calls for five chicken breasts. Since there are two of us, I only used two chicken breasts (however they were extremely large and filled up the entire bottom of my crock-pot). I was easily close to a pound and half. You start out by peeling and slicing six carrots. I am not a fan of carrots and Dee Jay is, so I compromised and chopped up the baby carrots and threw them in and made sure to spoon them on top of his plate (yea, I'm a baby about carrots). On top of the carrots you will toss in the chicken. Then here comes the part that will make your mouth water every time you get a whiff of this cooking...spices!!! It calls for one tablespoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon cardamom, 1 (15 oz) can of light coconut milk, and one (15 oz) can of tomato sauce. (I am going to make a side note here: I did not have cardamom and when I went to the store I was sad to see it was almost $15 for one spice bottle. So I made do with what I had and searched for what you can use if you don't have cardamom. I minced up a little bit of ginger and tossed in a sprinkle or two of nutmeg.) You put all this over the chicken (I stirred mine around a little bit), turn the crock-pot on low and cook them for 4-6 hours (until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees and no longer pink). 

The chicken cooking (I promise it's somewhere underneath there)

Sit back and enjoy the smell that will fill your home, and then serve it up with some vegetables as a side and you have yourself a pretty healthy little meal! This recipe was found on a website called The Gracious Pantry. She has a lot of great recipes I can't wait to try out, and the direct link to the actual recipe can be found here if you missed it up above!

Now, on to the spa dip...I pulled this recipe out of Fellowship Bible Church, Tasteful Traditions, book I was talking about in an earlier entry. The lady that entered this into the book is Hilary Smith, and her spa dip is great!

You start with two (8 oz) boxes Cream Cheese (softened), and add two packages of dry ranch dressing, 4-5 green onions, and 4-5 slices of deli sliced smoked ham. You are going to finely chop the green onion and ham and mix everything together in a bowl and serve it up with some crackers (or whatever your choose).

She noted that it is best if made a day in advance so we threw it in the fridge and ate some the next day and it was delicious! See, I told you there were ridiculously easy recipes!! I know it's Memorial Day weekend and this dip would be great at an event you may be going to! We used Special K Multi-Grain Crackers because they are sooo yummy!

SPA DIP
2 (8 oz) boxes cream cheese, softened
2 pkgs. Dry ranch dressing
4-5 Green onions
4-5 slices deli sliced smoked ham

Finely chop ham and onions. Mix everything together. Serve with crackers. Best if made the day before.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday weekend!!
~Happy Eating~

Parmesan Chicken

One of my favorite dishes growing up was Parmesan Chicken. It's easiness is delightful, and the taste is incredibly soothing to my soul! I often ask for it for my birthday dinner alongside green beans and baked potatoes. We like to buy the whole bag of chicken breasts and freeze them for easy meals. Here is how I make mine.

I started with 2 whole chicken breasts (you can use as much as you need, however there are only two people in my household). You can use chicken tenders or whatever you like, I just cut the chicken breasts into smaller strips which makes for a faster cooking time.

NOTE: I had to use butter because I realized we were out of eggs...turned out a little more dry than usual but still very tasty :)

Pre-game: Take 2 whole packages of buttered round crackers out of the box and put them into a ziploc bag. You, your children, or in my case Dee Jay will crush the crackers into very small (think breadcrumbs) pieces.  Once you have a bag full of crumbs you will take grated Parmesan cheese and throw as much as you like into the bag. I would say for 2 pieces I use about 1 cup (if I'm feeling really cheesy that night sometimes I will add a little fresh shredded Parmesan to the mixture). Now you will take 1 egg and put it into a bowl, you will use this to coat the chicken pieces. Now we're ready to roll!

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
After your chicken is cut into strips or ready to go, you will beat 1 egg (or more for a bigger family) and dredge the chicken pieces through the egg. Remove the chicken and throw in the baggie. Shake away! I like to get my really coated because I like my chicken a little crunchier, plus we love to eat the crunchies that fall to the bottom of the pan and get really brown! YUM! Once your chicken is fully coated you will place the chicken on a cooking sheet and once all your pieces are ready you will pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes, then turn them over and bake about 20 minutes more or until they are golden brown and cooked through.

Again for a fast, easy meal I used Idahoan Potatoes except this time I used the Garlic potato bag. I added sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese once they were finished and voila! We steamed some brussell sprouts added about a half of teaspoon of butter, and a little pinch of salt and it turned out like this...

You can always add your own ingredients and spices to the shake bag and I would love to hear what ya'll come up with!!! I sometimes throw Mozzarella into the bag among other fresh spices or garlic even sometimes to kick it up a notch. If by some chance your chicken comes out dry (this has happened to me one time), I add a little BBQ sauce or dipping sauce like Ranch. My favorite is a Raspberry Jalapeno sauce I stumbled upon quite some time ago at Reasors. Just have fun with it!!
~Happy Eating~

PARMESAN CHICKEN
1 box of Ritz crackers or buttered rounds (you will need at least 2 of the rolls of crackers out of the bag)
1 egg
2 chicken breasts cut into strips
1 cup Parmesan Chicken (at least)

a different kind of chicken soup

Leah here. I really like making soup on Sundays. Not only is it (typically) an easy dish I can throw together while washing, drying and folding four or five loads of laundry--but there is plenty left over for lunch on Monday. One less thing to think about on a Monday morning: yes, please!

I flagged this soup right away when my April issue of Bon Appetit showed up in the mail. They included suggestions like doubling the batch of chicken meatballs to freeze and use for other quick dishes. People left glorious comments online about the flavor of this dish. I finally got around to it today and I have two words: NO JOKE. Not only did I want to simply snack on these little meatballs, but they would also be great simmered in marinara sauce and made into a meatball sub or tossed into a pasta. Maybe sliced in half and thrown on a homemade pizza. Next time, I will make double. But today I was making soup. 

A certain slim lady is often heard saying and tweeting, "use what you've got." I swear I said that way before her. In my head at least. When I read a recipe I'm usually making substitutions for 40 percent of the recipe---within reason. Don't have chives but have parsley? Sub it. Have turkey but not chicken? Should be fine. Brown sugar for white. Pancake syrup for real maple syrup. It isn't always an exact replica but rarely can you mess something up with some quick research and substitutions. Plus you save a few bucks by not buying brand new ingredients you only need a few pinches or smidgens of. 

Case in point, this recipe calls for ditalini or other small pasta. I didn't have any and didn't want to buy any. What I did have: giant pasta shells. 

Get creative. Use what you have. Break spaghetti up in to small pieces. Use spiral noodles. Or bash up shells in a food processor and you have...

Ta-da! Tiny pasta!

The meatballs come together quickly. I subbed dry bread crumbs for fresh because that's what I had. Parsley from my patio pots instead of chives which I think added a nice brightness. I love cooking with ground turkey but did buy ground chicken for this. It's actually cheaper. It also has a higher fat content making a very tender, tasty meatball.

This minestrone calls for carrots (which I had) and leeks which I splurged on. I knew they had a nice onion flavor but for a cost or ease perspective, green onions or even celery would have been fine here. I had spinach on hand but kale would have also worked. Just let it simmer a bit longer if subbing a heartier green. 

Start to finish, this soup took about 25 minutes. I ended up letting it cool down and reheating it making dinner time a snap. It says it's four servings but I'd argue for five or six especially if you served this along a salad or entree. We enjoyed ours with toasted dinner rolls. 

Easy, bright, springy and delicious. I chopped up the meatballs and veggies for my toddler minus the broth. Hubs, not typically a soup lover, complimented this after bite number one. Best part---we get to enjoy it again over lunch Monday!

Spring Minestrone with Chicken Meatballs
(Slightly adapted from Bon Appetit's April issue)

Ingredients
6 ounces ground chicken (I bumped it up to 8 oz or 1 pound)
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (I used dry seasoned breadcrumbs with no trouble)
6 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan, divided, plus more for garnish (about 1 cup total)
4 garlic cloves, 2 minced, 2 thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (I used parsley from my back porch)
1 large egg, whisked to blend
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 leek, white and pale-green parts only, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds (celery and/or spring onions would be a fine substitution)
5 cups low-salt chicken broth
3/4 cup ditalini or other small pasta (you saw my substitution, ha!)
1 cup 1/2-inch rounds peeled carrots
1 cup (packed) baby spinach (kale or other green might work here, just let it simmer longer)
Chopped fresh basil (i omitted)

Preparation per Bon Appetit
Mix chicken, breadcrumbs, 3 Tbsp. Parmesan, 2 minced garlic cloves, chives, egg, 3/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a medium bowl. Form into 1/2-inch-diameter meatballs (I got 27). Heat oil in a small pot over medium heat. Cook meatballs until golden all over, about 3 minutes (they will finish cooking in soup). Transfer to a plate; set aside.

Add sliced leek to large pot and cook, stirring often, until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes.

Add 2 thinly sliced garlic cloves; cook for 1 minute. Add broth and 2 cups water; bring to a boil. Stir in pasta and carrots; simmer until pasta is almost al dente, about 8 minutes. Add meatballs; simmer until pasta is al dente, carrots are tender, and meatballs are cooked through, about 3 minutes.

My note -- If you are making this ahead of time, stop here. Either simmer on low until ready to eat, or, if serving at a later time, let cook and store. Reheat when ready to serve.

When ready to serve, bring the soup back up to a simmer. Add spinach and remaining 3 Tbsp. Parmesan; stir until spinach is bright green and wilted. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with chopped herbs and Parmesan.

Interested in a few more soup ideas? 

If you like the endless soup at Olive Garden you must try my friend Heather's version of Zuppa Toscana. HEAVEN. 


If you are a tomato lover and like a little bit of spice, try this spicy tomato and blue cheese soup from Leite's Culinaria. But trust me and HALF the amount of sriracha it calls for. Don't be brave. Just do it. 






Do you have any Sunday afternoon cooking traditions?