Sheet Pan Balsamic Chicken and Veggies

2 large bunches broccoli
1 red bell pepper
1 red onion
chicken
water chestnuts

Sauce
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons avocado oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat pan with oven at 400 degrees.
Add chopped veggie and chicken to bowl. Pour sauce on top.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Serve over rice.

Chicken Pot Pie

A friend made this for us after Vance was born and I tried it myself tonight.  Its a little time consuming but not as bad as I thought.  Its super yummy!

(*Changes I made: chicken breast without the bone and I used my own pie crust recipe)

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

3 whole (6 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
2 chicken bouillon cubes
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas (2 cups)
1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
For the pastry:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice. You will have 4 to 6 cups of cubed chicken.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions and parsley. Mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

Chicken Sauce for Hawaiian Haystacks

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in bite-size chunks (or leftover cooked chicken, cubed)
3 TB butter
1/2 onion (1/2 cup) finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 c. flour
2 cups milk
1 cup chicken broth

In large skillet, melt butter, add onion and raw chicken.  (If using leftover cooked chicken, do not add now.  You will add it later.)  Saute onion and chicken until onion is soft and translucent and chicken is thoroughly cooked -- about 5 to 6 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for one minute, stirring, until fragrant.
Sprinkle flour over the onions and chicken and stir to combine.  Cook over medium heat for one minute--this helps get rid of the strachy, flour taste.  Slowly whisk in the milk and broth.  Cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, and bring sauce to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Add salt and pepper.  If you are using leftover chicken, add it now.  Continue simmering, stirring sauce frequently, until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes

Serve the chicken sauce over rice with toppings such as olives, tomatoes, shredded sharp cheese, green onions, mandarin oranges, pineapple, and chow mein noodles.

Source:  My Kitchen Cafe

Mandarin Chicken with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Remember this recipe?

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup ice water and ice
1 egg

Sift together dry ingredients.  Beat egg and mix with ice water.  Add flour mixture and stir.  Float in several ice cubes.  Dip chicken and fry in deep hot oil until brown.  Turn only once. 


Sweet and Sour Sauce

9 oz. whole tomatoes (I used petite diced)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon ginger
1 cup sugar
cayenne pepper/salt

Simmer for 20 minutes.  Thicken with cornstarch.

Lime Chicken

1.5 lbs chicken, cubed
1/4 cup vinegar, white or balsamic
1 lime, juiced
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. oregano

Saute chicken over medium-high heat until cooked through.Add everything else; simmer for about 10 minutes.  Serve in warm tortillas with cheese, tomato, lettuce or whatever else you like in your taco.

Alfredo Bake- Our Best Bites

Alfredo Bake

Our Best Bites

(in their book its called: Bacon Artichoke with Penne Bake)

8 ounces penne or bowtie pasta

1 recipe Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

2 chicken breasts, grilled and chopped

6 ounces (1/2 package) cooked bacon, chopped

1 jar (14 ounces) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/2 cup chopped green onions (about 1 decent sized bunch)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Prepare pasta according to package directions

3. While the pasta is cooking, prepare guiltless Alfredo Sauce. When pasta is done, drain and add to the sauce. Toss with chopped chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts, green onions, and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Season to taste.

4. Transfer mixture to an 8x8 inch baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

Balsamic Marinated Chicken

Okay... so when we were in Oklahoma I was trying to use up most of my food.  One night I made this up out of necessity and the boys loved it.  I made it on Sunday again and Rich loved it too so I thought I'd share.  It's pretty non specific.

Marinate your chicken in a combination of:
Balsamic vinegar
Olive Oil
A sprinkle of garlic salt (to taste)

I usually put it in a ziplock in the morning and keep it in the fridge until I'm ready to cook it.  Then I put it all in a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes (or until cooked through) at 350 degrees.  I serve it with a veggie and rice or homemade french fries.

Honey Baked Chicken

I got this recipe from Traci.

1/3 c. honey
1/3 c. butter
2 TB dijon mustard (sometimes I just use yellow mustard if I don't have the other on hand)
1 tsp. curry powder
1 dash salt
3 chicken breasts--chopped bite size

Combine all ingredients (except chicken) in a saucepan until melted and mixed.  Cover chicken with the sauce in a baking dish.  Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes, turning chicken at least once.  Serve over brown rice.

Teriyaki Drumsticks with Rice and Veggies

Teriyaki Drumsticks with Rice and Veggies

You can marinate the chicken overnight, but a few hours will suffice as well. You can also play around with what type of sweetener you want to use. Growing up, we used brown sugar. But rapadura, maple sugar, honey -even maple syrup would work. Each sweetener will add it’s own unique flavor. If you don’t use agave syrup, up the amount you add (up to 1/2 cup). Agave is sweeter than honey or sugar. This will serve 4-6 people. 

2 pounds of drumsticks
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/2 cup of rice vinegar
1/4 cup of agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon ginger, dried
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press

Wash off chicken drumsticks, and place in a dish to marinate in. Combine the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Pour over the meat, cover and place in fridge. Marinate for a couple of hours or overnight.


Brown Rice 
An hour before you want to serve your dinner, make brown rice according to the package’s directions. Or, here’s how we make it.
Place in a medium pot:
6 cups of water
3 cups of brown basmati rice
1 teaspoon salt

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered for 45 minutes.

When rice is about half way through, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place chicken with sauce in a small casserole dish, and cook (in middle to upper third of oven) for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through. To test, pierce one with a knife all the way to the bone, if it’s done the juices will run clear, it not, it will contain a little bit of blood.

After you get the chicken started, prep and cook the veggies.


Steamed Vegetable Side
4 cups of carrots,washed, peeled and sliced on a diagonal
3 celery sticks, washed, and sliced on a diagonal
1/4 head of purple (red) cabbage, thinly sliced

In a large pot place several inches of water, and a stainless steel steamer. Bring to a boil. Add veggies to steamer and steam, on low, for 8-10 minutes, just until tender.

To serve, you can keep everything separate, and serve the sauce on the side to pour over the veggies and rice. Or you can layer a casserole dish in this order, rice, veggies, meat, and then the sauce poured over everything. Enjoy!

Simple Chicken Noodle Soup

Simple Chicken Noodle Soup  

(Six to Eight Generous Servings)

When I am not in a hurry, I saute the veggies in a little oil before I add the meat and water for extra flavor.  Use this recipe as an outline, as we have done it with slightly differences with no problem, my husband and I also cut the vegetables slightly differently and both ways work.

1 1/2-2 pounds of drumsticks or chicken legs 

4 carrots, peeled, stemmed, cut in half lengthwise, and cut into 1 inch pieces 

4 celery sticks, washed, ends trimmed, cut in half lengthwise, and cut into 1 inch pieces 

1 onion, peeled and diced 

1-3 garlic cloves, peeled and put through the garlic press, optional 

1 bay leave, optional

 

Place all of the above ingredients in a large pot and cover well with water (we have just been eyeballing this, but about 8-12 cups, I would guess). Give a generous sprinkle of unrefined salt and bring to a boil, lower heat, and keep at a very low simmer for around 2 hours.

Near the end of the cooking time, in a separate pot, cook two cups of spiral shaped brown rice noodles (or noodles or your choice) according to package directions.

Take out the chicken drumsticks or legs, allow to cool, and then pull off the meat. I save the bones to use again in my next pot of chicken broth as there is still plenty of calcium left in them. Add the meat and noodles to the pot of soup, and salt and pepper to taste. Take out the bay leaf and serve with buttered toast and lots of love.