Bacon Wrapped PepperJack Stuffed Chicken Breast

I'm late to the bacon-wrapped everything party but I decided to give it a try tonight. It turned out surprisingly good to someone who eats only turkey bacon for the most part. I get it. Bacon is good with just about anything! 

You'll need:

Boneless chicken breasts (however many you need to cook)

Sliced pepper jack cheese

Uncooked bacon

Preheat your oven to 400. Trim as much fat away from the chicken as possible. Lay a slice of pepper jack cheese on top of the chicken and then wrap bacon around the whole breast. I used two slices per piece. Lay it on a greased baking pan, pop it in the oven for 25-30 minutes and when you pull it out, you'll have a delicious chicken breast wrapped in bacon and oozing with cheese. Sounds pretty ideal, right? Enjoy! 

Chicken Enchiladas

My husband took one bite of these and said, "where did you learn how to cook like this?!" He then elaborated on the fact that my cooking wasn't exactly up to par when we first met...in the nicest way possible. These were pretty phenomenal enchiladas though, if I do say so myself. You'll need:

2 cups shredded chicken

2 cups shredded fiesta or Mexican blend cheese

1 pouch of Velveeta queso blanco squeezable cheese

1 small can of green chiles

1 jalapeño, finely chopped

1 can of enchilada sauce

2-4 soft tortilla wraps 

Preheat your oven to 350. Boil your chicken and then shred it when cooked through. In a bowl, combine shredded chicken, green chiles, jalapeño and 1/2 can of enchilada sauce and mix together. 

Take your wraps (I made gigantic ones so it made 2 large and 1 small, but it would make 4 normal sized enchiladas as well) and fill each one with desired amount of chicken mixture and Mexican/fiesta cheese. Wrap them any way you want and line them in a greased baking dish. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over them, followed by the queso blanco velveeta. Bake, uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Serve with rice, refried beans or any other sides you choose. Enjoy! 

Parmesan Pretzel Chicken

It's been nearly a month since my last blog post. December was a very busy month what with Christmas and making sure that our elf on the shelf, Jack, was perfectly positioned each night before I went to bed. Then, after Christmas, I just got lazy. Think takeout Chinese and pizza...way more than socially acceptable. I also burnt a couple meals in that time and some were just not edible enough to share. But, I got back on the saddle again today and whipped up this delicious Parmesan Pretzel Chicken. Lo and behold, it was good enough to share with the public! Super simple recipe...

8 chicken tenders (or however many you'd like to prepare)

1-1.5 cups egg whites (I use the pourable Egg Beaters containers for convenience)

1.5-2 cups pretzel crumbs

1/2-1 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 450. Prepare your thawed chicken tenders by giving them an egg white bath. In a separate  bowl, combine pretzel crumbs and parmesan cheese. Coat each chicken tender with pretzel/parmesan mixture and place onto a greased baking sheet. That's literally all the steps taken between preparation and oven. Bake the chicken tenders for 20-25 minutes and there you have it...parmesan pretzel chicken, ready to eat.

Enjoy! 

30-Minute Chicken & Dumplings

Most people are a little surprised when I tell them that I can have homemade chicken and dumplings on the table in a half hour. Chicken and Dumplings are notoriously associated with the picture of mom or grandma slaving away, rolling out the dough while cooking and pulling the chicken off the bone. It doesn't have to be that hard though...and it tastes just as good! 

6 boneless chicken tenders (or 3 breasts)

32 oz chicken broth (the fridge packs are 32 oz)

1 cup water

3 tbsp Wyler's chicken granules (seasoning)

2 cups flour

1.5 cups half & half (or milk)

1 egg

2 tbsp cornstarch

Salt and pepper to taste 

Cook the chicken in the broth, granules and water. Bring it to a boil and let it cook until chicken can be shredded. Meanwhile, prepare your dough by mixing the flour, half and half (or milk) and egg. You want a workable dough, not too sticky, so you may end up adding a pinch more flour. Just use your best judgment. You'll know if the dough is too sticky. Roll it out onto floured parchment paper. Cut it into rectangles. Once the chicken is cooked and shredded, drop the dumplings in one at a time into the still boiling water. Let them cook for up to 5 minutes before turning your heat down to low and adding the cornstarch to thicken. You can also use Campbell's cream of chicken soup to thicken it and give it that extra chicken flavor. As soon as it's reached the desired consistency, it's ready to eat! 

Let everyone think you slaved over a hot stove all day, just for them. Enjoy! 

Chipotle Chicken & Rice

Yesterday for lunch, I had a Lean Cuisine Chipotle Chicken & Rice bowl and it was pretty phenomenal to say the least. I read the ingredients and knew it would be pretty easy to recreate. Since we're snowed in at the moment, I couldn't use fresh ingredients so I had to improvise with what I had on hand. 

2 grilled chicken breasts, cooked and diced up

1 can of mexi-corn (the can I used has corn, onion, black beans & red peppers in it)

1 can of Campbell's cheddar cheese soup

1 cup brown rice, cooked

2 tbsp sour cream

2 tbsp chipotle hot sauce

Salt & pepper to taste

Pour the mexi-corn and cheddar cheese soup into a pan and bring to a slight boil and immediately turn it down to medium. Throw in your grilled chicken, rice, hot sauce and seasonings and cook on medium for about 10 minutes. Move the pan off of the heat and stir in the sour cream. It's a quick, simple meal that takes less than half an hour. Enjoy! 

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie is near the top of my list of favorite comfort foods. It's a food that sadly, I missed out on for most of my life so far because there were too many things in it that were good for me. Which, of course, is only the vegetables. But I grew up and now enjoy it whenever possible. This is a really simple recipe to make and it's delicious...much better than the slightly more convenient store-bought kind from the freezer section. Preheat your oven to 400...

2 cups baking mix (Bisquick)

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup chicken, cooked and cubed/shredded depending on how you like it

1 cup mixed vegetables, thawed if using the frozen kind 

1 can cream of chicken

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix Bisquick, milk and eggs together to form a dough. Take half and form a bottom layer in a greased pie pan. Mix chicken, vegetables, cream of chicken and salt and pepper. Pour it onto the dough and then take the remaining bit and pour over the top. Pop it into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes to cool and then cut it up and serve. 

Seriously, skip the Banquet pot pies and give this a try. I doubt you'll look back. Enjoy! 

Oven Beer Can Chicken

Thanksgiving is in a few days so what better time to practice baking a bird? I've made "rotisserie style" oven baked chicken in the past but when I found Weber's Beer Can Chicken seasoning the other day, I was intrigued. I've never actually had Beer Can Chicken but being raised in the part of the country I was, there's nothing about those three words combined that sound bad together. Here's what you'll need:

Whole chicken (mine was a little over 4 lbs)

Weber Beer Can Chicken seasoning (I found it at Walmart)

Paprika 

4 tbsp melted butter 

Wash and prepare your chicken. Place it in a greased oven-safe baking dish and pour melted butter over the top. Be sure and brush it around to cover the entire chicken. Next sprinkle a layer of paprika (I love the color it gives the chicken) and then a layer of Beer Can Chicken seasoning. Pop it in your preheated 350 degree oven and bake until thermometer reads 165. That was about 2 hours for mine. Oven times may vary so after an hour and a half I'd check it to be on the safe side. That's all there is to it. Carve it up and serve it. It's tender, juicy and delicious and makes me want Thanksgiving Thursday to speed up its arrival time. Enjoy! 

Chicken & Mushroom Alfredo Bake

I'll be the first to admit that I kind of have a thing for chicken and mushrooms together so there will probably be plenty of future posts that include these two ingredients. Just a forewarning! I've made this a couple of times in the past and used spaghetti squash as a pasta substitute and that worked out awesome in case you're strictly counting carbs or want to sneak veggies in somewhere. There's a lengthy process involved here as the alfredo sauce is actually a healthy, lightened up version made out of cashews. Yeah, I know, I was skeptical the first time I tried it too. Here goes...

1 cup cashews, soaked in water for at least 6 hours

8 chicken tenders, diced

2 cups baby bella mushrooms, chopped

2 cups pasta of your choice

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 cup mozzarella

2 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp onion powder

1.5 - 2 cups of water

3 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350. Pan fry your chicken in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add 1 tbsp minced garlic, garlic powder and onion powder. Fry until it is cooked through and has a nice golden brown color. 

Take your soaked cashews, drain the water off of them and pour into a food processor or blender. Process them until they form a paste. Add 1/2 cup of water and process some more. Add 1 cup of water and continue processing until it forms a milky liquid. Meanwhile have 1 tbsp garlic sauteing in 2 tbsp of olive oil and pasta boiling until tender. Pour in the cashew liquid and stir until it thickens. Add parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste and continue stirring. Once the cheese is melted, add your chicken and mushrooms to the sauce. You can add up to 1/2 cup water if the sauce is too thick for your taste.

In a greased glass baking dish layer your pasta and pour the chicken/mushroom/sauce mixture over the top. Coat it with the mozzarella cheese, cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. 

When you take it out the cheese will be melted and you will be ready to devour this delicious alfredo bake. Serve with salad and/or garlic bread and enjoy! 

White Chicken Chili

Blaming the changing of seasons, I've been on a chili kick lately. I could probably eat it 4 out of the 7 days a week, but if I don't disguise it every once in awhile, my family will kick me out of the kitchen. I had heard of white chicken chili before. I had even been at a gathering where it was served but opted for the traditional recipe instead. After trying this, I'm kind of sad that I've missed out all these years! You will need:

4-5 frozen chicken tenders

1 cup green salsa verde

1 can white beans

1 can corn

1/2 onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 cup cheese (I used monterey jack)

1 tsp cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Put everything in the crockpot except for the cheese and set it on low. Cook for about 6-8 hours. Shred your chicken once it is cooked through. 15 minutes before you're ready to serve, add your cheese and let it melt into the chili. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy! 

Chicken Enchilada Quesadillas

When I tossed some frozen chicken, a can of green chiles and tomatoes and enchilada sauce in my crockpot this morning, I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with it. I came and checked on it a few hours later and decided that it was going to need a thickening agent so I added a package of low-fat cream cheese. I seasoned it with some cumin, salt and pepper and brainstormed a little more. By the time I shredded the chicken and got the final product, I knew quesadillas were the answer! 

4-5 frozen chicken tenders

1 can green chiles and tomatoes

1 can enchilada sauce 

1 package (8 oz) of low fat cream cheese

1 tbsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

Whole wheat tortillas

Olive oil

Mild cheddar cheese, shredded

Jalapeño (optional)

Place chicken tenders in your crock pot and cover with enchilada sauce, green chiles and tomatoes. Cook on low for 4 hours. Shred the chicken, add a package of cream cheese, cumin and salt and pepper and turn your crockpot to the warmer. Let the cream cheese melt and thicken. 

Brush olive oil on one side of the tortilla and place in a greased skillet, oil side down. Put a layer of cheese and a layer of chicken mixture. Add jalepeno if you would like. Put another lay of cheese down and then add a tortilla to the top that's been brushed with olive oil. Olive oil side should be facing up now. (Hey, there might be someone out there that doesn't know these things!) Fry on medium heat until golden brown and then carefully flip over to the other side. Fry this side until golden brown and then you're ready to go! Cut it up into triangles with a pizza cutter and enjoy a simple, delicious meal. I made two quesadillas and have leftovers to make about 2-3 more so take the number of people you're serving into consideration when preparing. 

Crockpot Sesame Chicken

Who doesn't love Chinese food? I can think of a few people but I think even they  could be swayed after trying this sesame chicken! It's so good and so...wait for it...simple! Just the way I like it. Crockpot creation número I've lost count. 

4-5 frozen chicken tenders

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup light soy sauce

2 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp dried, minced onion

2 tsp cornstarch

3 tbsp water 

Sesame seeds

Spray your crockpot and put chicken in the bottom. Mix together your soy sauce, honey, ketchup, dried onion, garlic powder and oil and pour over the chicken. Cook on low about 4 hours, remove the chicken and cut into pieces. Return it to the crockpot. Dissolve the cornstarch in water and add it to thicken up your sauce. Cook another 10 minutes or so, sprinkle sesame seeds over it and serve over rice or Asian noodles. 

That couldn't be any easier! It's also a lot healthier and cheaper than Chinese takeout. Think, no MSG! So, next time you're wanting to hit the buffet, try this recipe instead and thank me later. 

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

I love chicken cordon bleu but hate the effort I have to put into it and if I'm being honest, it never turns out right anyway. I decided to just mix all of those flavors together and turn it into an easy crockpot creation. Minimal effort, maximum taste...exactly what I was going for! 

4 frozen chicken tenders

1-2 cups chopped ham

1 can cream of chicken

1 cup chicken broth OR 1 tbsp chicken granules dissolved in hot water (whichever is easier for you)

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

2 cups whole wheat egg noodles

1-2 cups mozzarella 

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix cream of chicken, chicken broth and ham cubes together and put into the crockpot. Lay chicken tenders over the mix and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Shred the chicken. Cook your noodles and add noodles, Greek yogurt and cheese to the crockpot. Stir and cook for an additional 30 minutes or so. The next part is super simple...eat and enjoy! 

Creamy Chicken & Broccoli Quinoa

This is one of my all-time favorite recipes. It's a heavier meal best suited for fall but I'm quick to sneak it into a summer menu when possible. It's also made almost solely in the crockpot. *Distant Applause*

Here goes...

4-6 frozen chicken tenders

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1 can cream of chicken

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

2 cups broccoli

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

Salt & pepper to taste

Put everything except the sour cream and broccoli into a crockpot and cook on  low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. Shred the chicken. On the stovetop bring the broccoli to a boil and cook until fork tender. Bring 1 cup washed quinoa and 2 cups of water to a boil and then reduce the heat and cover, stirring occasionally, until the water evaporates. Stir in broccoli, quinoa and sour cream and let the flavors cook together for about 30 more minutes. 

That's it. You're all done. Serve with dinner rolls or sides of your choice and enjoy!