Summery Chicken Stew?

This week's challenge is "One Pot", so all week I was thinking "bean and ham soup" so that I could use the ham bone from our Easter dinner. Dad's lower digestive system has been pretty unhappy this week, so I figured bean soup would be a bad idea. Then I started thinking "chicken stew", but the weather suddenly decided to get nice and warm and all day I've been thinking "I don't want to make stew!". I'm going to give it a shot anyway, but I'll try to make it a little more summery. I'm making this up as I go along, so it may fail. Here goes...

Dice a few red skinned potatoes and toss them in a pot.

Next, slice and dice a little yellow onion.

Now add a little diced carrot and celery.

Cut up some broccoli and mince a little garlic, or a lot of garlic.

Add sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then about 3-ish cups of chicken broth. Mine is in ice cube form, so I don't really know how much is there.

Now put it over low heat to melt your chicken broth ice cubes. :)

Here comes the summery part...Add the juice and zest from a lemon. It will make the whole thing taste like sunshine. I hope. It's also a great way to find out if you have any teeny tiny cuts on your hands. I've also been holding onto the rind from some Parmesan for a while, so I'm tossing that in for extra flavor.

Next I diced a couple of chicken breasts and added them.

Now mix it all up, cover it and let it simmer on medium-low heat stirring once in a while. I also decided to add some fresh parsley from my garden. After a while you may want to turn it down to low. Let it simmer on low for a couple of hours. Serve with bread, fresh from the oven!

It doesn't look like anything special, but it sure was tasty!

Honeyed Chicken

Once again the week is getting away from me, so I will just be posting a picture today. I will update this with the recipe and more pics asap because it was delicious!

Slow Cooker Left Overs/Suprise Soup

What do you have in the fridge that's left over from last week? What do you have in the freezer that you really need to use before freezer burn sets in? Lets put it all in the slow cooker and see what happens!

Yesterday I was trying to think of something to make for dinner tonight, so I started rooting around the freezer. That's when I decided to use up some things that needed to be used before they went bad. I had some bone in, skin on chicken thighs that had been in the freezer for a few months. I put them in a gallon size plastic bag and started adding stuff. I had about 1 1/2 cups of gravy from Thanksgiving that I had frozen in ice cube trays, so I added that to the bag. Then I started looking at my leftover, fresh veggies. I had carrots, some green beans, half a yellow onion, and two red potatoes, so I cut them up and put them in the bag. I added a little minced garlic and a tablespoon of dried thyme, but I wanted something more. I also had an open bag of peas in the freezer, so that went in the bag too. Next I added a healthy dose of freshly cracked black pepper, and I figured that was enough. Plus the bag was now too full to close.

This morning I dumped it all in the crock, but then I decided that it needed more liquid, so I also added a jar of gravy that was in my pantry. I set it on low and went about my day.

Eight hours later I checked the slow cooker. It was looking pretty good, but I decided to remove the chicken so that I could take off the skin and de-bone it. It basically fell apart. I put the de-boned chicken back in the crock and mixed it all up. Mmmm, things are starting to look pretty good in there!

Next I started a pot of rice to give it a little more body, then I skimmed the fat off the top. I added the juice from a lemon and called it "Chicken Stoup". It's not quite a soup, but not quite a stew.

This wasn't exactly impressive cuisine, but it was tasty and filling.

*Chicken Fried Rice

Week 2 of the challenge is Chinese. I want to do two different dishes this week. This will be my "American" Chinese food, and my next offering will be more of an authentic Chinese dish.

Here is my chicken fried rice...

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
a handful of carrots, diced
1/2 cup scallions, sliced
1 can stir fry corn (baby corn)
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen edamame
4 cloves of garlic, minced
about 1 tbsp of freshly grated ginger
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups cooked brown rice, cook this the day before, or at least about an hour before and stick it in the fridge asap. That's what I did.
sesame oil
soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Prep all the components before you start to cook so that they are all ready and waiting to be used.

Get the wok hot and add about 2 tbsp sesame oil. When the wok is hot, add the chicken. Cook until starting to brown and no longer pink, throughout.

Remove the chicken and set aside.

Add another tbsp sesame oil, then add the onions, garlic and ginger. Cook until onions are translucent.

Add the carrots, peas, edamame, corn and half of the scallions.

Add about 1/3 cup of soy sauce. Cook until the veggies are hot and tender.

Add the chicken back in with the veggies, then add the rice.

Stir the mixture every few minutes as it cooks. When it starts to brown, make a whole in the center of it all and add the eggs.

As the egg starts to set mix it in with the rest of the stuff, and cook until done.

Add the remaining scallions and serve. I also made some fried dumplings (store bought) and pan fried tofu to go with my fried rice.

*This can be done as a vegetarian dish if you just eliminate the chicken. You could also add cubed tofu for extra protein or just add more eggs.

Buffalo Chicken Dip (Take Two)

Okay, this is my second recipe for buffalo chicken dip, and this one isn't so spicy you can't eat it. I've made it before, so I'm  sure about this, and every time I make it, people ask me for the recipe. 

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 12oz bottle of your favorite hot sauce (I prefer Frank's Red Hot)
1 8oz block of cream cheese
1 cup of shredded cheddar
1/4 cup of ranch dressing
Tortilla chips
Celery sticks
Carrot sticks

The morning of the gathering put the chicken and hot sauce in a crock pot. I set mine on low for about 8 hours. This may seem like too much sauce at this point, but trust me, once you shred the chicken later, it will get absorbed.

After the 8 hours are up, start shredding the chicken with two forks. mix it back in with the sauce, then add the cream cheese and mix well. Next add the shredded cheddar and ranch and mix it all in.

Serve this with celery, carrots and tortilla chips.

I usually just leave it in the crock (I use a small one for this), but for the pictures I put it in a bowl this time. 

Lemon Thyme Chicken

I was going to make something I found for the crock pot, but I got sidetracked this morning, so here's my stove top version...

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lemon
1 shallot, sliced thin
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp dried thyme
olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat about 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet, over medium heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper on one side of chicken breasts. When olive oil is hot, place chicken, salt and pepper side down, in the pan to brown. Move the chicken around a bit to make sure it doesn't stick. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the side that's up. When it's browned on one side, flip the chicken. When both sides are nicely browned, remove from pan and set aside on a plate. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to pan, then add shallots. Stir these occasionally, scraping any meat that's stuck to the bottom of the pan. When shallots are starting to soften, add the garlic. Cook until the shallots start to caramelize a bit, then add the wine. Let the alcohol cook off a bit, for about 5 minutes, then add the juice and zest from the lemon and the thyme. Return the chicken to the pan and any juices from the plate. After a few minutes add 1 cup of chicken broth. When this cooks down a bit, add the rest of the broth. Continue cooking until chicken is cooked throughout and liquids have reduced to a nice sauce.

I served this with roasted red potatoes and random veggies from my freezer.

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Dip

My version of buffalo chicken dip...

2 boneless chicken breasts, diced into small pieces12oz bottle of Frank's Redhot (I put that s#*t on everything!)
Cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4oz pkg of crumbled blue cheese

My crock pot is in use right now, so I'm trying something a little different with this. I want the chicken to cook slowly and stay moist, so I put it in a pot on the stove on low heat and added the hot sauce. Stir this often! You don't want it to burn. Okay, so this step only took about 45 minutes. So much for slow cooking on the stove top!

Once this has cooked for about an hour, use a slotted spoon to remove the chicken from the sauce and shred using two forks. Set the shredded chicken aside in a bowl as you work. When it's all shredded, put the chicken back in the pot with the hot sauce.I had about 6oz of cream cheese in an 8oz tub, so I added that next. Let the cheese start to melt into the chicken mixture, stirring every five minutes or so.

Once the cream cheese was well incorporated, I decided it needed to be thicker and cheesier, so I added about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese. I turned the heat up to medium and stirred every five minutes until it was all warm and bubbly.

It's hours before game time, so I went ahead and put the dip into a small Pyrex dish. When it cooled I put it in the fridge for a few hours. When you're about a half an hour from serving, top the whole thing with crumbled blue cheese. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. When the oven reaches temp, put the dip in the oven for about 20 minutes. Serve with celery sticks and tortilla chips.

Chicken Enchiladas

I'm so happy to be posting regularly again! Tonight I'm making chicken enchiladas. I've never done this before, and I'm writing as I go, so I really hope it turns out well.

First, I started this morning by making my salsa chicken in the crock pot. I put four frozen chicken breasts in the bottom and I topped it with a 15.5 oz jar of Tostitos brand salsa. I left for work before I actually wanted to start the crock pot, but I'm lucky that I always have someone home. I called home around 10:30 and asked my hubby (Telework day) to start the crock pot on low. When I got home at 5, it was ready to shred. If you don't have the luxury of a hubby who teleworks, or a Dad that lives with you and is home all day, no problem! Just go to the hardware store and buy an automatic timer. Set this up with the crock pot, and use frozen meat, and you're good to go. You can leave frozen meat in the crock, on the counter, and it'll just start to defrost a bit before the timer starts the cooking. I wouldn't do this with thawed meat. I'm too weird about food going bad.

Anyway, now that my chicken is ready, I'm going to make Rice-a Roni Spanish rice, using fresh tomatoes, not canned, and heat a can of black beans to serve with the enchiladas. Once I have the rice started I'll start putting them together...

Okay, Rice is working so it's time to start putting together the enchiladas. First, spray a 9x13ish Pyrex dish with cooking spray for easier clean up. I'm using corn tortillas, but flour torts would work too. I just had the corn torts from a previous meal. Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Okay, scratch that. USE FLOUR TORTS!!!! The corn torts are breaking and popping open. Lucky for me, I married an awesome man who is going to go buy flour torts on the fly! I really hope they work better, or we're just having the chicken with rice and beans.

So, I'm facebooking while doing this, and getting some great suggestions. Hubby is on his way home with flour torts, and I really think this is my most comical post to date. :)

Okay, back to work! The flour torts seem to be much better suited to this project. So, fill the torts with some of the chicken and roll them up. Place them into the Pyrex dish. When you've filled the dish, top the whole thing with a small can of Old El Paso brand mild enchilada sauce, then top that with about 2 cups of shredded cheddar. Put this in the oven for about 10 minutes to warm and melt everything. Serve with the rice and beans!

 And the whole meal...

It tastes really yummy, but Hubby and I agree that it needs more sauce. Bring on the Chalula!!!

Delish! Too bad this is way too much food. Lucky for me, I had a hungry neighbor who also thinks it's yummy. Or she's lying just to make me feel good. I'm okay with it either way. I will make this again!

Crock Pot Salsa Chicken

So, I just joined a facebook group called the "Crock Pot Recipe Exchange" and there are so many recipes! Plus, there are tips, like other uses for your crock pot and the best brands to buy. Also, I've been looking for some easy recipes to use on the weekdays, and nothing is as easy as crock pot cooking.

The other night I made the easiest dinner ever! You just put 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the bottom of the crock pot, then dump a jar of salsa on them. I used frozen chicken and Tostitos brand salsa, and they turned out great! So moist! Set the cooker on low and go to work. When you get home from work, break out some flour tortillas, shred some lettuce, set out some shredded cheddar cheese, hot sauce and sour cream and, Voila! Yummy chicken soft tacos for dinner! All you have to do is take two forks and start touching the chicken and it shreds. I also made Spanish rice to serve with it. I used Rice-a-Roni brand, but instead of canned tomatoes, I used two cups of freshly diced Roma tomatoes. I know! I just said I wanted to stop using boxed food in my last post! But, this is one of those things that I haven't figured out how to make from scratch yet. I'm working on it, but the last one I made from scratch wasn't nearly as good. I'll try again when I have more time for experimenting.

I think this chicken would be good in so many ways. Burritos, enchiladas, over rice, on a baked potato, in a soup. Let me know if any of you come up with other ideas!

Ugly Chicken Pot Pie

This got a little ugly while I was putting it all together so I figured I would add "ugly" to the title. It's been snowing here since Friday and I made this on Tuesday evening. I was really in the mood for some good, old fashioned, comfort food so I decided to make a chicken pot pie, mostly from scratch, without a recipe. It was so yummy, but next time I will have to put a little less inside the pie so it comes out a little prettier. I vow to put my successes and my failures on this blog, and while this was mostly a success, aesthetically, it was a failure. See?

 

I had too much filling to make the top and bottom crusts pinch together, so I had to just lay the top crust over the whole pie dish. I'll be more careful next time.

1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup diced potato (I always leaves the skins on for extra fiber)
1/2 cup chopped celery
5 cloves minced garlic
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
1 stick butter
2 cups cooked chicken(I had roasted a chicken so I used some of that. I would probably use 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken, cubed and cooked)
1/3 cup flour
2 ready made pie crusts(This is the not home made part)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
Salt and pepper

Put carrots, peas, potato, celery, and chicken in a large sauce pan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain into a colander and set the mixture aside. Melt butter in the pan and add garlic, onion, rosemary and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until softened (About 5 minutes). Remove from heat and sift in flour. Stir in chicken broth and milk. Place 1st pie crust into a deep pie pan. add chicken and veggie mixture. Slowly add liquid mixture. Stop adding liquid before you get to the top of the pie crust. (That's where mine got ugly!) Put top crust on and pinch together top and bottom crusts. Cut several slits for ventilation. Cook in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Let it stand for about 5 minutes before serving to allow sauce to thicken.

I know. It doesn't look so great, but it was really tasty! I never seem to put enough salt and pepper, but that seems to work out, because one person in my household never tastes anything before he adds a lot of salt and pepper. I hope next time it is prettier, but in the mean time, I enjoyed seconds for lunch today!