Chicken Soup with Sweet Potatoes

Joel was sick last week, so I made soup.  I wanted to add potatoes but knew we didn't have any, so I decided to experiment with sweet potatoes.  They were amazing!  While we were eating this soup, Joel said he loved the sweet potatoes and he wished all the carrots were also sweet potatoes. :)  The balsamic vinegar and lemon juice were also an experiment, and I was really worried about how it would turn out.  When I went to shred the chicken, though, I tasted the broth and was FLOORED by how astounding it tasted.  The vinegar adds some color to the broth and puts a little something in the background.  You can't taste the lemon juice on its own, but it tones down the "vinegar-iness" of the balsamic and creates a nice balance.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
5 cups water
1 can chicken broth
1 T dried basil
1 T dried parsley
1/2 T lemon pepper seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 T chicken bouillon powder
1 boneless skinless chicken breast - I used one that was absolutely frozen solid, right out of the freezer.
1 small onion, chopped
1 small head broccoli, chopped
2 large carrots, diced
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and chunked
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 T lemon juice

Optional: celery or other vegetables; dry noodles (add to the boiling broth 7-10 minutes before serving)

Put water, chicken broth, basil, parsley, lemon pepper seasoning, pepper, salt, chicken bouillon powder, and chicken breast into 3-quart pot to boil, uncovered.  After about 20 minutes of boiling, start chopping the vegetables.  About 10 minutes later, add the vegetables to the broth.  When the chicken is cooked through, remove it and shred the meat.  Return the shredded chicken to the pot.  Add balsamic vinegar and lemon juice.  Continue to boil until sweet potatoes are fork-tender. ¡Buen provecho!

Read more...

Chicken & Pea Sauce

This recipe is about as "family recipe" as they come at my house.  So much so, in fact, that I'm surprised I haven't posted it here before now.  History of the name: This sauce is supposed to have peas in it, hence the name Chicken & Pea Sauce.  My dad doesn't like peas in the sauce, though, so we usually have them on the side.  Now that I'm married, I sometimes serve peas with this and sometimes serve something else, but we still always call it Chicken & Pea Sauce. :)

(This sauce is incredibly forgiving.  Sometimes I add onions; it's really good with a packet of Italian dressing mix; if I don't have sour cream I use cream cheese + however much milk to make it the thinness I want; it's very tasty with vegetables mixed in, ...etc.)

2 cups chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
cheddar cheese, to taste

Cook chicken in a pot.  Add soup, sour cream, milk, salt, and pepper just to boiling.  Reduce heat and cook until it reaches desired thickness.  Best served over rice, home-smashed potatoes, or baked potatoes. 

CROCKPOT: Put raw chicken, soup, and seasonings in crockpot.  Cook as long as you cook chicken (on low 6-10 hrs or high 4-6 hrs).  When chicken is cooked, shred.  Add sour cream, milk, and cheese and let sit until melted and heated through.
 

Read more...

Black Beans & Rice with Chicken and Apple Salsa

This is another recipe from Our Best Bites that we have fallen in love with.  [By the way, have you noticed a theme lately? We eat tons of Mexican and like-Mexican food in our house :) ]  On the first day, we eat it as specified in the recipe.  The second day, it's tasty like that, but we also really like to mix all the leftovers up in a big bowl, scoop it out onto a tortilla, squeeze some lime on top, and eat it like a burrito.  Very tasty and healthy, too!  


By the way - the apple salsa? Trust me.  DE-licious.


Yield: A lot. Around 6 servings.

1 cup chopped peeled Granny Smith apple
1/4 cup chopped cilantro, divided
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion, divided
2 limes
1/3 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoons coriander (**I've never included this before.)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 13.5 ounce can chicken broth
2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups cooked brown or white rice (**We've found it's tastier with brown.)
1 rotisserie chicken, or 4 grilled chicken breasts (**We use less than this - about half as much chicken as if we were each just eating a chicken breast - and usually have extra.)
1 lime wedge per person

Combine apple, cilantro, 2 tablespoons onion, and the juice from half a lime.  Sprinkle with a little kosher salt and black pepper.  Set aside.

Combine remaining onion, bell pepper, and oil in a large skillet.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until completely softened, 6-7 minutes.  Add garlic and next 3 ingredients; stir constantly for 2 minutes.  Stir in broth and beans; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium; simmer briskly, mashing some of hte beans with the back of a spoon and stirring often, until sauce is thickened, 8-10 minutes (or longer if needed).  Season with salt and pepper to taste and a big squeeze of lime juice.  Divide rice and beans among plates.  Top with some chicken and apple salsa.  Garnish with additional cilantro and lime wedges. 

Read more...

Lime Chicken Burritos of Deliciousness and Love

(named by Joel)

These tacos are so yummy!  Joel asks for it days in a row, even.  I made it up as I went, so the measurements aren't exact.  I did make it with you all in mind, though, so I tried hard to pay attention to how much of everything I added :)

(inspiration from tasteofhome.com)
Makes about 5 servings

4 chicken tenders
1 packet TrueLime (equal to the juice of about one lime wedge)
1/2 T chili powder
3-4 soup spoons full of canned corn
3 soup spoons full of black beans
3/4 cup chunky salsa
tortillas, warmed on the stove fire
Sour cream, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and shredded lettuce, optional
Extra lime wedges, optional

Boil chicken tenders in water until cooked.  Drain all but 1-2 T of the boiling water.  Shred chicken.  Add chili powder, TrueLime or lime juice, beans, corn, and salsa.  Boil until some of the moisture evaporates so it's not too liquidy in the tortilla.  Warm tortillas on the stove fire.  Put cheese on a tortilla and top with chicken mixture and sour cream/lettuce/tomatoes/your favorite toppings.  Yum!

Read more...

Cranberry Chicken: Adapted

As I was considering what to make for dinner this morning, I decided I was in the mood for cranberry sauce and chicken, but not my normal cranberry chicken recipe.  I looked around for a recipe online but didn't see anything I liked, until I ran across one that suggested including apples.  I didn't use that recipe, but I used the apple idea to make this one up.  It turned out pretty tasty! 

Cranberry Chicken: Adapted

chicken (I used two boneless skinless chicken breasts)

1 can whole berry cranberry sauce

1 tiny onion, quartered

2 gala apples, cut into slices

a couple dashes cinnamon

a couple tiny dashes all-spice

a couple splashes lemon juice

Serve on rice and with some lime juice if you want.

Make a "plate" for the chicken by laying one apple's worth of slices on the bottom of the crockpot.  Put chicken on top, followed by a "lid" of the second apple.  Dump in the can of cranberry sauce, followed by  a quarter of the onion in each corner of the crockpot.  Dash on the cinnamon, all-spice, and lemon juice.  I didn't even stir it!  Cook on High for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.  Wait in anticipation to see if it turned out well...

Crockpot bags. They're best thing ever. And here's how it looked before cooking... sorry I don't measure spices :)

Yumalicious!

RESULT:

I thought it was really great, and Joel loved it!  Definitely going to make this again.  It would be better, in my opinion, with firmer apples, because the texture got a little too mushy for my preferences, but it still tasted delicious with galas.  The leftover juiciness also makes a very tasty sauce for rice.  

Read more...

BEST GRILLED CHEESE EVER

Holy cow.  If you ever want to surprise someone with the most delicious sandwich they've ever eaten, make them this one!  Also, it uses a bunch of leftovers.

Instructions: 

Make a sandwich with bread,

carne asada (leftover smoked chicken)

poblano chili pepper (leftover peppers from stuffed peppers yesterday)

pickled red onion** (leftover)

deli ham, sliced into small squares

manchego cheese

Also I think there are some pan-cooked caramelized onion pieces. (leftover)

Cook it like you would a grilled cheese.

Die because it's so delicious.

I'm sorry sometimes these recipes are pretty guesswork-y.  I wish I did know exactly what everything was, because I would eat this sandwich everyday at home.  

**To make the pickled red onion: Boil a pot of water. When it starts boiling, put in some red onion for just a few seconds.  After a couple of seconds, dump out the hot water and let the onions sit in cold water. We're just boiling them to make their color more vibrant.  Then soak them in "juice of a bitter orange."  

Read more...

Our Easter Dinner

Chicken Club Brunch Ring

(Recipe given to me by Dallas' Professor's wife)

1/2 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

1 Tbsp parsley

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 1/2 tsp finely chopped onion

1 3/4 cup cubed cooked chicken breast (I cook it in the oven, wrapped in foil for about 45 min- 1 hour @ 350')

2-4 bacon stripes cooked and crumbled

1 cup Shredded swiss cheese divided (I just use mozzarella and it's yummy too)

2 tubes crescant rolls (8 oz each)

2 Tomatoes

1. In a large bowl combine mayo, parsley, mustard and onion.

2. Stir in chicken, bacon, and 3/4 cup cheese. 

3. Unroll crescent rolls, separate into 16 triangles and arrange in a ring with pointed ends facing the outter edge of an ungreased pizza pan or cookie sheet. Wide ends will over lap each other.

4. Slice tomatoes and place on top of filling. Fold points of the crescent dough over filling and tomatoes and tuck under the wide ends. The filling will be visible.

5. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and let stand for 5 minutes (I always put all of the cheese in on step 2, it's just easier and less messy). 

This one below was made with no tomatoes... and I put half of the filling and one of the tubes of crescents in the fridge for leftovers. I only did 8 crescents to make it smaller. 

Potato Casserole

(Recipe given to me by a good friend, Melissa)

6 cups potatoes, peeled, cut up in small cubes
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
4 oz.  cream cheese (half of those cream cheese packages)
2 TBSP butter, melted
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup. green onion, sliced
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

1. In a large saucepan cook potatoes, covered in boiling water for 10-12 minutes (don't overcook). Drain and rinse with cold water.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl stir together the soup, sour cream, cream cheese, and butter. Then stir in 1/4 cup of the cheddar cheese, green onion, milk, garlic salt, and pepper. Stir in the cooked potatoes. Transfer mixture to a rectangular baking dish.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cheese. Let stand 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

This was really yummy! My favorite potato casserole yet. 

Side Salad

(Recipe made up by me :))

Chopped romaine lettuce

Sliced cucumbers

Sliced Strawberries

Feta Cheese

Poppyseed dressing

Throw together desired amount and eat up!

This was our Easter dinner this year... yum! I really wanted to make a ham, just because I have never cooked one before. But Dallas doesn't like ham and my kids won't eat it. The chicken brunch ring worked out perfectly to replace the ham :) 

Read more...