White Chicken Enchiladas

I found this recipe last year on Pinterest.  They are really easy and taste great!  I use left over chicken or buy rotisserie chicken if I'm short on time.  I only made half of the recipe for this picture because it was just hubby and I eating tonight.

White Chicken Enchiladas

10 soft taco shells

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup light sour cream

1 (4 oz) can diced green chillies

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese.  Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies.  Do not bring to boil, you don't want curdled sour cream.

5. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

Chicken Parmesean

This is a great recipe to make with the kids.  My kids love breading the chicken and helping with the sauce.  It's so good on a cold day.  It's warm and comforting.

A quick shortcut would be to use any can or jar sauce.  I make my own sauce on a regular basis and freeze it.  But when I don't have any on hand this is the recipe I use.

Chicken Parmesean

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted
1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves
2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed
Pinch sugar
Pinch red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water
1 cup dried plain bread crumbs
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 (8-ounce) ball fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1 pound spaghetti pasta, cooked al dente
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Coat a saute pan with olive oil and place over medium heat. When the oil gets hazy, add the onions, garlic, and bay leaves; cook and stir for 5 minutes until fragrant and soft. Add the olives and some hand-torn basil, reserve the rest of the basil for finishing the chicken. Carefully add the tomatoes (nothing splashes like tomatoes), cook and stir until the liquid is cooked down and the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes; season with sugar, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Lower the heat, cover, and keep warm.
Get the ingredients together for the chicken so you have a little assembly line. Put the flour in a shallow platter and season with a fair amount of salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly. In a wide bowl, combine the eggs and water, beat until frothy. Put the bread crumbs on a plate, add the 1 cup parmesan, chopped parsley, and garlic powder Season with salt and pepper and stir with a fork until thoroughly combined.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high flame in a large oven-proof skillet. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, and then dip them in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off, then dredge in the bread crumbs. When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 4 minutes on each side until golden and crusty, turning once.
Ladle the tomato-olive sauce over the chicken and arrange the mozzarella on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan, and remaining basil. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve hot with spaghetti

Coq Au Vin

This recipe is one of my all time favorites!!  The flavors are amazing.  Julia Child had the right idea with this one.  Try it I am sure you will love it as much as I do.

Coq Au Vin

• 4 slices Bacon, Cut Into Small Pieces
• 1 whole Fryer Chicken
• 1/2 whole Medium Onion, Diced
• 1/2 cup Carrots, Washed, Peeled, And Roughly Chopped
• 5 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 pound White Mushrooms, Sliced
• 2 cups Burgundy Wine
• 1 pound Pasta (egg Noodles Or Fettucini)
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• Parsley, Fresh, Minced
• Salt And Pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions

Saute bacon pieces in a large skillet over medium low heat until fat is rendered. Remove bacon from the skillet and set aside. Increase heat to medium.

Salt fat site of chicken pieces, then place chicken, fat side down, in skillet and cook in bacon grease until both sides are nice and golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside in a 2-quart baking dish, skin side up.

Saute onions, carrots and garlic in bacon grease until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove from grease with slotted spoon and set aside.

In a separate skillet, saute mushrooms in 2 tablespoons butter until golden, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

Layer half of the bacon pieces, carrot/onion mixture, and mushrooms in pan with chicken.

Drain grease from the large skillet, then place over medium heat. Pour in 2 cups Burgundy wine, using a wire whisk to scrape loose all the burned/brown bits. Lightly salt liquid and allow to cook for 3 minutes. Pour over chicken and vegetables. Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 1/2 hours.

Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and toss with 2 tablespoons butter.

Serve chicken in a pasta bowl with noodles, sprinkling minced parsley over the top. Spoon juice from baking dish over the top of everything.

Crock Pot Ranch Chicken Tacos

It's raining here in missouri and I just wanted to sit in the couch, enjoy a nice fire and watch movies.  I decided to do just that and whipped up a quick easy crockpot meal so I didn't have to cook dinner and clean up after.

I used boneless skinless chicken breast in this recipe.  I put the breast into the crockpot frozen and sprinkled on the taco seasoning and ranch packet, poured in the chicken broth and turned on the crockpot.  After doing this I gathered the remaining ingredients for my tacos.  Cheese, sliced up my tomatoes and lettuce and last the ranch dressing.  Put it all together in the fridge and then plopped onto the couch for a movie.  The movie I have to say was not so good!  It was very different than what I was expecting but oh well.  Going to watch another later anyway.

Ranch Chicken Tacos

• 4 chicken breast (about 1½ lbs)
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 1 packet of ranch dressing
• 14 ounces of chicken broth

1. Put chicken breasts, taco & ranch mixes and chicken broth in crock pot.
2. Set crock pot on low for 5 hours.
3. After 5 hours, shred chicken with 2 forks.
4. Replace lid and continue cooking on low for 30 more minutes.
5. Serve shredded chicken on a tostadas, tacos burritos or salad, with your favorite toppings!

Oven BBQ chicken with creative leftovers

It was raining so I decided to go ahead and make BBQ in the oven.  I used a whole cut up chicken.  I cut the ribs off and cut the breasts in half.

I then cut off any excess skin, salted and peppered the meat and placed on a baking sheet covered in foil. ( less clean up later)

Baked for approximately 25 min.  I then sauced the chicken and baked an additional 20 min.  Sauced the chicken one last time and served.  It was really good.

I then made chicken salad with some of the left overs and chicken nachos.

Get creative and stretch those left overs and save some money.

Pepperoni chicken

This is a new twist on chicken Parmesan. It has flavored the kids love!  It's quick and easy on a busy evening.

Pepperoni Chicken

• Cooking spray
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
• 16 slices pepperoni, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 1/2 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce (you can use any pasta sauce)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (1 tbsp dried)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken cutlets
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. 1. Preheat broiler to high.
2. 2. Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add garlic and pepperoni; cook 2 minutes or until garlic begins to brown, stirring frequently. Add oregano; cook 30 seconds. Add marinara sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in basil.
3. 3. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Sprinkle chicken with pepper. Add chicken to skillet; cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned, turning after 3 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Broil 2 minutes or until cheese melts.

Crockpot Lemon Chicken

This is one of my go to recipes on days where I need a quick but tasty chicken dinner.

Crockpot Lemon Chicken

1 pkg. dry Italian dressing mix
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp butter

Place butter in crockpot and then chicken breast in crockpot, squeeze the juice of one lemon over chicken and sprinkle with Italian dressing mix.  Cook 4 to 6 hours.  (If using frozen chicken cook  6 to 8 hours).

I found this recipe on Pinterest and this is the picture that went with it.  I haven't taken my own.

Roasted Olive Chicken Thighs

At least once per week I try a new recipe.  Tonight I tried olive stuffed chicken thighs.  It was good but I veered from the original recipe.  Shhh don't tell but, it's because I screwed up and forgot to make it the way it was supposed to be made.  Oops!  Overall it was a good chicken recipe.  I will make this again.  I liked the changes I made to the recipe.  Here is what I did.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup Light mayo
• 1/4 cup minced green olives
• 6 fresh basil leaves, minced
• 4 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs
• Olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cups chicken broth
• Salt and pepper
• 3 Tbsp. butter

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven 400°F.

Mix together Mayonnaise, olives and basil. Stuff mixture under skin of each chicken thigh.

In a large oven-proof sauté pan add oil and heat to medium. Season liberally with salt and pepper each stuffed chicken thigh. Season liberally with salt and pepper each stuffed chicken thigh. Saute in skillet skin side down until golden brown.  Flip and cook for 4 more minutes. Bake for 20 minutes or until temperature reaches 160 degrees.  Remove from oven place back onto stove on medium heat.

Add chicken broth and lemon juice.  bring to a boil.  Add approximately 1 to 2 tbsp of cornstarch to 1 to 2 tbsp.  Add to sauce, it will thicken quickly.  Whisk in butter and serve.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is one of my favorite recipes.  I make it with left over diced chicken or turkey.  This recipe makes 2 pot pies, I usually freeze one for later

Chicken pot pie

3 celery stalks

3 medium carrots, peeled 

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 large onion

4 tbsp butter

2 cups chicken, cooked, diced or shredded

1/4 cup flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 chicken bouillon cube

1/4 cup white wine (optional)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp thyme

1 tsp kosher salt

black pepper to taste

2 pack of frozen pie shells 

2 pack of pie crust

Preheat the oven to 400.

Begin by finely dicing the fresh vegetables, celery, carrots and onions. Melt the butter in a large pot or dutch oven. Add the onion, carrots, celery and peas.  Saute until the vegetables start to soften, a few minutes. Add the chicken and stir to combine. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the vegetables and chicken and stir to combine. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring gently.

Pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly. Stir in the bouillon cube and wine, if using. The flour will combine with the chicken to create a delicious gravy. Pour in the cream and stir. Allow mixture to cook over low heat, thickening gradually, about 4 minutes. Season with sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed. Be sure it's adequately salted!

Divide filling into 2 pie crusts that have been pressed into pie pan ( I use one that comes premade in a aluminum foil pan frozen, they sell them in a 2 pack).  Then unroll another pie crust and press onto top of pot pie.  Pinch edges to seal.  Cut off excess dough.  You can roll out the excess snd cut out cute shapes for decorating. 

Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling in bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Chicken with potatoes and artichokes

This is one of my favorite go to meals!!!  In this photo I used a whole chicken to roast instead of pieces because that is what I had on hand.  My family loves this meal.  It's easy and tastes great.  You can always half the recipe.

Chicken with potatoes and artichokes

4 skin-on, bone-in chicken drumsticks
4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
1 whole skin-on, bone-in chicken breast, quartered (separate the breast and then cut each piece in half crosswise)
EVOO, for liberal drizzling
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds baby potatoes
4 to 5 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and chopped
2 small to medium onions, cut into thin wedges with the root ends attached
Handful fresh bay leaves
One 10-ounce box frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, drained and halved, or one 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and halved
1 head garlic, cloves separated and crushed
1 lemon, sliced
1 cup dry white wine

Directions
Drizzle the chicken with EVOO and liberally sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.
In a roasting pan or baking dish, combine the potatoes, rosemary, onions, bay leaves, artichokes, garlic and lemons. Drizzle with about 1/4 cup EVOO, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Arrange the chicken on top of the vegetables.
Position the rack on the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Roast the chicken and vegetables for 45 minutes. Turn on the broiler and douse the pan with the wine. Broil until crispy and brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven.