Freakin Easy Chicken and Rice Bake

I googled a Chicken and Rice bake, and made it as directed, but it had an onion soup packet, and cream of mushroom soup. I thought it was too salty/beefy, so I made it differently the other night and really liked it. You will need one of these. Suzanne uses these in her hamburger soup, and I like that it has a lot of flavor, but its not as beefy/salty as the Lipton Onion Soup packets.


Chicken and Rice Bake
2 c Minute Rice
1 pkg vegetable soup packet
1 c water
6-10 chicken tenders (still frozen, woot!), or 4-6 breasts -thawed
pepper
1 can cream of chicken, mixed with 1 3/4 c water)
2 c shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Pour rice into 9x13 pan, add vegetable soup packet and combine. Pour on one cup of water. Place chicken tenders on top of rice, and season with pepper. Pour the watered down cream of chicken over the chicken. Top with as much cheese as you want. Bake for 60 mins.

Beefy Nacky-Cheese

I started with Paula Deen's recipe, but tweaked it. Its super flexible, so you can leave out/substitute whatever you want. I snuck in 7 different vegetables, and everyone loved it. The Slap Chop made it really easy, and the veggies were small enough that even Dean couldn't pick them out! Haha PS this makes a TON, like an 11 x 15 pan.



Beefy Mac and Cheese
1 lb elbow macaroni
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 bag frozen zucchini and summer squash (or use fresh), chopped
2 tsp garlic, diced
3 cans diced tomatoes (you could use Rotel, if you want it a little zestier)
salt & pepper
dash of Italian seasoning
1/3 packet Taco Seasoning
1 lb cheddar cheese, shredded

Cook macaroni to al dente, like 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Start browning the meat, and then halfway through, add all the veggies (except the tomatoes). Cook til meat is all browned, and veggies are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste, Italian seasonings, and part of the taco packet, and the tomatoes. Simmer for a few minutes. Pour macaroni into baking dish, and then pour meat mixture on top. Carefully stir together. Sprinkle half of the cheese on top, and carefully mix it into the pasta/meat. The top it with the remaining cheese.

Cook at 350 for 30 mins or until bubbly and melty.

tomato tortellini soup & bacon grilled cheese

time: 30 mins
ingredients:
1 9oz pkg of refrigerated cheese tortellini
2 cans 10 3/4 oz each of reduced sodium condensed tomato soup
2 cups veg or chicken broth
2 cups of milk (i used skim)
2 cups of half & half
1/2 cup of chopped sun dried tomatoes
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of garlic salt
1 tsp of dried basil
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

cook tortellini as directed. in a big pot combine soup, broth, milk, half & half, sun dried tomatoes and seasoning. heat through. drain tortellini, add to soup and stir in cheese. serve with bacon grilled cheese...delicious!

Super fast pizza dough

We really love this pizza dough recipe. It is fast and super easy. I keep pepperoni and grated mozzarella cheese in the freezer. On one of those days where you were too busy or nothing sounded good, just whip up some dough and throw the toppings on from the freezer. You have great homemade pizza in a flash.


Mega Quick Pizza Dough
Dissolve: 1 Tbs dry yeast
1 cup of water
In a bowl: 2 1/2 cups of flour
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 tsp salt

Stir the yeast into the water and let it sit while you put the other ingredients in the bowl. Then stir in water/yeast. Stir just until makes a dough but don't over mix or it will be tough. Let it rise for 5 minutes (while you get out pizza toppings).
Spread out, top with sauce, cheese, etc. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
(We love ours on a pizza stone, add a little corn meal on top of pizza stone before placing dough down to prevent sticking)

Pesto Ravioli with Chicken

Soooo yummy and easy to make!!

4 servings

2 tsp olive or vegetable oil

1 pkg (15 oz) chicken tenders

3/4 c. chicken broth

1 pkg (9 oz) refrigerated cheese filled ravioli

3 small zucchini, cut into 1/4 in. slices

1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/4 refrigerated pesto

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oil in 12 in. skillet over med-high heat. Cook chicken in oil about 4 minutes turning occasionally, until brown. Remove chicken from skillet.

2. Add broth and ravioli to same skillet. Heat to boiling; then reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 4 minutes or until ravioli is tender.

3. Stir in zucchini, bell pepper and chicken. Cook over med-high heat about 3 minutes stirring occasionally, until veggies are crisp-tender and chicken is no longer pink in center.

4. Toss with pesto. Sprinkle cheese.

5. And enjoy!!

I usally cut the chicken in bitesize pieces either before or after cooking it. But you probably already would know that. ha ha I just wanted to sound very cook savy :)

Beefish Inchy-Ladas

So on Monday night, we decided to make enchiladas and we kinda morphed two recipes together. They turned out DELISH, although they were kinda time consuming to make!



We used a recipe from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine, and Pioneer Woman's Enchiladas. Her post has lots of pictures and step by step instructions if you want it. My tweakings are in bold.

TIP: A Slap Chop makes the whole thing faster. Its awesome for dicing things up super small (Perfect for onion-phobes)

BEEFY INCHY-LADAS

FOR THE SAUCE:
1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
1 can (28 Ounce) Enchilada Or Red Sauce
2 cups Chicken Broth (used bouillon, of course)
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Chopped Cilantro
_____
FOR THE MEAT:
1-½ pound Ground Beef (we used less than a pound, and we used ground turkey of course)
1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
2 cans (4 Ounce) Diced Green Chilies (we used one can)
½ teaspoons Salt
1 can of black beans, drained, rinsed and mashed (the bottom of a cup works great)
1 cup of sauce (above)
____
FOR THE TORTILLAS:
10 whole (to 14) Corn Tortillas
½ cups Canola Oil
_____
TO ASSEMBLE:
3 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese (we used mild-it's less greasy)
½ cups Chopped Black Olives
1 cup Chopped Green Onions
½ cups Chopped Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Step #1 – The Sauce
In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for one minute. Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes.

Step #2 – The Meat
Brown the meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Add beans and 1 c of sauce. Set aside.

Step #3 – Tortillas
Heat canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas in oil until soft, not crisp – about 30 seconds per side. Remove to a paper—towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been fried.

Step #4 – Assembly
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour ½ cup red sauce in bottom of baking pan. Spread to even out. Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese, a little black olives, and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle cilantro over enchiladas before serving.

Parmesan Ranch Chicken

Parmesan Ranch Chicken (from the Lion House cookbook)

1/2c. Cornflakes (crumbs)
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1.5 oz dry ranch dressing mix
6 boneless chicken breasts
3/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese
26 oz. Marinara or spaghetti sauce

Combine cornflakes, 1/2 parmesan cheese (shredded) and all of grated parm. and ranch. Coat both sides of the chicken. Place in a 9x13 pan, sprayed with Pam. Spray tops of chicken.
Bake 350degrees for 25-30 min.

To serve, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Place Chicken on top of some spaghetti noodles and drizzle warm spaghetti sauce over it all.

Serves 6

I usually cut the chicken breasts in half. Then it makes more and we don't end up with half eaten chicken.

Easy Tomato Soup

And twice last week, I made homemade tomato soup. Dean had some at Jason's Deli and said he wouldn't mind it if I made it for dinner, which was a total shocker since he "hates soups." I found a basic soup recipe on foodnetwork.com and tweaked it a bit. Pops, Dean and I loved it. Marnie thought it was "too thick" and kept calling it "sauce," and suggesting that we serve it over pasta or chicken. Weird. Apparently she is too accustomed to Campbells Tomato soup. :)

So here is my modified recipe:

Kylie's Tomato Soup

3 cans of chopped tomatoes
3/4 c olive oil
salt and cracked pepper

Drain tomatoes, and reserve the juice for later. Spread tomatoes onto cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast in 450 degree oven for 30 mins, til they get a little color.

Meanwhile, dice:

2-3 stalks celery
2-3 carrots
1 large onion
3-4 cloves of garlic

In a large pot, heat:

3/4 c olive oil
1/4 c butter

Add

2 t dried basil (if you have fresh basil, wait and add it at the end of the soup with the milk)
and all the veggies

Saute the veggies til they are pretty soft, about 20 mins.

Add

roasted tomatoes
2 c chicken broth (I used 2 chicken bullion cubes)
reserved tomato juice
2 bay leaves
2 T tomato paste

Simmer another 20 mins. Then remove bay leaves, and add

1 c milk (or cream)

Puree with a hand blender (carefully!), bring back to temperature and serve with a little mozzarella or Parmesan cheese and bread. Yum!

Twangy Chicken Casserole

So yesterday afternoon I cooked up a whole bag of frozen chicken breasts, enough for a couple meals. I just put a little olive oil in the bottom of the skillet, throw on the chicken (still frozen, breasts or tenders work) and then sprinkle them with pepper and garlic salt. I cover them with a lid, and turn them halfway through. They turn out pretty juicy when you keep the lid on. Then I chopped them up into chunks, and froze whatever I didn't use for dinner.

Chicken Casserole (from the brown Stone Oak cookbook, by Lisa Price -halved-)
3 chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1 can of cream of chicken
8oz sour cream
1 1/2 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic, minced (I used powder)
1-1 1/2 T dried onions
1 T poppy seed (I didn't add this)
1 tube Ritz crackers (we used those crackers from Ash's reception)

Cook and shred chicken (I cubed it). Mix soup, sour cream, soy sauce, garlic and onions and salt/pepper (and I added about 1/4 c of water to thin it out). Pour (more like glop) over chicken. Sprinkle with crackers and poppy seed. Bake 45 mins at 350 degrees. Serve over hot rice.

So everyone liked this. I think the soy sauce added a little something different than plain ol cream of chicken. Dean scooped some into a tupperware for lunch the next day, so I take it as a success. Next time I will use less crackers, or drop pats of butter on top to make them a little crispy. You could probably add broccoli to bring in a veggie too.

Slow cooked peppersteak

This is a traditional branding recipe (i.e. served for the branding crews in the Spring), but we really love it other times too.

Savory Slow Cooked Pepper Steak

1.5-2 lbs of beef round steak (cut in to 1-3 inch pieces)
2Tbs cooking oil
1/4 c. soy sauce
1c. chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4tsp ginger
1 can (16 oz) stewed tomatoes or 4 fresh tomatoes cut in quarters
2 large green bell peppers, cut in strips
1/2 c. cold water
1 Tbs flour

Sear beef in oil. Transfer to crockpot. Combine soy sauce, onion, garlic and ginger and pour over beef.
Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hrs.
Add tomatoes and green peppers--cook 1 hour more.
Combine water and flour to make a paste. Stir into liquid in crockpot and cook on high until thickened.
Serve over rice, noodles or cubes of baked potatoes.

My changes--I dice the onion really small b/c my kids shrivel up and die if they notice that there is onion in stuff. I also one or two more garlic cloves (I like garlic).
I've made it with canned tomatoes and fresh, both are equally good.
Hope you like it!