EZ Chick Meal

This is so EZ, so quick,... 

no exact recipe is needed...

• First, I lightly sprayed my old speckled enamel navy blue roasting pan* with non-stick spray.   Set aside.

• Secondly, in a large frying pan with oil, I browned both sides of the "bare/rinsed off" chicken thighs (thighs with skin on, bone in).  This step did NOT take very long!

• Thirdly, this is what I put into the sprayed roaster pan:
• 1 large onion, sliced into long strips (end-to-end, or pole-to-pole)
• Peeled and "quartered" potatoes-- enough to serve however many people you wish to serve.
• Large carrots, scraped and sliced.
• 4 cups chicken broth.
• On top of the veggies, I arranged the browned chicken thighs and sprinkled all with salt and pepper.
• Cover with roaster cover (or cover tightly with foil?), put into 300-degree oven and set the oven for 3 hours.  M-m-m-m, so easy, so good.  (I'm sure this would be just as good with using a slow cooker, but it would just take a bit longer.)

IF you want to, you could drain whatever chicken broth is left in the roaster, thicken it, and use it for gravy.  

That's all, folks!

* The large blue speckled/enameled roaster I used was one of my wedding presents 52 years ago--  I love it with "old friends" like that just keep hangin' around my kitchen.

Here it is, again, in less light...

Taco Casserole (with chicken) *

This recipe was adapted from one originally submitted by Campbell's Kitchen.  The original recipe called for a 15-ounce bag of tortilla chips to be crushed up and layered in here.  BUT!!!, ...because I like left-overs, I omitted the chips (I left them out because I could picture them soaking up moisture, AND/OR becoming soggy/rubbery).

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups shredded or "small chunked", cooked chicken (a rotisserie chicken makes "quick work" of this, and it tastes  just great for this!).
• 1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted.  (Original recipe asked for 2 cans, but I didn't want this recipe to end up being "too soupy".  Suit yourself.)
• 1 cup sour cream.
• 1 of 10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies (undrained).
• 1 of 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed.
• 1 of a 1 oz. envelope of taco seasoning mix--the reduced-sodium variety may be best.  (Especially for my husband's taste, I used only half of the 1 oz. envelope.)
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided into two equal portions.

....................

• Possible topping ingredients:  Chopped tomato, sliced green onion, cilantro leaves. black olives and/or ????

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the oven to 350-degrees F. Lightly grease (or spray) a 9x13x2" baking dish.
2. Stir the shredded or "small-chunked" well-done chicken meat, condensed soup, sour cream, tomatoes/chilies, black beans and taco seasoning in a medium/large mixing bowl.
3. Spread 1/2 of the chicken mixture in bottom of dish.  Add a layer of 1 cup of the shredded cheese amount.  Layer with the remaining chicken mixture.  
4. Cover the baking dish
5. Bake for about 30 minutes.  Then, uncover the baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese.
6. Bake, UNcovered, for another 10 minutes or until hot/bubbling and the cheese is melted.
7. Serve topping options on the side for "individual preferences".  For those who like "hot stuff",  maybe a dash of hot sauce or other kinds of "hots" could be added to their individual serving. 

*  In my opinion, this dish, after baking, could be used as a dip for your favorite kind of crunchy chips.   Also, ...I think it could be served in soft OR hard taco shells.   And,... this mixture (before baking) could be wrapped in soft tortilla shells and baked like that... maybe with adding a light layer of your favorite kind of sauce?  (Actually, this mixture in its UNbaked state was tasting pretty darned good, too--  I happen to know this because... I licked off the spatula!!!!

Steve and Megan's Ranch Cheddar Chicken

  INGREDIENTS:

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves; rinse and pat dry.
1/2 cup Hidden Valley original Ranch Dressing.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
Mix bread crumbs, Cheddar and Parmesan cheese.  Coat the chicken with the dressing.  Dredge ion the bread crumb mixture.
Place chicken on baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes.

Chicken Pot Pie

 
Seeing me get a pie crust ready, "Little Girl" asked what I was going to make.  I said, "A pie!"  When I told her it would be a CHICKEN pie, she was obviously NOT thinking it would taste good.   Wow!-- I proved her to be so wrong!

She only had to take ONE forkful of this and she was really INTO it!  She ate the first serving and quickly asked for "...a little more" (what she REALLY meant was that she'd like a little MORE than just a "little more".  When we were finished,  she asked, "Will you save that last piece for when I get home from school tomorrow?"    Yes,... and that is exactly what I did!  (... and that was yesterday!)

...................................

This basic recipe submitted by Robbie Rice is on the Internet and has earned over 6,000 ratings (some cooks liked it "as is" and, as usual, others changed things up a bit).  Read through the reviews for yourself and see if you like to go with some of the readers' suggestions:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-pot-pie-ix/

For example, in regards to "changes", instead of using the separate amounts of carrots and peas called for in the recipe, I used one whole 10.8 oz. bag of Birds Eye Steamfresh brand of frozen MIXED VEGETABLES-- it included a blend of carrots, peas, green beans and corn  (all natural, no preservatives)... I just did not "steam/cook" the vegetables ahead of boiling them with the chicken and celery, and onions

I can't guarantee typo-free typing, 

so, ...

Please read through the entire 

recipe before starting out:  

Ingredients in my "slightly varied" recipe:

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch cubes.  (You could also use about 4 cups of left-over rotisserie chicken, cut into cubes.)
• 1 of 10.8 oz. bag of un-cooked Birds Eye Steamfresh brand of frozen MIXED VEGETABLES-- it included a blend of carrots, peas, green beans and corn  (all natural, no preservatives)
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery (1/8" thick?)
• 1/3 chopped onion

...............................

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 and 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (1 of the 15 oz. cans will do)
• 2/3 cup milk (I used whole milk)

...................................

• 2 of 9-inch unbaked pie crusts.  (I used store-bought crusts this time-- the kind found in the refrigeration section with two unbaked and rolled up crusts in each box.)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425-degrees-- to save electricity expense, this can probably be done just before starting Step 5. 
2. In a saucepan, combine the raw chicken, mixed vegetables, chopped celery and chopped onion.  Add just enough water to barely cover, and bring to a boil and then "gently boil" for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.  (In the posted recipe that I first saw, it was suggested to keep the drained liquid for in case you need it later to supplement the thickened sauce/broth mixture.)
3. Melt butter in the same-sized saucepan as above and stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed.  When evenly/smoothly mixed (without lumps), slowly stir in the chicken broth and milk.  Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly (and scraping bottom of pan), until thick.  Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Roll out and place 1 prepared pie crust into a 9-inch pie plate (a 9 and 1/2-inch pie plate works even BETTER!).  
5. Spoon just the chicken/veggie mixture into the crust.  Pour the hot/thickened broth mixture over that filling.
6. Roll out the remaining crust, put some "steaming slits" in it, and THEN cover the pie filling. (If you don't cut the slits ahead of time, the heat from the filling softens the dough and the slits will look "messy".) Cut away excess dough and seal the edges very well.  Crimp around the sealed edge however you wish. 
7. Bake pie on a baking sheet for 30-35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.  (By using a 9.5" pie plate, there was ample room and I did not have to bake it on a baking sheet, ...and I did NOT have any "bubbled over mess" to clean up, either.)  Check your own oven after about 20 minutes to make sure the crust is not getting too dark-- if it is, just cover the top loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil.

You might like to try a "bit different" flavored sauce, or baking individual pot pies:  Another variation of a recipe similar to the one above, with its own "over 900 reviews and opinions", is from TV's Ina Garten and can be found on the following website:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-pot-pie-recipe.html

Chicken Breasts with Bacon, Cream and Peas*

Recipe background:  For the first time in my life, because of me having a stiff neck that had been getting "more stiff" over a period of five years, I was going to a chiropractor (I called him my "chiro-cracker").  ANYHOW,... on his desk, I saw the Cooking Light magazine and found it to be interesting.  Shortly after that, when our little foster girl brought home one of those dreaded wonderful fund-raising brochures, I decided I really did NOT need to buy anymore gadget'y gadgets because I already have the ones I wanted/use.   After I noticed there were magazine subscription options in the brochures, I went with that and ordered my own subscription to this Cooking Light magazine.  In my very first issue, I saw this recipe and decided I just had to try it...

I liked the end result of this recipe, but 

will admit I did not care for how many 

different "steps" of preparation are listed.  

Before the meal was finished, one of my 

guests asked for this recipe... so,

here it is!

Serves 4  (I think this could serve six!)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 and 1/2 ounces pancetta, chopped (I substituted with about 1/4 cup of bacon pieces)
• 4  (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I cut each of these into half, and ended up with 8 pieces)
• 3/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used 1/2 chicken stock/broth, instead)
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock/broth (such as Swanson brand)
• 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese (I used same amount of cream cheese)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup frozen green peas, thawed

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add garlic; cook only 2 minutes, stirring frequently to PREVENT scorching/burning.
2. Remove garlic from pan with slotted spoon; set garlic aside.  
3. Increase heat to medium-high.  Add pancetta (or bacon pieces) to the same pan and saute for about 4 minutes or until crisp.  Remove meat from pan with a slotted spoon; set meat aside.
4. Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper; saute in same pan for 4 minutes on each side.  Remove chicken from pan.  
5. Add wine to same pan (I used chicken broth/stock); bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.
6. Cook until the liquid almost evaporates (about 3 minutes).  
7. Return chicken to same pan.  Add the last one cup of chicken stock/broth.  Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook chicken for 6 minutes or until chicken is done.  Remove chicken from pan.
8. Add mascarpone (I used cream cheese, cut into tiny pieces) to same pan, stirring with a whisk until smooth.  Combine water and flour, stirring with a whisk.  Add flour mixture to this pan; bring to a boil.  Cook 2 minutes to thicken and cook the "flour taste" away. 
9. Stir in the set aside pancetta OR bacon, the set aside garlic, and the peas.  Cook 1 minute.  
10. Serve sauce over chicken.  (If you would want a thicker sauce, you could, before serving, add one can Cream of Chicken soup to it-- but, if doing that, I'd dilute it with at least 1/2 soup can of milk.)

Something I did differently:  I followed the recipe as I typed it up, but then, as you can see in the SECOND picture from the top of this posting, I put the pieces into a 9x13-inch baking dish and then covered it with foil before putting it into the oven for about 25-30 minutes at 350-degrees.  The downside of that was... the tiny peas "aged" (and shriveled) a bit.    : (

Above:  Shown with the sauce/peas/bacon also 

spread over a piece of toasty garlic bread.

* Cooking Light, March/2014, page 89. 

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas (mild, and without using condensed soup)

If you like a "hotter" dish than we do, you can add all the "hotness" you want by using HOT salsa, adding  chilies, ... or ... even adding Jalapeño peppers until you're "SMOKING" hot!!

Yesterday, even though the following recipe is for a 9x13-inch dish, I doubled the amount of everything and assembled all in a sprayed 15" x 10" x 2" glass baking dish.  Believe me, they were VERY "cozily" packed together!  By pushing them "together",  I managed to get 14 down the length of the pan, and then stuck the last two in along the long edge.  Because these were so crowded, I made sure to separate them a little bit as I poured the sauce over the top.  By making this large batch (and having a crowded dish), I could get away with putting this tightly covered dish into the oven at 210-degrees for for a long 3.5 hours and come home to it turning out perfectly.

INGREDIENTS for 6-8 servings:

1 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes (or, if you prefer, cook the chicken breasts as they are and then shred the meat).  Using left-over meat from a rotisserie chicken would really speed things up with this recipe!
1 small onion, chopped  (optional)
1 tablespoon olive oil
...
8 of 8-inch flour tortillas
1 and 1/2 cups of grated Monterey Jack OR Mexican Blend cheese, divided.
1 and 1/2 cups of mild chunky salsa, divided --I used Tostitos brand, but home-made would maybe be the GREATest!  (Because I doubled the recipe yesterday, I ended up using all of the Tostitos 24-oz. jar, which filled 3 cups.)
...
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 of 15-oz. can chicken broth (I like MSG-free...as free as possible, that is.  Homemade chicken broth would probably be the very best!!!!)
1 cup of sour cream (I used Daisy brand, because of it not having "extra stuff" in it)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a frying pan, cook the chicken (and optional chopped onion) in the oil over medium heat until just done.
2. Spread out the 8 tortilla shells.  
3. In a little row, put 1/8 of the chicken pieces on each of the shells.
4. Put about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons shredded cheese on the chicken pieces.
5. Put about 1 tablespoon of the salsa on the "cheese row".
6. Roll each tortilla up, putting them into a lightly non-stick sprayed 9x13" baking dish.  Set aside....
7. In a medium saucepan, melt butter.  Stir in flour.  Stir until "bubbly" and smoothly mixed.  Gradually, whisk in the chicken broth, stirring constantly and watching that it doesn't scorch.  Bring to boiling, and let boil for at least a full minute.
8. Remove from heat and add the sour cream.  Blend well.
9. Pour thickened sauce over enchiladas in the dish.
10. Top with remaining cheese. Or, you could jump ahead and do the the next (#11) step before layering with cheese.
11. Drop dabs of the remaining mild chunky salsa on the top of all.* 
12. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 375-degrees for 20 minutes OR until the cheese is melted and you see "bubbly" happening around the edges. 

*  At this point, you could double-wrap and freeze it until it is needed...well, within a month, or two?  When taking from freezer, you'd have to bake this considerably longer-- adjust the time accordingly.

Creamy Chicken-Cheesy Casserole

The recipe and Directions are given down below.

I often make this casserole (or something similar to it), cover and refrigerate it in its baking dish overnight, cut it into "blocks" and then put those "blocks" into individual food containers like this...

I snap a cover on them and stick 'em into the freezer for at least a few hours.  After they are frozen enough to keep their shape, I vacuum seal and label  each "frozen block" for a very quick individual meal for one,... or a few.  (There's probably enough in each container to serve two.)  Up front, this might sound like a bunch of work, but... "meal blocks" like this can taste SO good when thawed, and reheated!  And,... they are SO convenient!  

This especially works well for when a casserole is large, but the family is small.  It beats eating the same  meal over and over until it's gone--  or, even worse, seeing it go to waste in the refrigerator.

If you want to see how I do this, check along the right side of this blog and look under "Labels".  I have a heading called "GADGETS I LIKE" and I show how I do this with my vacuum sealer.

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 oz. dry medium egg noodles, prepared according to package directions (the same amount of cooked macaroni noodles also work for this.)
• 1/2 cup (4 tablespoons) butter.
• 6 long stalks celery, very finely chopped (include leaves).
• 1 cup (1 medium) onion, chopped.
• 1 pound cooked chicken, chopped into chunks (rotisserie chicken works great).
• 2 cans of 10 oz. cream of chicken soup, not diluted.
• 1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk (NOT condensed milk).
• 2 cups grated (8 ounces) cheddar cheese of your choice.
• 1 cup (or 1 small package) of frozen green beans OR peas OR mixed vegetables OR ???.
• 2/3 cup crushed potato chips, optional.  (I usually do not add these, because I seldom have any here.)

DIRECTIONS:

• Cook the noodles. Drain.
• While the noodles are cooking, combine the butter, celery and onion in a rather large pan and saute until just tender (about five minutes?).
• Add the cooked/drained noodles.
• Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
• Add the following:  Chicken meat, cream of chicken soup that's first  been smoothly blended together with the evaporated milk, grated cheese, and frozen vegetables of your choice.  Stir until everything is well mixed/blended together.  Pour into greased/sprayed 9x13-inch baking dish.  

                              

• Top with crushed potato chips (optional).  If you don't use potato chips, you can sprinkle a little bit of extra cheese over the top during the last five minutes of baking.
• Bake uncovered at 350-degrees for about 35 minutes, or until top is a light golden brown.  "Kinda sorta" like this...

Below:  I think we had three separate rain 

showers yesterday-- with sunshine in between!  

This makes for plenty of "mow the lawn" work.

Potato/Chicken/Cheesey Casserole

This recipe is 'similar' to the Chick 'n Hash Brown Bake recipe that's also listed in this 'casserole' category... we like this recipe a whole lot. 

Ingredients:

2 lb. bag of frozen hash brown potatoes, but then thawed.
1 and 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10 oz. can condensed reduced fat/sodium cream of chicken soup.
1 cup lite sour cream.
1/4 cup lowfat milk.
2 cups cubed cooked chicken (I save some from a rotisserie chicken-- that is, after we eat the legs/thighs off of it... LOL!).
1 and 1/4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another 1 cup of shredded/grated Cheddar cheese.
1 and 1/2 cups crushed potato chips for topping (not necessary).

Preparation:

In a medium bowl, combine soup, sour cream, milk, chicken and the first 1-1/4 cup cheese.  Spread 1/2 OR 3/4 of this mixture into a greased 3-quart baking dish.
Preheat oven to 350-degrees.   

Sprinkle hash browns and onions over the top of the casserole and press down lightly; then top that with remaining 1/2 or 1/4 of soup mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and add potato chip topping (optional).  * See my personal opinion tip about this at the bottom.

Bake casserole, uncovered, at 350-degrees for 50-60 minutes or until bubbly.  Let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.  6 servings


To freeze, assemble casserole as directed, except do not thaw potatoes, first.  Also, do not sprinkle potato chips on before freezing.  Wrap casserole in freezer wrap or heavy duty foil and freeze.  To thaw and bake, let thaw overnight in refrigerator.  Uncover and bake at 350-degrees for 70-80  minutes until bubbly.  Then, you can now top with potato chips and bake another 5 minutes longer.

* My tip:  Without putting the potato chip layer on top before baking this casserole, I did NOT like how the top layer of cheese turned sort of hard.  So, now, when I make this, I leave that top layer of cheese off until just about 15 minutes before the casserole is totally done-- the cheese is more 'cheesey' if it is not put on until near the end.

 

 (This recipe can easily be doubled and then baked in a greased or sprayed 9x13" pan/dish for a longer time.  I sometimes take this to those who aren't quite ready for making meals after illness/surgery, etc.)