Caesar Chicken Supreme

The Recipe: Inspired by a recipe in my trusty Betty Crocker Quick and Easy Cookbook. I swapped out a few ingredients for a more Mediterranean flair.

What You Need:
1 T butter
about 1 lb chicken breasts
1/4 C Caesar dressing, divided
1 red onion, sliced
2 C water
2 C chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 1/2 C orzo pasta
1/2 C sliced black olives
grated parmesan cheese

Your Turn:
Chop 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts into strips. 

Melt 1 T butter in a large skillet.

Add chicken to skillet along with 2 T Caesar dressing.

Cook about 12 - 15 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from skillet.

(I used frozen chicken breasts, so there was excess fat and water I had to drain out of my skillet at this point. If you don't have that issue, just move along to the next step.)

Add 1 sliced red onion to skillet and cook about 5 minutes, until tender.

Remove from skillet and add to chicken.

Pour 2 C water and 2 C chicken broth into the skillet and bring to a boil.

Add 1 1/2 C orzo pasta and bring back to a boil.

Cook uncovered 8 - 10 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and pasta is tender.

Add chicken and onions back into skillet. Stir in remaining 2 T Caesar dressing.

Cover and cook over low heat about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally so that chicken and orzo are slightly seared.

Remove from heat. Sprinkle with sliced black olives and grated parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken Ranchiladas

The Recipe: Swiped from here. We changed the name and I added a few ingredients.

What You Need:
4 large chicken breasts
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 packet ranch mix
4 10-inch tortillas
1 can black beans
1 can whole kernel sweet corn
about 2 C shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
about 1 C ranch dressing

Your Turn:
Place chicken in crockpot. Dump in taco mix and ranch mix on top of chicken. Cook on low 8 hours or more.

Shred chicken with two forks, and remove from crock pot.

Drain and rinse black beans and corn. 

In the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, place two tortillas.

Top with half of the shredded chicken.

Top with 1 C shredded cheese, about 1/2 C ranch dressing, and the beans and corn.

Add another layer of tortillas.

For both the first layer, and the second layer, I like to tear them in half and lay them like this. You get better coverage.

Top with remaining chicken, followed by another 1/2 C ranch dressing, and the remaining 1 C shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Serve with Mexican Rice!

Lemon Dill Chicken

The Recipe: Again, from my favorite standby cookbook. This chicken is "restaurant good," according to Pete.

What You Need:
1/4 C (1/2 a stick) butter
1.5 - 2 lbs chicken breasts
1/2 C white wine (chicken broth works as a substitute, but the wine is far superior)
1/2 tsp dry dill (or 1 T fresh chopped dill)
1 T lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt

Your Turn:
Melt 1/4 C butter in a large skillet.

Add chicken and cook about 6 minutes, turning once, until light brown.

Mix together
white wine,
dill,
lemon juice, and
salt.

Pour over chicken and heat to boiling.

Reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 - 15 minutes until chicken is cooked throughout.

Remove chicken.

Heat wine mixture to boiling. Boil about 3 minutes until reduced by about half.
*I did not do this the first couple times I made this because I had no idea what it meant. Just let it boil for a few minutes and it will reduce in quantity becoming more concentrated and more scrumptious. This is basically wine and butter. It is so yummy. 

Pour reduced liquid over chicken and serve.

This is really good with couscous and roasted broccoli!

Pecan-Crusted Tilapia

The Recipe: For most of my life I never ate fish. Then, after we were married, I decided I should add some fish to my repertoire of things I can eat and prepare. So I found two tilapia recipes that I came to like. Recently, I'd been making baked lemon dill tilapia for us, specifically for Henry since it's a good way to get him to eat protein and adds some variety to his diet. I found this pecan fish recipe in my old standby easy meal cookbook and knew I had to try it. I never thought I'd be taking seconds of seafood, but this tilapia was great.

What You Need:
tilapia filets (I buy them frozen. For this recipe, I defrosted 5 of them)
about 1 C finely chopped pecans (I used one big handful of nuts then chopped them with a big knife. A food processor would probably work even better.)
1/2 C dry breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 T milk
salt and pepper
lemon juice
vegetable oil

Your Turn:
Using a fork, beat egg with milk in a shallow bowl.

Stir chopped pecans and breadcrumbs together in a shallow bowl.

Sprinkle thawed tilapia filets with salt and pepper on both sides.

Dredge each piece of fish first in the egg, then in the crumbs/nuts. Press some of the nut mixture into the fish.

Heat vegetable oil (about 2 T) in a large skillet.

Add fish.
*Since my pecan pieces were a little big, I actually pushed some into the top side of each piece of fish after I placed them all in the skillet. When I flipped them, I did so carefully to keep those big pieces of nut on the underside of the fish. Some fell off, but they were yummy to scoop up and put on top of the fish once it was plated.

Cook about 4-5 minutes, then flip carefully with a pancake turner and cook another 4-5 minutes until it flakes easily with a fork.

Serve with lemon juice or lemon wedges.

Waffles, Any Way You Like 'Em

The Recipe: The original one came with my waffle iron. I was inspired to adapt the taco version from a Betty Crocker "Quick & Easy" Cookbook.

What You Need:
1 C flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 T sugar
3 eggs (separated)
1 C milk
4 T vegetable oil
Either...
1 tsp vanilla
OR
1 tsp chile powder
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chiles

Your Turn:
Separate 3 eggs. Save the yolks in a small bowl and beat the 3 egg whites until they are stiff. This would be when they start to hold the shape of the beaters as you move the beaters around the bowl. Set the whites aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together
1 C flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 T sugar
Stir until blended.

Add
1 C milk
3 egg yolks
and stir until smooth.

Add
4 T oil 
and here's where you choose your own adventure:  Do you want breakfast waffles? If so, add 1 tsp vanilla. Do you want taco waffles to serve with taco toppings (taco-flavored ground beef, sour cream, salsa, chopped onions, shredded cheese)? If so, add 1 tsp chile powder and 1 can chopped green chiles. I have not explored other options here, but adding chocolate chips, toasted pecans, berries, bacon, or curry might all be yummy alternatives.

Mix well after you add your oil and choice of add-ins.

Add the egg whites and stir gently, just until blended.

Pour 3/4 C or so (use your waffle iron's instructions) onto the hot iron at a time and cook until golden brown. My iron has an indicator light to let you know when it's done. That's really handy.

Enjoy for any meal of the day! I can get 4 or 5 whole Belgian waffles out of this recipe, so I always put a few in the fridge and reheat in the toaster oven, which works great. (I would not recommend a microwave-reheat, though.)

Cranberry Almond Scones

The Recipe: From a friend who I met when I studied abroad. She handwrote her recipe for me, and it's still the one I use. It's for plain scones, but she has some suggestions listed for variations. This variation is actually not one she suggested, but I was inspired by some cranberry almond scones I saw on Pinterest, so I made the adaptation myself. I made a few other changes to her recipe: I halved everything, and I baked it in wedges. Her original is double of this, but instructs you to bake them in individual balls. That works too, but I loved doing it this way!

What You Need:
2 C flour
6 T sugar
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 C butter
3/4 C milk or buttermilk
1 tsp almond extract
about 1/2 C dried cranberries
about 1/2 C sliced almonds

Your Turn:
Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl.

Heat the butter and milk in a saucepan until the butter melts.

Mix wet and dry ingredients together.

Mix in almond extract, almonds, and cranberries. I eyeballed the amounts for the nuts and berries. Exact amounts are not crucial.

Using your hands, form the dough into a round, about 9 - 10 inches across. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut into eight wedges.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven. Using metal spatula, or something similar, separate the wedges from one another and put a little space between them.

Bake another 4 - 5 minutes until edges are golden.

Enjoy with coffee! 

Chicken Fried Rice II

The Recipe: Modified slightly from the recipe on this website. I posted a Chicken Fried Rice recipe years ago, but this one tops it. We loved this meal.

What You Need:
1 lb chicken breasts (I like the thin sliced kind)
about 3 C cooked rice
1 onion,
1 carrot, chopped into pea-sized pieces
1 stalk celery, sliced
about 1 C fresh snap peas, ends removed, halved
1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts, chopped
1/2 C frozen peas
(optional) 1 (4 oz) can mushroom pieces
3 eggs, lightly beaten
sesame oil
teriyaki sauce (I used this)
soy sauce

Your Turn:
Place the chicken in a large ziploc bag with a sufficient amount of teriyaki sauce to coat, and refrigerate for 20 - 30 minutes.

Cook the rice. (I bring 2.5 C water and 1.25 C rice to a boil, along with a little pat of butter and a shake of kosher salt. Once boiling, cover and simmer until done, about 20 minutes.)

Using a large skillet or wok, cook chicken until no longer pink. When cooked, remove from skillet and slice into thin strips.

Swirl about 2 T sesame oil into the skillet. Dump in all your veggies (onion, carrot, celery, snap peas, water chestnuts, peas) into the skillet. Cook until tender.

Push veggies to one side of the skillet and gently pour beaten eggs onto the other side. Carefully scramble the eggs until cooked through. Then stir together with vegetables.

Add cooked rice and cooked chicken to skillet. Sprinkle with soy sauce, about 1-2 T. Turn heat to medium-high and fry. The rice should lose most of its moisture and get slightly crispy. Stir frequently for about 10 minutes, letting all the rice have a turn on the bottom of the skillet.

Serve with extra soy sauce and eat with chopsticks!

Homestyle Potato Soup

The Recipe:
Originally from southernfood.com.

What You Need:
2 T butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 stalks celery, trimmed and chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
8 oz deli ham (such as this), chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
1 qt (32 oz) vegetable broth
4-5 C diced potatoes (about 4 large ones)
1 C heavy cream
3 T flour
1 additional C cream (or whole milk or half&half)
2-3 C cooked broccoli (optional)

Your Turn:
Melt 2 T butter in large saucepan. I used my largest stockpot.

Add onion, celery, carrots, and ham.

Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are tender (about 5 minutes).

Add garlic and cook another minute.

Add broth, and some additional water if it seems needed, and the potatoes. Cook about 25 minutes, until potatoes are tender.

Whisk the flour into the heavy cream until smooth. Stir into hot soup.

Stir in the additional cup of cream or milk.

Taste and then add salt/pepper as desired.

Using a potato masher, mash slightly to thicken.

If desired, add cooked broccoli and cook until heated through. 

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese or sliced green onion.

Salsa Chicken Skillet

The Recipe:
I have a recipe card labeled "Spicy Ricey" in my recipe box. I know I first made it shortly after we were married and I was experimenting with things and must have given it this weird name. The recipe has ground turkey instead of the chicken breasts, so you could try it that way instead, but I thought it was great like this. It's super-duper easy.

What You Need:
about 1 lb chicken breasts (I used 4 frozen breasts), cooked with taco seasoning
about 4 C cooked white rice (I cooked together 3 C water and 1.5 C dry rice)
1 16 oz jar salsa
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can black beans

Your Turn:
I cooked my chicken in the crockpot with my go-to taco/chili seasoning (found here) mixed in. You could bake it, if that's easier for you, or cook it in your skillet before following the instructions below. The key is to give it some flavor while it cooks.

In a large skillet combine cooked chicken, can of corn, can of beans, jar of salsa, and cooked rice. Mix well. Cover and let simmer on low 20 minutes or until warm throughout.

Serve with shredded cheese, tortilla chips, or chopped black olives.

Zuppa Toscana: CrockPot Recipe

The Recipe:
Found online somewhere... it's supposed to be an Olive Garden knockoff, but Pete says it's better than Olive Garden. 

What You Need:
1 lb italian sausage, browned
4-6 russet potatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 T minced garlic (optional)
32 oz chicken broth
1 C kale, chopped
1 C heavy cream
2 T flour

Your Turn:
Put sausage, potatoes, onion, garlic, and broth in crock pot. Add a bit of water if needed to cover everything. Cook on low 5-6 hours.

Shorty before serving, whisk flour into cream in small bowl. Add to crock pot. Add kale to crock pot. Mix well. Turn to high and cook 30 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.