Stuffed Italian Chicken Breasts ~ Simply Delicious Sunday

STUFFED ITALIAN CHICKEN BREASTS
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
grated Parmesan cheese
1 bunch green onions, sliced
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
1/3 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup roasted red bell peppers*
shredded mozzarella cheese
grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
PURE

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Spray baking dish with PURE.
  • In a large skillet melt butter.
  • Add onions and garlic. Saute until translucent and fragrant. Add mushrooms and cook until tender.
  • Slice each chicken breast almost in half lengthwise, making sure they are attached on one side. Opened and laid flat, the chicken breast should resemble a butterfly.
  • Place between two sheets of wax paper, and pound flat, about 1/4 inch.
  • Combine Parmesan cheese with Italian seasoning, and sprinkle over chicken breasts.
  • At one end of each breast, place 2-3 strips of roasted pepper.
  • Add 1/4 cup of onion mixture to each chicken breast.
  • Top with some shredded Mozzarella cheese.
  • Roll each breast up, starting on the side with the peppers and cheese and secure with a silicone band.
  • Place in prepared baking dish.
  • Season chicken rolls with salt and pepper to taste, and drizzle with olive oil.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
  • Set oven to broil, and continue cooking for 5 to 10 minutes.
  • Remove from oven.
  • Remove bands and ENJOY!

*I like to make these fresh, but jarred peppers are fine as long as they are drained well.

Sorry guys no pictures, the camera was still packed.
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Chicken & Ham Pot Pies ~ Soups Salads Casseroles & More

2 tablespoons butter

1 large carrot, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

1 medium large Vidalia onion, finely chopped

1 stalk celery, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cup chicken broth

1 rotisserie chicken, skin and bones removed, meat shredded

1/2 pound ham steak, cubed

Juice of 1 lemon

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

1 recipe basic dough or 1-9 inch round Pillsbury pie dough

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  • In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium.
  • Add carrot, onion, celery and garlic. Cook until carrot is crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Add flour and stir until flour is golden.
  • Gradually and alternately whisk in the milk and broth, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer and thickens, 7 to 10 minutes.
  • Remove from heat. Stir in the chicken, ham, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide filling among eight 8-ounce ramekins or ovenproof bowls.
  • On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 15-inches round. With a 3 1/2-inch floured biscuit cutter, cut out eight rounds and place one on each ramekin. Transfer ramekins to a rimmed baking sheet; bake until filling is bubbling and crusts are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
To Make ahead: Prepare, but do not top with dough. Let cool to room temperature. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Store in the freezer 3-6 months maximum. Remove from freezer, top with dough and bake 45 minutes at 425 degrees until golden and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before eating.

Sweet and Spicy Bacon Wrapped Chicken – Monday Munchies


I found the recipe for this yummy bacon wrapped sweet and spicy chicken over at Full Bellies, Happy Kids. These make a terrific main dish, but they are also terrific for the appetizer buffet!


Here’s the recipe …

4 chicken breasts cut in thirds (12 pieces)
Bacon slices
Salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder
Chili powder
Brown sugar

Cut each breast into 3 pieces, season all the chicken with the spices, then wrap a bacon slice around each piece, roll in brown sugar and place into an oven proof dish. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and bacon is nice and brown and crispy.

The only thing I did any different from the recipe was to turn them upside down right at the end and did a quick broil to get the bacon on the bottom nice and crisp too!


These are so yummy – definitely a family favorite here!

*Recipe previously posted at Menagerie

BBQ Chicken wraps ~Simple Saturday

Aren’t wraps one of the greatest, simplest inventions!? Pick your wrapper…pick your fillers…roll ’em all up and voile! Wraps are simple and satisfying and this wrap in particular is a favorite with the kiddos. Pick your favorite baked beans, your favorite BBQ sauce and you’re almost in business! This is a method, rather than a recipe…the one that I used this time. Amounts are subject to what you need and add or subtract ingredients to your tastes or what is in your cupboards. I actually really like this with some corn & shredded cheese thrown in too…but alas, we were out this time, so I went without.

BBQ Chicken Wraps
Chicken Breasts
BBQ Sauce
Baked Beans
Whole Wheat Tortillas
Romaine Lettuce
Ranch dressing

  • Preheat your broiler and sauce up your chicken. Broil until cooked through. Set aside for at least 5 minutes, then cut into slices or chunks.
  • Heat your beans through in microwave or on stove top.
  • I wash one head of romaine and then cut it into shreds and toss with Ranch Dressing.
  • Heat your tortillas to make them pliable…either in the microwave or over an open flame (which is the way we like them).
  • Pile in the lettuce, beans and chicken and wrap!
  • Then enjoy and think of your next combo.Do you have a favorite wrap combination you’d like to share with us? Have you made something simple this week? Please share with us here on Simple Saturdays…leave a comment and leave a link with Mr. Linky!! See you next week….

Chicken Fried Chicken with Peppered gravy, Family Favorite Mashed Potatoes and Sugared Carrots ~ Simply Delicious Sunday


CHICKEN FRIED CHICKEN
2 large boneless chicken breasts
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2-4 tablespoons butter(enough to keep chicken from burning~add as necessary)

  • Rinse and pat dry the chicken breasts.
  • In a shallow glass pan, pour buttermilk over chicken 1-2 hours prior to cooking.
  • Make sure to coat chicken well and turn at least once during soaking.
  • Drain, but do NOT rinse the buttermilk off.
  • In a medium sized fry pan melt the butter over medium heat. As butter melts and begins to very slightly sizzle, prepare breasts.
  • In a small ziploc bag mix together the flour, salt and pepper.
  • One at a time, put each chicken breast in bag and coat well with flour mix and then into sizzling butter.
  • Cook on one side until edges begin to bleed and then turn.
  • About 6 minutes each side depending on plumpness.
  • Keep chicken warm.

PEPPERED GRAVY
3 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons Wondra flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
3/4 cup whipping cream
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Black pepper + (to taste)

  • Melt butter into bottom of pan you just cooked the chicken in.
  • Scrape up any of the chicken pieces and mix into new butter.
  • Add flour slowly, stirring until absorbed by butter and golden brown.
  • Slowly add first the milk and then the cream.
  • Stir constantly until thickens.
  • If necessary sprinkle in more Wondra until desired thickness is reached.
  • Serve over chicken and mashed potatoes.

FAMILY FAVORITE MASHED POTATOES
4 large Yukon potatoes, peeled & quartered
4 ounces Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
1 small bunch green onions, sliced thin
1/4 + buttermilk
4 tablespoons butter
salt & pepper to taste

  • Boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender.
  • Drain.
  • Mash all together salt and peppering to taste.

SUGARED CARROTS
1 small bag baby carrots, washed
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons PURE maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Blanche carrots in sugared water until just tender.
  • Drain.
  • Blend together brown sugar, maple syrup and butter.
  • Toss with carrots.
  • Bake 20 minutes.

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Turkey Taco Cups – Healthy Helpings

I made these on Saturday and they were really fun to eat. Little tortilla cups are a healthier alternative to store bought taco shells.

Turkey Taco Cups
Serves: 4
4 10 in (burrito-size) flour tortillas (I use Carb Balance Whole Wheat Tortillas w. 8 gms of fiber)
1 lb ground turkey (I make sure to use ground turkey breast as it is the leanest)
1 carrot shredded
1 pkg (1 oz) taco seasoning mix (the packs that I found were 1.5 oz, I only used part of a package, to suit my family’s taste)
1 c chopped lettuce
1/2 c shredded cheese
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Sour Cream if desired

1. Heat over to 375F. Cut three 4 1/4 in circles out of each tortilla. (I did not have a cookie cutter of that size, but I did find a small round storage container that I was able to use.0 Place each circle into a muffin pan to shape into a cup. Bake 8 to 9 min until crisp. Cool.

2. Meanwhile cook turkey and carrot with taco seasoning. Divide turkey mixture, lettuce, cheese, and tomato among taco cups. (Part of what Tara likes about having tacos is assembling them herself, so instead of assembling all of the cups, I put the fixin’s on the table).

Quick Italian Chicken Strips with Fire Roasted Marinara Sauce ~ Simple Saturdays with girlichef

Hello everybody and thanks so much for joining me for my first Simple Saturday here at the KrAzY KiTcHeN! I’m taking over for Martha who has moved to Mondays. I decided to drop the word ‘supper’ from the Saturday theme just to leave the day a little more open to interpretation. Of course you are more than welcome to submit a simple supper…but you can also submit a simple breakfast, lunch, snack, drink…whatever!

Please forgive me as I get acquainted with my new home away from home and learn all of the little nooks & crannies…ummmm, Mr. Linky…of cooking with you on Saturdays! I think that I will be featuring a recipe and a picture or two weekly, with a link back to a longer post at my own place (if you click on recipe title). Feel free to pepper me with comments and suggestions… I thought I’d start this Saturday with a simple favorite around my house.

Quick Italian Chicken Strips w/ Fire-roasted Marinara Sauce
by girlichef (here)

For the Chicken Strips:
Chicken Breast Tenders (aka rib meat)- ~1 1/2 lbs
Bread Crumbs seasoned with Italian Seasoning & Parmesan
Eggs- 2
Water- splash
Flour- seasoned with salt & pepper

For the (quick) Fire-Roasted Marinara Sauce:
Fire-Roasted Tomatoes, 2- 14.5 oz cans (Hunt’s Brand…my fave canned tomaters)
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Dried, minced onion
Crushed Red Chiles (optional)
Sea Salt
Black Pepper

Start your quickie marinara first by pouring the cans of fire-roasted tomatoes into a pot and bringing gently to a simmer. Add the other ingredients to taste (as you like). Let simmer gently while you make your chicken strips.

Get out three bowls/plates and set up a breading station. Fill the first bowl with flour and season it with salt and pepper. Crack your eggs into the second bowl and whip them up with a splash or two of water. Fill the last bowl with your bread crumbs seasoned with Italian seasoning & Parmesan cheese.

Pat your (chicken) tenders dry. Dip them in flour & shake off excess. Dip in egg wash. Dip in breading. Place on a large, hot skillet with a light coating of oil (~1/8″ deep). Flip once golden on the first side. Remember, they’re small…they will cook all the way through by the time both sides are golden. Saute in batches and set aside on a warm plate to hold until they are all finished.

Stir up your quickie marinara and serve the chicken strips with your marinara…and some shaved Parmesan.

Simple Saturday meal that adults and kiddos alike love in our house. Please add a link to Mr. Linky to one of your favorite simple things to make on Saturdays (or any day for that matter) and then leave a comment to let us know you’re there!

Simple Supper Saturday – Italian Chicken

Welcome to Simple Supper Saturday! This week is my super easy baked Italian chicken …
Marinate chicken breasts in Italian dressing for a couple hours, drain marinade, dredge chicken lightly in Italian bread crumbs. Melt a couple tablespoons of butter in baking pan, place chicken in pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350 or until juices run clear and chicken is golden brown – turn chicken halfway through cooking time. Serve with some fresh veggies or salad and dinner rolls.

Oh and be sure to make enough chicken to have plenty leftover – Next week I’ll be posting an easy, yummy leftover chicken recipe that you won’t want to miss!

I can’t wait to see your simple supper ideas this week!

Healthy Helpings – Smothered Chicken with Pierogies

Smothered Chicken with Pierogies
4 servings – 7 WWpoints each serving

1 dozen Mrs T’s Frozen Potato & Cheddar Cheese pierogies (I used a box of the mini sized, I think this makes it easier to serve if you want to give equal portions of pierogies to each person. There are 28 small ones compared to 12 big ones!)
1 can (10 3/4 oz) low fat cream of chicken soup
1 can (4 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained (I used 8 oz fresh and sauteed)
1 c frozen peas
2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 qt casserole with cooking spray. Thaw pierogies in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and place in casserole dish.

In large saucepan, combine soup, mushrooms, peas and chicken. Cook, stirring, about 5 min or until heated through. Pour over pierogies. Bake 15 minutes.

(My great nephew joined us for dinner unexpectedly the night I prepared this, and he gave it two thumbs up… he didn’t think he liked mushrooms, but in this dish he said they were good!)

Coffee BBQ Chicken, Vegetable Yam Mash & Cherry Green Beans

Many of you know that we are sitting and waiting for our investment house to sell so we can move home. One of the things I DON’T want to do is move food cross country so I have been taking my recipe experiment nights and trying to use what we have on hand and use up ALL stock (packages and bottles that are space hogs and breakable especially). The result? I have actually developed some great new recipes that I don’t mind sharing and we will eat again and again. This week we have Coffee BBQ Chicken, Vegetable Yam Mash & Cherry Green Beans. I hope you enjoy them.

COFFEE BBQ CHICKEN
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 3 pounds of chicken wings
1/2 cup STRONG coffee
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup minced green onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Juice of 1 lime*
honey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Juice of 1 orange*
1 7up
dash apple cider vinegar
dash Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper

  • Pierce each piece of chicken a few times with a fork.
  • Whisk together the 7up, Juice of 1 orange, dash of apple cider vinegar and dash of Worcestershire sauce.
  • In an airtight container place chicken pieces side by side. Salt and pepper generously.
  • Pour the 7up mixture over top and marinade for several hours or overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • In a small saucepan whisk together the first 11 ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes to meld flavors.
  • Add honey to thicken.
  • In a shallow baking dish place chicken pieces side by side. Pour BBQ sauce over top to cover and bake for 1 hour or until tender.

*I saved the pulp from each to simmer in the BBQ sauce.

VEGETABLE YAM MASH
1 large yam*, peeled and quartered
1 large russet potato*, peeled and quartered
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 package KNORR vegetable recipe mix

  • Melt the butter and blend with the sour cream.
  • Add in the vegetable mix and blend well. Set aside while you prepare the yam and potato. This can also be done the day before and refrigerated until needed.
  • In boiling, salted water cook yam and potato until tender.
  • Add yam and potato to the sour cream mix and mash together until well blended.

*any combination of the two would work well

CHERRY GREEN BEANS
1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
1 large bunch green onions, sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cherries
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

  • Melt butter. Saute’ green beans until tender.
  • Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Add garlic and onions and cook until translucent.
  • Whisk together the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, lime juice and sugar until sugar is dissolved.
  • Pour over the bean mixture and simmer 2-3 minutes.
  • Add cherries and heat through.

Enjoy! See you next Sunday for another Simply Delicious Sunday. Don’t forget to visit the other participants, and to comment on their blogs.

Simple Supper Saturday – Easy hot and spicy chicken

On my menu plans last week I had an idea for easy hot and spicy chicken to try for Tuesday night along with some leftovers ideas. It was just something I came up with while searching the pantry for things I have on hand already. Everything turned out really good so I thought I’d share it here.

Season some chicken breasts with sea salt and fresh ground pepper, brown on each side in little olive oil in a large oven safe skillet – if you don’t have an oven safe skillet you can transfer the chicken to a baking dish – and really the browning is just for aesthetics. It isn’t required to brown it but it just looks more appetizing and it does help seal in the juices too.

Pour a can of the Hot Rotel over the browned chicken. If you don’t like hot, spicy foods you can just use a can of diced tomatoes instead. Any kind of salsa would work well for this too. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 or until chicken is done.

I served this with Mexican rice and cheesy refried beans the first night – the rice was a packaged rice, Vigo Mexican rice. The refried beans were canned topped with shredded colby jack cheese and baked alongside the chicken – so sue me for using canned and packaged, this recipe meme is all about simple! 😉

For the second night I shredded the leftover chicken, heated and wrapped the leftover refried beans, rice and chicken in warm burrito shells – what a hit with the hubby and kids!

I still had a very small container left of the chicken and Rotel mix which went into to freezer to use another night for a Mexican pizza topping or a spicy chicken soup. This was a great meal stretching recipe.

Hope you’ll join in and link your simple supper ideas!

Shredded Vegetable Chicken Egg Rolls with Blackberry Pineapple Dipping Sauce and Spicy Gingersnaps




Magazine Mondays is hosted by Ivonne over at Cream Puffs in Venice. Save Room for Dessert, What Did you Bake Today and Cultural connections are hosted over at ThE KraZy KitcHen. Stop by and join in. Tasty Tuesday is hosted by Jen over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam . Tuesdays at the Table is normally hosted by Andrea over at My Chihauhau Bites but Andrea is taking a break while she has her baby and is being hosted by Cole for a while. Tempt my Tummy Tuesday hosted by Lisa at Blessed with Grace.

SHREDDED CHICKEN VEGETABLE EGG ROLLS
2 cups finely chopped cooked chicken or pork pieces
1 medium Vidalia onion, finely chopped
1 large stalk celery, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic, jar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 tablespoons canola oil
egg roll wrappers (I use Melissa’s)

  • Heat skillet with 2 tablespoons of oil. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrots, Saute’ until tender.
  • Drain, retaining oil.
  • In a large mixing bowl toss meat pieces with sesame oil, sugar, salt and pepper. Add vegetables and blend well.
  • Cool 5-10 minutes.
  • Fill center of each wrapper with 2 tablespoons of filling.
  • Fold 1st corner towards the center. Then fold each edge towards the center. With a pastry brush wet the exposed triangle of dough and roll the bulk onto it.
  • Add oil back into pan and add the additional 2 tablespoons and bring to medium heat.
  • Cook egg rolls on all 4 sides until golden.



BLACKBERRY PINEAPPLE DIPPING SAUCE
1/2 cup Blackberry Pineapple Jam
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce

  • Heat jam in microwave for 20 seconds to warm and thin.
  • Whisk in honey and soy sauce.
  • Set aside.

SPICY GINGERSNAPS
2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 JUMBO eggs
1 cup golden raisins
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon dried orange peel
1/4 teaspoon salt
1teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

  • In a mortar and pestle (or similar) finely grind all the spices together into a fine dust.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a small food chopper, chop the raisins into the butter until creamy.
  • Transfer to a mixing bowl.
  • Add brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Blend until creamy and smooth.
  • Sift together the flour, spices, baking soda and powder.
  • Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture until well blended.
  • Add walnuts.
  • Drop by spoonfuls onto an un-greased cookie sheet and slightly flatten.
  • Bake 12-14 minutes until edges are set.
  • Let cool on pan for 2 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
  • Good plain or with a Cream Cheese Frosting.

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