Asian Chicken Thighs

Once again another recipe from one of my new cookbooks and this one is DEFINITELY a BIG KEEPER!!! As soon as my husband tried it he said that it needed to go on our regular rotation and I totally agree. There are only a few things I would change about the recipe, one being I would use boneless thighs and the other is I would double the recipe so we could have more chicken for each of us and for leftovers :)
5 boneless chicken thighs, skinned (I'm going to use boneless next time)
5 tsp. olive oil
1/3 c. warm water
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 T. orange juice
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. ketchup
1 T. white vinegar
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder

In a large skillet over med. heat, cook chicken in oil for 8-10 minutes on each side until cooked. In a small bowl, whisk warm water, brown sugar, orange juice, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, red pepper and five-spice powder. Pour sauce over chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is tender, turning occasionally. The recipe said to mix 2 T. of cold water and 2 tsp. of cornstarch together and then add it to the sauce to thicken it but my sauce was already thick enough so I skipped that step. I served this with white rice which was yummy, especially with the sauce drizzled on top.

Chicken 'n Stuffing Pot Pie

I grew up having a big Sunday dinner every week and I LOVED it. Now when I go home to England I can't wait for Sundays so I can enjoy the DELICIOUSNESS of my Mom's Sunday dinner. This recipe reminded me of all those yummy things that make Sunday dinner so I had to try it. This was another recipe from one my new cookbooks and it's a crock pot recipe which is always GREAT in my book. Having 5 kids is WONDERFUL but life gets crazy sometimes so it's nice to have meals I can prepare earlier in the day. This meal turned out REALLY good and we all really liked it. It's definitely something I will be making again. Some of my family weren't a fan of the green beans but you don't have to add those, you could leave them out or add a vegetable that your family like better.
8 boneless chicken thighs
6 slices precooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 bag (1 lb. size) baby carrots, cut in half lengthwise (about 2 c.)
4 medium red potatoes, cut into 4th or 8th
1 tsp. dried marjoram leaves
1 jar (12 oz.) chicken gravy
1 bag (12 oz.) frozen green beans, thawed
6 T. butter or margarine, melted
7 oz. herb-seasoned stuffing cubes (about 4 2/3 c.)

Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Place chicken in crock pot and top with bacon, carrots, potatoes, marjoram and gravy. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Gently stir in thawed green beans to cooked chicken mixture. In a medium bowl mix melted butter and stuffing. Spoon stuffing over chicken mixture. Increase heat setting to high; cover and cook for 15 more minutes and ENJOY :) If you don't have any stuffing cubes you could always make regular stuffing and just add it afterwards or to the crock pot.

Lime Chicken Tacos

Here's another recipe from one of my new cookbooks. I really do LOVE all my new cookbooks, plus they all have pictures which is WONDERFUL. I think I got 6-7 of them and have only really looked through 3 properly. Then the other day I saw another good sale on cookbooks so of course I couldn't pass it up so I ended up buying 4 more cookbooks, I'm terrible, hahaha! Anyway I thought this recipe looked yummy and super easy, plus it's made in a crock pot which is great for me on days when I'm out and about all day. My only issue with cooking chicken in a crock pot is that the chicken always seems to have a funny texture so if you have any good suggestions on how to stop this please let me know :)1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 T. chili powder
3 T. lime juice
1 c. frozen corn
1 c. chunky salsa
Flour tortillas (6-inch)

Place chicken in crock pot. Combine lime juice and chili powder; pour over chicken. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken and let cool for a few minutes. Shred chicken and return to crock pot. Stir in corn and salsa. Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve in tortillas and any topping you like. We used sour cream, lettuce, cheese and tomato's. Using the 6-inch tortillas is great for my kids because they're the perfect size :)

Salsa Chicken Fiesta

When I saw this recipe in one of my new cookbooks I thought it looked delicious and super easy so I had to try it. It was super easy but it wasn't as delicious as I thought it was going to be :( It wasn't bad though, I just need to figure out a way for the crust to not be as dry and a way to give more flavour to the chicken part.
1 1/3 c. bisquick mix
1/4 c. water
2 eggs
2 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
6 large boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 jar (16 oz.) thick & chunky salsa

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. In a med. bowl stir bisquick mix, water and eggs. Spread mixture into pan and then sprinkle with 2 c. of cheese. In a skillet cook chicken over med-high heat until no longer pink. Drain juices and add salsa. Heat until hot. Spoon chicken mixture over bisquick mixture within 1/2-inch of edges. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges are dark golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for another 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. This can be served with sour cream and ground red pepper if you like.

Italian Chicken & Potatoes

Yesterday when I went to the store I forgot my shopping list which was not good. I managed to remember most things but forgot a couple of things so I wasn't able to make one of the dinners I had been planning. So, I decided I was time to try and make my own dish up and it was GREAT :) What I came up with was basically the same a recipe my family LOVE but I put my own twist to it. The other recipe uses the crock put and just chicken but I didn't want to use the crock pot and I wanted to use up some of the potatoes we had. I think it turned out really well, well apart from the fact it overflowed all over my oven, whoops ;) Anyway I think this will become a family staple, now I just can't wait for Steve to get home so he can try it too, I think he's going to LOVE it, YUMMY!!!3 chicken breasts cut into strips
1 lb. butter gold potatoes, cubed (you could use any kind of potatoes, these are what I had)
1 (8 oz.) box cream cheese (I used neufchatel cheese because it's less fat)
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. milk
1 pkg. dry Italian dressing

Preheat oven to 375F. Put chicken and potatoes in a 9x13 dish chicken and potatoes. Combine all other ingredients and mix until combined well. Pour soup mixture over chicken and potatoes. Cover dish with foil and bake for around 1 1/2 hours. I had the oven set at 400F which made the soup mixture bubble too much and go everywhere. I took the foil off for the last 10 minutes but you don't really need to do that. I mainly did that so it would stop bubbling everywhere, hahaha! I served this with TONS of vegetables which I LOVE, enjoy :)

This recipe had about 1715 calories in it the way I made it which isn't too bad I don't think. It was 286 calories for 1 serving (when you divide it by 6).

Chicken/Pasta/Chicken Casserole

I have been so good at making new recipes lately but today I wasn't in the mood so I decided to make one of my old faithful recipes :) A few years back my mother in law put this recipe together and ever since then this has been one of our family favourites, it's SUPER YUMMY and very easy :)
3-4 cooked chicken breasts, cubed or shredded
1 (12 oz.) bag wide pasta ribbons (I used whole wheat pasta tonight)
1 (26 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1 c. sour cream (I used fat free)
2 c. frozen mixed vegetables (you could use any or none at all)
1 c. grated cheese (as much as you like depending on how cheesy you want it. I didn't use any today)
1 box chicken stuffing, prepared

Preheat oven to 400F. Start cooking pasta (I usually have already cooked the chicken before or at the same time as cooking the pasta). Mix together soup, sour cream, vegetables and grated cheese. Once pasta is cooked add that and the chicken to the soup mixture. Place mixture into a 9x13 dish and cover with stuffing evenly (I used 2, 8x8 dishes tonight so I could freeze one for another day). Cover with foil and bake for around 40-45 minutes. Take foil off and cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until stuffing starts to brown.

For this whole recipe there was 3480 calories. That doesn't include cheese though, that would make it more. Also if you used regular pasta it would be more too but not by too much. I think this recipe makes about 12 servings or more depending on how much you eat.

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

I've been meaning to make this meal for the past couple of weeks and tonight I finally got round to it. It was super easy to make which is always good. I was just a little frazzled while making it because Steve wasn't home, Austin was awake and not too happy because he had missed a nap, my other kids were all over the place and Maddie was meant to be home so she could go to volleyball but she was off with her friend cleaning out window wells for money ;) Luckily I have a WONDERFUL neighbour who went to find Maddie for me, thanks :) Anyway this meal turned out good, I wish it had been a little more cheesier, our family LOVE cheese! The good thing about this though was that it wasn't as grainy as other alfredo sauces I've made in the past. I think the next time I try and make an alfredo sauce I will just try adding more cheese to this recipe. This recipe was from the school cookbook again, it was submitted by Judy Ritter.
3/4 lb. fettuccine noodles
1/4 c. butter
2/3 c. heavy cream
2/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 c. cooked chicken, cubed (I just grilled chicken breasts and sliced them)
salt and pepper to taste
ground nutmeg (I didn't use this)

When pasta is almost done cooking, melt butter in a saucepan. Add cream and 1/3 c. of the parmesan cheese. Simmer over very low heat for 4-5 minutes until sauce starts to thicken. The recipe said to put the pasta in a dish, place chicken and desired vegetables on top and then pour alfredo sauce over everything. Then it says to sprinkle with remaining cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Instead I just mixed the alfredo sauce with the pasta and served it that way. Then I put the chicken and vegetables on the side. We had broccoli and corn as our vegetables, I always have LOTS of veggies and not as much of the main dish. I figured out the calories for the noodles and sauce, for the whole dish it was 2200 (then divide it by however much you have).

Russian Chicken

Does this look familiar??? As I was making this I thought , this looks a lot like the sticky chicken I made last week. I had never used Russian dressing before so I wasn't sure how this was going to taste but it sure looked the same. I didn't have to flour and brown the chicken with this recipe but I don't think you have to with the sticky chicken either. Anyway once we tried this it did actually taste different. It has more of a sweet and sour flavour which I really like. Something I'm really starting to love about cooking though is how I'm learning things I can try next time I make something like this. Maybe trying a totally different sauce to change the flavour or adding fruit and other things to make it a true sweet and sour dish. Anyway I really liked this recipe and what made it even better was that it was SOOO easy to put together, great for a Mom of 5 kids and that's something REALLY important for me.
1 bottle of Russian dressing
1 jar of apricot preserves
1 packet of Lipton onion soup mix (I used the store brand)
5-6 chicken breasts

Put chicken pieces into a 9x13 baking dish (I cut my pieces of chicken in half). Mix dressing, apricot preserves and onion soup mix together. Pour mixture over the chicken. Bake at 350F for 1 hour. Serve over rice (I've been using instant brown rice which is 150 calories for 1/2 cup). There is 3220 calories in this recipe. I divided it by 8 so each serving was 402.5 calories (most of the calories actually come from the sauce so if you don't have very much of the sauce it would be less calories). This recipe is from the school cookbook again and was provided by one of my good friends Andrae Seward.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Besides desserts and a few other things, one of my most favourite things to eat are soups. I came across this soup a few weeks ago and have excited to try it. I think wild rice is super good so this soup combined a lot of food I like. It seemed like most of my kids liked this meal too, I did have to pick the beans out for one of my daughters but other than that it was a success :) This recipe came from one of the new blogs I found. She has a really good dessert I want to try too, I have all the ingredients to make it but haven't. I should have made it this past weekend when I was eating too much, dang it ;)

1 c. chicken or turkey (shredded or cubed)
1 T. chicken base (or 2 cubes)
2 (10.5 oz.) cans cream of chicken soup
5 2/3 c. water
1 small box Uncle Ben's long wild rice (and seasoning packet)
1 small bag frozen mixed vegetables (any kind you like or none if you would prefer)

In a large pot combine water, chicken base, and wild rice. Bring to a boil. After it starts to boil, reduce the heat and cover to cook the rice (following time recommendations on the box). Add the vegetables and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the soup and the chicken. Stir until everything is heated. This recipe has 1540 calories in it which isn't very much. It could probably serve around 8 people which makes it 210 calories per serving, not bad :)

Sticky Chicken

We eat LOTS of chicken in our family. My husband prefers red meat I think but really he just REALLY loves meat :) Tonight I decided to try another recipe from the school cookbook. See, if you haven't got one you need too get one, there's LOTS of YUMMY recipes. This recipe came from one my really good friends, Susan Bingham who always seems to have great recipes. I LOVED this dinner but because I'm still trying to lose weight I only had a small portion. I REALLY wanted more but I had to resist. My kids and Steve both asked for seconds which is a good sign. This will definitely be something I make again, DELICIOUS!

1 c. catalina salad dressing (I used the fat free kind)
1 c. brown sugar
1 pkg. Lipton Onion soup mix (I used the store brand)
6-8 chicken breasts (I used 8)
flourPreheat oven to 325 F. Combine salad dressing, sugar and soup in a bowl. If chicken breasts are thick, cut in half lengthwise. Dip chicken in flour and brown in skillet. Put chicken in a 9x13 dish that has been lined with foil. Pour dressing mixture over chicken, cover and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Serve sauce from chicken over rice. This recipe was about 2265 calories altogether.