Baked Wings

I made these baked wings, what seems like forever ago, when we had a Royals World Series watch party. They tasted just like ones we get at the bar and were a big hit! 

Ingredients
4 pounds chicken wings
2 tablespoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
Franks Wing Sauce

Directions: 

1. Adjust oven racks to upper middle and lower middle positions.
2. Heat the oven to 250 degrees.
3. Pat wings dry with a paper towel.
4. Place baking powder and salt in a large ziplock bag. Add chicken wings. Shake wings and make sure that they are evenly coated with baking powder and salt.
5. Cover a baking sheet with foil and set a wire rack in it. Spray it with vegetable oil spray.
6. Place chicken, skin side down, on a single layer on the wire rack.
7. Bake wings on lower middle rack for 30 minutes. Turn up the heat to 425 degrees, move it to the upper middle rack. Bake for 45-50 minutes, rotating the sheet half way through the baking to ensure through baking.
8. Take them out of the oven and let them sit for 5 minutes.
9. Place wings in a large bowl and add the hot sauce over it. Toss to coat.
10. Serve with ranch or bleu cheese dressing.

Adapted from Fool Proof Living

Chicken and Rice Bowl

I made this with the remaining rotisserie chicken I had from earlier in the week! It is also, quick, easy, and healthy! The veggies were perfectly cooked, and the hint of lime added an extra flavor!

Ingredients: 

1 cup uncooked white rice

1 T canola oil

1 t. dark sesame oil

1 1/2 cups rotisserie chicken

2 T soy sauce

1 T minced garlic

1/2 t. crushed red pepper

2 cups broccoli florets

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

2/3 cups chicken broth

2 t. cornstarch

2 T fresh lime juice

2 T chopped cashews

Directions: 

1. 1. Cook rice according to package directions. Stir in lime rind.
2. 2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 t. canola oil and sesame oil to pan; swirl to coat. 
3. 3. Combine chicken, 1 T soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper in a bowl; toss to coat. 
4. 4.Add chicken mixture to pan; cook 6 minutes or until chicken begins to brown, stirring frequently.
5. 5. Remove chicken from pan. Add remaining 1 1/2 t. canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add broccoli and bell pepper to pan; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.
6. 5. Combine remaining 1 T. soy sauce, chicken broth, and cornstarch in a bowl. Add chicken mixture and broth mixture to pan. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat; stir in lime juice. Spoon 1/2 cup rice mixture into each of 4 bowls; top each serving with about 1 1/2 cups chicken mixture. 

Adapted from Cooking Light 2014

Mu Shu Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Do you need a quick 15 minute healthy dinner? This was super easy and quick! The extra hoisin sauce really makes it!

Ingredients:
2 T. low-sodium soy sauce
1 T. dry sherry
1 T. hoisin sauce (plus more for serving)
1 t. rice vinegar
1 T dark sesame oil
1 T minced garlic
1 T minced fresh ginger
2 cups packaged coleslaw
1 1/2 shredded rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup sliced green onions, divided
12 iceberg or bibb lettuce leaves
1/4 c. chopped cashews


Directions: 
Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl, stir
Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sesame oil to pan, swirl to coat. Add garlic and ginger to pan.
Saute for 30 seconds.  Add soy sauce mixture and coleslaw and cook for 1 minute.
Add chicken and 1/4 cup onions and cook until coleslaw just begins to wilt.

Spoon hoisin sauce on top of lettuce, and divide chicken mixture evenly among lettuce leaves.
Top with cashews and remaining onions.

adapted from: Cooking Light

This little plate is great for mincing/grating ginger! It is a ceramic dish with little teeth!

Vietnamese Chicken Banh Mi

 Vietnamese food is quickly becoming one of my favorites to cook and eat! I think I like how it uses a lot of fresh flavors and veggies. The Banh Mi Sandwich can also be made with pork, but I needed to use up some chicken, so I found this recipe and adapted it to my liking.


Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken tenders, cut into bite size pieces
4 tsp olive oil
garlic powder
salt and pepper
cilantro, chopped
jalapeno, sliced
cucumbers, sliced
pickled carrots (recipe below)
4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 tbsp water
Sriracha, to taste
Bread – I used crusty french bread


Directions:

Make pickled carrots the night before: Place about 1½ cups of shredded carrots in a container. Dissolve 2 tbsp sugar in ½ cup warm water. Add 1 cup white vinegar. Cover carrots with mixture and let marinate at least two hours but preferably over night.

Heat 4 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Season chicken well with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook chicken over medium heat until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Prepare sauce: combine 4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce with 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 6 tbsp water. Add a few squirts of sriracha, depending on how spicy you want the sauce. 

Toast bread in the oven, at 350*, for a few minutes to make it nice and crispy. 

On toasted bread spoon 1 tbsp sauce mixture on each side of bread. Top with chicken and pile on the cucumber, cilantro, jalapeno, and carrots. Top sandwich with sriracha and serve with additional sauce.

Stacked Chicken Enchiladas

One of my goals this year is to try new healthier recipes. I have a subscription to Cooking Light, and have torn out many recipes! This week for my menu planning, I went off of ones that I had recently torn out of my magazines.

These stacked chicken enchiladas were yummy, but a little more work than I thought they would be. I think part of it was that I bought the cheap chicken ($1.77 for 1.5 lbs!)... with skin and bones and had to remove the skin and then de-bone the cooked chicken! I think you could probably make this with rotisserie chicken and speed up the process! I also had a major spill with the salsa Verde, did not have the limes that the recipe called for, the paper towels fell in the sink, and the salt and pepper shakers fell on my candle and shattered it!  Not my day! :)

Ingredients: 
2 tablespoons canola oil
1.5 lbs chicken thighs
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. ground red pepper
1 white onion chopped
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15-ounce) can organic whole peeled tomatoes, un-drained
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1 16 oz jar of salsa Verde
Cooking spray
corn tortillas
Shredded pepper-Jack cheese

1/2 cup fresh tomato

Directions: 

1. Place a small roasting pan in oven. Preheat oven to 425° (leave roasting pan in oven as it preheats).
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle both sides of chicken evenly with cumin, salt, and pepper. Add chicken to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Turn chicken over, and place in the preheated roasting pan. Add onion, garlic, and tomatoes to pan; bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until chicken is done. 
3. Cool. Shred chicken (remove bones if necessary); toss with tomato mixture. (I used a mixer to shred my chicken and chop up the whole tomatoes a bit)
4. Combine 3/4 cup cilantro and salsa verde; spread 1/4 cup salsa mixture in the bottom of an 11 x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. 
5. Top with tortillas, half of chicken mixture, and 1/4 cup salsa mixture. 
6. Repeat layers. 
7. Top with remaining tortillas and remaining salsa mixture; sprinkle evenly with cheese and fresh tomatoes. 
8. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden; sprinkle with remaining cilantro. 

** I made this in 2 8x8 pans, and froze half of it

Adapted from: Julianna Grimes, Cooking Light
MARCH 2014

Stuffed Peppers- Italian Style

I have been trying to find a good stuffed pepper recipe for a while. I think I finally found one I like! I had a coupon for these Johnsonville Chicken Sausages and decided to try some with that, instead of ground turkey or beef.

I found a recipe to go off of, but since the sausage had so many great flavors, I decided to simplify it, and use up a few ingredients, instead of going out to buy more. (This would be why it calls just a little bit of yellow peppers, and petite diced tomatoes/marinara/tomato sauce)  I didn't want to open a 14 oz can of tomato sauce, so I used a tomato marinara I made up last week to go with my zucchini meatballs.

So feel free to mix it up a bit for your stuffed peppers too!


Ingredients: 
1/4 onion, chopped
1 cup chicken stock, divided
3 peppers cut in half with seeds removed. (I used red)
2 T. diced yellow peppers
4 chicken sausage links- Johnsonville 3 Cheese Italian Style
1 t. minced garlic
1 cup COOKED rice
1/2 cup petite diced tomatoes/marinara/or tomato sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
olive oil


Directions
Preheat oven to 400* and cook rice, if it is not cooked.

Drizzle a little olive oil in a medium sized pan.  Add onion, garlic, and sausage.  Cook until onions are translucent and sausage is slightly browned.

Add 1/2 cup tomato mixture and 1/2 cup chicken broth.  Mix and simmer on low for 5 minutes.

Add rice to mixture.

Place peppers in a baking dish. Fill each pepper with as much of the stuffing mix as you can.

Pour the remainder of the chicken stock into the bottom of the baking dish.

Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.  Remove foil and sprinkle cheese on top. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

 Last night we made them with just Spanish rice, Rotel, and cheese, but followed the basic directions.
We also made some with parmesan couscous and cheese on top! So really you can put what ever you want in them!! It is a great way to sneak in some veggies!

Chicken Parmesan

This weekend Harper, who is 4, helped me cook some chicken parmesan! She was a great helper! She pretty much made the bread all by herself. It all turned out yummy. We ate the whole pan! We were so busy cooking, I only took a picture of the final product!

Abbey had some noodles in the fridge that were already cooked, and I used jared spaghetti sauce to speed up the process!

                               

Ingredients
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 t. Italian seasoning
2-3 chicken breasts
1 egg
1 jar spaghetti sauce
mozzarella cheese
olive oil

Directions:
1. Place chicken breasts in a ziplock baggie. Pound out the chicken until it is about 1/2 inch thick.
2. Prepare 2 bowls, one with egg, and one with 1 cup breadcrumbs, a 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and 1 t. Italian seasoning. If you need more you can add to it later. I always feel like most recipes have too much breading and you end up throwing half of it away1
3. Dip chicken breasts in egg, then in breadcrumb mixture.
4. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet.  Add chicken and cook until both sides are browned.
5. Cover the bottom of a pyrex dish with spaghetti sauce.
6. Add cooked chicken, top chicken with a little more sauce, and sprinkle with cheeses.
7. Cook in 375* oven for 10-15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked.
8. Serve with noodles and remaining sauce.

Poppy Seed Chicken

I made this last night for our Amazing Race dinner. The boys loved it and I did too! This is so easy to throw together and it freezes great too! I'm taking it to a friend tonight who had surgery.

Ingredients:

3 Cups Chicken- I use rotisserie chicken, so I don't have to cook it! 

8oz Sour Cream 

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup 

1 T Poppy Seeds

1 1/2 cups Ritz Crackers, crushed

1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions: 

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl and mix. 

Spread into casserole dish (I used 8x8).

Melt butter and add crushed Ritz crackers. 

Sprinkle on top. 

Cook for 30 minutes at 350*.

Ruth Ann's Muskego Ave Grilled Chicken

I've been in a bit of a cooking funk, and needed something quick and easy for dinner.  I have a cabinet full of Penzey's Spices.  Every month or so, they send out a catalog with a coupon for a free spice.  I decided to try this one out in a different way. 

 I used grape seed oil, the Ruth Ann's Muskego Ave. Chicken Seasoning, and garlic.  I let it marinade for about an hour.  Then, I threw it on the grill.  The chicken turned out great! I even dipped it in Raspberry Chipotle sauce to add another layer of flavor. 

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

I love chicken parmesan, so why not turn it into a burger on my favorite kind of bread, ciabatta! I also liked being able to use my fresh herbs. 

Ground chicken was not easy to find.  They do not sell it at Trader Joe's or Target, but do at your regular grocery store. 

Ingredients: 

4 square ciabatta rolls

1t minced garlic

1 pound ground chicken

1/3 cup plus 2T marinara sauce, divided

1/2 t chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 t. chopped fresh thyme

1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes

1/8 t salt

1/8 t black pepper

cooking spray 

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

 basil leaves

Directions: 

1. Preheat broiler

2. Cut rolls in half, and place bread cut side up on a baking sheet.  Broil for 3 minutes, or until lightly browned.  You can also drizzle them with olive oil.  After you take them out of the oven add a little bit of garlic to each roll. 

3. Preheat oven to 375*. 

4. Combine chicken, 1/3 cup marinara, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and red pepper.  

5. Divide into 4 patties.  

6. Heat a cast iron pan over medium high heat, coat pan with cooking spray.  Add patties to pan.  Cook for 3 minutes.  

7. Turn patties and place pan in oven.  Bake at 375* for 8 minutes.  Top each with cheese, bake for 1 minute. 

8. Layer bottom half of roll with 2 basil leaves, 1 patty, marinara, and more basil! 

Adapted from Cooking Light - Back to School issue

Chicken Tacos & Easy Guac

What do you make when you have nothing to cook with? No stove, fridge, oven, silverware, microwave? You have to get creative! I went to help my friend Abbey move into her new house in Mac town.  They hadn't moved much, and still didn't have appliances.  I did pack a cutting board and knife, knowing that our resources would be limited.  I racked my brain, looked at the 2 cookbooks she had (no Internet  too!), and came up with chicken tacos! 

I went to Dillon's and bought cheese, rotisserie chicken (the last one, which was garlic and herb), salsa, tortillas, avocados, tomato, and red onion. I had brought lettuce from my garden. 

                                                  

She did have serving bowls and ramekins! So I had fun chopping each topping (onion, tomato, lettuce, avocado) and placing them in the ramekins. I shredded the chicken and made some guac.  I set it all up and we were ready for a nice taco bar! We devoured the tacos! 

Easy Guac

Ingredients: 

2 avocados

1 tomato, diced

1/4 cup salsa

salt

2 T red onion, diced

Directions: 

Mix all ingredients together and smash, in my case, cut up a lot with a knife! 

Chicken with Tomato, Corn, & Avocado Salad

Buttermilk Dressing

• 1/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
• 3 T mayonnaise 
• 2 T minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 T minced shallots
• 1 t minced fresh thyme
• 1 t cider vinegar
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/8 t salt
• 1 t minced garlic

Directions: 

Combine ingredients in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Chill buttermilk mixture until ready to serve.

Corn, Tomato, & Avocado Salad

• 2 ears yellow corn, shucked & grilled* 
• 1 small red onion, cut into 1/2-inch slices, & grilled
• 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved 
• 1 sliced peeled ripe avocado

Directions: 

Combine first 4 ingredients together.  Add in avocado. Sprinkle with salt Dress with dressing or lime juice or dressing of choice.  

*I cooked my corn the day before, so it was not hot in the salad

Chicken

• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• Cooking spray
• 1 1/2 t olive oil
• 1 t onion powder
• 3/4 t ground cumin
• 3/4 t kosher salt, divided
• 1/4 t chipotle chile powder

1. Preheat grill to high heat.
2.. Lightly coat chicken with cooking spray. Combine oil, onion powder, cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and chipotle; rub evenly over chicken. Coat corn* and onion with cooking spray. Arrange chicken, corn, and onion on grill rack; grill 8 minutes or until done, turning chicken and onion once and corn occasionally. Remove from grill; let stand 5 minutes. Cut corn kernels from cobs.


Adapted from: Ann Taylor Pittman, Cooking Light JUNE 2013

Artichoke Pesto Chicken Sandwich

With all of the grilling I have been doing, I found myself with a lot of leftover chicken. I repurposed the breasts into these yummy sandies!

Artichoke Pesto

1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
6 oz. drained canned artichoke hearts
2 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved and divided (about 1/2 cup)
2 T pine nuts
2 T mayonnaise
2 t olive oil
3 garlic cloves

Directions:
Combine artichokes, 3 tablespoons cheese, nuts, mayonnaise, oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and garlic in a mini food processor; pulse until coarsely ground.

To make sandwich: 

1. Toast bread (I used wheat bagel thins)

2. Spread artichoke pesto

3. Add chicken breast, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and sprinkle with parsley

Raspberry Jalapeno Chicken

I love my Raspberry Chipotle Bean dip, and this chicken uses the same sauce. It is soo easy, I wish I would have done this sooner.  All I did was sprinkle the chicken with a little bit of salt and pepper, and popped it on the grill. Then after it was cooked, I smothered it with the raspberry jalapeno sauce!

Having been the 3rd day I grilled in a row,  I love how easy the clean up is. I also get to wait outside in the beautiful weather for the food to cook!

Ingredients: 

Chicken breasts
salt & pepper
Raspberry Jalapeno Sauce*

*The sauce can be found in the jam or marinade section of the grocery store, or at stores such as Dean & Deluca. I have also used the raspberry chipotle and the very berry, they all taste pretty much the same

Directions- 
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, grill 6 min on each side. Remove from grill and smother with raspberry sauce!

Serve with cucumber salad.