Tag Archives: chicken

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

2 May

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

 

This is something I have made for a long time.  But, my challenge tonight was to make it gluten-free for my friend’s kids that I was watching tonight.  Normally, I make the Bisquick biscuit recipe on the box and drop it in, but tonight I used a biscuit recipe using flour so I could substitute in the gluten-free all-purpose flour that I have.  With the Bisquick, the dumplings end up pretty fluffy and it’s almost more like a chicken pot pie.  This time, it turned out more like dumplings, and was pretty good!  So, now this can be made with regular flour or gluten-free flour with good results.

 

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

What you need:

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 bag (12 oz) mixed vegetables (I used a mix of carrots, corn, green beans, and peas)
1 cup diced onion
8 cups water
6 chicken bouillon cubes (make sure to use gluten-free, if needed)
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour with xanthan gum or 2 cups all-purpose wheat flour, depending on your need
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk

How to make it:

Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray. Add chicken, vegetables, onion, water, chicken bouillon, and poultry seasoning. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Remove chicken, shred, and return to crock pot. If cooked on low, turn to high for 15 minutes.

Mix together flour, baking powder, oil, and milk.  Drop dough by spoonfuls into the slow cooker.  Cook on high 30 minutes more or until dumplings have cooked.

Note: For the dumplings, you can also use regular or gluten-free Bisquick to make biscuit dough according to the box, then drop by spoonfuls into the slow cooler. If you don’t need gluten-free, you can use a can of refrigerated biscuit dough. Cut each biscuit into fourths and roll into balls, then drop then into the slow cooler.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

31 Mar

This has been on my list of things to try making for a while.  Our main Olive Garden favorite is Zuppa Toscana, which I still make regularly, but I still wanted to give this one a try.  It is actually really easy to make and doesn’t take too long to make.  For the gnocchi, you have the option of buying at the store (usually in the pasta, refrigerated, or frozen section) or making your own.  I had a leftover baked potato in the fridge, so I decided I would try making my own.  It’s not too hard either, just a little time-consuming.  I’ll give the recipes for both.

Potato GnocchiPotato Gnocchi

What you need:

1 large russet potato, weighing about 1 pound
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup flour, plus more for work area
Pinch of salt

How to make it:

First, bake potatoes. I used a potato that I had baked in the slow cooker earlier in the week.  If you don’t have an already baked potato, preheat oven to 350 F.  Pierce potato with a fork all around potato.  Bake for about 1 hour, or until potato is very soft.  Remove potato to a rack and cut open to allow to cool.

Scoop out the insides of the potato and discard skins (or save skins for some other use).  Pass the potato through a potato ricer or run along a small grater.  Add the egg yolk, flour, and salt, and mix by hand until you get a ball of dough.

Flour your work area.  Take a small ball of the dough and gently roll on your work surface until you have a long roll about 3/4″ in diameter.  Cut off 1″ sections.  Roll each along the back of a fork to get small indentations in each piece.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

Potato Gnocchi waiting to be cookedAt this point, if you will not be using right away, place the cookie sheet in the freezer.  Once frozen, place gnocchi in a freezer safe bag or container until you will use.

To cook, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Gently add gnocchi, a few at a time, to the boiling water.  When they rise to the surface, use a slotted spoon to remove gnocchi.  Repeat for remaining gnocchi.  Serve with sauce or pesto, or set aside to add to soup below.

 

Chicken and Gnocchi SoupChicken & Gnocchi Soup

What you need:

1 lb chicken, cut into 1″ cubes (or 2 cups cooked chicken)
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups half and half (I just use 1% milk in all my soups, and it comes out fine)
1 pound potato gnocchi, made as above or cooked according to the package directions
3 cups coarsely chopped spinach leaves
Salt and black pepper to taste

How to make it:

Heat a little olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add chicken, and cook until no longer pink inside and slightly browned outside.  Remove from pot and set aside.

Heat the 3 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic.  Cook until vegetables become tender, about 10 minutes.  Mix in the flour, basil, salt and pepper.  Stir continuously for about 5 minutes.

Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and half and half to prevent any lumps from forming.  Bring to a light boil, then reduce heat to low to simmer for 20 minutes, until soup thickens.

Add the cooked gnocchi and spinach to the soup.  Gently stir and cook until spinach wilts.  Serve immediately.

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

21 Mar

Once I saw a picture of these, I knew it was something I wanted to try.  What’s funny is that 2 different friends on Facebook posted pictures with recipes that were similar, yet different.  So, I picked this version to try first, and may try another version in the near future.  I did modify from the original a bit.  It called for a can of condensed cream of chicken soup, which I am not a fan of, so I substituted butter, flour, milk, and chicken broth.  I also used 1 larger can of Grands biscuits, the can with 8 biscuits.  I took about 1/3 out of each biscuit, and put 2 of the thirds together to make another biscuit, getting 12 biscuits in all.  The whole family liked them!

Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes
Mini Chicken Pot Pies
Based on recipe here

What you need:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 cup frozen mixed veggies (I used a mix of peas, carrots, corn, and green beans)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can of 8 Grands biscuits

How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In a large skillet, heat some olive oil over medium high heat.  Add chicken and cook until no longer pink inside and a little browned on the outside.  Remove from skillet to a plate.

In the same skillet, melt the butter.  Stir in the flour, stirring continuously.  Whisk in milk and chicken broth.  Let it cook for a few minutes to thicken.  Next, stir in the poultry seasoning, chicken, and mixed veggies.  Remove from heat.

Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with non-stick spray.  Remove about 1/3 from each of the 8 biscuits and use the pieces to form 4 more biscuits, giving you 12 all together.  Spread each biscuit into each muffin cup.  Spoon the chicken mixture into each  biscuit.  Top each with shredded cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown.

Tags: , , , , ,

Orange Honey Sesame Chicken

14 Feb

Sesame Chicken has been a favorite in our house for quite a while now.  It’s a go to dish when we have vegetables to use up that are good in a stir fry, or just as a chicken dish to throw in the weekly meal plan.  I have gotten a ton of oranges lately from Bountiful Baskets and Sunizona FarmBoxes, so I decided to try to incorporate fresh squeezed orange juice somehow.  Also, the Sesame Chicken uses white sugar, but this time I decided to use honey in its place.  I have a lot of honey from a Bountiful Baskets 12 pound bucket to use, plus it’s more natural than the sugar I have.  It turned out really great!  It’s not overly orange tasting, which is what I was going for.  I also added in some fresh grated ginger, which I think I may do with the Sesame Chicken in the future as well.  (Quick tip for ginger, keep it in the freezer to keep longer, then just take it out, grate what you need, and put it back!)

Orange Honey Sesame Chicken

 

 

Orange Honey Sesame Chicken

What you need:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1″-2″ pieces
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 tsp dark sesame oil
2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
Veggies of your choice (tonight I used broccoli and green onions)
Cooked rice

How to make it:

Place flour and chicken in a gallon size zipper bag.  Shake to coat chicken in flour.  Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken to the skillet in batches and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until white and no longer pink.

Meanwhile, in a medium-sized skillet, combine the soy sauce and honey in the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the honey is mixed well with the soy sauce. Stir in the orange juice, grated ginger, sesame oil and sesame seeds.  Pour over the chicken in the larger skillet and stir to coat.

Add in any chopped veggies you want.  For this batch, I used just broccoli.  Other times I have used different combinations of broccoli, onion, green, yellow, and red peppers, shredded carrots, bean sprouts, snow peas, water chestnuts, and mushrooms.  Cover your skillet and cook until veggies have softened.  I tend to leave the veggies a little crispy still because my husband likes them still crispy.  After other veggies have softened, add the green onions.

Serve over cooked rice.

Note: You can buy toasted sesame seeds, usually with in the section with other Asian grocery items.  If you can’t find them, to toast sesame seeds, place in a dry skillet and toast, shaking the pan, over medium high heat for a minute or so, or until fragrant and lightly browned. Do this first and cook the chicken in the same skillet to pick up more sesame flavor.  Also, if you are using a lot of veggies, you may want to double the ingredients for the sauce so there is some for the veggies.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Zaycon Foods Chicken Tenders

16 Jan

This is the first of two Zaycon Foods chicken events that was available here this month, Breaded Chicken Tenders.  It was $1.99 per pound, and came as 2 boxes of 10 pounds of chicken tenders.  Then, each box actually had 2 bags, so all together I got 4 5 lb bags.  Here are 2 of the bags:

10 pounds of chicken tenders from Zaycon FoodsThese are not formed chicken, but cut pieces of white meat that are breaded.  They are not fully cooked, so they do have to be either deep-fried or baked in the oven (400F for 12-14 minutes, or until fully cooked).  They are made by the Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation under the Sweet Georgia Brand, and nutritional information and cooking instructions can be found here.

I made some for dinner tonight, and they were pretty good.  I cooked them for closer to 15 minutes, but I wanted to make sure they got cooked through.  So far, I’m happy with the purchase!

Cooked Zaycon Foods Chicken Tenders

Tags: ,

Spinach and Mozzarella Chicken with Lemon Roasted Potatoes

15 Jan

Spinach and Mozzarella Chicken with Lemon Roasted Potatoes

 

This turned out amazing!  I had gotten spinach from Bountiful Baskets in the juicing pack I contributed for, and wanted to make it with chicken somehow.  So, I started looking through some recipes, and came up with a marinade for the chicken, then topped with spinach and mozzarella cheese.  I wanted them to be somewhat flatter, but didn’t pound them flat very well.  Just meant that it took a little longer for them to cook.  Since I had gotten red potatoes and lemons as well in my regular basket, I thought roasting the potatoes with lemon would be a nice addition.

 

Spinach & Mozzarella Chicken

What you need:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons (or about 1/3 cup)
1 tablespoon rosemary
2 cloves minced garlic
Salt and pepper
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

How to make it:

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper.  Put chicken on a flat surface in between 2 pieces of wax paper and pound flat.  Place chicken in a gallon size zipper bag and pour contents of the bowl over chicken in the bag.  Seal bag and place in refrigerator overnight, or for at least 1 hour before cooking.

Remove chicken from bag and discard remaining marinade.  Preheat oven to 400 F.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook chicken in skillet for about 5 minutes each side to slightly brown it.  Remove from skillet and place in a baking dish.

In the same skillet, put in the spinach and cook for a few minutes until spinach wilts.  Place spinach on each of the chicken breasts in baking dish.  Next, put shredded mozzarella on top of the spinach on each chicken breast.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked fully through and cheese is melted.

 

 

Lemon Roasted Potatoes

What you need:

3 pounds red potatoes, well scrubbed
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Dice the potatoes, leaving skins on.  Place in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together remaining ingredients.  Pour over the potatoes in the large bowl.  Toss to fully coat potatoes.

Spray a foil lined baking sheet with non-stick spray.   Spread potatoes in an even layer on the baking sheet.

Cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.  Stir potatoes around on baking sheet.  Continue to bake for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are browned and softened.

Tags: , , , , ,

Chicken Parmesan Triangles

10 Dec

Chicken Parmesan Triangles

 

After making Lasagna with egg roll wrappers, I still had plenty of wrappers left.  I searched again, and came across this idea for Chicken Parmesan Triangles.  I did the filling a little differently and doubled the ingredients because I had 12 wrappers and wanted leftovers.  But, I had the same results, a delicious meal!  Now that I’ve done Chicken Parmesan, I have a bunch of other filling ideas, spinach and feta, oatmeal and cinnamon apples.  I don’t know if I will get to make them, but maybe at some point!

 

Chicken Parmesan Triangles
Based on recipe here

What you need:

1/2 cup onion, diced
2  cloves garlic, minced
2 lbs frozen or refrigerated fully cooked, diced chicken breast
Olive oil
1 cup chopped spinach
2 cups marinara sauce
12 egg roll wrappers
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

How to make  it:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Add onion and garlic, and cook until translucent.  Add chicken, continuing to cook until almost heated through.  Add spinach for the last part of cooking, and cook until chicken is heated all through and spinach  has wilted.  Remove from heat.

Lay an egg roll wrapper on a clean surface.  Place some of the chicken mixture on half of the wrapper, then add some mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Filling the egg roll wrapper

 

Brush the two sides that come to a point under the chicken mixture with water.  Fold the upper corner downward to cover the filling and form a triangle.  Press the sides to seal.  Repeat for remaining wrappers, chicken mixture and cheese.

Spray 2 baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray.  Lay the filled triangles on the baking sheets and spray or brush the tops with olive oil.  Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until edges turn a golden brown.

Tags: ,

Greek Salsa Chicken Salad

21 Oct

image

For tonight’s dinner, I made Lemon Herb Chicken and Greek Salsa, minus the olives, and put both over some Romaine lettuce, with a splash of balsamic vinegar. Yum!

Tags: , ,

Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

21 Oct

 

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a 40 pound case of Zaycon Foods boneless, skinless chicken breasts like the case I got in March.  A friend of mine came over with her case, and we worked on processing the cases together.  She cut the butterfly breasts into 2 pieces, while I cooked dinner (bacon wrapped chicken stuffed with cream cheese and chives, with sweet potato chips as a side), grilled about half of each case, and got the FoodSaver bags ready.  5 hours later and we had 80 pounds of chicken processed!  As she was cutting the breasts and removing extra fat, there were small chicken pieces that we set aside, my guess it was about 4 pounds worth.  We decided it would be best for some kind of stew, so I decided on chicken and rice.  I had onion, carrots, and corn in the freezer, so after a long night of prepping chicken, it was easy to throw this all in the slow cooker and let it cook overnight.  It turned out perfect!

 

Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

What you need:

4 pounds fresh chicken, diced
2 cups carrots, sliced
2 cups onion, diced
2 cups kernels of corn
8 cups water
6 chicken bouillon cubes (gluten-free)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups cooked rice

How to make it:

Add all ingredients, except rice, to the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 3-4 hours.  After it is done cooking, stir in the cooked rice.  Serve hot.

Tags: , , , , ,

Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Goat Cheese and Chives

25 Jun

I had thawed chicken for tonight’s dinner, but had no idea what I wanted to make.  I remembered I had bacon on hand, and bacon always makes everything better, right?  So, I started looking at bacon wrapped chicken recipes, and found a few that had a filling of cream cheese and chives.  I didn’t have cream cheese on hand, but I did have soft goat cheese from our Farmer’s Market visit, so I decided it would work.  I also had fresh chives from the fresh herb pack. Normally, this would be baked in the oven, but since it is so hot here, I didn’t want the extra heat.  I thought about grilling, but we had a threat of rain all afternoon.  So, I cooked this in a little olive oil on the stove top, and it turned out really well.  I served with baked potatoes and salad.

 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Goat Cheese and Chives

What you need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz soft goat cheese or cream cheese
1 tablespoon fresh chives, minced
4 strips bacon
Olive oil

How to make it:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Pound each chicken breast to 1/2′ thickness.  Spread goat cheese or cream cheese over each chicken breast.  Sprinkle each with minced chives.

Roll each chicken breast.  Wrap each breast with a piece of bacon, stretching bacon around each breast to make it thinner.  Place the wrapped chicken breasts in the skillet with the preheated oil. (You can see I was in a hurry and didn’t get the bacon wrapped around the chicken real well)

Turn wrapped chicken often to get even cooking on all sides.  Cook until internal temperature is 180 F.

Alternate baking instructions: Place wrapped chicken, seam side down in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 35-40 minutes or until a thermometer reads 180°. Broil 6 in. from the heat for 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

Tags: , , , ,

← Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 413 other followers

%d bloggers like this: