Asian Chicken Lettuce Cups

I've had this recipe around for awhile and even had it written on here awhile. And I'm finally getting to posting it now! I got this from the same Rachael Ray magazine as I did the stromboli recipe-they were on the same page to be exact! Just like the stromboli, this is another winner!

Asian Chicken Lettuce Cups
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
2tbsp oil
1 lb ground chicken or turkey
1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 scallions-whites and greens separated and chopped
1 large head of butter lettuce, leaves separated

1. In small bowl, combine the hoisin sauce and soy sauce with 1/3 cup water.
2. In large skillet or wok, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add chicken and cook, breaking apart until browned.
3. Reduce heat to medium and add the carrot and 1tbsp oil-cook 2mins. Add garlic and scallion whites and cook 1min. Stir in hoisin mixture and cook until sauce thickens, 1-2min.
4. Divide the lettuce leaves among 4 plates. Top each leaf with chicken mixture, sprinkle with scallion greens.

(Notes: I used ground chicken for ours. And I didn't sprinkle the scallion greens on-I just threw them in the pan at the end instead! I can't remember if this suggested a dipping sauce at all-I know we didn't use one, but it might be a good addition to the recipe.)

This was very good, but to me it wasn't very filling. It's meant to serve 4 people and I think Gabe and I split the recipe and I was still on the hungry side. I probably should have made a side of veggies or something. It would also make for a great appetizer as well! We'll be making this again for sure!

Chicken and Broccoli Stromboli

I found this recipe in the monthly Rachel Ray magazine. It looked really good so we tried it out shortly after I found it (keep in mind I'm a few months behind in the reading!). 

Chicken and Broccoli Stromboli
1 yellow onion, chopped
4tbsp olive oil
1 small head of broccoli, chopped
1/2 lb ground chicken or turkey
1lb pizza dough, thawed
8oz shredded mozzarella
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. In skillet, cook the onion in 1tbsp oil over medium for 3mins. Transfer 1/3 to a plate.  Add the broccoli and 1/2 cup water and cook for 3mins. Transfer to a large bowl.
3. In the same skillet, cook the chicken in 1tbsp oil over medium-high, breaking apart and until browned. Transfer to the bowl with broccoli mixture. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
4. Coat baking sheet with 1tbsp oil. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Stretch each into an oval (roughly 8x4") and sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese. Spoon 1/4 of the chicken mixture down the center of each then top with remaining cheese.
5. Fold one long side over the filling and fold in the ends. Roll into a log. Transfer to the baking sheet seam side down. Brush each with the remaining oil and cut 2 diagonal slits in the top.
6. Bake until golden, about 15mins.
7. While baking, in the skillet, cook tomatoes with the reserved onion about 5mins. Serve over stromboli.

before going in the oven

(Notes: I used frozen pizza dough from Wegmans (the dough balls)-one of those actually is 2lb so it would make a double recipe of this. I used ground chicken for mine. Rolling them up is really challenging-they are pretty full of stuff so it makes it really hard to roll up without ripping the dough!)

These turned out SO yummy! Gabe and I each had one for dinner then ate the other 2 for leftovers later that week. Then we made them again the following week! That's how much we liked them! The last time I made them I did a double batch so I froze half (4) of them. We haven't eaten the frozen ones yet, but I'm sure they'll be fine reheated. Definitely give these a try if you're looking for something new! Delish!

Crockpot Pineapple Chicken

This recipe has been floating around on social media lately. I jotted it down to give it a try and on Monday I decided to give it a whirl!

Crockpot Pineapple Chicken
 2lbs chicken, cubed
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce

1. Put all ingredients into crockpot and cook for 6-8hrs.

Easy right?!

I was "eh" about this recipe. I expected it to be a sweeter, thicker sauce like you see on the photo that pops up on your news feed. Not at all. I cooked mine on low and after about 4hrs, I could tell that the sauce was like water. So, I added some cornstarch to the sauce (maybe 3tbs?) and cranked it up to high for 2hrs to thicken it. That did the trick, but the sauce was not sweet to me at all.  All I could taste was the soy sauce, so I was a little disappointed in that. My chicken was pretty dry too so I think the cooking time is a little too long. I think next time I'll cut the soy sauce in half and keep the rest the same to see how that works out. We had it over brown rice, and I would do that again. It wasn't a total loss, but needs some tweaking for sure! And of course I forgot to get a picture of it!

Crescent Roll Chicken

We went to dinner at a friend's house back shortly after Cassandra was born. She made this for dinner and it was so yummy! I've made it a few times since, but for some reason never posted the recipe!

Crescent Roll Chicken

In saucepan, combine:
1 can cream of chicken
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup milk

2 cans crescent rolls
2 chicken breasts, cooked and finely chopped
4oz cream cheese, very soft
4tbsp butter, very soft
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
2-4tbsp mayo
1/2 tsp salt
1/2tsp pepper
1-2 cups shredded cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In saucepan, heat cream of chicken soup, shredded cheese, and milk over low until combined and melted. Spread some of this mixture on the bottom of a 9x13" pan.
3. In a bowl, combine cream cheese, butter and garlic powder. Stir until well mixed.  Add chicken, shredded cheese, onion, salt, pepper, and mayo and mix well.
4. Unroll and separate crescent rolls. Add appx 1tbsp of chicken mixture to one crescent roll and roll up from wide end to thin end. Place in pan seam side down. Repeat for all crescent rolls.
5.  Top crescent rolls with the rest of the soup mixture and shredded cheese.
6. Bake 30min

Notes: This recipe takes awhile to make. I started out with a fully cooked rotisserie chicken (used 1.5cups of chicken) and even with that, this took me a half hour from start to finish....and I had Gabe helping with the soup duties! So if you have to cook the chicken as well-it's time consuming! And yes, there's lots of cheese and you can use any kind. I used colby jack, but I think my friend used a mix of cheddar and swiss for hers. I'll also say that getting this into a 9x13" pan is quite tricky-you really have to squeeze them in there! 

Definitely give this a try-it's a good one when hosting a dinner party!

Peanut Butter Crockpot Chicken

I've professed my love for peanut butter quite a few times on here before, so of course this recipe piqued my interest!  And it's another one to try in the crockpot-yay!

Peanut Butter Chicken

1 1/2 lb chicken
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp cumin
juice of 1 lime (~2tbsp)
1/2 cup chicken broth

1. Put all ingredients into crockpot and cook on low 6-8hrs or high for 4hrs.

(Notes: I used boneless/skinless chicken breasts and cut them in half. The recipe wasn't clear on exactly what type of chicken to use!  I also used creamy peanut butter, but I'm sure you could try crunchy if you desire!)

We served this over some simple brown rice.

Honestly this wasn't one of my favorite recipes as of late. Out of the 3 crockpot chicken dishes I've made in the past month, this was probably my least favorite. It was good, but not fantastic.  Gabe thought it was too "nutty" tasting-to me I couldn't really pick out the peanut taste. Would I make it again?  Probably, but it wouldn't be first on my list!

Salsa Chicken

I pulled out the crock pot again  yesterday to try another dinner out....and it was a winner! 

Super easy too, which adds bonus points to any recipe!

Salsa Chicken
3 chicken breasts (I cut them in half)
1 1/2 cups salsa
1 can black beans-drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn

1. Put all ingredients into crockpot and cook on low 6-9hrs or high 4-6hrs

(Notes: the only thing I changed was I put in an extra cup of corn, making it 2 cups. I cooked mine on low for 6hrs and the chicken was done perfectly....any longer and I think it would have been too long!)

This was very tasty and we served it with some spanish rice on the side. It would also be good served over plain rice as well.

We'll definitely be making this again!

Brown Sugar Chicken

I can't remember the last time I used  my crock pot...I know, I know-sue me!  Seriously I think it was when I lived in my apartment which was just a mere 8 YEARS ago! Yeah...that long.

I decided it was time to bust it out and dust it off!

See, the crock pot is a good idea....throw stuff in it and a few hours later-boom! Dinner is done. However most recipes only need to cook around 6 hours which just doesn't jive when you work/are gone from the house for 10+ hours. Unless you have one you can program (do they even make those?), which of course I don't.  And of course who the hell wants to get all of the stuff ready at 6am before work and have it sitting out for hours even if you could program it?!  So unfortunately I don't think this will work on my working days (which would be the most beneficial days to do it)...bummer.

Yesterday I didn't work and was going to be home most of the day (I'm sort of paranoid about leaving the thing running for 6+ hours with no one home!) so I decided to try out a new recipe I found.

Brown Sugar Chicken
6 chicken breast halves (boneless/skinless)
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp pepper
1/4 cup 7up

1. Put all ingredients into crock pot and cook on low for 6-9hrs or high for 4-6hrs

Can it get any easier? 

Yes, yes it can!

The chicken? Yep, put it in frozen! That my friends is e.a.s.y!

I cooked up some Arborio rice and for the last hour in the crock pot I threw in some fresh (not frozen) broccoli with the chicken.  Served the chicken and broccoli over the rice and it was delish!

I will say that I did mine on low for 6hrs and I would not have cooked it any longer. It was very tender, but I could tell it was starting to dry out a little bit. I might even cook it a little less next time. But it was good....very good!

Try this one for sure!  And I apologize that I didn't get a photo of it!

Chicken Sour Cream Casserole

I actually made this recipe last week and never posted it. And (shame on me) I never took any pictures of it either!

I got this from a chat board that I go on...we decided to do a weekly recipe post so this was one that was posted a few weeks ago.

Chicken Sour Cream Casserole
4 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
8oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup chicken broth
cracker crumbs mixed with melted butter

1. In a casserole dish, pour 3/4 of the cracker/butter mixture on the bottom.

2. Layer cubed chicken on top.

3. Combine soup, broth, and sour cream. Pour over chicken.

4. Top with remaining cracker mixture.

5. Bake at 350 for 20min.

Notes: I used a 2.5qt casserole dish and it worked out fine. Instead of chicken breasts, I bought the tenderloins (like chicken fingers)-it was just over 1lb of chicken. I cut them into pieces and pan fried them. For the crackers, I used about 1/2 sleeve of town house crackers (sort of like Ritz) and about 1-2tbsp of melted butter. I served this with a side of brown rice and both of us ended up mixing the rice in with it.

This recipe was very good. It reminds me of this recipe a little bit because the sauce tastes the same. It was very easy and both of us liked it. We'll definitely make this again!

Chicken and Apple Couscous

Once again I'm making a recipe I found over at Heather Drive. This sounded good when I read her blog so I decided to give it a try. It turned out pretty tasty I think. We omitted the raisins, but maybe I would try it with them next time to see what it's like.
Chicken & Apple Couscous
(Source: All About Apples)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups coarsely chopped cooked chicken (we used approximately 1.3 lb. which was a little over 2 cups)
- 2 cups dry couscous
- 2 1/2 cups boiling chicken stock (I used chicken broth instead)
- 1/2 cup golden raisins (we omitted)
- 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
- 2 apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup butter cut in small pieces
- 1/2 tsp. ground coriander seeds
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. ground cloves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a 9 x 13 x 2 inch glass baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.

Easy Chicken Bake

Tonight I'm making one of my favorite dinners. We haven't had it in a really long time so I can't wait to dig in!

Easy Chicken Bake
1 pkg Stove Top stuffing mix
1 cup hot water
1 1/2 lb boneless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup sour cream
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained (you can omit/change these)

Preheat oven to 400. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the dry stuffing mix evenly on the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish; set aside. Add hot water to remaining stuffing mix and stir until just moistened.

Place chicken over dry stuffing mix in dish. Mix soup, sour cream, and vegetables. Spoon over chicken. Top with prepared stuffing.

Bake 30min. or until chicken is cooked through.

Oh, did I mention this is off of the stove top stuffing box?!