Kansas City Sue's Crock Pot Chicken

I got this recipe off of my new favorite cooking blog: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/. This recipe is not like anything I usually make, I'm not even sure what genre to put it in. American? Middle American? Anyway, it was tasty and easy and a good way to use up that cider vinegar left over from your collard greens.


4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 onion, diced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 cup low-sodium beef broth

In a large skillet, heat the butter/olive oil. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and cook them for 1-2 minutes on each side, until nicely browned but not cooked all the way through. Remove the chicken to the slow cooker. In a large bowl, combine all the other ingredients. Whisk well. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours. Serve with rice or noodles.

Lettuce Wraps

Warning: this recipe contains an odd ingredient. If you don't love lettuce wraps enough to overcome that, then just skip it.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
8 mushrooms, cut into small pieces
1 cup (2 cans?) of water chestnuts, cut into small pieces
3 small cloves of garlic, diced
1-2 bunches of green onions, finely chopped
1 small handful of cilantro, finely chopped
1/3 cup of hoisin sauce (found in asian market or aisle)
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
(2 Tbsp?) canola or veg oil

1 head of iceberg lettuce, cut in half

Cook the chicken in oil until almost done, then drop in the garlic for about a minute. Add the mushrooms and water chestnuts. Cook for another minute or so, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. Add the hoisin sauce and soy sauce, mix to coat; add green onions and cilantro. Cook for another minute or so.
Serve with lettuce.

Chicken or Shrimp Fettuccine

Carrie taught me this recipe a long time ago:

Cook 1 chicken breast (cubed) or 1 cup shrimp in 2 Tbsp butter

In a different pan, saute in 2 Tbsp olive oil:
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, mashed

Add
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp oregano

Then add
1 can cream of celery soup
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt/pepper

Pour over 1 lb pasta. (picture features all my leftover pastas together)

Chicken Parmesan

This was easy, fast, and delicious. The only non-staple ingredient was fresh parmesan.

I was working off this recipe http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001998parmesan_chicken.php.

Cut 3 chicken breasts into 8 pieces. Cut them the long way first, so you have two wide round peices that are 1/2 the thickness of the original piece. You're trying to maximize surface area for the cheese part.

Dip #1
1/3 cup butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 egg

Dip #2
equal parts breadcrumbs and fresh parmesan
italian seasoning (or i used seasoned breadcrumbs)
salt/pepper

So roll the chicken pieces around, then put them in a 9x13 baking dish. Cook at 450 for 15-20 minutes.

Chicken Noodle Soup

3 cans of chicken soup stock
1 cup of water (could have used more)
1 boullion cube
1 big chicken breast
celery
carrots
1 lb pasta
1 bay leaf
salt/pepper
any other seasonings you wish- some recipes call for basil or oregano

Throw everything in the pot and bring up to pressure. Cook for 4 minutes. Serve with biscuits on a rainy day.
Note: I don't really like the soup part of soup, so I went a little too light on the liquids department. Mine ended up more like chicken soup flavored pasta, which was alright too.

chicken vegetable soup

Ingredients:
Chicken, carrots, potatoes, 4 cups chicken stock, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp parsley, salt/pepper, whatever other spices you're in the mood for.

Cut every thing about the same size, put in a pressure cooker. Bring up to pressure. Cook for 4 whole minutes. Use quick release method to release the steam. Eat the soup. The potatoes were even a bit over done, so I might cut down the cooking time next time.

Chicago delights- easy!

This delicious dish is Shrimp Fettechine Torino. I replicated this at home, and got almost the same results, but without the shrimp.

To make the sauce, just mix equal parts marinara sauce (the red stuff) and alfredo sauce (the white, creamy stuff). I used the stuff right out of a jar. You could add chicken or shrimp, or we ate it plain. It is great! Feels very fancy, but not too heavy.

Best of both worlds!

Baked Pesto Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 c pesto
mozzarella cheese(enough to cover chicken)
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375. season chicken with salt and pepper.
spread 1/4 c pesto in baking dish.
lay chicken in pesto cover with remaining pesto.
cover baking dish with foil and bake 20-25 min.
uncover and top the chicken with cheese
put back in until cheese is melted, 5 min.
one recipe called for tomato on top as well you decide.

fraaad chikin'!

I fed a mess of kids this yummy chicken and then took the cold left overs to Shaver for the 4th of July....We were fighting over the scraps. Carrie said that made it blog worthy!

In a bowl beat 1 egg and 3/4 c water. Then mix in
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c flour
1/4 tsp pepper
set aside...

In another bowl or container, mix..

1 1/3 c flour
1 T garlic salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
1 1/4 tsp poultry seasoning

Now here is the sketchy part. Since I don't agree with owning a "deep fat fryer", I just take a large pot and start pouring in the oil till it is about 2-3 inch deep (a little deeper if you are doing whole pieces with bones) and turn up the heat. The oil needs to be REALLY hot. 375* if you have a thermometer. If you don't have one, heat it till a drop of water imediatly pops and sizzles when you drop it in there. If it's not hot enough, the chicken will just soak up the oil and it will be soggy (blech).
Take raw chicken pieces (can be pieces with bones, but we just did "tenders") and dip them in the slimy mix, then dip them in the flour mix. One idea is to put the flour mix in a big ziploc and shake them around. Then put them in the oil, a few pieces at a time. Too many pieces cool off the oil.
3-5 min on a side or untill golden brown. Whole pieces take a bit longer.
Great alone, but a piece wrapped up with lettuce, cheese, and ranch in a tortilla would put even Claire's lunches to shame!!

Chilie Verde!

This is what made me decide I could like Mexican food. YUM YUM!

Cubes of pork - 1 lb? (the measurements of this one are going to drive some of you crazy)

Tomatillos - 15-20 med.- chopped

7 oz can of chopped green chilies

1 onion - chopped

3+ cloves of garlic

2+Tbsp of "jhalapinyo" peppers (don't be afraid)

1 tsp cummin

salt and pepper

Brown pork in a little oil or butter. Very hot. Just sizzle them around till they brown a little and no pink is left. Add all the other ingredients (save salt and pepper to taste at the end) and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 1 1/2+ hours, or until the meat falls apart and most of the liquid cooks out. Or you can put the browned meat and everything else in a crock pot on hi for 4-5 hours. Don't forget the salt and pepper. Shred up the meat the best you can and serve in hot (so they get soft) corn tortillas with cheese and sour cream. It is also really good over cheese enchiladas (cheese and corn tortillas) and baked.

Chicken Pot Pie

Easy to keep the basic ingredients on hand, especially if you buy frozen pie crusts:

Ingredients:
1-2 carrots, cut up
4-5 medium potatoes, cubed (I leave the skins on)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1-2 cans of chicken
1 can chicken gravy
1 pie crust
sage, pepper

1) Boil carrots and potatoes together until soft (10 min?)

2) Combine chicken, peas and gravy in frying pan, warm through.

3) Add carrots and potatoes, season to taste with sage and pepper. Be generous with the sage.

4) Pour into pie crust, cook at 400' until crust is brown, 20-25 min. Yum, yum!

Stir Fry

Need more vegetables in your life? Try some stir fry!

First put 2 cubed chicken breasts in this marinade:
1 tsp ginger
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 clove crushed garlic

Then while your chicken soaks up the flavor, chop up whatever vegetables you have: carrots, broccoli, peas, mushrooms, bell pepper, etc.

Heat up oil in a wok or a big fry pan. Add chicken first and then vegetables in order of cooking time. Add a bit more soy sauce if needed and serve over rice!

Taco Soup

2 cans of beans (any kind you like-pinto, black, kidney)
1 can corn
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes w/green chilies
1 can chicken (or other meat)
1 chopped bell pepper
1/2 chopped onion
1 cup water

1 package ranch dressing mix
1 package taco seasoning

Put everything together and let it simmer for as long as you can. Serve with shredded cheese and chips.