A New Twist on Grilled Chicken...

Grilled Chicken with Roasted Grape Tomatoes

Ingredients:

Chicken Cutlets 

(marinated in YOUR favorite Italian Dressing)

Package of Grape Tomatoes

2 teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Garlic, Salt and Pepper

Mozzarella Cheese

Begin by preparing your chicken...

Marinade the chicken cutlets in Italian Salad Dressing for 

a few hours in the refrigerator.

I usually do this early in the morning so the chicken has time

to soak in all the goodness.  

Now, prepare the tomatoes...

Mix together the balsamic vinegar with the olive oil and

toss with the package of grape tomatoes that you have already seasoned 

with garlic, salt and pepper.

I did this step a few hours earlier and put the grape tomatoes

in a plastic container and then in the refrigerator...

Now, let's start GRILLING...

Place your chicken on the grill and cook until just about done.

Remove the chicken and place in an aluminum pan.  

Please do not use a GLASS pan!

Spread the tomatoes, along with their marinade, over the grilled chicken.

Close the grill and let cook about 5 minutes or 

until the tomatoes start to burst...

Now sprinkle the chicken with some mozzarella cheese and 

close the lid again for a few more minutes until the cheese has melted...

Doesn't that look DELICIOUS?

I like to serve this chicken with a side salad and homemade mac and cheese.

Now this is dinner!

Easy, quick and DELICIOUS.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is a family favorite that I've been making for years.

Chicken Broth,  Half and Half,  Butter, Flour, Frozen Mixed Vegetables, Cooked Chicken...

Melt 1/3 cup butter in a large skillet.

Once the butter is melted, add 1/3 cup flour and stir till both are blended.

This is what your "roux" should look like...

Add 2/3 cup half and half and stir.

I usually use fat free half and half...

Next add 1 1/2 cups chicken broth and continue to stir...

Continue stirring and cooking until the mixture is nice and thick.

Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

I also add a chicken bouillon cube for added flavor.

Add the cooked chicken...

Add the frozen mixed vegetables.

Any mixture of frozen vegetables works great.  

Most of the time I use peas and carrots, but I had this mixture on hand...

Cook on low until the vegetables are cooked.

Now, doesn't this look DELICIOUS? 

At this point you can do a number of things.

You can pour the entire mixture into an uncooked pie crust and cover with another 

crust and you have Chicken Pot Pie.

OR...

You can have Chicken and Dumplings.

Mix 2 cups Bisquick with 2/3 cup milk...

Using two spoons, drop your "dumplings" into the chicken and vegetable mixture.

Cover and cook for about 10 minutes until the dumplings are cooked.

Now THIS is dinner!

I usually make the chicken and vegetable mixture early in the morning 

and finish it up with the dumplings or into "pot pie" about 20 minutes 

before we're ready to eat. 

You may need to add more chicken broth to the mixture 

if you let it sit for awhile.  

It will thicken up and you want it nice and creamy before

adding to a pie crust or making dumplings.

This mixture freezes well also!

And to be really fancy, I make individual chicken pot pies. 

Enjoy!

NOTE:  The original recipe calls for sauted onions.  

Our family doesn't care for the onions, so I leave them out. 

You can also add cubed "almost cooked" potatoes to the mixture. 

Apricot Chicken

Don't you get tired of making the same chicken dishes all the time? 

I found this recipe a few weeks ago and have made it about 3 times and...

IT'S DELICIOUS!

And all you need is apricot jam and orange juice.

Mix together 1 tablespoon of apricot jam with about 1/3 cup orange juice.

I am only making ONE chicken breast.  

You will need to increase the amounts for more chicken.

Nice consistency.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Brown both sides in a little bit of oil.  

Transfer chicken to a baking dish.

Pour apricot jam/orange juice on top.

Bake until done!

Now doesn't that look delicious?

The first time I made this recipe I also made a few chicken legs with a breast.  

My son LOVES chicken legs.

He took one bite from the chicken and said,

"My mouth is tingling from this delicious chicken." 

Let me know if you try it!

ENJOY!

Chicken Fajitas...

Remember how we started these past few recipes? 

Chicken cutlets were on sale and I wanted to share with you

how I take advantage of them when they're on sale. 

If you read my post on how I prepare my pre-cooked chicken cutlets, 

you'll remember that besides pre-cooking the cutlets,

I also wrapped half the package of cutlets individually in 

aluminum foil and placed them in a freezer storage bag in the freezer.

That way, when I want to use the chicken cutlets for a variety of meals,

I just pull how many cutlets I need for the meal.   

I've always frozen my chicken cutlets wrapped individually in aluminum foil 

since I was first married many, many moons ago. 

Here's a recipe we all love...

Chicken Fajitas

• 3 Chicken breasts
• 3 Peppers, try to use different colors.  When I made these only green peppers were on sale.
• 2 Onions
• Italian salad dressing
• Flour tortillas
• Cheddar Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Salsa

DIRECTIONS:

 Cut the onions and peppers up early in the morning.

Place them in a Tupperware, toss them with some of the bottled Italian dressing

and let them marinade in the refrigerator all day.

Here they are going on the grill.

They can take up to 30 minutes to cook.

Remember to check them and stir them!

I purchased this great grilling basket last year.  

LOVE IT!

Grilled vegies all done and ready to go!

Take 3 chicken cutlets from the freezer the night before and let them 

defrost on a plate in the refrigerator. 

In the morning,  unwrap and place them in a baking dish or a Tupperware

and marinade them also in some Italian dressing.  

Place them back in the refrigerator until you're ready to start dinner.

All grilled and looking delicious...

Here the fajitas are all assembled...

Feel free to add sour cream and salsa,

which I did AFTER I took the above picture! 

Enjoy!

Please note, if you DO NOT have a grilling basket like mine, you can STILL make this dish!

Just place your peppers and onions in some aluminum foil

and place on the grill.  

You'll need to really watch them so they don't burn on you. 

This is how I use to make them before I purchased the grill basket.  

What to do on a Busy Day...

When I have an extremely busy day, 

I go to my package of pre-cooked chicken cutlets,

that I've prepared and frozen,

and place them in a cooking dish in the refrigerator to 

defrost all day. 

About 30 minutes before dinner, 

I cover them in tomato sauce, home-made of course, 

and add some mozzarella cheese...

Bake at 385 for about 15 minutes or until they look

DELICIOUS

and your house smells like Little Italy...

While the chicken is cooking in the oven,

I make a nice side dish of spaghetti and a yummy salad.

Now doesn't that look DELICIOUS?

Dinner on the table in 30 minutes...

Feel free to add some crusty Italian bread!

ENJOY!

Chicken Cutlets...

When I know we're going to have a CRAZY day, 

I go into the freezer, grab a few of my pre-cooked chicken cutlets

and place them in a baking dish letting them defrost in the refrigerator all day. 

I bake them in the oven at 375 for about 15 minutes 

or until they're cooked all the way through...

We never eat frozen French fries anymore. 

I make my own. 

Wash a few potatoes, cut them into chunks or whatever size you desire...

Sprinkle with seasoning salt or whatever flavors you like, 

toss in oil or spray with Pam.  

Bake them in a 425 oven. 

I finish them under the broiler to get really crispy...

Here's the finished meal. 

Chicken cutlet, crispy potatoes, steamed carrots and a salad.

All on the table within 30 minutes. 

The picture is a bit boring looking, sorry! 

The plate was not big enough for the salad to make it look more colorful.

Come back tomorrow to see Meal #2!

Enjoy!

Chicken Cutlets

So what do YOU do when chicken cutlets are on sale? 

This package says $1.99 a pound, but I had a coupon and actually purchased 

them for $1.69 a pound.

Instead of just throwing the whole package into the freezer, 

I take some steps NOW to make cooking easier on busy days.

This is what I do with my chicken cutlets. 

I take them all out of the package and if they're really thick, 

I'll slice them them in half, making them thinner and trim the fat off.  

Then half of them will go into a bowl with beaten eggs.

After I rinse them, of course!

Then into a baking dish of bread crumbs...

And into a hot pan with a little oil.

I only brown them.  

They're not cooked through...

Drain on some paper towels...

Then I wrap them individually in aluminum foil 

and place in a bag and throw the bag in the freezer...

The ones that WEREN'T cooked, just get wrapped up individually in 

aluminum foil and placed in a different bag 

and thrown in the freezer...

Come back tomorrow to see how I turn the above packages into meals!

Chicken Francais

Today's recipe comes from Fran.  

This recipe sounds DELICIOUS and EASY!

INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs
1/2 c. grated Parmesan (I use Romano)
4 T butter
2 T lemon juice
1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken breasts (pounded thin)
cream (optional)

• Beat egg in bowl and add cheese until consistency of thick batter like cornmeal muffin mix.
  
• Add lemon juice
  
• Thickly coat chicken breasts with batter and drop in sizzling hot melted butter
  
• May need to add more butter as you cook. 
  
• Cook through on each side deepening on the thickness of chicken.
  
• Remove chicken from skillet and add some cream to deglaze the pan and make gravy to pour over chicken.  
  

If you don't want to use the cream to deglaze the pan, you can always use a little chicken broth. 

 I use Fat Free Half and Half in place of recipes that call for heavy cream and you really cannot tell the difference and it's very low in calories and DELICIOUS!

Chicken Kona

This recipe comes from my college friend Rhonda, who lives in Texas. The best thing is, it's made in the crock pot.  So if you have a busy day planned pull out your crock pot and make this for dinner!

I tried this recipe and let me tell you it is delicious!

Ingredients:

3 to 4 pounds chicken pieces 

salt, pepper, and garlic powder 

1/2 cup soy sauce 

1/2 cup water 

1/2 cup green onion, chopped 

1/2 cup honey

Preparation:

• Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder; place in slow cooker. 
  
• Combine water, soy sauce, and chopped onion and pour over chicken. 
  
• Cover and cook on LOW 3-4 hours or until chicken is tender. 
  
• Remove chicken from pot. 
  
• Arrange on broiler pan and brush honey on chicken. 
  
• Broil until golden brown, brushing with honey several times.
  
• Serves 4.
  

I served this chicken with rice pilaf and green beans.  

Yummy!  

My daughter Olivia said to definitely make this recipe again!  

Baked Greek Chicken

Today's recipe is from my friend Ruth.

Don't let the length of these instructions scare you away!

This recipe sounds DELICIOUS!

Baked Greek Chicken

Ingredients: 

1 whole broiler/fryer chicken -- cut up (I used thighs and breasts)

1 tsp salt

2 lemons

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 T fresh oregano, chopped

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 T olive oil

1 fennel bulb, cored and sliced

 

Orzo

1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved

1/3 cup crumbled feta

 

Preheat oven to 425. 

 Pat chicken dry.  Loosen skin and sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt under the skin.  

Grate zest of one lemon, then cut lemon in half and juice.  

In small bowl, stir together 2 tsp. zest, 2 T of lemon juice, remaining 1/2 tsp salt, 

garlic, oregano and pepper.  

Tuck half of this mixture under the skin of chicken.  

Cut peel off of second lemon, chop into pieces.

 

Add olive oil to remaining herb mixture in bowl.  

Toss with sliced fennel and chopped lemon.  

Transfer to a large baking dish.  

Top with chicken pieces and bake at 425 for 40 minutes 

(I baked it longer -- until it was really golden brown -- like closer to an hour). 

 

Meanwhile, cook orzo following package directions.  

Drain and transfer to a bowl.  

Transfer chicken to a platter and spoon fennel and some of the

 drippings from the pan in with the orzo.  

Add olives and feta and stir to combine.  

Serve warm.