Breaded Garlic Chicken in Lemon-Butter Sauce

Breaded Garlic Chicken in Lemon-Butter Sauce
From Mel's Kitchen Cafe

*Note: if you prefer more sauce, since this makes a lighter, smaller amount of sauce, consider doubling the sauce ingredients.


4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup seasoned flour (1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper)
5 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon parsley flakes or 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, from about 1 lemon
3 eggs
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 tablespoons butter

Place the seasoned flour in a large gallon-size ziploc bag. Set aside. In a shallow pie plate, beat the eggs until mixed and add the Parmesan cheese. Whisk to combine. Set aside.

In a large skillet, melt one tablespoon butter and one tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Let it begin to heat and sizzle while you prepare the chicken but be careful not to let the butter burn and turn brown.

Put the four chicken breasts in the bag with the seasoned flour, close the bag, and shake to coat the chicken in the flour. One by one, take the chicken out of the bag and dip into the egg/Parmesan mixture. Place the chicken carefully in the skillet with the hot oil/butter. Repeat with the other chicken breasts. Let the chicken cook on the first side, without moving or flipping the chicken, for 1-2 minutes until a nice, golden crust has formed. Carefully, using a wide spatula, flip the chicken and let it continue to cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side until it is golden brown. The chicken will flip easiest if it has had time to sizzle and cook to form a nice crust.  Remove the chicken to a 9X13-inch pan. Set aside while you make the sauce.

In the same skillet that you browned the chicken, melt the remaining four tablespoons butter. Add the minced garlic, lemon juice, and parsley. Simmer the sauce for 1-2 minutes, stirring and scraping up any browned bits that were on the bottom of the skillet.

Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken breasts and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Serve over noodles, rice or potatoes.

Tender BBQ Chicken Legs

BBQ Chicken Legs
My sister MaryAnn

10-12 Chicken Legs
1-2 bottles BBQ Sauce

Skin chicken legs and place in a single layer in a 9X13 pan.  Fill with water until chicken is covered.  Cover with aluminum foil.  Cook on 275 for 1 and 1/2 hours.

Drain chicken.  Evenly pour BBQ sauce on legs.  Recover with aluminum foil and bake at 325 for 1 hour.  Serve.

Cheesy Skillet Chicken and Rice with Green Beans

Cheesy Skillet Chicken and Rice with Green Beans
From Mel's Kitchen Cafe, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Cover and Bake
*Serves 4-6

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
8 ounces white button mushrooms, brushed clean and quartered or sliced
4 medium garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
1 ½ cups long grain white rice
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
½ pound frozen or fresh green beans
1 cup shredded sharp or extra-sharp cheddar cheese
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season liberally with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until the oil is rippling and hot. Carefully lay each chicken breast in the skillet and cook until the chicken is well browned on the first side, about 3-4 minutes. Flip the chicken with a pair of tongs and let it brown on the second side, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Drain all but about 1-2 tablespoons oil from the pan.
Return the pan to medium heat. Add the onion, mushrooms, garlic and ½ teaspoon salt and cook, scraping the browned bits off the bottom and edges of the pan, until the mushrooms begin to soften and start to brown, about 6-8 minutes. Add the rice and continue to cook until the edges of the rice turn translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken to the pan and cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and the rice is mostly cooked through, about 15 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the skillet again, brushing off any rice that sticks to the chicken back into the skillet. Cover the chicken with foil to keep warm. Stir the green beans into the skillet, stir the mixture well, cover and continue to cook on low until the beans and rice are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Simple Crock Pot Chicken

Simple Crock pot Chicken -
**The picture is deceiving.  You can't ever get it to come out of the crock pot whole.  It is so tender it just falls apart.**

Whole Chicken
1 Whole Onion
2-3 Whole Garlic Cloves
Salt & Pepper

Recipe is best if you cook in crock pot on low for at least 8 hours.  Skin your chicken.  The skinning part is gross but it is so much better than your chicken swimming in fat.  Once the chicken is skinned and rinsed you are ready.  Cut your onion in half and put in the cavity of the chicken.  Shove the garlic cloves in there as well.  Rub the chicken all over with salt and pepper.  I use about one and a half teaspoons of salt on a good sized chicken.  I then generously sprinkle pepper all over.

I always spray my crock pot with non-stick cooking spray for easy clean up.  I lay the chicken in the crock put, breasts down and that's it.  Once cooked, your chicken will literally fall apart as you take it out.  So have your serving dish ready.  I then strain the liquid in the crock pot and use it for gravy for the mashed potatoes.

Crock pot BBQ Whole Chicken

Crock pot BBQ Whole Chicken

Bottle of your favorite BBQ Sauce
1 Whole Chicken
1 onion
2 cloves garlic

Skin your Chicken.  Cut onion into 4 pieces and put inside cavitiy of chicken.  Shove the garlic cloves in there as well.  Pour bottle of sauce all over chicken.  Bake on high 5 hours or on low 8 hours.

Serve with baked potatoes, corn on the cob and salad.

Southwestern Chicken Lasagna - Freezer Meal

Southwest Chicken Lasagna

From A Bear in the Kitchen

8 small flour tortillas
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies
1 small can diced green chilies
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
juice from 1/2 lime
1/4 cup water, as needed
chopped cilantro, to taste for garnish
3 cups monterrey jack cheese, grated

Combine cooked chicken, onions, Rotel tomatoes, green chilies, and spices in a pan and saute. Let simmer until just boiling. Then add corn, black beans, and water if necessary to make a slightly soupy consistency.

Lightly grease a 9x13 foil baking dish. Layer 2-3 tortillas on the bottom, cutting one in half if necessary to almost cover the bottom of the pan. Scoop 1/2 chicken mixture on top of tortillas then with half of the cheese. Repeat (tortillas, chicken mixture, and cheese). Then with a pizza cutter slice 2 tortillas into triangles, place on top of casserole and garnish with fresh cilantro. Cover with plastic wrap then foil, label with cooking instructions and freeze.

Cooking Instructions:
Thaw in fridge. Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 20 minutes covered loosely with foil. Uncover and bake 20-30 minutes more.

Crispy Oven Fried Chicken

This is one of my kids favorite meals.  This recipe is a lot leaner than fried nuggets.

Crispy Oven Fried Chicken
Adapted from Set for Life Cookbook

1 c. seasoned bread crumbs
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
4  Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts cut into strips
1 c. Skim Milk

Put bread crumbs and Parmesan Cheese inside large Ziploc bag.  Dip chicken in milk and let drain slightly.  Place two or three pieces of chicken inside Ziploc bag with breading, and shake to coat.  Place chicken on foil lined cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes until inside of chicken is no longer pink. 

Serve with rice or baked potatoes, steamed broccoli and salad.

Crockpot Applesauce Chicken

I have to be honest and say I have not tried this recipe before.  However I have a similar recipe for Cafe Rio Sweet Pork which calls for applesauce.  So I am going to be daring and try it.  

Crockpot Applesauce Chicken
From A Year of Slow Cooking

--4 frozen chicken breast halves or thighs (I used 2 of each)
--1 1/2 cups of applesauce
--1 T dried onion flakes, or 1 yellow onion, chopped finely
--1 T apple cider vinegar
--1/4 tsp cinnamon
--1/2 tsp black pepper
--2 cloves garlic, minced--1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional, I used them, and added more to the adult servings)

The Directions.

A 3 or 4 quart crockpot is the best size for this, but I did use a 6 quart. If your pot cooks fast, err on the lower end of cooking time.

Put the frozen chicken pieces into your crockpot. Add the onion (if you are using the dried onion, wait and add it to the applesauce). In a bowl, mix the applesauce, vinegar, garlic, and spices together. Pour on top of the chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours, or on high for 3-4.

Serve with rice or quinoa.  

Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken

Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken

From A Year of Slow Cooking

--1 whole chicken, skinned (4-5 pounds)
--2 tsp kosher salt (if you'd like it as salty as the ones in the store, add another 1 tsp.)
--1 tsp paprika
--1 tsp onion powder
--1/2 tsp dried thyme
--1 tsp Italian seasoning
--1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
--1/2 tsp black pepper
--pinch of chili pepper (probably not necessary)

--4 whole garlic cloves (optional)
--1 yellow onion, quartered (optional)

The Directions.

I used a 6 quart crockpot for a 5 pound bird. It fit nicely.

Skin the chicken and get rid of the neck and other stuff from the cavity. This takes a while, and is gross.

In a bowl, combine all of dried spices. Rub the spice mixture all over the bird, inside and out. Plop the bird breast-side down into the crockpot.

If desired, shove 4 whole garlic cloves and a quartered onion inside the bird.

Do not add water.

Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 8. The meat is done when it is fully cooked and has reached desired tenderness. The longer you cook it, the more tender the meat.

Chicken Devan

Chicken Devan
(This is my family's favorite recipe)

4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
Large bunch of broccoli, steamed just until tender
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 c. mayo
2/3 c. canned milk
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 tsp. lemon juice

Mix cream of chicken soup, mayo, canned milk, half of cheese and lemon juice together. Layer ingredients in 9x13 pan. First layer chicken, then broccoli, then pour sauce evenly over the chicken and broccoli. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until bubbly. Serve with steamed rice.

Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken

Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken Stacks
From mykitchencafe.blogspot.com

2 cups frozen corn (.89 Ream's)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 large frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound) (1.89/lb Macey's)
1 1/2 cups salsa (I used mild last time and it was a little bland. I am going to try medium this next time around and I am not a spicy person)

Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the slow cooker. Pour frozen corn into the bottom of the slow cooker and place the frozen chicken breasts on top. Cover with beans and salsa. Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with forks. Return to the slow cooker and stir until the chicken, corn, beans and salsa are combined.

Toppings:
Lettuce (.50 ea Rancho)
Roma tomato (.50/lb Rancho)
Avocado
Sour cream (1.00 Smith's)
Cheese (ok price at Smith's)

Recipe Source: from www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/originally from my sister-in-law Erin

Sweet and Spicy Slow Cooker Chicken

Sweet and Spicy Slow-Cooker Chicken
from Prudence Pennywise & mykitchencafe.blogspot.com

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1.89/lb Macey's)
1 (14 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I used 1/4 teaspoon)

Coat the inside of your crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Place all ingredients in the crockpot. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours, or until chicken shreds very easily with a fork. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Chicken will absorb liquid after it is shredded.) Serve in tacos or however your little heart desires.

Topping:
Sour Cream (1.00 Smith's)
Tortillas
Tomatoes (.50/lb Rancho)
Lettuce (.50 each Rancho)
Beans (help stretch your meat and add beans)

*Freezable Meal: I freeze the leftovers in a freezer-safe container and let thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving the next day. I reheat over medium-low heat in a saucepan on the stove.

Chicken and Vegetable Dumpling Soup

Chicken and Vegetable Dumpling Soup
From mykitchencafe.blogspot.com

*Serves 6

Chicken and Broth:
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
2-3 chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds) (1.89/lb Macey's)

Vegetables:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 large carrots (6-7 baby carrots), chopped (2 pound bag .99 @ Ream's)
1 onion, chopped
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas (.89 Ream's)

Dumplings:
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or sage
1/2 cup sour cream (1.00 Smith's)
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

In a large pot, boil the chicken broth, water and chicken breasts until the chicken is cooked through and tender (about 15 minutes). Remove the chicken from the pot, reserving the broth in the pot, and shred the chicken with two forks. Set the chicken aside and keep the broth warm on the stove.

While the chicken is boiling, in a large skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the celery, carrots and onions. Saute for about 6-7 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the vegetables to the hot broth in the pot after the chicken has been removed. Add salt, thyme and pepper to the vegetable/broth mixture and stir to combine. Heat the soup to a simmer.

In a small bowl, blend ½ cup cold water and 1/4 cup flour with a wire whisk until smooth. Whisking vigorously, slowly add the flour mixture into the hot vegetables and broth and whisk until well combined. Add ½ cup frozen peas and the reserved chicken and cook, stirring gently for one minute.

For the dumplings, in a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine sour cream, milk and oil. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined (don't overmix, it is ok if there are a few dry spots of flour here and there).

Heat the soup to boiling and drop teaspoonful amounts (the dumplings should be fairly small, they'll expand while cooking) of dumpling dough into the boiling soup, covering the entire surface of the soup (don't make more than one layer of dumplings). Reduce the heat to simmering, cover and let the dumplings cook for 15 minutes. Do not lift the lid of the pot while the dumplings cook.

When the dumplings have cooked fully, remove the lid and gently stir the dumplings to break them apart. Serve.

Chicken Pot Pie

From Eat and Be Lean Cookbook

2 to 3 carrots, thinly sliced (.99/2 pound bag Ream's)
1 10 oz pkg frozen peas (.89 Ream's)
1 Tbsp. butter
1 small onion, finely minced
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1/2 c. flour
3 c. chicken or turkey broth
1 c. milk
1 tsp. whole thyme leaves crushed
1-2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded (1.89/lb Macey's)
1 pie crust

Cook carrots and potatoes in small amount of water until just tender. Add peas and let stand for 3 minutes then drain. Melt butter in medium-sized frying pan. Add onion and celery and saute. Add flour. Gradually stir in chicken broth and milk. Add thyme and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Combine with vegetables and chicken. Pour into 9x13 pan. Roll out pie crust and lay over chicken and vegetables. Bake at 400 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Quick Lemon Chicken

From Eat and Be Lean Cookbook

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1.89/lb Macey's)
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp fresh or frozen lemon juice
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp lime juice
Dash cayenne pepper

Mix water, lemon juice, oil, soy sauce, mustard, lime juice and cayenne. Place chicken in shallow dish and pour marinade over chicken. Cover and refrigerate for several hours (I have forgotten and used chicken immediately and it still turned out okay). If possible turn chicken once while in marinade. Drain marinade into skillet and bring to a boil. Add chicken and let simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until tender. Remove chicken from marinade and serve. Serve with rice or baked potato.