Chicken and Rice Casserole

Yum! Hubby wanted chicken and rice. I wanted something simple. Quick internet search and I had this one ready to go. It's based on Paula Deen's recipe. 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups Cooked, shredded chicken

1 can Cream of Celery soup

1/2 cup Mayo

1 can Green beans

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp Onion, Onion

Shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup cooked brown rice

Salt and pepper

Crispy fried onions or plain Panko bread crumbs (optional topping)

Directions

1. Melt butter. Stir in about a Tbsp of Onion, Onion. Let sit for a couple minutes. 

2. Stir in a can of green beans (we like French cut), can of Cream of Celery, brown rice, chicken, and cheese. 

3. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

4. Pour in a greased casserole dish (this recipe makes less than a 9x13). Top with fired onions or bread crumbs if desired. 

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until bubbly. 

Super Easy Chicken Salad

This is, of course, a very simple chicken salad recipe. Yes, I use canned chicken but I just don't have time to cook chicken breasts to shred when I have children trying to kill each other playing in the other room. Please feel free to cook up those chicken pieces and shred them if you have the time. Y'all understand. :) This recipe does use one of my Tastefully Simple products. It does NOT contain mayonnaise for those of you with picky eaters that don't like mayo.

Maybe one day I'll learn to take GOOD photos of food!

Ingredients

1 large can chunked chicken

Vidalia Onion Dressing

red grapes, halved (optional)

Directions

1. Shred the chicken.

2. Pour desired amount of Vidalia Onion Dressing over your chicken.

3. Add in some halved red grapes if desired.

4. Mix. If you'd like it a bit wetter, add a little more dressing until you get the consistency you like. If you like it a little drier, add less dressing. 

5. Enjoy!

Baked Vidalia Onion Bacon Chicken

Yummm!!!! I can't take credit for this recipe. My Senior Team Mentor posted it on her Facebook page a couple days ago and I HAD to make it! Heads up, this is one of my recipes that DOES require a Tastefully Simple product. It was so simple to throw together and was so tasty! This one doesn't really have but one "measurement" for this recipe; just use as much chicken and bacon as you need to feed your family. As usual, please forgive the picture quality...cell phone, ya know? :)

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 strips uncooked bacon of your choice
1/2 cup Vidalia Onion Dressing

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wrap each chicken breast with a strip (or 2) of bacon so the chicken is pretty much completely covered.

3. Place in an 8x8 baking dish (I always line mine with aluminum foil).

4. Drizzle Vidalia Onion Dressing over the chicken.

5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove cover and bake for another 15 minutes or until they reach your desired level of brownness.

Crock Pot Ranch Chicken

This is a "twist" (if you can call using chicken instead of pork a twist) on a recipe I saw floating around on Pinterest last year. The recipe calls for pork chops and I've made it several times; its really, really tasty (honestly, the gravy is to DIE for...if you like gravy I suppose). I wanted to make it this evening, opened the freezer, and DOH! No pork chops...but I did have chicken! I love these easy "dump them in the Crock Pot and let them cook" recipes. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 - 3/4 of a packet of Italian Dressing mix
1 lb boneless chicken breasts

Directions

1. Mix the soup and dressing mix together in a bowl. I don't use the entire packet of dressing mix because, in my opinion, it makes it too salty.
2. Put a little of the soup mixture in the bottom of your Crock Pot. (I NEVER use mine without those handy Crock Pot liners you can buy in the store!!)
3. Lay your chicken breasts in your cooker and then pour all the soup mixture on top, making sure the chicken is covered.
4. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Your cooking time is going to depend on how hot your Crock Pot cooks (mine seems to cook hot) and also on how much time you have until dinner (haha!). Start checking it after 2-3 hours just to see how its doing - you don't want dried out meat.

Serve with mashed potatoes (the gravy is amazing on taters!)!

*I couldn't get a "good" picture of this...I should've used a blue plate!

Chicken Enchiladas

I love Mexican food. I think I could sit at a table in a restaurant with nothing but a glass of Coke, a basket of chips, a bowl of salsa, and a bowl of that glorious cheese dip. Yum. But, as I have two small terrorists boys, going out to eat is usually not something I want to inflict on the poor, unsuspecting diners at our local restaurant. I wanted enchiladas but not the headache of taking my kids out - so I searched the internet until I found some recipes that I could alter and make with what I had at the house.

NOTE: This will probably make more enchiladas than your 9x13 pan will hold. You can either cook two pans OR wrap each enchilada in some cling wrap and then aluminum foil SEPARATELY, put in a freezer bag, pop in your freezer, and you have an easy meal for another evening. 

Ingredients

corn tortillas
1 cup shredded, cooked chicken (I used canned chicken that was in my pantry)
1-2 cans of enchilada sauce (depends on how much sauce you like)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375. Spray some non-stick cooking spray in a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Heat the chicken, one can of sauce, and 1 cup of the cheese in a pan on the stove until heated through.
3. Wrap your corn tortillas in a slightly damp paper towel and warm in the microwave for a few seconds (this helps keep them from tearing as much as you roll them up).
4. Spoon some filling into each tortilla and roll them up, placing them seam side DOWN in your pan.
5. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over them and top with remaining cup of cheese.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Serve with chips or refried beans or Spanish rice or whatever you like. 

* You can cook some chicken to shred for this but I'm lazy.
* Some of that mixed shredded Mexican/taco/quesadilla cheese they sell in stores would be yummy, too.
* I loved having the leftovers in the freezer for a second, super easy meal for the family when I had to go out for the evening. 

Crunchy Fiesta Chicken

First, I'll apologize again for not so great pictures. I just use my camera phone and I am certainly NOT a professional photographer! :)

This chicken dish, while it took a little longer than some of my other recipes, was really, really tasty and I can't wait for the leftovers. This one DOES require a Tastefully Simple product, though! I have to say, I kept picking all the extra chip pieces off the baking dish (that had the dip mix and cheese on them) because it was so tasty! I think I'm going to make a layer dip based on this recipe...

Ingredients

1 1/2 Tbsp to 2 Tbsp Fiesta Party Dip Mix
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375. Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil and then spray with cooking spray.
2. Combine the first 3 ingredients (the Fiesta Dip Mix is spicy so base how much you add on how spicy your family likes their food!) and spread on both sides of the chicken breasts.
3. Roll the chicken breasts in the crushed up tortilla chips (some is going to fall off, don't panic).
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of each chicken breast for the last 5 minutes of cooking. (some of the "breading" is going to come off, don't panic)

*I can't take credit for coming up with this recipe! I modified it a bit from the one found on the TS website!

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

This is another recipe I saw floating around on Facebook and Pinterest (aren't they helplful? lol). I made a few changes to the recipe when I fixed it. I added a little something extra to my sauce to give it a slight kick (not much!). The chicken came out of the oven SOOO wonderfully crispy! Not a great picture (sorry); I'll try to get one of just the chicken the next time I fix it.

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 sleeves Ritz crackers
salt
pepper
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 (10 oz) can Cream of Chicken soup
2 Tbs butter
1/2 shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbs milk
Tastefully Simple Fiesta Party Dip Mix (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
2.  Cut the chicken breasts in half length wise.
3. Put the crackers in a food processor and grind those babies up!
4.  Put the milk, 2 1/2 cups cheese, and cracker crumbs into 3 separate dishes. Add a dash of salt and pepper (to taste) to the crumbs and stir it up.
5. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk, then the cheese (press the cheese onto the chicken, some will come off, don't panic!), and then into the cracker crumbs. Press it all onto the chicken (again, some will probably come off) and then place into the baking dish.
6. Cover with foil and bake for about 35 minutes.
7. While the chicken is cooking, in a medium sauce pan combine the Cream of Chicken soup, butter, and 2 Tbs of milk. Stir over medium heat until hot and then stir in the 1/2 cup of cheese and 1 Tbs of Fiesta Party Dip Mix (the dip mix is OPTIONAL). Let it bubble for a minute and then serve it over your chicken.

Easy Chicken-Potatoes-Green Beans

I saw this recipe all over Facebook and Pinterest for awhile before finally trying it. OMG it is soooo easy to throw together (always a plus when you have small children running around the kitchen not listening to your pleas of "get out!!!"). I used different potatoes than what I saw in recipes on the internet because, well, because I like Yukon golds! I also used one of my Tastefully Simple products to add a little something "extra."My house smelled amazing while it was cooking and the 6 year old enjoyed it.

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can of green beans (mostly drained)
2-3 large Yukon gold or yellow potatoes (depends on size)
1 package Italian dressing mix
1 stick of butter, melted
Tastefully Simple Roasted Garlic Infused Oil (optional)

Directions

1. Heat your oven to 350.
2. Arrange the food in a 9x13 baking dish with the chicken in the middle.
3. Sprinkle the packet of Italian dressing mix over top of the entire dish.
4. Drizzle a little Roasted Garlic Infused Oil over the top. (optional step)
5. Carefully pour the melted butter over the entire dish.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 50-60 minutes (until the chicken is done and the potatoes are fork tender).


*You can use half a stick of butter and sub some olive oil for the other half.
*Fresh green beans will work as well.
*Broccoli is good, too!