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.

Corn and Black Bean Soup

It was freakishly cold here in Georgia this past week. I know, I know, to those of you north of the Mason-Dixon line 20 in the morning isn't that cold but to us down here, that's COLD! Especially in November! Pretty much unheard of in these parts. Anyway, cold weather means soup or chili and this time I made soup. This soup is AH-mazing!! It does have a little kick to it but it is not overpowering or anything that will make your eyes water. :) Heads up, it does require Tastefully Simple products, but this seriously some of the best soup I've ever had AND I think its good for those veggie only folks out there (enjoy it...this is probably the only time you'll see something like this on my blog lol!).

This makes A LOT of soup so you could easily freeze some of it to enjoy later!

Ingredients

1 jar Corn and Black Bean Salsa
2 Tbsp Onion Onion
1 tsp Fiesta Party Dip Mix
16 oz can crushed tomatoes with juice
3 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
2 (14.5) oz cans vegetable broth (low sodium if possible)
3/4 tsp cumin
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
2 cups cooked brown rice

Directions

1. Combine the first 10 ingredients in a large pot; bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Serve! Can garnish with some cilantro if you want.

*Makes about 10 CUPS of soup!
*If its thicker than you'd like, add a little water until you get the consistency you like.
*This is a slight variation of the recipe found on the TS site; that one has chicken added.

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!

Easy Peasy Chili

So my gorgeous Great Smoky Mountain calendar on the wall says its now fall and the Georgia temps are actually starting to cooperate (I've worn my jeans and my boots...I'm happy happy happy). What do I have to make as soon as that season changes and I can step outside in jeans and not feel like I'm going to die of heat stroke? Well, make chili of course! This is a really easy recipe and (like a lot of my recipes) you can kinda add and take away to suit your family's tastes. This one uses some Tastefully Simple products but if you don't have them (and why don't you????) I have listed the substitute.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce (or 2 small cans)
1 1/2 Tbs Onion, Onion (or some chopped up onion)
3 Tbs Wahoo! Chili Seasoning  (or a packet of chili seasoning)
salt and pepper to taste
dash of sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Brown ground beef with your onions until beef is done and drain grease.
2. Add salt and pepper to taste and the chili seasoning. Stir.
3. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.  Stir. (You can add a dash or two of sugar here if you like to cut the acidity of the tomatoes but this is optional.)
4. Let it simmer on the stove for at least 20-25 (longer is always better), stirring occasionally and giving it a taste to see if it needs any more seasoning to your liking.

Can serve with rice or cheese or cornbread or whatever you want. :)

* I like to use my left over chili for chili dogs the next day.

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!