Apricot Chicken

I finally perfected my apricot chicken. It doesn't get much easier than this meal. The hardest part is the rice, LOL! Yes, Andrea, I definitely need to get myself a rice maker :) Ingredients:
Enough frozen chicken breasts to fill the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Some small spaces on the bottom ok.
1 bottle french dressing
1 jar apricot preserves/jam
1 envelope lipton onion soup
1 and 1/2 cup water

Directions:
Combine water, dressing, preserves, and soup mix together in a bowl. Pour over the chicken in a 9 x 13 pan. Bake on 350 for 90 minutes. Take chicken out and shred. Mix chicken back into sauce. Serve over rice.

Low-Fat Pasta Primavera

This dish is a low-fat primavera that I originally found in a Pillsbury magazine. While it's a little more time-intensive than I generally prefer, it's yummy and worth it. Plus, I'm getting faster at streamlining the process. Our whole family loves it and it doesn't taste all that healthy!Ingredients:
16 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced tomatoes*
1 cup diced, cooked chicken
2 cups halved fresh snow pea pods (optional, and did not use)
12 oz uncooked fettucini
2 cups fat-free (skim) milk
3 tbs cornstarch
1 tbs chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 cup light ricotta cheese
1/4 cup shredded fresh parmesan cheese (not in the green can!!)
3/4 cup chicken broth
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Directions
1. Cook and drain fettucini as directed on package. Lightly spray with Pam and toss to keep from sticking together. Cook and chop/shred chicken.

2. Meanwhile, in a 2-quart saucepan, heat milk, cornstarch, basil, salt, and pepper to boiling over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with wire whisk. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 2-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens. Remove pan from heat.

3. In a blender or food processor, place 1/2 cup of the sauce, vinegar, the ricotta cheese and the parmesan cheese. Cover; blend on medium-lo speed until smooth. Return mixture to remaining sauce in saucepan; stir well.

4. In a nonstick pot, heat broth to boiling over medium-hgh heat. Add garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms, broccoli and onions; cover and cook 4 minutes. Add tomatoes (and pea pods, if used); cook 1 minute longer. Add sauce and cooked fettucine; heat until hot. Transfer to serving platter if desired, and sprinkle with additional fresh parmesan cheese.

*I'm the only one in the family that really likes tomatoes, so I added them fresh to my own plate after serving, instead of cooking them in. I prefer them cooked in for a few minutes, but this works fine.

Rosemary Chicken

I originally received this recipe from my friend, Heather W. It may not look like much, but I assure you that it has a very unique, slightly addicting flavor to it. Again, our whole family loves this recipe. (And man, I'm in the mood for it again today...) Ingredients:
3 breasts of boneless, skinless chicken
Approx 2 cups flour (enough to dredge chicken in)
4 tsp olive oil divided
4 tsp butter divided
1/4 cup diced onions
4 minced garlic cloves
2 cups water
1 cup white grape juice
4 cubes chicken boullion
1 tsp ground or regular rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper
12-16 ounces thin spaghetti, prepared as on package*
fresh chives (optional)

Directions
Cut chicken breasts into thin strips. Dredge in flour. In a wide, deep skillet, combine 3 tsp olive oil and 3 tsp butter and heat over med-high until bubbly hot. Add chicken and cook, turning until lightly browned (3-4 minutes). Remove chicken and set aside.

To skillet, add 1 tsp butter and 1 tsp oil. Add onions and garlic cloves, saute until softened (about 2 minutes)

Add water, grape juice, boulliou, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Simmer approximately 5 minutes. While it's simmering, cut chicken into bite-size pieces. Return chicken to skilled and simmer approximately 8-10 minutes. Sauce will thicken slightly and chicken will be heated through.

Before chicken is added to the pot, get started on the pasta. Cook pasta and drain as suggested on package, but do not rinse (tip I learned from America's Test Kitchen). One idea for this recipe is to break pasta into 2-4 inch pieces before boiling.

When pasta is ready, slowly add pasta to the skillet with the sauce and chicken. Cover and simmer for 2 minutes, serve warm.

Serve with fresh chives (optional, and I keep forgetting, so we never use them)

*Heather recommends angel hair pasta, but the store was out of it when I went shopping this last time. If you use angel hair, I don't know exactly how much to use. You'll just have to feel it out.

Chicken Enchiladas

I swiped this from my friend's family recipe blog. Thanks, Mandee and Marci!! We all LOVED it! Who knew you could make white enchiladas without cream of chicken soup?

Chicken Enchiladas
This is from Better Homes and Garden Cookbook, 1989 Edition.

8 flour tortillas
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 8-ounce carton sour cream
2 cups chicken broth
1 4-ounce can diced green chili peppers, drained
1 cup shredded cheese
3 cups chopped chicken (or turkey)

Directions
For sauce, in a saucepan cook onion, garlic, coriander, and pepper in butter til onion is tender. Stir flour into sour cream; add to onion mixture. Stir in broth and diced chili peppers all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat, stir in 1/2 cup cheese.

For filling, stir 1 cup of sauce into chicken. Place about 1/2 cup filling on each tortilla, spread around and roll up. Arrange rolls seam side down in a lightly greased 13x 9 baking dish. Top with remaining sauce. Bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven about 35 minutes or until heated through.

Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, about five minutes more until cheese melts. Can sprinkle with olives, tomatoes and green onions. Let stand 10 minutes

Sundried Tomato Pasta

My whole family just loves this recipe that I got from my friend Johanna. Even my tomato-haters (and I have three) love it.

INGREDIENTS
1 (12 ounce) package farfalle (bow tie) pasta*
2 Tbs - 1/2 cup butter (I've tried both and everything in between. They are all good).
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cooked skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut or shredded into bite-size pieces
Approx 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes**
4 tablespoons grated Romano cheese***

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot with boiling salted water cook farfalle pasta until al dente. Drain. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan. Add garlic cloves and cook until garlic browns. Add the cream of chicken soup and milk, stirring until smooth. Stir in the dried parsley, salt, and ground fresh pepper. Let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken pieces and hydrated sun dried tomatoes. Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes. Mix in grated Romano cheese. Toss cooked and drained pasta with chicken sauce. Serve warm.

*I used spiral noodles because I didn't have enough bow tie. It was good with the spiral, but I have had it before with the bow tie and I thought it was much better with bow tie.

**Cheapest (and largest) jars of sundried tomatoes can be found at Costco. Otherwise, smaller jars (enough to make this recipe 3 times) can be found in the canned and jarred tomato section in your regular grocery store, $3.99 at Smell-mart.

***Recipe calls for 2 Tbs. Johanna always uses extra and I used 4 when I made it.

Apple Stuffing Pork Chops

I swiped this recipe from my friend Jandy's blog. We have made it twice now and it is DELICIOUS. It is originally from a Kraft magazine and I have made two teensy modifications.



Ingredients
1 can apple pie filling
6 thin-cut pork chops, boneless
1 pkg stovetop stuffing, prepared as on box
1 Tbs olive oil

Directions
In a baking dish, pour apple pie filling in the bottom. Heat olive oil in a pan, on med-low heat, sear pork chops until golden brown, approximately 1-3 minutes each side. Lay porkchops on top of apple filling. Top with stove top. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes on 350.

The Most Amazing Chili

My friend Jamie gave a recipe for the most amazing chili. We have made it several times and we never get sick of it. It really is fan. tas. tic. With her blessing, I share the recipe with you. I'll just say that regardless of how the ingredients below may sound, this is definitely chili. This is not taco soup!

Ingredients
1 can chicken broth
1 lb ground beef
1 lb pork sausage (or more beef)
1 lb shredded chicken (Jamie uses rotisserie, I shred three cooked chicken breasts)
3 cans "ranch style" beans
1 C sweet corn (frozen)
2 26 oz jars of salsa (Jamie recommends Sam's Choice (Walmart) black bean and corn, and garlic and lime. I now make it with one each of those two.)
1/4 - 1 cup sugar (I use brown)

Directions
Brown beef and sausage and cook chicken. Mix all ingredients well, simmer in crock pot on low for appromixtely 8 hours.

*If you use the crock pot to mix in, add wet ingredients first, meat last, otherwise the meat may get stuck to the sides of the pot and burn.

**Do not attempt to double the recipe. This makes a surprisingly gigantic amount, barely enough to fit in my big crock pot.

Potato Soup

So... I successfully made potato soup this weekend. Hey now, don't all gasp in shock and faint away at once! I assure you no one was more surprised than Justin and the kids. I've really missed cooking lately, I can tell you that.

I combined a delicious recipe that I got from my friend Nikki with one that I found online. I think it turned out great and it was a big hit with the whole family, so I thought I'd share the recipe.

INGREDIENTS
6 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups diced carrots
5 cube chicken bouillon
4 cups water
1 tbs dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 pinch ground black pepper
2 Tbs all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
2 cups chopped ham (or hamburger)

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot, add potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, chicken bouillon, water, parsley flakes, salt, and pepper and simmer until vegetables become tender (approx 45-60 minutes. Carrots take the longest.)

When veggies are tender, in a separate bowl mix flour and milk. Once it is well blended, add to soup mixture and cook until soup becomes thick (approx 5-7 minutes).

Stir in cheese, cooked ham or hamburger and simmer until cheese is melted.

*Add more salt if needed, but remember that with leftovers, the salt will have had a chance to leak out of the ham, so be careful you don't overdo it!

Summer Kabobs

It is officially summertime! I found (and slightly modified) this recipe that I found online. It was awesome and we're doing it again super soon! If you smell somone grillin' it's probably us!!

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
1-2 red, orange, or yellow peppers, cut into 1-2 inch pieces.
1 fresh pineapple cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1 onion, cut into 1-2 inch pieces

DIRECTIONS
Mix first five ingredients. Pour half of mixture over onions, peppers, and pineapple. Stir very well. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, stir well again. Drain/strain marinade back into original container. Pour almost all of remaining marinade (remember to keep some out for basting later!!!) into a bowl with the chicken. (If you don't do this, the pineapple will soak up too much of the marinade). Stir well, refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Start soaking skewers in water.

When ready to grill, thread veggies and pineapple on separate skewers from meat. Cook chicken kabobs 10 minutes on one side; turn, baste with additional sauce and cook for additional 10-15 minutes, turning and basting occasionally until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Grill vegetables 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally until peppers look soft. Onions may get crispy edges, but they don't seem to soften on the grill much, so they aren't a great indicator.

Apple Quesadilla

So the strange cravings I have been having are for things that I've never actually had before. I'm craving things I see on the covers of magazines or online. I found about a million variations of this recipe online and combined them into what I thought would make me happy (based on what I had in the fridge). Yum yum! Wow! Even better than I thought! And Tanner likes it too. Kinley is turned off by the onions. Her loss!

Ingredients:
two tortillas
shredded cheese
honey mustard (optional)
lunchmeat cut in strips or square (ham is usually recommended, though I used turkey)
onions sliced in rings and sauteed in "I can't believe it's not butter" spray and salt (sea salt is very nice) (also optional, but I looooooove sauteed onions!)
The magic ingredient: apple slices.

Directions
Spread a light layer of honey mustard on one side of a tortilla. Layer cheese, lunchmeat, onions and a generous layer of apples. Cover with the second tortilla. Grill on both sides and serve immediately. Delicious!!