Chicken Stronganoff

The last time that we were in Idaho, Justin's Mom made this yummy little recipe for dinner.  Justin and I loved it and the kids seemed to think it was all right as well.  We'll definitely be making it around here from time to time.  It originally came from the Taste of Home cooking site.

• 4 bacon strips, diced
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4-inch strips
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 jars (4-1/2 ounces each) sliced mushrooms, drained
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon paprika
• Pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• Hot cooked noodles
• Additional paprika, optional

• In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings; set bacon aside.
• In the drippings, cook the chicken, onion and mushrooms until the chicken is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add the broth, salt, paprika, pepper and bacon. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Combine flour and sour cream until smooth; add to the skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with noodles. Sprinkle with paprika if desired. Yield: 4 servings.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

One of the local restaurants has the yummiest lettuce wraps!  When I found this recipe on one of my favorite sites, I knew I had to try it!  It's so yummy!  And pretty easy too!

Asian Lettuce Wraps
Recipe by Our Best Bites


2 tsp canola oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 lb ground chicken*
3 ounces mushrooms, finely chopped (about 8 small mushrooms)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 C bagged coleslaw mix or thinly shredded cabbage
1 8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained, rinsed, and finely minced
1/2 C thinly sliced green onions
4 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 lemon, zested and juiced (about 3-4 Tbs juice)
1/2-1 tsp sriracha or other hot sauce (1 tsp of Sriracha is fairly spicy in my opinion, so if you want less or no kick, just give it a little, or you can leave it out completely)
1/3 C roughly chopped cilantro
1-2 heads iceberg lettuce

*To prepare your own ground chicken, cut boneless skinless chicken breasts into large chunks and pulse in a food processor until ground.
*Callie's note: I had my local Macey's grocery store grind some chicken breasts for me!

Dipping/Drizzling Sauce
4 Tbs soy sauce
4 Tbs rice vinegar
3 Tbs water
2 tsp honey
1-2 tsp finely minced fresh ginger

Heat a very large skillet to medium-high heat on the stove top.  When hot, add vegetable  oil and then garlic and ginger.  Saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant, and then add ground chicken, chopped mushrooms, and kosher salt.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until chicken is cooked through.  (*At this point, sometimes I have some extra liquid in the pan from the chicken.  If it’s quite a bit, I tilt the pan and spoon it out so the chicken can cook and not boil.) Add cabbage/coleslaw, water chestnuts, and green onions.  Cook for about 2 minutes, until cabbage starts to wilt.  Add soy sauce, sesame oil, the zest from the lemon and the lemon juice, and hot sauce to taste.  Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
To prepare dipping sauce, combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.
To serve, carefully remove the individual leaves from the head of lettuce.  (The closer you get to the center, the easier it becomes!)  Place chicken mixture in the leaves and serve with sauce.
Yield: about 5 C chicken mixture.  Makes 14-16 lettuce wraps.

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Article printed from Our Best Bites: http://www.ourbestbites.com

URL to article: http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/04/asian-lettuce-wraps/

Shredded BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Who would have known that I would be such a BBQ chicken lover?  But I am after trying this yummy chicken!  I love this easy and yummy recipe for BBQ chicken sandwiches.  I also LOVE that it makes a lot of chicken and I can have leftovers for lunch the following day and still have enough to freeze some for dinner another day.

5-6 lbs. of chicken
1 12 oz. bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (my husband likes more!)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Italian dressing
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 large yellow onion, diced
2-3 tsp. oregano

Put all ingredients in the crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours.  Remove chicken and shred.  Return chicken to sauce and cook for at least one hour before eating.  Serve on your favorite buns.  I like to make my own buns using this recipe!  YUM!

Cafe Rio Chicken

We had a little Cafe Rio style Primary dinner this week and I was in charge of the chicken.  I looked around a bit for a good recipe and nearly every one I found was the same, so I gave a it a try.  It turned out delicious and I'll definitely be making it again.

The original recipe is:
1 small (8oz.) Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. cumin
3 garlic cloves, minced
5 lbs. chicken

Chili powder makes me nervous (I don't like my food spicy hot) so the first thing I did was decrease the chili powder. And you can really hardly ever go wrong with a nice diced onion so I threw that in just for good measure.  I didn't feel like the Italian dressing added enough flavor, so I ended up sprinkling part of a pack of dry Italian dressing seasoning in as well. Throw in a little salt and pepper and it was ready. The ingredients I used ended up being more like this:


1 small (8oz.) Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. cumin
4 garlic cloves, minced (I LOVE that pre-minced stuff you can buy at the grocery store)
1 yellow onion diced
5 lbs. chicken
1 packet dry Italian dressing
Salt and Pepper to taste

Put the chicken in a crockpot.  Cover with dressing, diced onion, and spices.  Cook on high for 4 hours.  An hour before eating, remove chicken breasts from juices and shred in a separate bowl. Some people have good luck with two forks, but I love to use my hand-mixer for this.  It works best if each chicken breast is cut into thirds or fouths, then just turn the mixer on low speed and watch how easily the chicken shreds.  Be sure to taste it and add more seasonings as needed.  I threw in part of  my dry dressing packet, added a little garlic powder, and some more salt and pepper.  Let the shredded chicken soak in the spices and juices for an hour before serving.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

A friend made this for dinner at bunco and I loved it! It's super easy to make and when I make it, I split the ingredients into two 8x8 pans so I have one to eat and one to freeze. Then I have a great fast dinner later too.

5-6 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded or cut into chunks
white American cheese (regular or Swiss flavored)
thin slices of ham (lunch meat works great)
real Swiss cheese, sliced
1 cube of butter
1 box of chicken stuffing

Boil and shred chicken breasts then cover the bottom of the either a 9x13 pan or two 8x8 pans with the chicken meat. Place slices of American cheese over the chicken. Next layer the ham on top of the cheese. Then layer the Swiss cheese on top of the ham. You don't have to go overboard with the cheese, but you'll want to make sure the meat is covered completely. Finally mix 1 box of dry stuff with 1 cube of melted butter and sprinkle over top of the entire casserole. Bake on 350 for 20-25 min.

Emily's Yummy Crockpot Chicken

My sister Emily shared this recipe with me--she got it from her mother-in-law. We recently served it at the annual Jones family campout and it was a big hit! I loved it served taco style with all sorts of taco fixings. Emily also likes it as the main dish served alongside veggies, rolls, and such.

6 chicken breasts
1 package taco seasoning
1 can of black beans
1 can corn or 1 bag frozen corn
2 cups salsa

Put ingredients in a crockpot and cook on high for 4-6 hours. If serving taco style, remove chicken when done and shred with a hand mixer. Then return to soak in sauces for 30 minutes.

Chicken with Tarragon Cream Sauce

This is one of my mother-in-laws delicious chicken recipes. It's pretty easy, though a little time consuming. She makes it better than me, so I don't make it too often. Instead I just hope it's on the menu when we go and visit them.

3 chicken breasts, split
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup butter
2-3 tbsp. green onions thinly sliced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp. tarragon leaves
1/4-1/2 cup heavy cream

Combine flour, salt, pepper, and seasoned salt and lightly coat chicken. In a skillet, melt 3 tbsp. butter (or use olive oil) and brown chicken. Remove chicken when browned and set aside. Add green onions to pan and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup chicken broth and stir well with onions and chicken drippings in pan. Add any remaining flour coating and stir to make paste. Add tarragon and remaining 1/4 cup chicken broth. Return chicken to pan and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove chicken, add remaining butter and cream. Stir with onions and other ingredients to make a sauce. Heat sauce thoroughly and serve over chicken.

Parmesan Chicken

This is a family favorite! I usually make lots of the bread crumb mixture up in advance and then use it a 1/4 or 1/2 a cup at a a time.

Bread Crumb Mixture
2 cups dried bread crumbs
1/4 cup flour
3 tbsp. paprika
4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. oregano

Combine ingredients and save in tightly sealed container in the pantry of the freezer.
When ready to use, mix equal amounts of bread crumb mixture and parmesan cheese. I usually use 1/3 cup of each for 3-4 large chicken breasts that have been split. Dip chicken in melted butter or beaten egg (your choice) and then dip in bread crumb/Parmesan mixture. Place coated chicken in a greased baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until done.

*We discovered this summer that this bread crumb/Parmesan cheese mixture also tastes delicious on zucchini and crookneck squash from the garden. After coating the squash with egg, then the crumb mixture, fry in a butter/olive oil combination in a frying pan til tender.

Sour Cream Enchiladas

Hey Emily, this is for you! Enjoy!

This is my dear friend Alison's recipe! I've been making it for years (since college) and it's so delicious. And yes, you can use rabbit meat instead of chicken meat(see comments)- Alison and I did just that once--in college. It was still delicious. So if you don't have any chicken handy, rabbit it a great option. My husband won't allow it though, so we're sticking with chicken these days!

8 oz. sour cream
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cups cooked, cubed or shredded chicken
1 can of chopped green chili peppers
12-16 corn tortillas
Monteray Jack cheese (cheddar and colby jack works great too)

Mix the sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and chili peppers together. Put some of the mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Reserve a small amount of the mixture to cover the tortillas with before baking. Spray tortillas lightly with Pam spray and heat several at a time for 30-45 seconds in the microwave until just warm and easy to bend. Add chicken to the cream mixture and stir well. Put a few tablespoons of the mixture and some shredded cheese in each tortilla shell, roll up, then place in pan. Cover tortillas with remaining cream mixture and a little shredded cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until sauce begins to boil. Serve with salsa.

Chile Lime Chicken Tacos/Tostadas

I found this yummy recipe on Real Mom Kitchen and it looked delicious, so I gave it a try and it was super yummy!

• 1 can diced green chilies
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder (I was nervous and used only about 1 tbsp.)
  
• 3 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 diced medium onion
• 2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts
• 1 can fat free refried beans, warmed
• 10 tostada shells
• Desired toppings such as: shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, salsa, light sour cream, sliced olives, guacamole

1. Add chicken and onion to a slow cooker that is at least 3 1/2 quarts.
2. In a bowl combine green chilies, garlic, chili powder, and lime juice. Pour over chicken.
3. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.
4. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred. Mix in 1/2 cup of juice remaining in slow cooker to the shredded chicken.
5. Spread warmed refried beans on tostada shells.
6. Top with hot chicken mixture and any other desired toppings.

Chicken Paprika

I had this yummy dish at bunco night and Heather was nice enough to send along the recipe. I really liked it, but my family wasn't sold. Dang them! When I try it again, I think I'll do a little less paprika and see if they like it better.

2-3 lbs chicken
1 cup chopped onions
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. paprika
2 cups water
2 tbsp. corn starch
1 cup sour cream (I always opt. for fat free-It makes me feel better)
2 cans of mushrooms of 1 pkg. of fresh mushrooms

Saute the onions and mushrooms with some butter in a large frying pan. After they have been sauteed, add the salt and paprika. Lay the uncooked chicken on top and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes (turn chicken halfway through cooking time). Mix water and corn starch. Pour over chicken. Cook until sauce begins to thicken. Remove chicken from pan and place on serving dish. Add sour cream to mixture in sauce pan and mix well. Cook until heated. Pour over chicken and serve.

Sauteed Chicken Breasts in Cream Sauce

This is one of the very few recipes I have that EVERYONE in my family will eat! That's right--EVERYONE! See miracles really do happen! I got this recipe from my mother-in-law and it's fast and easy, which makes it even better. The only thing that keeps us from eating it more often is that I don't always have celery and mushrooms on hand. Enjoy!

2 chicken breasts
1/2 medium onion chopped
2 tbsp. margarine
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp crushed basil
1/4 tsp. chervil
1/8 tsp. crushed thyme
1/3-3/4 cup chicken broth
1 pkg cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
corkscrew pasta

1. Cut chicken into strips and cook in the margarine.
2. Add onions, mushrooms, celery, pepper, basil, chervil, and thyme.
3. Add 2 tbsp. chicken broth and cook til done, stirring occasionally.
4. Cube cream cheese and combine with milk in a saucepan and cook over low heat until smooth.
5. Add remaining chicken broth to cream sauce until desired consistency.
6. Serve chicken over noodles then top with sauce.

We often run out of sauce before noodles when eating this, so don't be afraid to make a little extra!

Chicken Brunch Club Salad

I got this recipe at a Pampered Chef party and it was delicious.

1/2 cup mayo
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. chopped onion
1 tbsp. parsley
1 13 oz. can of chicken
1/4 lb. cooked bacon
1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese
1 tomato

Combine mayo and mustard. Add onion and parsley. Mix chicken, swiss, and bacon in a separate bowl. Add mixtures together. Serve on bread with tomato.

At the party, they served it on French type bread that had been brushed with olive oil and topped with a bit of crushed garlic and Italian dressing packet spices then toasted in the oven. Yum!

Pollo Durango

This is a delicious chicken dish from a fabulous local restaurant Cafe Sabor. It's fast and easy and tastes fantastic!

2 medium chicken breasts sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
3/4 cup tomatillo enchilada sauce (I couldn't find any of this- instead I mixed 1/4 cup mild green chili sauce with 1/2 cup canned crushed tomatillos)

Cook chicken and mushroom in a buttered pan. Drain grease off chicken and add remaining ingredients. Cook til creamy. Add a pinch of cilantro. Serve on a tortilla shell. This tastes great with other Mexican foods like beans, rice, and tortilla chips as well.

Hawaiian Haystacks

This is a family favorite. I've been eating this at family parties since I was just a little girl and I never get sick of it!

1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup of chicken broth
1 small baked and shredded chicken breast
dried parsley

Heat all ingredients together on the stove top. I think it tastes even better if it simmers in the crockpot for the whole afternoon.

Serve on top of rice. Then top with other toppings.

Hawaiian Haystacks are all about the delicious toppings. Some of our favorites are...
shredded cheese
tidbits or crushed pineapple
chow mein noodles
chives or green onions
cashews
sliced almonds
raw peas
diced tomatoes

Salsa Chicken Soup

Even my kids love this recipe. I got it from my sister-in-law Katie who is always making something yummy. I love that I can make this in under 45 minutes!

2 chicken breasts
2-3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup onions
salt
1 can of diced tomatoes
14 oz chicken broth
14 oz beef broth
1 Tbsp. chili powder (I leave this out- I don't care for chili powder)
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 can black beans drained
1 can corn drained
1/2- 1 cup salsa

Saute onions and garlic in oil. Add remaining ingredients and cook until chicken is done (about 10 minutes). Take chicken out and cut it up. Return chicken to pot, add salsa. Serve with tortilla chips and cheese.

I usually just boil my chicken in a separate pot first, then add it to the soup once it's completely cooked and chopped up instead. Just my personal preference.

White Chicken Chili

I made this for dinner last week and it turned out fantastic! Thanks for the recipe Alison!

1lb. Chicken, cubed (2 medium chicken breasts)
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. oil
Saute together in frying pan

ADD:
2 (15 oz) cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1-2 (4 oz) cans green chilies diced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 (14 1/2 oz) can chicken broth
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp oregano

Boil 30 minutes uncovered. Remove from stove.

Add:
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. whipping cream

**Just a personal preference on the chicken--I like to boil it til done first, then chop it up and toss it in the soup.

Chicken in Lemon Sauce

I got this recipe from my mother-in-law and every time I make it for someone new, I end up giving them recipe too. It only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish and tastes delicious!

1/4 c. margarine (I use as little as possible)
4-5 chicken breasts, split
1 lemon (I use bottled lemon juice if I don't have a lemon on hand)
2 tbsp. chicken broth
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 pint of cream
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup sliced mushrooms

1. Melt margarine in a skillet, add chicken, cook 10 min or until brown.
2. Put chicken in oven safe pan.
3. Drain drippings from skillet.
4. Grate 1/2 tsp of lemon peel, squeeze out 2 tbsp. of lemon juice, and add to skillet.
5. Cook 1 min., then add salt and pepper
6. Gradually add cream, stirring constantly- simmer until hot.
7. Pour sauce over chicken and sprinkle with mushrooms and cheese. Broil 6 min.
(I usually just put in lower temp. oven while I finish the rest of dinner)

Zucchini Chicken

I found this recipe on Recipezaar's website. We've had it a few times and it's delicious!

I medium onion, sliced
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms (optional)
2 medium zucchini, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can of diced tomatoes (they say drained, but I didn't)
3/4 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 13x8 inch baking dish and place the sliced onions on the bottom. Place the chicken on top of the onions and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Layer mushrooms and zucchini over chicken. Combine garlic, tomatoes, basil and oregano, and pour over vegetables. Cover and bake for 30 minutes or until juices run clear in the chicken. Remove from oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese!