Easy Chicken Wrapped Bacon

I only had chicken on hand for dinner tonight and went through a couple of potential recipes, then my mouth started watering as I thought of bacon wrapped chicken. I googled a recipe and found the following. It was an easy and quick recipe.

Worcestershire sauce
Chicken
Peppered bacon (I just had regular)
Salt and Pepper (which I decided not to use and see how it turned out- didn't need it)

Cover Chicken in Worcestershire then wrap the chicken with bacon. Put toothpicks in to hold bacon in place. Grill.

I didn't want to go grill outside so I put it in the oven and baked it @ 350 for 40 minutes, then Broiled it to make the bacon crispy. The insides were moist the outsides were dry. Any advice about grilling chicken in the oven?

BBQ Chicken Burgers with Slaw

Oh boy, get ready to eat one awesome burger! These are soooo yummy. The recipe is from Rachel Ray. I substituted ground turkey for ground chicken and didn't work very well. The burgers didn't hold up at all and I ended up having to turn them into a sloppy joe consistancy. But they still tasted great. If you make these make sure you use chicken or ground beef unless you want sloppy joe type burgers! :) Oh, and I only used about a tsp. of butter, omitted the hot sauce and toasted the buns.

1 Tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
1 small red onion, 1/2 finely chopped, 1/2 thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. hot sauce
1 1/4 lb. ground chicken
1 Tbsp. grill seasoning (recommended: McCormick brand)
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 Tbsp. honey
1 lemon, juiced
3 rounded Tbsp. sweet pickle relish
2 cups shredded cabbage mix
salt and pepper
4 Keiser rolls or big hamburger buns

In a small skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add chopped onions and garlic and sweat them for 5 minutes to soften and sweeten. Sprinkle in sugar and remove from heat. Cool in a bowl, 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, Worcestershire, hot sauce to bowl and combine. Add chicken to the bowl then grill seasoning and combine the burgers well to evenly distribute the flavors and form 4 patties.

Heat 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook patties 6 minutes on each side.

Combine the honey, lemon juice, and remaining olive oil in a bowl. Add relish, cabbage mix and sliced onions and season with salt and pepper. Toss the slaw to coat.

Serve burgers on bun bottoms topped with slaw and bun tops.

Curried Turkey Salad with Apples, Cranberries, and Walnuts

Another recipe from my R.S. dinner

Curried Turkey Salad with Apples, Cranberries, and Walnuts

(i substituted the turkey with either potatoes or chicken)
4 cups cooked and chopped turkey
1/2 cup diced apple (pref. granny smith)
1/3 cup chopped sweetened dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts

*Curry Dressing (recipe below)In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir well. Serve on yourfavorite bread as a sandwich or on a bed of greens as a salad. Servesfour to six.

Dressing:1/2 cup thick yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons curry powder**
1 tablespoon honeygenerous pinch of saltfresh ground black pepper
Whisk all ingredients until well combined.Recipe Notes: *To toast walnuts, spread a handful of walnuts on abaking sheet. Toast in a preheated 350 degree oven for about fiveminutes or until they are fragrant. Don’t leave them in too long!Allow to cool slightly before chopping and adding to salad.

**If you prefer less spice in your salad, start with one tablespoon of currypowder then taste dressing and add more if desired. I used a full twotablespoons. For the turkey, I used a roasted half turkey breast fromthe deli section of the grocery store, but this would be perfect ifyou have lots of turkey left over from the holidays!

SaladTOSSED SALAD WITH POPPY SEED DRESSINGRomaine lettuceIceberg lettuceParsley sprigsCelery, choppedGreen onions, choppedMandarin orangesWalnutsDRESSING:3/ 4 c. sugar1 tsp. dry mustard1 tsp. salt1/3 c. wine vinegar1 c. salad oil1 tsp. poppy seedTear lettuce into bite-sized pieces. Toss ingredients and chill. Pourdressing over tossed salad just before serving.Dressing: Combine sugar, mustard, salt and vinegar. Add oil slowly,beating constantly with electric or rotary beater. Stir in poppy seedslast.

Chicken and Green Beans in a Peanut Sauce

I have tried several peanut sauces and have finally mixed several recipes to make my own. Let me know if you like it.

2 chicken breasts
1 lb green beans
rice
chopped green onions

I cooked two chicken breast in peanut sauce (see below) for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Trimmed and cut the green beans and cooked the rice.

Peanut Sauce
In a sauce pan combine:

1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used creamy)
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp chile powder
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh or bottled)

With about 15 minutes remaining to bake add the green beans to the chicken and peanut sauce. I cut up the chicken and serve over rice with green onion.

Barefoot Contessa's Parmesan Chicken

I confess. I am a food network junkie. And Ina Garten (from the Barefoot Contessa) is one of my faves. Pretty much everything she makes is fabulous. This recipe was so delicious! The egg and flour coating before the breadcrumbs made all the difference. I didn't have any baby greens on hand so I left out that part but I did spritz the chicken with fresh lemon juice after it had been cooked and it tasted amazing! I also left out the butter and cooked each chicken breast for about 8 minutes on each side. And of course, I forgot to take a picture! I promise to be better about that.

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter (I left this out)
Good olive oil
Salad greens for 6, washed and spun dry
Lemon Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Pound chicken breasts until they are 1/4 inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or rolling pin. Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 Tbsp. of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Coat chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into egg mixture and dredge both sides in bread crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Heat 1 Tbsp. of butter and 1 Tbsp. of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2-3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and olive oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Toss the salad greens with Lemon Vinaigrette. Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast. Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Lemon Vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), 1/2 cup good olive oil, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper.

Chicken and vegetable Quesadillas

I saw this recipe on the food network the other day and thought it looked mighty scrumptious. I haven't tried it yet though. If you make it let me know what you think.

{Chicken and Vegetable Quesadillas}

2 cooked chicken breast halves
8 (6-8 inch) flour tortillas
1/2 cup chopped red onions
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced roasted red peppers
1/2 cup sliced artichokes
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack or pepper jack cheese for each quesadilla

Coat a large skillet or griddle with cooking spray. Set pan over medium heat to preheat. Using fork or your fingers, pull chicken meat from bone in shreds.
Arrange tortillas on a flat surface. Top 1 side of each tortilla with an equal amount of chicken, mushrooms, red peppers, and artichokes. Top vegetables with shredded cheese. Fold over tortillas, making a half moon. Place quesadillas in prepared pan and cook 3 minutes per side, until golden brown and cheese melts.

Italian Crockpot Chicken

This is just one of those staple dinners that I have in my head to cook on busy days. Our family loves it. You can either cook it in the crockpot or if you didn't have time earlier in the day, just cook it in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour. Tonight I'm serving it with roasted seasoned potatoes and peas. It really goes with just about anything



4 chicken breasts

1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken

1 pkg. cream cheese (at room temperature)

1 packet Italian dressing mix



Mix together soup, cream cheese and Italian dressing mix. Place chicken in crockpot and pour soup mixture over chicken. Cook either 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high.

Chicken Parsley Pizza

Pizza Dough (the best recipe ever)
This dough recipe is from allrecipes.com. It's called Jay's Signature Pizza Crust. My sister has used this for a long time and tonight was my first night making it. It's really tasty.

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

Mix the top three ingredients and let it sit for 10 minutes. Then add the following ingredients.

1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups all-purpose flour

Let the dough rise until it has doubled. Roll it out, top with toppings and bake at 425 for 15 - 20 minutes.

Chicken Parsley Pizza

Rub olive oil on the unbaked crust. Then spread on your choice of tomato sauce and garlic powder. Add onions, chicken, and cheese. Bake for 20 minutes at 425. Three minutes before the pizza is done, sprinkle fresh chopped parsley on it and bake for remaining three minutes.

Honey Mustard Roasted Chicken

Okay, I am completely lame! I'm so sorry I haven't posted in forever. Here is a great chicken recipe that our family loves. It's yummy-numm-numm!

{Honey Mustard Roasted Chicken}

1 lb. potatoes cut into wedges

2 lbs. chicken cut into thick strips

6 medium carrots, sliced

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 1/2 Tbsp. honey

3 Tbsp. mustard

1 tsp. rosemary

2 heads garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a shallow pan, toss potatoes and carrots with oil, salt and pepper. Peel the garlic heads and remove the cloves, and nestle the garlic amongst the vegetables and scatter the rosemary on top. Arrange the chicken pieces among the vegetables and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

Stir together the mustard and honey and spread over chicken. Stir vegetables, return chicken to pan, place back into oven and bake 10-20 minutes, until chicken is cooked and vegetables are tender.

Ginger Almond Chicken and Asian Salad

I love Asian Chicken Salad so tonight I decided to make it into a meal. Instead of adding the chicken to the salad, I made the chicken breast with ginger and almond and added it onto the salad.

Asian Salad
1 package (16 oz) of coleslaw mix
1 package of ramen noodles (crushed)
1/2 cup sliced green onion
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 chicken flavor ramen noodle seasoning
1/2 package of silvered almonds
Mix together green onions, sesame seeds, vinegar, oil, sugar, salt, seasoning, and almonds. Pour over coleslaw mix and crushed ramen noodles. Let sit in refrigerator for a few hours before serving.
Ginger Almond Chicken
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup flour
1/2 package of silvered almonds
2 tsp ground ginger
2-3 chicken breasts cut in half or quartered
Dip chicken pieces in flour mixture (flour and ginger), then into the egg, followed by the crushed almonds. Cook chicken in skillet for 4 minutes on each side and then put into the oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Spinach Chicken

I had some leftover spinach in the fridge last night, so I cooked it up and made this...

SPINACH CHICKEN

3 cups spinach
1 can cream of chicken soup (10.5 oz)
1 cup milk
1 tsp garlic powder
4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and italian seasoning together. Coat chicken breasts with the mixture. Place chicken breasts in a baking dish.

In a saucepan cook the spinach and then drain the water. Add to the cooked spinach the cream of chicken soup, milk, and the remainder of the parmesan mixture. Heat until the sauce is slightly warm. Poor over chicken and bake for 1 hour.

Serve chicken over rice or pasta.