PW's Ranch Style Chicken

Y'all know how much I love The Pioneer Woman. If you don't let me just squeal it from the rooftops of this blog. . . . . . . . .

I LOVE THE PIONEER WOMAN!!!!!

So now that you know about my crazy obsession with that woman's cooking technique, I will tell you about the latest recipe of hers I made, Ranch Style Chicken.

You will most definitely want to check this recipe out. Who could go wrong with bacon, cheese, and chicken--my three favorite food groups?

Go check it out and in the meantime, you can see how mine turned out!

Parmesean Chicken Sandwiches

So do you remember the recipe I shared with you yesterday about the Cheddar Cheese French Bread? If not, click the link and remind yourself and then, finish reading this post.

Now, the rest of this recipe is all pre-made stuff. Yeah, I know, I can hear you now, but hey, we all have to cheat with our food sometimes right? Right? RIGHT? I knew you would see it my way!

Anyway, these delicious sandwiches (samwiches in my kneck of the woods) have fried chicken tenders, marinara sauce, and provolone cheese on top of this scrumptious french bread! It was divine heaveness eating these things!

Here's the recipe

Parmesean Chicken Sandwiches

Ingredients
Cheddar Cheese French bread
Fried Chicken tenders
Marinara Sauce
Provolone cheese slices

Directions

Cook tenders according to package directions. After they have cooked, slice open your french bread and place tenders on the inside. Slather them with marinara sauce and top with a slice of provolone cheese. Place under the broiler to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

Carribean Jerk Chicken

Have you ever bought any of those marinades in a bottle made by Lawry's? Oh my gosh. . . THEY ROCK!

I had a huge pack of chicken tenderloins that I needed to use, so I decided to buy a bottle since Kroger had it on sale for $1.00, and Stephen had been wanting me to try my hand at making some Caribbean jerk chicken, and just give it a shot.

This stuff was out-of-this-world! It had just enough heat to make it spicy, but the flavor combination in this marinade was just delicious. It was a little spicy, a little sweet, a little sour--all the flavors just worked together wonderfully!

We decided to grill our chicken. We had to really watch them close since they were tenderloins so that they did not cook to fast and burn or get really dry.

If you decide to try this, here is the bottle you need to get!

It is really good! (No I was not paid for this review of sauce, although I would have gladly did it for a free bottle!)

How To Roast a Chicken

I used to be scared to death of roasting a chicken. I was always afraid that I might not get the chicken all the way done, and then it would be a waste of my time and money.

I decided to try it one day after seeing one cooked on t.v. I purchased my chicken and on the back of the package was the instructions on how to properly roast a chicken.

Turn your oven on to 375 degrees. Take pats of butter and place underneath the skin of the breast and inside the cavity of the chicken. You will have to separate the skin from the meat in order to get the butter in there. Just push your fingers in and it will make a hole. Then take some more butter and rub all over the outside of the skin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper all over the skin.

Place in a shallow roasting pan and roast for 20 minutes per pound of chicken.  If you cook it this way, I PROMISE you, your bird will come out juicy and delicious! During your cooking time, take the bird out periodically and baste with the melted butter.

If you have time, you can brine your chicken which will also enhance the flavor. Brining a chicken is really easy. You can read about how to do that HERE on E-How.

Chili Chicken Sandwiches

Last night, I made this new recipe that sounded pretty awesome on paper. It was even more awesome after it was done! Included on this sandwich is a combination of all my favorite flavors: chicken, green onions, cilantro, cream cheese, cheddar cheese--OH! This stuff is awesome!

This is THE easiest stuff on the planet to throw together. It will easily make about 8 sandwiches. This would also be good on some crackers!

Ingredients
1 8 ounce package of cream cheese
2 cups of cooked, cubed chicken
1 and 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 4 ounce can diced green chiles
3 tablespoons of chopped green onions
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
4 hard rolls (or use hamburger buns like I did)
2 tablespoons of fresh minced cilantro

Directions
In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is fluffy. Stir in the chicken, cheddar cheese, chilies, green onions, and seasonings. Cut top off of 1/4 of the rolls; carefully hollow out the bottoms of the rolls. Fill the bottoms with the chicken mixture.

Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown. Sprinkle with cilantro.

These go great with chips and salsa OR Pioneer Woman's Fried Potato Skins!

Fried Chicken Tacos

I love fried chicken tacos! Every time we have been out to eat somewhere and they have these yummy lovlies, I get them! I have been bound and determined to recreate these at home, and guess what? I did!

Basically, all I did was fry up boneless, skinless, chicken tenders first. Then I made a batch of Mexican ranch sauce to pour on the tacos. It is 2 tablespoons of picante sauce and 2 tablespoons of ranch dressing.

While all of that is coming together, I also made a batch of Pioneer Woman's Pico De Gallo.

Once you get all the components made, simply put them together using whatever kind of shell you want. I tried it with both hard and soft shells. I found I like it best with soft shell tacos!

Parmesean Crusted Chicken

Last weekend we went to Longhorn's Steakhouse for dinner. It was fabulous! I kept seeing the commercial for this Parmesean Crusted Chicken and every time I would see it, my mouth would water.

When we finally got to go there and eat, that was exactly what I got. The first bite was scrumptious as I had suspected! I asked our waitress what was in the sauce that was on top of the chicken and she gave me the COMPLETE recipe so I could re-create it at home. I was shocked that they shared it with me.

I made my version of it last night and it was SO good! Stephen even said it was his new favorite. I paired it with green beans and mashed potatoes and the homemade artisan bread that I shared before. It was a wonderful restaurant meal for a fraction of the price!

 

Here is the recipe and I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup of creamy ranch dressing
1 cup of parmesean cheese
1 cup of shredded provolone cheese
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
Panko bread crumbs (I did not have these so I just used regular bread crumbs)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook your chicken to your preference (grilled or baked--I baked mine). While the chicken is baking, mix together ranch, parmesean cheese, garlic, and 1/4 cup of provolone cheese, and then set this mixture aside. Also at this time toast your bread crumbs and then set them aside.

After the chicken is done cooking, remove it from the oven and turn your broiler on. Take your creamy cheese mixture and put it on each piece of chicken. Put it on as thick as you like. Sprinkle on each piece of chicken the remaining provolone cheese. Top that with the toasted bread crumbs.

Place chicken under the broiler until the cheese is melted and browned a little on top.

Here is the cost breakdown for this recipe:
1 bag of frozen chicken breasts ($6.99)
1 bottle of ranch dressing ($1.49)
1 8 ounce jar of parmesean cheese ($1.89)
1 8 ounce bar of provolone cheese ($1.79)
1 head of garlic (.29)
1 box of bread crumbs (.99)
2 cans of green beans ($1.00)
Loaf of bread (free--homemade)

This recipe easily feeds 6 people. You could also stretch it to 8 if you needed to, but some in our family like two pieces of chicken instead of one. The total cost to prepare this meal for 6 people is $14.44! That comes out to $2.40 per serving. At the restaurant, this meal comes with 2 chicken breasts and french fries and bread for $10.99! I think I much prefer making it at home, and the taste was just about the same!

Hope you enjoy!

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

 

I was a bit skeptical about slow cooker bbq chicken because I was afraid it would get all mushy and gross, but can I just say that bbq chicken in a slow cooker rocks!!!

The chicken came out SO moist and there was not one little bit of chicken left after leftovers the next day. Here is how you can fix your favorite family a delicious and mouth watering bbq chicken.

Ingredients

You favorite pieces of chicken (mine were breasts and legs)

Your favorite bbq sauce (mine is homemade. I use this recipe from Food Network)

Directions

Wash and pat dry your chicken pieces. Put them in your slow cooker. Pour most of your bbq sauce over your chicken and allow it to cook in the slow cooker for about 6 hours on low.

Turn the broiler on your stove on and place your chicken on a cookie sheet. Brush it with the remaining bbq sauce and place under broiler to crisp up the skin a bit.

Enjoy!!

This recipe is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I love pizza! It is one of my most favoritest foods(okay...I know it is not spelled right, but I love that word). Last week, I tried my hand at making homemade bbq chicken pizza and it turned out fabulous!

 

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did putting it together!

Ingredients

Pizza crust

bbq sauce

chicken breasts

caramelized onions

shredded cheddar cheese

Self Rising Pizza Crust
2-1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Dry Active Yeast
3/4 Cup Water
1/4 Cup oil
In bowl combine flour, baking powder,salt, and yeast. Stir it up to distribute the salt and yeast evenly.Add the water and oil. You may need to add a teaspoon or more of waterif the day is dry. Mix the dough until it forms a ball in the middle ofthe bowl. It should be a little stiffer than biscuit dough. Knead doughabout 10 to 12 times and then form in a ball. Place the ball in thecenter of a 16" pizza pan or a 9x13 pan. Use your hands and a rollingpin to roll dough out into the pan. Press the dough into the pan untilit is medium thickness. Cook crust on 400 degrees for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Boil your chicken until it is done. You can use whatever kind of chicken that you want. I always use white meat because that is what my family likes. After your chicken is done boiling, take it out and allow it set and cool for just a  bit and then shred it.

Take an onion and slice it in half. Take each half and slice very thinly and place in a pan with a couple of tablespoons of butter on medium to low heat. Allow the onions to cook until they are translucent and begin to caramelize.

Now it is time to assemble the pizza!

Take your pre-baked crust and slather it with bbq sauce. Use the sauce of your choice(I prefer honey flavored). After slathering with bbq sauce, take the shredded chicken and add just a tad of bbq to it so that it does not dry out and then spread it evenly on your pizza crust. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese on top and then scatter the onions on top of that. Place in a 400 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes or until the crust and toppings are done to your liking.

I am telling you, this pizza is awesome and it is a great way to use up leftovers in the fridge!

 

 

Pineapple Chicken StirFry

The other night when I got ready to make supper, I realized that Iwas short on the ingredients that I wanted to use, so I had to come upwith another meal to prepare. So I went to my favorite site, Hillbilly Housewife. Have I told you how much I LOVE this site? Her recipes are just delicious and they are VERY inexpensive to make.

Ilooked through her recipe database and I came upon one that just mademy mouth water. I checked the cabinets and YEP I had everything Ineeded to make a delicious stir fry...wait til you see:

The recipe for this delicious meal is right here. I can't post it on my own site because I did not ask for permission so I thought I would just link to it.

This post is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Chicken and Dumplings

This week I tried my hand at making chicken and dumplings. I will say that this is one of the easiest and tastiest recipes I have ever used in my entire life!

I got the recipe from Tasty Kitchen, the website designed by the Pioneer Woman. I made it almost like the recipe, but left a couple of things out, so here is my version! Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (about 3 pounds)

10 cups of water (salt like you would for spaghetti for added flavor)

2 whole bay leaves

1 tablespoon of oregano

1/2 of an onion(leave it in its half form--I just set it in the water for flavor)

10 tablespoons of butter

1/2 teaspoon salt for taste

1/2 teaspoon black pepper for taste

4 cups of self rising flour

1/2 cup shortening

Directions

Add water, bay leaves, oregano, onion, salt and pepper to the water.  Place chicken in the water and turn stove to medium heat. Cover and let cook for about an hour or so. Remove chicken and allow it to rest. Add butter to the water.

While butter is melting, place flour and shortening in a bowl and mix together until it is crumbly. Take one and a half cups of the liquid from the pot (don't worry if the spices get in the dough mixture--that is what makes it good) and pour in the flour mixture. Mix well. Dump out onto a floured surface and roll dough to about a half an inch thick(dumplings will plump in the mixture). Cut into 1" by 1" squares and drop into broth. Allow to cook for about 10 min. (Right before dropping the dumplings in, be sure and remove the onion and bay leaves).

While dumplings are cooking, remove skin and shred chicken. Once dumplings have cooked, add chicken back into the pot. Time to enjoy!

Lemon Chicken

Today I am sharing a  recipe that I recently tried. This one is from my girl The Hillbilly Housewife. I just LOVE her site! Not only are the recipes frugal, but man oh man are they tasty!

Lemon Chicken
Makes 4 servings

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1 broiler-fryer chicken (about 3 lb.), cut up
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon thyme dried, crushed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450°.
Place butter in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. Melt butter in oven while preheating (do not burn). Remove from oven.
Meanwhile, rinse chicken and pat dry. Roll in melted butter. Arrange in dish, skin-side down; set aside.
In a small bowl, mix lemon juice, thyme, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Baste chicken with some of the lemon mixture.
Bakefor 20 minutes. With tongs, turn chicken over. Baste with juices andremaining lemon mixture. Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until tenderand no longer pink when cut along the bone.
Spoon juices over chicken. Transfer to a serving platter.

This post is linked to Our Crazy Kitchen.

Honey Chicken

Since I will be trying out the Once a Month Cooking thing starting next week, I have been trying out a few of the recipes and so far they have all been delicious. They are so good that there never seems to be any leftovers!
This week I tried a new recipe that I thought I would share with you all. It is called Honey Chicken.

Honey Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, and basil. Put chicken in a 13X9 baking dish that has been sprayed with non stick cooking spray.
Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over chicken.  Bake in a  400 degree oven for 45 minutes. If you want you can also grill these.
Serves 4
I must say that this is really good! The taste of the honey mixed with the soy sauce just gave it a really smooth flavor. I think this would go great paired with rice or noodles of some type! And it is very healthy!

Hope you enjoy!

This post is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.
This post is linked to URS.