Foil Packet Southwestern Chicken

This was an easy weeknight dinner and very tasty!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Minute Brown Rice, uncooked
• 1 3/4 cups warm water
• 4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup Kraft Light Done Right Ranch Reduced fat dressing (I used the light 3 cheese)
• 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 cup Kraft 2% Milk shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese (I used cheddar last time and mozzarella this time)
• 4 cups small broccoli florets (I maybe used 2)
• 1 medium red pepper, chopped (I also added a chopped green pepper)

1. Preheat oven to 400*
2. Combine rice and water; let stand 5 minutes while chopping veggies
3. Spoon rice mixture evenly onto center of each of 4 large sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil
4. Top each with 1 chicken breast; sprinkle with chili powder
5. Drizzle evenly with dressing
6. Top with cheese and veggies
7. Make packets and place on baking sheet
8. Bake 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (170*)

I served these with Cheesy Garlic biscuits posted by Mrs.Bowen on The Nest

• 2 cups Bisquick mix
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley
• 1/4 cup butter - melted
  

Combine first 3 ingredients until moist.Drop onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 450 for 8 minutes.

Mean while, mix melted butter and garlic.Pour over hot biscuits and serve.Makes 8-10 biscuits.

1. 

Spicy Garlic Lime Pasta

Another recipe from Amber's Delectable Delights.

This was really good. We both like spicy things and this was spicy, but not too spicy. DH liked his with lime juice squeezed over it at the end because he loves limes. He also told me to make more sauce next time because he loves sauce!

Spicy Garlic Lime Pasta
(Source: Amber's Delectable Delights)

Ingredients:
1 cup chicken broth
1.5 tbls lime juice (adjusting amount to your liking)
1 tbls corn starch
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried parsley
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into bite size pieces)
1 tbls butter
Few drizzles of olive oil
8 oz pasta (I used whole wheat rotini)
1-2 cups broccoli florets
Optional - Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions:
1) Bring pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. During the last 5 minutes of pasta cook time add the broccoli into the boiling water. Drain.

2) Mix together all the sauce ingredients (chicken broth through parsley) and set aside.

3) Meanwhile, heat butter and olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add bite size chicken pieces into heated pan. Cook chicken until no longer pink. Pour the sauce ingredients into the pan with the chicken and bring to a simmer. Let simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened.

4) Toss cooked broccoli and pasta with the chicken and sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired and serve.

Chicken Pot Pie

So, this was not fancy at all, but it was comfort food and it was quick so oh well!

My mom always used the canned soup and vegetables, so that is what I did.

Ingredients:

Pastry for 2 pie crusts (I used Pillsbury refrigerated crust for the top, and because I wanted to use the other pie crust for dessert, I made an easy pie crust from http://www.allrecipes.com/ for the bottom.

Easy Pie Crust

Submitted by: LouiseRated: 4 out of 5 by 90 members
Prep Time: 10 MinutesCook Time: 15 Minutes
Ready In: 25 MinutesYields: 8 servings
"This recipe was given to me by a friend of mine many years ago and I enjoy it because it has a different taste and is so easy to fix."

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2.Place all ingredients in 9 inch pie pan. Stir together with fork. Pat mixture into bottom and up the sides of the pan. Poke holes in bottom and side of crust.
3.Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until light brown. Use as directed in favorite pie recipe.

I didn't bake this before I put the ingredients and it turned out fine.

Filling:

• 2 cans cream of chicken soup


• 1 can mixed vegetables or frozen vegetables


• About 3 chicken breasts (I cooked mine in the slow cooker for about 3 hours on high with chicken broth, salt, pepper, and chicken seasoning)

Combine all in a bowl, put into pie and bake for 45 minutes at about 350-375.

Grilled Chicken, Mashed Potatoes

The marinade for the chicken was interesting...I don't think we will use it again. Maybe we had the wrong type of beer. It was just a can of light beer, a lime, honey, cilantro, salt, pepper, and garlic. It had too strong of a beer taste to me, so make sure it is a beer you like!

Mashed potatoes-DH's specialty. Peel potatoes (We used Yukon Gold last time and Russet this time and thought the Yukon Gold was better). Cut into thin slices, add water and boil until very tender (falls apart when touched). Strain and add to mixing bowl. Add milk until you get the right consistency you want and butter for flavor. Mix with electric mixer or stand mixer.

The broccoli and rolls were just frozen :(

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

I first heard someone mention this on the What's Cooking Board of the Nest. I found a recipe for it at allrecipes.com, but mainly its just chicken and salsa! I used 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, jar of salsa, can of black beans and a can of corn. I cooked it on low for 8 hours. I probably would wait until the end next time to put the corn and beans in, but it was very delicious. I think someone also mentioned adding taco seasoning, but mine was very good as is. I had mine with tortillas that I had brushed with olive oil and baked. Brad had his in regular soft tortillas. He said it was"fantabulous!" and that is good considering he can be picky.


Fresh tomato salsa? That is what I was going for but I think it was more like pico-de-gallo? It was great whatever it was. I used fresh tomatoes from my sister's garden (they were small-either roma or cherry?), half of a jalepeno that I had seeded and had been in the freezer, a little chopped onion, a few spoonfuls minced garlic, lots of cilantro, and a dash of salt. I also added a little sugar although I'm not sure why. As you can tell this was an experiment, but I think it turned out quite well.

Grilled Chicken Salad

Everyone knows how to make grilled chicken salad, just thought I'd post my pics. I'm looking for different marinades. Tonight I just used olive oil, salt, pepper and grill seasoning. Add salad, cheese, croutons, and dressing and we have ourselves dinner. I also love my grill pan since we don't have an outside grill. It's one of my favorite wedding gifts!