Zesty Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

Hi Ya'll! I hope you all have had a great new year so far. Can you believe its already the end of January??!! Crazy...

This recipe that I am sharing with you today is called Zesty Roasted Chicken and Potatoes and I believe its from my Betty Crocker cookbook (the bridal edition) that I got for our wedding almost five years ago. It was one of the first meals I learned how to make when I moved in with my husband and it quickly became one of our favorite go to "quick" meals. At one point I think we even had it every week for dinner! I now try different recipes a lot so we haven't had this dish in awhile so the other night I made it and it was just as delicious as I remember. The great thing about this meal is that it is quick, easy AND its all made on one pan so clean up is a breeze! Give it a try I know you will love it too! :)

Zesty Roasted Chicken and Potatoes!

Ingredients:

6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 lb. small red potatoes, cut in quarters
1/3 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Chopped fresh chives, if desired.

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Spray a baking sheet, 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1 inch with cooking spray.

2. Place chicken and potatoes in pan. Mix remaining ingredients except chives; brush over chicken and potatoes.

3. Bake uncovered 30 to 35 minutes or until potatoes are tender and juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. Sprinkle with chives.

**Depending on your oven you may have to bake this a little longer than the recommended time. Mine is usually in the oven 40-45 minutes and then its perfect. It really depends on how big or small my potatoes are so at around 40 minutes I check the potatoes and go from there. I also almost never use chives just because that isn't something I always have in my fridge and it doesn't really make a huge difference its still an amazing dinner without it. 

Well there you go. Let me know what you think if you try it! Happy Tuesday everybody!! :)

Jen

XoxoX

Crisp and Creamy Baked Chicken!

The other night was one of those nights where shockingly enough I didn't have a plan of what I was going to make for dinner. So I thought about what I had in the pantry and went from there. I have made this meal a handful of times and its great every time! Its fast, easy and like I said it can be made with stuff you can just keep in your pantry for those nights you just don't feel like being Julia Child or Martha Stewart in the kitchen!! :)

Crisp-and-Creamy Baked Chicken

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breast

1 pouch Shake 'N Bake Extra Crispy Seasoned Coating Mix

1/2 can (10 3/4oz) of condensed cream of celery soup

1/4 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar & monterey jack cheese

Directions

1. Coat chicken with coating mix as directed on package; place in greased 13x9 baking dish. Discard any remaining coating mix.

2. Bake 20 min. or until chicken is done.

3. Mix soup and milk until well blended; pour over chicken. Top with cheese. Bake 5 min or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.

I usually serve this meal with Velvetta Shells cause Danny LOVES them and a green vegetable! :)

Southwest Pasta Skillet

Here is last nights dinner. Its made with the new Philadelphia Cooking Creme (Santa Fe Blend) thats out now and I have to say its pretty good!

I have made this dish once before and the last time I made it I didn't have a green pepper like the recipe called for so I used green onions instead and it turned out great so this time when I went to the store to get the ingredients I just used green onions again! If you try this recipe and use the peppers let me know what you think....

Southwest Pasta Skillet

Ingredients

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 cup chopped green peppers

1 can (14.5oz) no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained

1 pkg (10oz) frozen corn

1 tub (10oz) Philadelphia Santa Fe Blend Cooking Creme

2 cups hot cooked rotini pasta

1 cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Directions

1. Cook and stir chicken and peppers in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat for 6 to 7 minutes or until chicken is done. Add tomatoes, corn and cooking creme; cook and stir 3 minutes.

2. Add pasta and 1/2 cup shredded cheese; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

3. Top with remaining shredded cheese. Remove from heat. Cover; let stand until cheese is melted!

**because I used green onions instead of peppers I didn't stick them directly in the pot with the chicken, I cooked the chicken until it was almost done then I put in the onions. I also served this dinner with some texas toast...we love bread in this family if you couldn't tell! :)

Skillet Chicken Parmesan!

I am FINALLY back with another food blog! I have been very lazy in the last week because I haven't felt the greatest thanks to my back but that doesn't mean I haven't been cooking or taking pictures...it just means that by the time I get upstairs and to my laptop I don't fee like uploading my pics and writing a blog to go with it!!

I have like 4 or 5 meals I need to blog about so I hope to get them out in the next few days. This meal that I am doing now we had for dinner last Thursday (told u I was behind!!) and it was SO good and made the house smell DELICIOUS while it was cooking...

Skillet Chicken Parmesan

3/4

cup Original Bisquick® mix

1

teaspoon Italian seasoning

2

tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1

egg

4

boneless skinless chicken breasts (4 oz each)

3

tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

2

cups tomato pasta sauce (from 26-oz jar)

1

cup shredded Italian cheese blend (4 oz)

Step 1

In shallow dish or pie plate, mix Bisquick mix, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. In another shallow dish or pie plate, beat egg. Coat chicken with Bisquick mixture, then dip into egg, and coat again with Bisquick mixture.

Step 2

In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 4 to 6 minutes, turning once, until golden brown. Cover; cook 8 to 10 minutes longer, turning once, until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170°F). Remove from skillet to plate.

Step 3

Add pasta sauce to skillet. Place chicken on top of sauce. Sprinkle with Italian cheese blend. Cover; cook 2 to 3 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Add...here is my final plate!! :)

You can serve it over any pasta you like, I really like penne pasta so thats what I used and served it along with some Texas Toast!! Oh and I didn't use the Italian cheese blend like the recipe called for I used shredded mozzarella cause thats what I had on hand!! Enjoy!!

Crouton Crushed Chicken Tenders W/Orange BBQ Sauce!

One of our favorite go to easy meals is homemade chicken tenders. I usually just coat them with italian bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and then bake them in the oven but I saw today's recipe on an episode of Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee and it looked pretty good so I decided to give it a try!

The only thing I didn't like about it was they didn't brown up as much as I would have liked (and I even left them in a little longer than the directions said to) I probably could have put them under the broiler for a few minutes and that would have done the trick but by that time I was hungry and tired of waiting for dinner to be done! :)

Crouton Crushed Chicken Tenders

Ingredients

• 1 (6-ounce) bag garlic and butter croutons
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the corner off of the bag croutons just enough to let the air escape. Place the bag onto a cutting board, cover with a kitchen towel and smash it with a rolling pin. Crush the croutons until coarse in texture.

Set up a breading station with 3 pie plates or baking dishes. In 1 dish add the flour, and season it with poultry seasoning, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. In the second dish mix together the egg and buttermilk. In the third dish add the crushed croutons, and the bread crumbs.

Dip chicken tenders into the flour and shake of any excess. Then dip them into the buttermilk, and then into the bread crumb mixture making sure to thoroughly coat the tenders. Put the tenders on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Transfer to a platter and serve with the orange barbeque sauce.

Orange BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup barbeque sauce
• 2 tablespoons orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• 
  

Directions

Add all of the ingredients to a small bowl, and whisk together until well combined.

And...here is my final plate!! Now as a person who does NOT like anything even remotely spicy...don't let the fact that the BBQ sauce has a little hot sauce in it make you think its hot. I was gonna leave it out but decided to add it and I am glad I did...it was DELICIOUS! :)

**for the 1 1/2 pounds of chicken tenders I just took four boneless-skinless chicken breast and cut them into strips! I then served them with Velvetta Shellls and Green Beans. Happy Eating!

Lemon Chicken Breast w/ Roasted Broccolini and Green Beans!

These are two recipes that I have seen on TV a few times being made and finally I was like..ok they look too delicious so I am gonna print out the recipes and make them for dinner one night!!

The Roasted Broccolini and Green Beans is a Rachel Ray Recipe and the Lemon Chicken Breast comes from Ina Garten aka The Barefoot Contessa! I watch both shows everyday (just ask Danny he now HATES the Food Network!! LOL) and love most everything they make!

So here are the recipes!! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did...and if you end up trying them please come back and let me know what you thought too! :)

Roasted Broccolini and Green Beans

Ingredients

• 2 bundles broccolini, trim off ends
• 1 pound string beans, trimmed
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Arrange broccolini and beans on a cookie sheet. Coat the vegetables in oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast 15 to 18 minutes, until nutty and crispy at edges.

Lemon Chicken Breast

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic (9 cloves)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on (6 to 8 ounces each)
• 1 lemon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, add the garlic, and cook for just 1 minute but don't allow the garlic to turn brown. Off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice,oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 by 12-inch baking dish.

Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them skin side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn't browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.

And....this is my finished plate! To go along with the Chicken and Vegetables I just made a herb/butter rice side dish that came out of a packet. I wanna say it was the Lipton Rice Side! The whole meal had tons of flavor and the chicken was very juicy!! Now get cooking and enjoy!! :)

P.S. I forgot to mention if you can't find chicken breast with the skin on and no bone (like me) just take it up to the meat guy behind the counter at your local grocery store and ask him to do it!! They will be happy to! :)