Chicken & Dumpling Casserole

One of my favorite blogs is Plain Chicken.  Steph has some such delicious looking food!  I love chicken & dumplings, and so does my now 17 year old son.  This recipe happened to catch my eye.  I loved it!  It was easy to make which was a huge plus!  My son thinks it needed different spices, but I liked it the way it was.

I like the way the flour mixture firms up while baking but still has liquid from the broth.

I forgot to take a picture so I am "borrowing" the one from Plain Chicken.  The recipe can be found here.

Foodie Fanatics: Chicken Empanadas

This week's Foodie Fanatics recipe was chosen by Michele of Makin' Cakin' Weekends. I must say these were great! I have to admit, I didn't get to make these myself. My daughter, grandkids, and I were all set to make but I received a phone call that my mom had fallen and was on the floor. Kelly and I drove over there. Mom was fine. Her legs just are not real strong and when she bent to pick up something, they gave out. She was sitting in front of her chair in the living room, embarrassed. My dad was not able to pick her up by himself. They are both almost 79 years old. Kelly and I got her up and stayed to chat for a little.

My son-in-law, bless his heart, fixed the empanadas. We left out the bell pepper since I'm not the biggest fan. We used jarred jalapeno. This was not hard to make he said. They were really great. The recipe can be found HERE.

Good choice, Michele!

Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken

I found this recipe on Jamie Cooks it Up. I reminded me of a recipe my mom made a few times growing up. It was easy to make on a weeknight and tasted awesome. My son had two big helpings! I will definitely make this one again! and again!

Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken

5 chicken breasts cut into strips
1/2 C flour
1 t salt
1 T lemon pepper
3 T olive oil

Sauce:
1 can pineapple chunks
1 1/4 C pineapple juice (use the pineapple juice from the can, there won't be enough to equal 1 1/4 C. Just add a bit of water to make up the difference.)
3/4 C apple cider vinegar
1 t soy sauce
1/4 t ginger
1 chicken bullion cube
1 C sugar
2 T cornstarch
green onions (optional, but tasty)

1. In a dish mix the flour, salt and lemon pepper.

2. Cut your chicken into strips with some kitchen scissors. Dredge the chicken through the flour mixture.

3. Into a large HOT skillet add the olive oil. Place each piece of chicken into the hot pan. Over medium heat cook the chicken until it is golden brown. Turn each piece over and repeat. Lay the golden brown chicken in a 9x13 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

4. Pour the juice from the pineapple can into a measuring cup. Add enough water to the juice to equal 1 1/4 C.

5. In a medium sized sauce pan mix the ginger, sugar and cornstarch. Add all other sauce ingredients to this dry mixture and stir.

6. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat. Let it boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then pour 2/3 of the sauce over the top of your chicken.

7. Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

8. Take the chicken out of the oven and pour the pineapple chunks over the top. Pour the rest of the sauce over the top of the chicken and return it to the oven. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle a bit of green onion over the top if you choose.

Chicken after browning

baking

baking after adding pineapple

My Girl Paula: Baked Ham and Cheese Chicken

I've seen this made by a couple different people and I had to try it. I love Chicken Cordon Bleus and this is just a different variation of this.

It was delicious. Seems like a lot of steps, but it was really easy. I also made Italian Herb and cheese frocaccia bread. It was from a mix. I've made it before and it's so yummy. I made caesar salad. I had no croutons, so I made some with left over french bread. Yum meal!

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp Paula Deen House Seasoning
2 eggs, beaten
hot sauce, to taste
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tsp Greek Seasoning, recipe follows
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
olive oil
4 slices ham
4 tsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
4 slices mozzerella cheese

Directions:

Dredge the chicken in flour seasoned with House Seasoning. Dip in egg mixed with hot sauce. Then, dredge in a mixture of bread crumbs, Greek Seasoning, and Parmesan.

Brown chicken on each side in a skillet with olive oil on medium high heat.

After frying, transfer chicken to a sheet pan. Top with one piece of ham, 1 tsp of parsely and 1 slice of mozzarella cheese. Place in oven for 8 minutes just unitl cheese melts and starts to get bubbly.


Greek Seasoning:
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

The bread mix

the finished bread

caesar salad with homemade croutons

Chicken and Noodles

This recipe was given to me by the mom of an old neighbor of mine when we lived in the trailer park. It's very simple with no set measure-ments. My son has been wanting me to make this for awhile. He came home from a sleepover so I decided to make this for our lunch.

I love the frozen noodles in the recipe. They seem to stay very firm. The chicken can be breasts, thighs, canned, rotisserie. The quantity of chicken, veggies and seasonings are up to you and your taste.

Chicken

1 pkg. Reames frozen noodles

2 cans chicken broth

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

onion, chopped

celery, chopped

salt

pepper

chicken bouillon

Boil chicken with onion and celery. Meanwhile, put broth, soup and seasonings into a pot and heat. When chicken is done, shred and place the chicken and veggies into pot. Add the noodles. Simmer until noodles are done.

That's it. Very simple. It's one of my family's favorite recipes. A friend of mine serves over mashed potatoes. It also freezes to have another day.