Pineapple Chicken

I know that a lot of people are always looking for something new to do with chicken. It's a family favorite in just about everyone's family. So here's a new chicken recipe for you. We tried it last night, and it was pretty good. Brandon liked it, which is a plus, and I think it was decent and needs some tweaking. Give it a try and see what you think!

What You'll Need: 

Chicken for six (I used four large chicken breasts, cut up)
Olive oil
2 8 oz cans crushed pineapple in juice
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup brown mustard
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp melted butter
Paprika
White rice, for serving


How to Make It: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Get the chicken ready for cooking by trimming any fat and cutting it up if you'd like. Brush a little olive oil in a 9x13 pan, and place the chicken inside. In a bowl, whisk together the broth, mustard, and honey, and stir in the pineapple. Pour over the chicken, and drizzle the melted butter over that. Sprinkle with some paprika, and throw it in the oven for 40 minutes or until the chicken is done. Serve it with rice, and put out some Polynesian sauce or Hawaiian barbecue sauce if you have it (I thought the taste was really mild so I had mine with a little barbecue sauce!) I think that it would also taste really good served with egg rolls, but we didn't have any on hand. : )

Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken

I made this last night, and it was really yummy! I'm looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch. 

What You'll Need: 

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or 2 packages chicken breast tenderloins
1 bottle honey barbecue sauce
Scant 1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder

How to Make It: 

Place the chicken in a large slow cooker. In a bowl, whisk together the barbecue sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, red pepper and garlic powder. Pour over chicken. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on Low setting for 4-6 hours. Fair warning: the longer you leave the chicken in the slow cooker, the more dried it will taste (especially if using thinly prepared chicken, like the tenderloins.) So for smaller pieces of chicken, aim for about 4 to 5 hours before serving.

Cheesy Pecan Chicken Casserole

I made this for dinner tonight with roasted carrots and cannellini beans. It was pretty yummy!

What You'll Need: 

1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups finely shredded cheddar cheese, divided
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chicken broth
4 cups diced cooked chicken
1/2 onion, finely diced*
1/4 cup mayo
1/8 tsp hot pepper sauce, or more to taste
1 tbsp dijon or spicy brown mustard

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350. In a bowl, combine the flour, 1 cup of the cheese, the pecans, salt, paprika, and vegetable oil. Set aside about 2 cups of the crumb mixture for the topping. Press the remaining crumb mixture on the bottom of a greased 13x9 baking dish. The crust will be crumbly- don't worry about it! Bake the crust for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. Pour the mixture over the baked crust, and sprinkle it with the remaining cheesy pecan crumbs. Bake the casserole for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let the casserole stand for 5-10 minutes before serving. This will make 8 very generous servings!

*I don't even bother dicing onion anymore, unless I can throw it in my food processor with something else. Invest in a decent box grater (cheese is better when you grate it yourself, anyway) and just grate the onion. You don't have to touch it as much and it takes a lot less time!

Buffalo Chicken Calzones

What You'll Need:

1 can (8 oz) pizza sauce (I like Muir Glen)

2 tsp plus 1/2 cup hot sauce, divided

1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed

3 tbsp butter

A dash of Cajun seasoning (I used Emeril Lagasse's recipe, scaled down)

2 tubes (10 oz each( refrigerated pizza crust dough

1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

2 oz very finely crumbled blue cheese, optional

Cornmeal

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine the pizza sauce and 2 tsp hot sauce; set aside. In a skillet, saute the chicken in the butter for 3-5 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink. Stir in the Cajun seasoning and the remaining hot sauce, cover the pan and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until everything is heated through. Unroll the pizza dough and divide each portion in half. On a floured surface, roll each dough portion into an 8 inch circle. Spread the pizza sauce mixture over half of each circle within 1 inch of the edge of the dough. Top the sauce with the chicken mixture and the cheeses. Fold the dough over the filling and pinch the edges to seal. Sprinkle a greased baking sheet (or two, if you need it) with cornmeal. Place the calzones over the cornmeal, and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

Fail-Proof Chicken

You literally cannot screw up this chicken. Seriously. It's that easy.

What You'll Need:

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 packet dry Italian dressing mix

1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

How To Make It:

Place the chicken in your slow cooker, and sprinkle it with the dressing mix. In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese and soup. Pour the soup mixture over the chicken. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Shred the chicken with a fork (it'll be really tender!) and serve over rice or noodles. Or, do what I did: I served mine over leftover breakfast biscuits. So yummy!

Cranberry Chicken

We're having cranberry chicken for dinner tonight. It's delicious. You can find the recipe here, courtesy of my friend Alyssa. Try it, it's yummy!

Garlic-Parmesan Chicken

I made this a week or two ago with some spaghetti and pasta sauce. It was quite yummy.

What You'll Need:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup dry bread crumbs

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp dried basil leaves

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded flat

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish. In a bowl, blend the olive oil and garlic. In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan, basil, and pepper. Dip each chicken piece in the oil mixture, then in the bread crumb mixture (roll the chicken around in the crumbs to ensure that it's well coated.) Arrange the chicken in the prepared baking dish, and, if you like, sprinkle with some of the remaining crumb mixture. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink and its juices run clear.

Fried Chicken with Mushroom Gravy

Gravy is amazing, but this stuff is especially good.

What You'll Need:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp Bisquick, divided

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 egg

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

2 tbsp sliced green onion

1 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp soy sauce

How to Make It:

Between pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper, place each chicken breast smooth side down; gently pound until about 1/4 inch thick (this would be called a "paillard".) In a shallow dish, stir 1/2 up Bisquick and garlic powder. In another shallow dish, beat the egg. Dip the chicken in the egg, then coat each piece with the Bisquick mixture. In a 12 inch nonstick skillet, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium heat. Add the chicken. Cook three minutes or until golden brown. Turn the chicken; cover and cook 4-6 minutes longer until done. Remove the chicken to a serving platter and cover to keep warm. In the same skillet, heat the remaining oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook 3-4 minutes until browned. Add the remaining Bisquick and onions; cook and stir until mixed. Stir in the milk and the soy sauce. Cook the gravy until the mixture is thick and bubbly. Serve the gravy over the chicken.

Parmesan-Dijon Chicken

There are so many different ways to fix chicken, which is good, because it's pretty much the only meat we eat around here. This recipe serves 6.

What You'll Need:

3/4 cup dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/4 cup butter, melted

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

How to Make It:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large zip-top plastic bag, mix bread crumbs and cheese. In a shallow dish, stir the mustard into the melted butter until well mixed. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels; dip one piece of chicken in the butter mixture, then place in the bag, seal it and shake the bag to coat the chicken with the crumb mixture. Place the chicken in a single layer in a 13x9 baking dish. Bake uncovered 20-30 minutes, turning chicken once with tongs, until the chicken is done and its juices run clear.