Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken

To all my readers, I apologize for being away for so long. I have had a lot on my plate lately, between getting back to work after surgery, switching jobs, and all of the other ups and downs life tends to throw at you. I digress, I'm trying to focus on this new positive attitude I've acquired, and stick with it. I have plenty of motivation built up, and I am going to hang on to it!

As I promised, my next entry was going to be about the Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken, so here it is. If I can recall, Scott and I made this back in late July, and I do remember that we were very pleased with the recipe! The chicken was sweet and juicy, and it sure lived up to the name double crunch! Here is the recipe I found on Pinterest:

• 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups flour
• 4 tsp salt
• 4 tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp ground thyme
• 2 tsp ground sage
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 eggs
• 8 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3-4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 cup honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce 
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
•  canola oil 

Unlike other recipes, Scott and I basically stuck to this one, without making much adjustments. The only thing we may have changed were the spices. The recipe calls for sage and thyme, and I'm almost positive Scott does not have those spices in his spice rack. Don't worry about veering from the set path though...be adventurous! Use other spices instead. Trust me, it's exciting. 

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour with all the spices. In a separate bowl, make an egg wash by mixing the eggs with some water. Setup an assembly line of chicken, flour, egg, and get started! 

Season the chicken with salt and pepper (of course), then dip into the flour, then into the egg, then into the flour one final time, and then into the saute pan. When the chicken is cooked through, about 4 or 5 minutes per side, drain on a wire rack. 

To make the honey garlic sauce, in a medium saucepan, add the olive oil and minced garlic. Cook over medium heat to soften the garlic, but don't let it brown. Add the honey, soy sauce and black pepper, and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Let the mixture cool a little before you add it to the chicken. 

You won't be disappointed by this recipe. Scott and I loved it so much that we finished all four chicken breasts! That's pretty much unheard of at his house. We cooked scalloped potatoes with our chicken, but I think it would also be great with rice pilaf or mashed potatoes. Give the recipe a try, and tell me what you think!

Would you use the honey garlic sauce as a garnish on top of the chicken, or as a dipping sauce? What is your favorite dipping sauce for chicken? 

Chicken Noodle Soup...with a soda on the side.

Last night's dinner was a far cry from the average typical Thursday. Scott was feeling under the weather and there was absolutely nothing to cook in his house, so I opted for rice and bacon. Let's just say the full affect of adulthood hit me in the face last night. 

Today I decided to make chicken noodle soup, because everyone who has ever been ill has craved it. Scott was at work, so hopefully he will have a nice surprise waiting for him when he arrives home. 

I've never made chicken noodle soup before, so I needed a little guidance. I went to Google, and found a really simple recipe from Tyler Florence, one of my favs on The Food Network. Here is his recipe. The only area my recipe strays from his is in the spice department. Be prepared for a lot of prep work, but it's totally worth it. Here is what you'll need:  

• olive oil
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2" slices
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 1/2" slices 
• 2 quarts chicken stock (or broth...I don't know the difference)
• 8 oz dried wide egg noodles
• 4 chicken cutlets, cooked and diced into 1" cubes
• sage to taste
• wine and garlic spice to taste
• s & p to taste
• chopped parsley for garnish 

Start by seasoning the chicken with salt and pepper. Cover the bottom of a large soup pot with olive oil, heat to medium heat, and place the chicken in. Cook the chicken through until there is no pink. Then, set the chicken aside on a separate plate. 

Next, add the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery to the pan. Cook down for 5-10 minutes, until the vegetables are transparent but not brown. Add all your spices now. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.

Add the egg noodles to the pot and boil for 5 minutes. Simmer for another 5, or until the noodles are tender, and add the chicken pieces back in. Simmer, uncovered, for a few more minutes. Garnish the soup with chopped parsley. Tyler Florence says the soup should take 20 minutes to cook, but it took me between 20 and 30 minutes. Definitely worth all the preparation!

What's your favorite soup to have when you are feeling under the weather? 

Chicken Cutlets turned UP a notch!

Who doesn't love chicken? On Thursday night, a few months back, Scott and I were craving chicken, but we wanted to step out of the box a little bit. I started surfing Pinterest, like I usually do when I need inspiration, and I came across this recipe. Although it is for pork chops, Scott had chicken cutlets in the house, and I knew it would work either way. We decided to give it a try and I am so glad we did!

This recipe was a great way to spruce up your average breaded chicken cutlets. Here is what we used:

• 1 pkg boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 cups Italian bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 bottle of Ranch dressing

(the recipe also called for a package of dry Italian seasoning, but we didn't have it in the house, and didn't feel like purchasing it. I don't think it really made a difference.)

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate plate, pour a layer of Ranch dressing down, and coat the cutlets in the dressing. Now, dunk the cutlets in the bread crumb mixture. (in this case, the Ranch acts as egg wash that would normally be used.) 

The original recipe says that to avoid soggy cutlets, (haha), place them on a wire cooking rack. Turn your oven to 400 degrees and cook the cutlets for 45 minutes. They will come out crispy every time. I know ours did. 

Granted our chicken cutlets did not look like the picture on the website where I got the recipe, they were still delicious and crispy. I'll definitely try them out again, whenever I am feeling sassy. 

Maybe next time I will try the recipe with pork chops. What is your favorite way to prepare chicken? What do you bread your chicken with?

This Chicken is all dressed up for Date Night!

I am so proud of this recipe that I am about to share with you, because I came up with it all on my own, from the depths of my memory banks. No help from Pinterest or from the Food Network. I wanted to make some thing real special for Scott, and this is what I came up with:

• 1 pkg of chicken cutlets
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 zucchini, diced 
• 2 small yellow summer squash, diced
• 2 cups brown rice
• 1 cucumber diced
• 1/4 of a red onion, minced
• 1/2 bottle Italian dressing
• 1/4 cup of sesame dressing

1. Marinate the chicken cutlets in Italian dressing, at least one hour before you plan to cook them. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. (My go-tos!)

2. Start cooking the rice according to the package.

3. Dice the cucumber and onion, and marinate them in sesame dressing for at least 30 minutes to an hour.

4. In a large sauce pan, on medium-high heat, saute the pepper, zucchini and squash until they are fork tender. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.

5. While you are sauteing the vegetables, put some oil in another large saucepan and heat it to medium-high heat. Cook the chicken through until there is no more pink. 

6. When the rice is done, add it to the mixed vegetables.

You can use the rice vegetable medley as a bed for the chicken. Finally, just place the cucumber onion mixture on top. It will act like a cold, refreshing salsa-like salad on top of the chicken. Scott and I were both extremely pleased with the recipe, and I will definitely add it to my date night recipes. If you need a special meal to wow the one you love, or are trying to impress, feel free to steal this one!

Do you have a special date night meal that you make for your significant other?

You can always make SOMETHING out of NOTHING

Scott and I have officially made the transition from poor college kids to poor adult people, so food shopping every week isn't always in the cards. Sometimes, we have to make do with what's in the house, and sometimes, those turn out to be the best recipes.

Last week, Scott had a plethora of random vegetables in the fridge; along with some chicken breasts, salsa and brown rice. We decided to go south of the border on this one, and make taco-less tacos. 

Two years ago, if you would have asked me to cook without a recipe...forget it! Cooking in general was out of the question. Now, Scott and I are cooking together and creating recipes like real chefs. If I can do it, you surely can! Here is what you'll need to make our taco-less tacos:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup salsa
• s/p to taste
• Italian seasoning to taste
• hot sauce
• 1/2 cup mushrooms
• 1/2 of an onion
• 1/2 of a jalapeno
• 1/2 of a red paper
• 1 cup brown rice
• chili powder
• red pepper flake
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• sour cream
• cheddar cheese

So that looks like a lot, but trust me, it's mainly spices that Scott just had laying around the house. Here are the easy steps:

1. Start cooking the brown rice. I know the kind we use takes about 45-50 minutes.Season the cooking water with chili powder, red pepper flake, onion and garlic powder.  Meanwhile, cut the chicken breast into about 1/2 inch diagonal strips. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. (those are always my three go-to spices). 

2. In a sauce pan, set to medium high heat, get some oil going, and throw in the chicken. In another sauce pan, also set to medium high heat, thrown in all the vegetables and start sweating them down. (yes, vegetables sweat too). Season with s&p, and Italian seasoning. 

3. When the chicken is cooked through and there is no more pink, add the salsa and reduce it down for about 5 minutes, and then you're done!

4. Now you can use the rice as a bed for the chicken. Place the veggies on top of the chicken, and garnish with your favorite hot sauce, sour cream and cheddar cheese. You don't have to add all that, but that is what Scott and I like on our tacos. Make this recipe your own, and just have fun with it!

What toppings do you like to put on your taco? 

Chicken Enchiladas, Anyone? Olé!

Scott and I both love Mexican food, but to novice chefs, there is only so much that we know how to make. We've done tacos, we've done fajitas, and we've done burritos. So, when we wanted to cook Mexican two weeks ago, we hit a brick wall. This time around, I did not go to Pinterest. I had an epic eureka moment of my own, and suggested chicken enchiladas. Since, I've never made enchiladas, I decided to look at some of the recipes on the Food Network, but I never actually replicated one. I took some of the ideas and ran with a thought of my own. I am pleased to say that this recipe is Food Network inspired, but Christine Nanio crafted. 

There are only a few ingredients to this recipe, so it'll be easy on your wallet.

• 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
• 1 pkg mushrooms
• 1/2 of a green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 of a red onion, chopped
• 4 tortilla rounds
• 1 pkg Mexican blend cheese (or whatever you may have in your house)
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• 1/2 jar of mild salsa
• sour cream (for topping) 

Start off by shredding the entire rotisserie chicken into a bowl. It'll be tedious and messy, but totally worth it. Combine the chicken, the onion, the pepper, the mushrooms, and the salsa in a large saucepan on medium high heat. Cook down the mixture for a few minutes so all the vegetables have a chance to soften. Season with salt, pepper and I also use Italian seasoning. That stuff is my go-to seasoning for everything! I love Mrs. Dash! 

Once the mixture has reduced a bit, you can fill each tortilla shell with a little bit of the mixture, a dollop of sour cream, some cheese, some hot sauce if you're adventurous, and roll it all up nice and tight. Place the enchiladas in a baking dish and cover with the enchilada sauce and the rest of the cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes. 

Here is our final product! 

It looks a little sloppy, and the refried beans look a tad bit scary, but I promise you, this is definitely a recipe worth trying! I wouldn't write about anything that wasn't delicious. And next time, someone please remind me to take pictures during my cooking process. I suck at that. 

What's your favorite Mexican dish? 

Date Night Dinner for Two: Chicken Cordon Bleu

The days I'm not on Pinterest surfing through dinner recipes, I look to the Food Network for inspiration. Since my Typical Thursday journey, I have adopted a few fancy, yet inexpensive go-to dinner recipes, and Chicken Cordon Bleu is definitely one of them. Tyler Florence of the Food Network, hits it out of the park with his version.

Minus the thyme leaves, Scott and I stick to this recipe step by step. It's absolutely fool proof and absolutely delicious. All you need is:

• 4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
• 4 slices of thin prosciutto
• 1/2 lb Gruyere cheese, grated (you can use any type of Swiss cheese)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs 
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap. Use a mallet, a rolling pin, the back side of a pan, anything you have handy in the kitchen that can pound the chicken down to a 1/4 inch thickness. Scott has a surfboard shaped, wooden carving board that I use to pound out the chicken. If you're having a bad day, I suggest you be in charge of this step...It's a great stress reliever! 

Remove the plastic wrap from the chicken. Place a piece of the prosciutto down on each chicken breast. Then, sprinkle with some of the Gruyere cheese. Roll up the chickens like a jelly roll. Be sure to not over stuff the chicken so all the contents stay in side, and be sure to roll everything up tight so it stays intact. 

Season the flour with salt, pepper, garlic, melted butter, and thyme (if you choose to use it). Lightly coat the chicken in flour, dip into the egg wash, then into the panko bread crumbs. Be gentle with the chickens during this step so they don't unravel. 

Place the chicken roulades into a greased baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes. When the chicken is done, it will come out crispy, and bubbly, and delicious. If you're trying to impress a mate with a fancy date night dinner, pull out this recipe! I guarantee that it will score you brownie points! Do you have a go-to date night recipe that you would like to share?

Buffalo Chicken Pasta

After two months of not writing, I think it's time to update. My break was unintentional, but I have had a lot on my plate lately. At long last, I will finally bring everyone up to speed with my culinary adventures. 

If you like it spicy and you actually like carbs, then this Buffalo Chicken Pasta is the recipe for you! If I do remember correctly, Scott and I prepared this meal before we went away for the weekend of my 23rd birthday back in April. It was a Thursday night, obviously, and we needed something fast, simple and delicious. So, I decided to boldly go to Pinterest, where I found the recipe.

The Blog where I found the recipe is super cute and super easy to follow. As usual, Scott and I varied from the original, but our version still turned out pretty good! Here is what we used:

• Marie's Bleu Cheese Salad Dressing (1 jar)
• Hot Sauce (whatever was on sale that day at Publix, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the jar)
• 1 diced red onion
• Diced chicken breast (about 2 depending on their size)
• pasta (we used spirals)
• 1 pkg diced mushrooms

Now, just add everything in a large mixing bowl and stir it all up! Alli's Blog instructs you to add salt and pepper to taste, and to chill the mixture. I discovered that it is delicious both hot and cold! Here is how ours turned out!

Instead of using celery, Scott and I substituted shrooms. I'm not too big on celery...and instead of rotisserie chicken, we used chicken breasts, which are a lot less messy. This recipe was super fast to make, and there was so much of it that Scott had left overs for days! 

I love pasta and I love different sauces, so this was a homerun for me! What do you like to drown your pasta in? 

Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac n Cheese

I've taken a very unnecessary hiatus from blogging, and I deeply apologize. I have a lot to catch you all up on, but I need to start with the most recent and work my way back from there. 

Scott and I have been at somewhat of a loss for Thursday dinners as of late, whether it be because of our budget, recent lack of creativity, or spontaneous, random plans that just come up. So, obviously, when I am out of ideas, I head to my crutch, Pinterest. Last week, I found a rather awesome recipe from a blog with a very similar name, One Ordinary Day.

Everyone, including myself, loves mac n cheese and I'm always trying to think up new and inventive ways to spice up the classic. One Ordinary Day beat me to the punch with a Chicken Bacon Ranch Mac n Cheese recipe. Click here to check it out! Scottie and I tweaked the recipe a little bit by using just regular pasta and regular butter, but it still came out pretty awesome!

  

 Season and saute the chicken on medium high heat.  








What you need for a bechamel sauce:
- butter
- flour
- milk
- cheese

 

Crisp up bacon in a skillet on medium high heat.

 

Here is our finished product! These are the basic steps. If you follow the recipe I linked above, you'll have a killer chicken, bacon, ranch mac n cheese too! The only minor disappointment that I encountered was that I felt our bechamel sauce was a little grainy...delicious, but grainy. Does anybody have any tips to avoiding that problem? Also, do you have a favorite mac n cheese recipe that you'd like to share?

Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Cheese Braid

When I am at my highest level of boredom, I always find myself surfing the pages of Pinterest. One particular day, I found this amazing and simple recipe and I knew that I had to try it ASAP! 

If you like chicken, cheese, bread, or maybe even broccoli, then this is definitely the recipe for you. Not only is this Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Cheese Braid simple, but it is quick and just as delicious. It's quite the tongue twister though, so don't try to say it five times fast. 

Shortly, after I called my mother into my room to feast her eyes on the recipe, she made a grocery list and told me that we were going shopping. I made it to accompany our dinner that night, and everyone agreed that it had sealed it's spot as a new family favorite.

So thank you to Food Family Finds for the wonderful recipe!! Go ahead and try it yourself and tell me what you think! What is your cheesiest recipe?

Chicken Marsala: Easy to Make and Easy on Your Wallet

I haven't had a typical Thursday in quite some time, and I have been quite consumed in my internship as of late, so I haven't had the time to blog, which I sincerely apologize for. Thankfully, that all changed last Thursday. I'm still quite consumed in my internship, but I have finally made the time to update and inform you of my culinary adventures! 

Marsala wine has taken up permanent residence in Scott's fridge for quite a few months now, so the most appropriate and most logical thing to do was to make Chicken Marsala again! I know you've had a long and hard week full of school and work, and the last thing on your mind is cooking, but if you're looking for an easy, yet sophisticated meal that's easy on your wallet, this is the recipe for you! 

I must admit that the term 'recipe' is a very loose term, because I pretty much eye-balled all the ingredients, but here is a brief overview of what Scott and I did! 

Chicken Marsala

• marsala wine
• butter
• flour
• mushrooms
• chicken breasts

Season your flour with whatever is on hand, I prefer s/p and some garlic powder; then, lightly flour each side of your chicken breast. (Scott and I actually used Bisquick because that is all he had in his pantry, and it turned out pretty darn good). In a medium sauce pan, on medium heat, sauté the chicken until it is golden brown on both sides and cooked through. When the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan and place it aside.

Sauté the mushrooms in the residual oils until they are cooked through. Add the Marsala wine and the butter. This wine is really strong, so you'll have to reduce it down a bit. You'll probably need to add a spoonful or so of the flour to thicken your sauce. When the sauce is done, add the chicken back to the pan and serve. Voila! 

Serve the chicken over mashed potatoes, pasta or rice...seriously it's perfect over anything! Now you have a pretty romantic dinner that only took about 20 minutes. This recipe is definitely a keeper in my book!

What are some of your favorite chicken recipes? Do you have your own way of making chicken Marsala?

Taco Bell...but BETTER!

I am reluctant to say that on Thursday I went out to Hooters with Scott for dinner. I try my very best to not eat there, but when your boyfriends' friends are in town, you can't say no. So, thankfully, we made up for our typical Thursday on Friday. I am pleased to report that dinner was a smashing success! 

My travels through Pinterest never fail me when it comes time for inspiration for interesting and new dinner ideas. Last week, I found this recipe for Chicken Ranch Tacos and I knew instantly that we had to give it a try. I give many thanks and a shout out to Pedey from Do You Smell That!? for an amazing recipe! Without further ado, here is my culinary journey through tacos. 

Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Tacos

• 1 pkg of thinly sliced stir fry style chicken (cubed)
• 1/2 pkg to 1 pkg of taco seasoning
• 1/4 cup ranch
• splash of water
• tortillas (warmed)

------------------------------------------

lettuce

sour cream

hot sauce 

shredded cheese

extra ranch dressing

bacon bits

Season and cook the chicken through in a medium sauce pan on medium high heat. Add the taco seasoning to the pan and incorporate. Add a splash of water, and then add the ranch. Incorporate all together and you're finished! The entire process should take between 10 and 15 minutes. (cooking the chicken through is the longest part)

Finally, just assemble a taco like you normally do. Scott and I used lettuce, sour cream, hot sauce,bacon bits and some shredded cheese blend mix. We also used soft tortilla shells instead of hard taco shells, but that is only because he doesn't like hard tacos. One final note, my recipe differs slightly from Pedey's, but we used her recipe as a guideline, and I give 100% credit to her!!

On a side note, as self-proclaimed sous chef last night, Scott's contribution to the meal was a delicious side dish of sauteed cauliflower and green beans! His recipe was pretty fool proof with the star ingredients obviously being green beans and cauliflower...and whatever marinade was left in the fridge (which turned out to be a zesty sesame ginger dressing). He sauteed the veggies all the way through with the marinade, and put a lid on them to steam them in the final minutes of the cooking time. The final product should result cauliflower that's tender and green beans that still retain a bit of a snap!

Do you have any killer taco recipes you want to share? Or any recipes using tortillas? I think they are so versatile! Comment below and tell me about them! I'd love to hear what you have to say!