Tag Archives: chicken

Crockpot Roasted Chicken with Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans

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crockpotchickenwithswtpt

I needed something with a lot of flavor, and something I could put in the crock pot since I didn’t have a ton of time to cook… SO, i picked up a whole chicken w/the skin on. I wanted to be able to use the leftovers for a couple of meals for my hubby while I am out of town this weekend!

I will have to post that recipe at a later time!!

Ok, so here is the Crockpot roasted chicken!

Peruvian Roasted Chicken
Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: varies
Points+ with Skin: drumstick 2 pts, wing 3 pts, thigh 4 pts, 4 oz breast 5 pts

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 1 bottle IPA beer (or a light beer)
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice of
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 lime cut into slices
  • salt
  • paprika
Directions:

Wash chicken and remove any giblet bag that is in the cavity. Salt and pepper the chicken. Place into the crock put and put on high for 4-5 hours, or low for 7-8 hours. Pour the beer over the chicken, and the rest of the liquids. Put the lemons and limes inside of the chicken cavity. Put all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix. Rub all over the chicken and place lid on. Put on low or high depending on cook time you want.

To test for doneness, insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken; the thermometer should read about 160°F. The chicken needs to reach an internal temperature of 165°F, but after the chicken is done, it should basically be falling apart. I served it with mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed green beans with onions.

crockpotroastedchicken

For the mashed sweet potatoes I did the following:

Ingredients:

8 SMALL sweet potatoes peeled, and cut into 8 pieces per potato
2 TB margarine or butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Put the potatoes in a pot and just cover with water. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 9-12 minutes until a fork easily goes through the potatoes. Drain, and mash and add above ingredients. If you prefer it even smoother, you can take a hand mixer and whip them!

For the green beans, I just sautee them in a skillet with about 1/4 cup onion and 1 tsp minced garlic for 10 min until softened, but still a bit crunchy.

Voila!

Delish!

And now, for the quote of the day:

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Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Tenderloins with a Creamy pesto Sauce

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prosciuttowrappedchicken

So I had absolutely no clue what I was going to make… I looked at my planned meals, and I had not thawed ANY of the meat that I was going to make… WOOPS! So, then I noticed that I had prosciutto left over from a couple of weeks ago that I hadn’t used… and some extra frozen chicken tenderloins,…. voila! DINNER! I also had a bag of Trader Joes zucchini fries and some lettuce… higher in fat, but making the portions smaller definitely helps with overall calories. This dinner, my portions, was right around 550 calories. I used chicken tenderloins though… a lot of people would opt for an entire chicken breast… which would require more prosciutto wrapped around it… smaller = lower calories! 

Ok, so here’s my process:

Ingredients

  • 8 chicken tenderloins
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons white whole wheat flour, or more
  • 8 pieces of prosciutto (or 4 if you cut them in half)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 onion chopped
  • 1/4 cup homemade basil pesto (NO NUTS or parmesan in the pesto… reduces calories!)
  • 1/4 cup half and half (or a little less…. I didn’t use much)

Serves 4 people

prosciouttowrappedchicken

 

Instructions

  1. I actually partially thawed my Trader Joes chicken tenderloins. That isn’t something I do often because they cook so perfectly from frozen… but this time I did so that the flour and prosciutto would stick to them. Put the flour and salt and pepper into a bowl, and then dredge each piece of chicken in the flour mixture.
  2. Wrap each piece of chicken with a piece of prosciutto.
  3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  4. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on medium and add the diced onions. When it is hot, add the wrapped chicken. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes or so, until browned. Then, in your skillet (IF YOU HAVE A OVEN SAFE SKILLET!!!) put the chicken directly into the oven @ 400 degrees for 8 minutes to finish cooking.
  5. I served this with Trader Joes zucchini fries that are baked at 400 degrees also, so the temp worked and both cooked at the same time. 
  6. In a small bowl (or glass jar) whisk together the pesto and cream.
  7. When the chicken is fully cooked, remove it from the pan and place onto a serving plate or dish. Remove the skillet from the heat and pour the pesto mixture into the pan to pick up the onions and all of the drippings and stir until it slightly thickens. Pour over the chicken and serve!. Serve with a light lettuce salad!

It was absolutely delicious and spilling over with flavor! To me, completely satisfying and filling. The guys at my table may have preferred another couple pieces of chicken… but then again who wouldn’t when it’s wrapped in bacon, right?

Enjoy!

 

And now, for the quote of the day:

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Chicken and Veggie Curry with Fresh Herbs Over Coconut Cilantro Rice

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CurriedChickenandVeggiesOnCoconutRice

So, it’s been a long day… and I needed something to go with zucchini… yeah… so somehow I ended up making curry! 🙂 It was delicious though!

I am NOT a spicy fan. I prefer mild curry. I want the taste without the fiery burn making my eyes water. Due to that, if you prefer a slow BURN when you eat curry, making you need to drink milk while you eat it, spice it up. If you like MILD, then leave it as is!!!

Here goes:

Coconut Cilantro Lime Rice:

1 cup bismati rice
1 can light coconut milk (I use Trader Joes organic)
2 TB chopped cilantro
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put the 1 cup of rice into a mesh strainer and rinse until the water runs clear. Then, put into a rice cooker (or pot). Then add the coconut milk and salt and pepper. If in rice cooker, just hit cook. It will pop up when done. If in pot, stir and bring to boil, then put on low and put lid on. Let simmer for 20 minutes…. don’t remove the lid!

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Chicken and Veggie Curry:

6 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins, diced
1/2 onion diced fine
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or similar)
1 tsp thai red curry paste (orig. recipe called for 3 tablespoons… if you like it spicy… go ahead!)
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 can light organic coconut milk
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
6 leaves fresh basil, chopped
1 carrot
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
fresh naan , for serving
  1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Once hot, add the diced chicken and onions and saute the chicken until browned all over and cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and place on a plate.
  2. Add another tablespoon coconut oil to the skillet. Add the red peppers, garlic, carrot and corn, saute 3-4 minutes and then toss in the zucchini, ginger and garlic. Saute the veggies another 5 minutes or until they just begin to soften. Add the chicken back to the skillet and toss everything together.
  3. To the skillet add the curry powder and curry paste and give everything another good toss. Cook 1 minute and then add the coconut milk and soy sauce. Stir to combine, bring the mixture to a boil, cook 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil and cilantro.
  4. Serve the curry over the rice. Add a spoonful of the mangos and a sprinkle of feta cheese. Eat with Naan!

 

Enjoy!!!

And, for the “Quote of the Day”:
from the Hymn Abide With Me, words by Henry Lyte

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Ritz Cracker Coated Chicken with Pasta and a Cream Sauce… NOT LIGHT!

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Ok… so first off, this is NOT what I planned on cooking tonight. I was going to make a lightly “pan fried” chicken with a lemon dill sauce. Let’s just say I found out that I was out of corn starch, then I found out that I was out of panko bread crumbs. THEN I ruined my lemon sauce because I added a bit of cream… it was going well, and THEN I added a bit more lemon… CURDLED my sauce!!!! UGH! Then, the other sauce I tried to make I followed a recipe. Shouldn’t have. It was HORRIBLE! So then, I just made my own “alfredo” sauce with a bit of dill (I needed to use my DILL!!). (light version)

So… Here goes!! HAHA, the final recipe I actually used…

chickenritz

Chicken Recipe:

6 chicken tenderloins
1 cup milk (I used coconut milk… you can use whichever)
2 TB light oil (canola or coconut)
1 cup flour
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
salt&pepper to taste
3 egg whites
1/2 cup water
1 roll of ritz crackers (or equivalent… I used TJ version)
2 TB parmesan cheese grated

Directions for the Chicken:

Soak the chicken in the milk for 30 min. at least in the fridge. Place the flour, onion powder, garlic powder and salt and pepper in 1 bowl. In bowl #2 place the egg whites and water. In bowl #3 place the ritz crackers crushed up to crumbs, and the parmesan cheese.

Take the chicken, dip into the flour mix (bowl #1), then into the egg and water mixture (bowl #2) and then into the crumb mixture (bowl #3).  Then place into the heated skillet of oil on medium to medium-high. (Just covering the bottom, not dropping into a vat of oil)

Since I had more chicken than could fit into the pan, the chicken that was already crisped up, I placed onto a pan in the oven @350 to keep crispy and hot in the oven. (not for more than 15 min or so)

While all of this is happening… INSTEAD of making mashed potatoes like I THOUGHT I was going to… haha, I made linguini. Yeah, where was I at the grocery store?!

Then, I made the sauce… oh man. I’m telling you, this was a struggle. UGH! Ok. So… here’s the recipe for the sauce:

1 1/2 – 2 TB butter
2 TB flour
3/4 cup half and half (or whatever milk you prefer)
2 TB parmesan (or similar) cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp garlic (powder or minced)
1 tsp minced FRESH dill (optional)

1. Melt butter in small sauce pan on low
2. slowly add flour and whisk
3. when thickened add the half and half slowly while whisking quickly
4. add salt and pepper
5.add cheese just till melted, whisking the entire time until melted thoroughly
6. add fresh dill (and leave some for garnish)
7. remove from heat and pour over pasta and chicken

 

I served this with a salad with the leftover dressing from last nights summer fruit salad!!! YUM!

Creamy Tomato Pesto Pasta with Garlic & Chicken

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creamytomatochickenwithpesto

Tomato and pesto… and 1/2&1/2 ….  could this go wrong???? I don’t think so!!! Not with those ingredients!!!

YUM!

Basically my favorites all rolled into one. Except, no veggies except in the pasta, but this turned out great! I paired it with a salad (with BUTTER LETTUCE!!!)

Ingredients:

Marinade:

1/2 tsp minced garlic, olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, lemon zest and 2 TB of spaghetti sauce, oregano, 6 leaves of basil chopped up, salt and pepper
Cover the chicken with the above marinade, and let sit for 30 min at LEAST in the fridge (if not overnight)
1/4 cup Pesto (homemade… I’ve put the recipe on a previous post)
5-6 chicken tenderloins
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup(s) chicken broth
8 ounce pasta of choice (I used Vegetable Radiatore)
8 ounce(s) Roasted Garlic Spaghetti Sauce
1/4 cup(s) half-and-half
2 tablespoon(s) parmesan (sprinkled on top after served)
2 tablespoon(s) Olive Oil

 

Directions:
Place chicken into bowl, cover with marinade, cover with plastic wrap (or similar) and place in fridge.

Boil water and start on noodles.  Pour entire batch of chicken, (with all juices from marinade) into skillet and cook chicken fully (the marinade will evaporate/cook down) for about 7-8 minutes per side. Remove the chicken, and put onto a plate off to the side. Add chicken broth and heat and thicken sauce, add tomato sauce and garlic. Place chicken back into sauce. Simmer in chicken broth until half has cooked down.  Reduce heat to LOW until barely simmering. Then add milk. Simmer for 5 minutes.  Toss pasta in. Add flour if it needs to be thickened.  Place chicken on top and serve. Drizzle with pesto over the top of the dish, and parmesan cheese.

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Leftover “Crustless Pot Pie”

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Wasn’t even sure what to call this… It started out as me trying to use up leftovers and extra veggies unused in my refrigerator before I go grocery shopping again. Then, as I sat down to eat it… it tasted like pot pie filling… but no crust… and the pieces of chicken were still full tenderloins. Hmmm…. Well? Why not!?

LeftoverCrustlessPotPie

(This will make 3 servings or 4 small servings)

Ingredients:

1/2 bag of fingerling potatoes
1 lg carrot
3 chicken tenderloins
1 cup low sodium free range chicken broth
1 TB olive oil
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash
salt&pepper to taste
1/2 onion chopped
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 cob of corn (I used leftover) with kernels removed from cob
1/2 of a zucchini
Grated Parmesan Cheese (sprinkled on top at the end)

Start out by putting the potatoes in a skillet w/the olive oil and carrots chopped. Stir, and add onions and garlic. After about 5 min add the chicken broth, lemon zest and juice, and seasonings. Drop in the chicken. (Mine was still frozen, but yours can be frozen or thawed). Simmer with lid on for about 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are soft and easily cut through with a fork. Sprinkle in the zucchini and corn, stir and put lid back on pan, and remove from heat. Let sit for 5 min. Remove lid, sprinkle with cheese and stir. Add any salt&pepper to taste.

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ENJOY!

I also made a quick little dessert. I used cherries, brown sugar, raw organic sugar, lemon juice, oatmeal, flax meal and butter. Stirred it all together and baked covered w/tin foil for 30 min. Voila! 🙂

DSC_0622(before baking)

 

Chicken Fajitas!!

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fajitas

Yeah yeah yeah… sensing a theme here?? We LOVE Mexican food!! Tex-Mex especially. I’m gonna try to get better at cooking it to!!

This one was quick and easy… start to finish: 20 minutes! Easy right??

Fajitas Ingredients:

Seasoning:

1 TB chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder

(mix in a small ramekin or bowl)

DSC_0599 DSC_0600 DSC_0602

Other ingredients:

4 chicken tenderloins (I cooked for 2 people, add to this as needed)
2 Bell peppers (or 5 mini sweet peppers)
1/2 onion
4 small taco size tortillas

Heat your grill pan (or grill??) and salt. While the pan is heating up, take chicken (or other meat… doesn’t really matter) and drizzle w/light amount of oil. I used olive oil… it’s my favorite.. but you can use canola also. Then, cover with 3/4 of the seasoning, until thoroughly covered each piece of chicken. Put onto grill pan, cook for approximately 6-8 minutes per side, until when you cut it open, there is no pink. Should still be tender and juicy.

While the chicken is cooking, cut up your onion and peppers into thick slices and put into skillet w/1 TB of oil. Sautee. When almost done, sprinkle with the remaining fajita seasoning. Sautee until the peppers start to soften, and the onions are translucent. (If needed, put about 1 TB water into skillet, and cover for 3 min.)

Serve! I served it with leftover rice and corn (from Copy Cat Chipotle bowls made over the weekend) and some sour cream… YUM!

Greek Chicken Wraps

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GreekWrap

This used my leftover chicken that I had frozen from this previous post: https://dancinandcookininthekitchen.com/2014/06/02/sunday-lunch/

Now, if you didn’t have this leftover chicken… maybe you had some chicken from a rotisserie chicken leftover… or from a previous meal. This was a quick and easy meal.

Ingredients:

2 small chicken breasts (leftover or otherwise) heated, cooked and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1 scallion
garlic powder (to taste if you sautee the chicken to reheat)
shredded cheese (as desired)
Lettuce
cherry tomatoes
Tzatziki Sauce (I buy pre-made organic from Trader Joes… you CAN make it… but it takes time)
Tortillas

 

Quick warm up and sautee in a skillet for a couple of min with a bit of cooking spray, add some garlic and a bit of greek seasoning (Pampered Chef has a great one!!), cumin, salt and pepper, etc. Then cut into 1-2 inch chunks. Place onto tortillas. Then, sprinkle desired amount of shredded cheese on top. Top that with scallion (green onion). Then, top with lettuce and tomato. Spoon generous amount of Tzatziki sauce onto wrap, roll and ENJOY!!!!

We paired this with guacamole and Trader Joes sweet potato chips.. DELISH!!! 🙂

Pineapple Hawaii Chicken with Rice (Carrots&Cabbage on the side)

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Looks a bit messy… but this was GOOD!!!

Ingredients:

1 8 oz can pineapple chunks w/the juice
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup Light Soy Sauce
2 lbs Chicken tenderloins; in chunks
2 TB honey (drizzled over top before cooking)

Original recipe makes 4 Serving

I place the frozen chicken tenderloins directly into the sprayed (with cooking spray) crockpot. Then, I poured the can of pineapple chunks into the crock pot. I then put the 1/2 cup water, brown sugar and soy sauce together in a 2 cup measuring cup and whisk until well blended. Then pour over the meat. Then, drizzle the honey over the top of the meat mixture, and place the lid on. Cook on low for 6-8  hours. I was going to then cut into chunks after the meat was cooked (because I used frozen tenderloins) and it just shredded apart! YUM! (High for 4 hours). When you’re about ready to eat, cook the rice. (I follow the directions in the rice cooker). I then cut up 5 carrots into large chunks, and did 1/2 cup of chopped cabbage, 1/5 of an onion chopped and some minced garlic and placed into a skillet with 1 TB of coconut oil and stir. I add salt & pepper to taste.

 

Right before I served it, I removed the JUST chicken with a slotted spoon from the crockpot and placed it into a bowl. I then poured the “sauce” or remaining liquid into a skillet (the same one I cooked the carrots in) and brought the sauce to a simmer. I then added 1 TB of flour while whisking quickly… keep whisking until smooth and thickened. Then, pour over the chicken and serve!

Then, serve over rice and ENJOY!!

Coconut Curry Corn&Chicken Chowder

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A mouthful to say, and a DELICIOUS mouthful to eat!!!

Ingredients:

2 TB coconut oil
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 Yukon Gold potato Diced small (1/2 – 1 inch pieces)
1 14.5 oz. can Diced&Fire Roasted tomatoes w/green chilies (I used Trader Joes)
2 steamed ears of corn, cut the corn off the cob and toss the cobs.
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. curry
1 cup Silk Coconut Milk (you can also use 1 can coconut milk, but I always have coconut milk in the fridge)
1/2 qt. Low Sodium chicken broth (you can also use vegetable broth)
drizzle of honey to taste
salt & Pepper to taste
splash of 1/2&1/2 at the very end… makes it a bit extra creamy
4-5 chicken tenderloins – cooked and diced. (I sauteed them w/1 TB olive oil in skillet w/salt, pepper and cumin for about 10-15 min)
Garnish with cilantro, and a bit of FRESH squeezed Lime juice

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Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat and stir in the cumin and curry, cook for one minute to infuse the oil with spice.
Add the chopped garlic and onion. Stir and cook for five minutes. Add the roasted corn, potato, canned fire roasted tomatoes with green chilis; stir for a minute. Add in the broth.
Cover and bring to a high simmer. Lower the heat and simmer gently, until the potatoes are tender, about twenty minutes or so.
Add the coconut milk and sauteed chicken tenderloins (diced). Stir and season with sea salt and ground pepper; and add a drizzle of organic raw honey to taste. Heat through gently- please DON’T BOIL it.
Just before serving, add the chopped cilantro and fresh lime juice. Stir. Taste test. Adjust seasoning. The lime juice brightens the taste and accents the spice. Honey cools the spice.
Garnish with a lime wedge, and ENJOY! (It’s got a bit of heat too!!! YUM!).
Serves 4-6 depending on serving size.

Read more: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/09/roasted-corn-chowder-with-cilantro.html#ixzz35Vc45gmB