Spiced Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

3-4 chicken breasts, cubed
1/4 c. olive or vegetable oil
1/2 c. dry vermouth (obviously i substituted here. can sub: apple/grape/white grape juice or white wine vinegar)
1 1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 - 1 t. ground cinnamon
2-3 T. brown sugar
2 tart apples, cored, cut in wedges
3 sweet potatoes, cooked and sliced

brown chicken pieces in a heavy skillet in hot olive/vegetable oil. drain off all but 1 tablespoon of oil. combine dry vermouth with salt, pepper, cinnamon, and brown sugar. add vermouth mixture to chieck in skillet along with apple wedges. bast chicken. cover skillet and cook over low hear for 25 minutes. add cooked sliced sweet potatoes and baste again until with cooking liquid. cover and simmer until heated.

note: i had to play around with this a little bit. i added more cinnamon and brown sugar because i substituted white wine vingear for the vermouth and i didn't really like the flavor. i think i'll use white grape juice next time. also i cut up the sweet potatoes and baked them in the oven for about a half an hour then added them to the skillet (i actually used a big boiling pot) and let them cook with the chicken and apples for the 25 minutes. i served it over rice pilaf. it was yummier then i thought it was going to be and darek liked it too even though he's not really a sweet potato fan.

chicken and wild rice salad

so this salad is really delicious and such a good summer dinner. however, i lost the recipe so this is from my head. feel free to experiment a little.

salad:
4 chicken breasts, seasoned, cooked, cubed
2 boxes uncle ben's original recipe long grain wild rice (the 5 minute quick recipe works too)
1 red pepper, diced
4-5 green onions, diced
juice from one lemon
sugar snap peas, diced (i've never added this but i know the original recipe included it)

dressing:
1/2 c olive oil
1/4 - 1/3 c white wine vinegar
2 T dijon mustard
2 T sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
pepper to taste

toppings:
sliced almonds
diced avocado
whatever else you think would be yummy (maybe craisins?)

bake chicken at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, while chopping veggies. i season my chicken on both sides with lowry's seasoning salt. prepare rice per box instructions. combine rice, cubed chicken, red peppers, green onion and sugar snap peas in large bowl. in seperate bowl whisk dressing ingredients together (can blend in a blender, or shake in a jar to mix as well). add dressing to rice salad. stir well. serve chilled with toppings. this salad is yummier if you prepare it 24 hours before serving.

enjoy

Crockpot Chicken with Rice

This recipe is for Shauna (the cream cheese/chicken of mushroom soup girl), although I’m sure you have this one if the two ingredients you use the most are the above! This is an easy crockpot recipe and one of my family’s FAVORITES!!!

You will need:
1 package cream cheese
1 package Italian seasoning (the kind that you use to make salad dressing – but just use the spices. DO NOT make the dressing.)
1 can cream of chicken soup
4-5 pieces of thawed chicken breasts
salt/pepper
Put chicken in crockpot. Salt and pepper chicken. Mix together cream cheese, Italian seasoning spices, and can of cream of chicken soup with mixer. Add cream cheese/soup mixture on top of chicken. Cook in crockpot on low for about 5 hours. Serve over brown rice.

corn and salsa chicken packets

alrighty, i made this tonight to test it out and it was real easy and pretty tastey

4 sheets heavy duty aluminum foil
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 jar chunky salsa
1 can whole kernal corn, drained (i used frozen)
salt/seasoning salt/garlic salt (your choice)
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream

preheat oven to 450 degrees. put a chicken breast in the middle of a piece of foil. salt both sides of chicken breast. pour enough salsa to cover chicken breast. top with corn. bring up foil sides, double fold top and ends to seal packet, leaving room for air to circulate inside. repeat for all four packets. bake 20-25 minutes on a cookie sheet (i baked for 5 extra minutes because i used frozen chicken breasts). be careful to let the steam escape without getting burned when you open up the packets. sprinkle with cheese, add sour cream if that tickles your fancy. yummy served over rice.

White Chicken Chili

This makes a ton, so I either freeze half or cut the recipe in half. I love it with lime flavored tortilla chips - yum!

3 cans Great Northern beans
4 c. cooked chicken breast
1 T. olive oil
2 onions
4 cloves garlic
2 4 oz. chopped green chilis
2 t. cumin
1 1/2 t. oregano
1/4 t. cayenne
6 c. chicken or vegetable stock
3 c. Monterey Jack cheese
sour cream (optional)

Saute onions in oil in large pot, approximately 10 minutes or until opaque. Stir in garlic, chilis, cumin, oregano, and cayenne, cook 2 minutes. Add beans and stock. Bring to a boil. Add chicken and cheese and serve.

CREPES or Swedish Hotcakes- as my grandma would call them

Seriously simple. Get out your blender.

4 eggs
2 cups of milk
2 cups of flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cube of melted butter

preheat a frying pan (preferably an electric one) to 350 degrees. mix eggs and milk in blender. add flour. add salt. add butter. be sure to scrape down sides. pour batter(usually about a cup) into the center of the pan and then tilt the pan all around until the batter spreads into a big circle. cook about 15 seconds, when bottom side is dry, flip(using a spatula) and cook other side. makes about 12 crepes.

this is great for any meal- we serve it with fresh berries, homemade whipping cream and powdered sugar. my brothers fold them in half and eat them with peanut butter and syrup just like pancakes.

i also make chicken crepes as a main course that our family loves. i know it sounds weird but they are yummy.

lest i digrecipe

sauce
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. flour
2 c. chicken broth
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 c. grated cheddar cheese

2 c. sour cream
10 oz. cooked broccoli
2 c. cooked chicken breast(app. 5 breasts)

Sauce- over medium heat, melt butter in small sauce pan. stir in flour and whisk it until bubbly and thick. add chicken broth and Worcestershire. cook, stirring constantly until thick. add 2 cups of the cheese. remove from heat and add the sour cream.

now using a large Pyrex, you make them like enchiladas. lay out a crepe, put in a 1/4 c. of cooked chicken, about 2 Tbls of sauce and sprinkle a little broccoli then wrap it up like and enchilada. lay them out long ways, all right next to each other then cover with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the last cup of cheese. cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. serve warm-great left overs(makes 12 crepes).

Gooshteh Loobia

This is my favorite Iranian dish although they don't make it all over Iran. It's from my dad's hometown on the Iran/Iraq border and it's generally poor people food, but it's so good and so easy. Sorry I don't have exact measurements, but you really can't mess this one up.

You need:

3 skinless chicken drumsticks
1 yellow onion
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoons of pasta sauce or tomato sauce
1 package of great northern beans
salt


So you can do this in a crockpot the night before you want to eat it or in the morning and you can eat it at night.

Put a package of beans and the chicken and onion (cut in quarters) into the crockpot with the turmeric and salt (about 2 teaspoons-but make sure to taste it to make sure it's not too salty). Add water--about 2 or three inches above the food. Turn the crockpot on for about 6-8 hours on high and then a little bit before you eat it, put in the tomato or pasta sauce (for coloring and flavor).

We eat this with cinnamon (just put some cinnamon on top) and a little bit of yogurt on the side. You can serve with rice--I will post a recipe of fancy Iranian rice later, but you can just cook up some plain white basmati rice or any other rice. It's yummy.