Pineapple Hawaiian Chicken

Here's another recipe, compliments of my niece Jen.  From Jen, "We did this and served it over rice and it was SO good! And I think you could make it ahead of time and just let it marinade! It was delicious!! It is so good and moist. It was amazing!!"  Once again Jen, thanks for sharing!


7-8 Various pieces of Chicken, we used Breasts, cut in half
2 T. Sugar
1 tsp Cornstarch
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple
2 T. butter
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. finely chopped onion

In a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in crushed pineapple, butter, soy sauce, and chopped onion. (Since I forgot an onion, I used onion salt, and it was still good!) Cook and stir until thickened, and bubbly; cook 1 minute more.

Put chicken in a casserole dish sprayed with Pam. Cover with Pineapple mixture and bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, until chicken is done!

Easy Chicken Casserole

This is a super easy casserole that is thrown together in minutes. You can mix in the morning, refrigerate and bake about an hour before needed.  It would also be an excellent use for Thanksgiving leftovers.

1 pkg stuffing mix
1 ½ lbs fully cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed
1 lb package frozen broccoli florets, thawed and drained
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz Velveeta cubed

Preheat oven to 400. Prepare stuffing according to package directions (we never use the butter). Combine chicken, broccoli, soup and cheese in a 13x9 baking dish. Mix well. Top with stuffing. Bake 30 minutes or until stuffing is crunchy and cheese is golden brown. (Will take closer to an hour if cooked from the refrigerator)

Fiesta Chicken

My sister-in-law sent me this super easy recipe.  Thanks Jen for sharing!

4-6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 cans Ro-Tel Tomatoes.

Put chicken in crockpot and cover with Ro-Tel.  Cook on low in crockpot all day.  Shred it and it's great for burritos, or even quesedilla's. It's really good! A favorite around here!

Creamy and Sweet Chicken and Rice

Okay, everyone makes the chicken and rice bake with cream of chicken and Lipton onion soup, right? Not that I don't still love it, but was in the mood for something different. I was extremely low on my grocery funds, due to unexpected funeral expenses traveling to Utah. In other words, I simply needed to make do with what was in the house. Even if I had unlimited funds, there was no way I was going to go to the store after I had just gotten home from such a long trip by car. They say, necessity is the mother of all inventions. However, as much as I would like too, I can't take full credit for this one alone. The original recipe came from Kraft, and I just happened to have found it in my spam email box. I will post the original recipe, and tell you my tips/tricks below.

Honestly, I think this is a dish that is elegant enough to serve to dinner guest if you chose to keep the breast intact, as the original recipe instructs. However, when on a budget, low on time, or cooking large, I always shred my chicken in the crock!

Tips: I placed 6 breasts, frozen, in crock pot with everything, but the kitchen sink... Oops, I mean the cream, almonds and the rice. I didn't even use the almonds, but sure think it is fancy! I also used pineapple/apricot jam, because I had that in the house. I cooked this on high for 3 hours. While my brown rice and not, white rice, was cooking, I added my cream, and continued to cook in crock pot on high for 30 min. Once rice was done, I used a metal spatula to shred up the chicken into bite size pieces and serve over rice. That is it! Idiot easy, fast and cheap.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter (didn't use)
2/3 cup sliced almonds (didn't use)
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (used crock pot and shredded)
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream (used half and half)
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
3 tbsp. orange marmalade (I used apricot/pineapple jam)
1 tbsp. Dijon-style mustard (I used spicy, style)
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
6 cups hot cooked regular long-grain white rice (I used brown)
Directions:
Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the almonds and cook and stir until lightly browned. Remove the almonds from the skillet.  Season the chicken with the black pepper.  Heat the remaining butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in batches and cook until well browned on both sides.  Add 1/2 cup almonds, heavy cream, soup, marmalade, mustard and red pepper to the skillet. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with the remaining almonds. Serve chicken and sauce with the rice, if desired.

Chicken Tetrazinni

This recipe makes enough for 2 casseroles. I love this, because I can make one for dinner and freeze the other. I purchased 30 tin foil disposable pans at Sam's Club for this very purpose. Instead of doing take-out when I am busy or tired, I can go to my freezer for a yummy homemade meal. I will say that this is my original recipe as I have cooked for years, but I have learned to tweak it as my budget and or time restraint allows.

Here are a few tips:

When I was a working mother, the easy way for me was to place the frozen chicken into a crock pot with all of the dry seasonings on low for 5-6 hours. I used about 6 breasts. Don't thaw it out and don't add liquid to the pot. Just dump and cover. When I got home, and before I took off my dress clothes, I started my pasta on the stove and shredded the chicken with a fork! I could get into something comfy, while the pasta cooked. Then, I just picked up with the next steps, where I left off. Tonight, I made this and didn't even have time to do this step, so I bought a pre-cooked chicken at Walmart and took it off the bone. I was even lazy and bought the pre-diced seasoning vegetable kit in the freezer section (onions, celery, bell peppers). This meal took less than 15 min's to make once the chicken was cooked and 30 min. to bake. You will definitely have 2 meals for around $10.00 each.

We are trying to be a little healthier with our food choices, so I used whole wheat pasta for this. I also used half and half milk instead of heavy cream. I keep plenty of chicken bouillon cubes in my pantry for cheap broth. It works well with this dish, because the broth blends with other ingredients rather than being a main ingredient. You may also use reduced fat cheese, but I do not recommend fat-free. Even a rat wouldn't eat that! I would much rather use less of the best than lots of the fake. In other words, if cheese is a concern for you, skip adding it to the casserole itself and instead, place it on top.

Ingredients
1 pound spaghetti, broken into pieces
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup

1 cup of heavy cream
12 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
6 cups shredded boiled chicken breast meat
1 pound mushrooms

1 large onion, diced

1 stalk of celery, diced
1 (4 ounce) jar sliced pimento peppers, drained
1 cup reserved chicken broth

1 tsp butter

1 tbls olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1/2 ground sage

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add uncooked spaghetti (broken into thirds) to the pot and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente.

Drain and set aside.

In a sauté pan, add butter and olive oil and sauté mushrooms, onions, celery, and pimentos until tender. Next, combine soups, broth, cream, seasonings and cheese in pot and mix well. Add noodles and cooked chicken and stir.

Pour mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle reserved shredded cheese on top and bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until bubbly.

Layered Chicken Cordon Bleu

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
½ lb. deli-sliced cooked ham
½ lb. baby Swiss cheese, sliced
10 ¼-oz. can cream of chicken soup
1 box dry stuffing mix, prepared according to box directions

Layer all ingredients in the order they are listed into your slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours, or until chicken is tender but not dry.

Taco Chicken Soup

This is a slighly spicy, warm-you-up-from-the-inside-out type soup.  We usually serve it with quesadillas.  It's kind of a mexican tomatoe soup and grilled cheese combo.  So yummy!

1 envelope taco seasoning

32 oz V-8 juice

16 oz jar Salsa

15 oz can black beans

1 can corn
2 whole chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (also works great with leftover roast or rotisserie chicken)

Combine all ingredients except corn and chicken in slow cooker. Cover. Cook on low 4-6 hours. Add corn and chicken 1 hour prior to serving. (total cook time 5-7 hours)