Garlic Rosemary Chicken Bake

I love one dish dinners.  They look fancy, they're so easy to make, and less dishes for me to wash!

This one was a big hit with my boys.  They love anything chicken or bacon, and this has both!

The best part was that I only needed about 5 minutes of prep before I had the whole dish finished and stuck in the oven, but the boys still thought it looked fancy and impressive.  

I don't have a million photos of this like some other dishes, but I'm probably going to make it again pretty soon, and I'll add more photos then, okay?  :)

Garlic Rosemary Chicken Bake

serves 3

Ingredients:

• 3 whole chicken breasts (I used frozen ones, no thawing needed!)
• 3 russet potatoes
• 1/4 Cup garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 branches rosemary
• 3 strips bacon
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Drizzle 1 teaspoon olive oil onto the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole dish.  
2. Slice the potatoes into medallions and lay them flat in the dish.  Lay the chicken breasts on top of the potatoes.  Slice the bacon into 1" pieces and lay the pieces on top of the chicken and potatoes.  Sprinkle the garlic cloves over the bacon, and lay the rosemary branches down as well.  Season with the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and slide into the oven.  
3. Bake for 60 minutes, or until the bacon and chicken are fully cooked.  

white bean chicken chili soup

I kind of love those nights where I realize I have an hour or less until dinner needs to be ready, and I'm in need of a grocery store trip.  I almost always end up figuring out a new recipe that I really like.  If the perimeters change, I get too comfortable and lazy and tend to stick with what I know.

The goal was to make something for dinner that would be large enough to last for Jeff's lunch the next day.  If I could make it healthy and protein-rich too, then bonus!

This turned out perfectly and I wouldn't change a thing.  My house smelled amazing!  Jeff commented that it was delicious, he was just confused eating it because "it tasted like chili, but acted like soup".  I'll take it.

white bean chicken chili soup

serves 3-4

ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• pepper to taste
• 2 chicken breasts
• 4 cups chicken broth (preferably low-sodium)
• 2 15 oz. cans white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 4 oz. can diced green chilies
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp chili powder

directions:

1. Add olive oil, garlic, onion, and salt to pot on medium heat.  Stir often and cook for several minutes until soft.
2. Add in chicken breasts.  Flip occasionally and let cook for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-30 minutes.  
5. Remove chicken and cut up, return to the pot.
6. Taste, adjust seasonings if needed, and enjoy!

homemade healthy fast food

We don't eat fast food very often.  It's usually a special treat, or a "well, we're already out of the house, starving, and have no food at home".  Of course you wouldn't know it by talking to Liam.  He acts like we go all the time, and will point out every "Donald's" location he sees.

I'm not really a fan of fried foods, and I try to make everyone happy with their food, so I thought I'd make some healthy versions of fast food instead.  I came up with

• baked chicken nuggets
• baked fries
• chocolate covered strawberry shake (smoothie)

I used sweet potatoes for this recipe, they're just what I had on hand.  Russet potatoes or yams could be used instead.  Whatever you prefer.

Peel the potatoes and slice them up.  I like mine like steak fries.  Bonus if you cut them like steak fries because they take the same cooking time as the chicken so you can bake them for the same time.

Once the potatoes have been cut stick them into a freezer bag and season.  This makes the seasoning distribution so much more even.

I always let the kids shake the bag.  Next time I might have to video it.  They get really into it!

Classic breading station for the chicken.  Get a bowl each for flour, beaten egg, and seasoned breadcrumbs.  Work left to right covering fresh defrosted chicken pieces one at a time in the contents of each bowl.  Try to keep your fingers out of the contents as much as possible or you'll end up with "monster hands".  Liam thinks that part is hilarious.  Place the chicken pieces on a parchment covered baking sheet when they are ready.

 Once the potatoes and chicken are prepped, bake together at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  If you want to you can broil them for 2 minutes at the end for extra crispiness.

This is one of Liam's favorite ways to have chicken.  I only make it this way occasionally.  I don't want him to get too used to the idea of "fast food style".  :)

You know how people say that a great way to get kids to eat healthy is for them to cook their own food?  Liam's hands down favorite chicken is when I give him carte blanche of my spice drawer and let him season a whole chicken breast for himself.  My little string bean will inhale the whole thing that way!  Crazy.

This meal all came about from a few days ago when we had NO groceries at home, we were doing a million errands around town, and Liam was being an angel (I know, right?).  I promised him I'd split a milkshake with him on our way home, but the closet McDonald's milkshake machine was broken.  Liam was devastated, so I told him I'd make him one at home.  He had his heart set on strawberry, and I figured that would be the easiest flavor to make healthy anyway... 

baked fries

ingredients:

• 4 medium potatoes (russets, yams, or sweet potatoes)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp oregano

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Peel potatoes and slice steak fry style
2. place potatoes slices in freezer bag with oil and seasonings. Shake well.
3. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake 30 minutes.
4. (optional) broil for 2 extra minutes for crispiness.

baked chicken nuggets

ingredients:

• 3 defrosted chicken breasts, cut into pieces
• 1 1/2 cups AP flour
• 2 eggs, well whisked
• 1 1/2 cups seasoned breadcrumbs (I like Italian seasonings)
• 2 tbsp parmesan
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• garlic, salt, pepper, basil, chili powder to taste

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Set out 3 bowls in a row.  Left to right fill with flour, whisked eggs, and breadcrumbs with seasonings and olive oil.
2. Have a parchment covered baking sheet set out in easy reach of the bowls.
3. Quickly dredge chicken in the bowl contents left to right, keeping your fingers as clean as possible.  Place finished chicken on baking sheet.
4. Bake for 30 minutes.  Outside should be golden.

chocolate covered strawberry "shake"

ingredients:

• 12 oz. strawberry Greek yogurt
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups frozen strawberries
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp honey (optional)

directions:

1. Place all ingredients in blender and blend!  Pour and drink. Depending on the sweetness of the strawberries, honey may or may not be utilized.

butternut squash and onion flatbread

This is what I would call a version of pizza, but Jeff won't let me.  He says it doesn't count as pizza unless it is smothered in cheese, which this is not.  So I'm just going to call it flatbread.  Just go with it.

I know this looks really simple but it tastes amazing.

Start by sauteing the butternut squash and the onions in separate pans with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt for each.

The onions should end up soft and smell very fragrant.

The squash should end up fork tender and golden.

By sauteing the squash and onions in separate pans, you can take them off the heat as soon as they are done, and it doesn't matter if they are finished at different times.

Roll out your pizza dough, I use The Pioneer Woman's recipe (listed below).  Then make sure to stab it all over with a fork so it doesn't rise too much.

Spread out the squash and onions evenly on your crust.

Sprinkle with parmesan, thyme, and a bit of cayenne.

Bake in a 500 degree F oven for 13-15 minutes, until the crust is golden.

The squash looks a little dark in the photos, but not so much in real life.  It turned out perfectly, soft, but with great texture.  The flatbread in general was so good!  Sweet and savory.

This made a perfect side dish to go with my lentil soup.

One Basic Pizza Crust

Prep Time:

 1 Hour

 

Cook Time:

Difficulty:

 Easy

 

Servings:

 12

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon (scant) Active Dry Yeast
• 3/4 cups Warm Water
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 3/4 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Preparation Instructions

Sprinkle yeast over 3/4 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a few minutes.

In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.

Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.

Note: it’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance.

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butternut squash and onion flatbread

by Liesl August-6-2014

sweet and savory almost-pizza

Ingredients

• 1 dough recipe
• 1/2 medium butternut squash, cubed
• 1 small yellow onion, cut
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 tbsp parmesan
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp cornmeal
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 pinches salt

Instructions

1. Prep pizza dough according to directions. Meanwhile, in separate pans saute butternut squash and sliced onion in 1 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt each. Stir often to prevent burning on medium-low heat. When the squash is fork tender and lightly golden, and the onion is soft and fragrant remove from heat.2. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Spread out prepared rolled out dough on baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray and lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Use a fork to stab the dough with tiny holes all over to prevent too much rising. Evenly spread out squash and onion. Top with parmesan, thyme, and cayenne. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until the crust has lightly browned. Remove and let sit for 5 minutes before eating.

Details

Prep time: 1 hour 10 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 1 hour 25 mins Yield: 1 large pizza

sandwich: Jeff's way

As much as we like many of the same foods, sometimes Jeff and I crave totally different things for lunch.  I am the veggie lover, and sometimes he wants meat.  Even though our sandwiches were completely different, we made them together and cooked our onions together too.  The onions were actually Jeff's idea.  I love being able to bounce cooking ideas around with him, and he's been great about at least trying my random gastronomic experiments.   Here's Jeff's easy lunch.  Yes, his does need a bit of heat, but still won't heat up your whole house.

Jeff is all about simplicity.  Less ingredients, but flavored just the way he wants.  This is easy and made our kitchen smell fantastic.

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sandwich: Jeff's way

by Liesl July-11-2014

simple but delicious chicken sandwich

Ingredients

• 1 ciabatta roll
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1 chicken breast
• 3-4 tbsp Italian dressing
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp olive oil

Instructions

1. In a small pan, cook the onion with the salt and olive oil on medium for a few minutes, then reduce heat and cook low and slow until soft, sweet, and golden.2. In a separate small pan cook your chicken breast (I sliced mine into 3 pieces) in Italian dressing. Cook on medium until cooked through. Place the chicken on the ciabatta bottom and pour any remaining dressing from the pan over the chicken.Top with the onions and ciabatta top.

Details

Prep time: 2 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 12 mins Yield: 1 sandwich

chicken soup

This for me is the ultimate comfort food.  It is pretty quick to whip up, fills you up, makes you feel better, tastes yummy, and is even pretty healthy.  Really, not many foods can do all that.  Plus, I just really love soup.  I don't understand people who dislike soup.  I really don't.  Soup is so versatile.  You can make it thick or brothy, add whatever seasonings you want.  You could play mad scientist and create a new soup every time, or just toss in whatever you find in your fridge and pantry.  Soup is fairly hard to mess up too.  Even if you add something that makes it taste a little funky, add a few more ingredients and you can almost always save it.  Soup is magic.

This soup is what I make anytime someone in our house gets a cold.  We rarely get sick, and when we do, it doesn't last for long.  I'm pretty sure this soup is to thank for that.  In partial at least...

I didn't add chicken to this batch because I don't eat chicken and I made this quickly.  When I make this for Jeff I either add chicken to all of the soup, or I make two pots and add chicken to one.

Add the oil and veggies first.  They add much more flavor to a dish when they have softened and cooked a bit before the liquid is added.

Add the broth and seasonings.  Bring to a boil, then add the pasta and bring down to a simmer.  The soup is finished as soon as the pasta is done.

I love dipping bread in this soup.  Perfect for cold weather, comfort food, or relieving colds.


ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 C leeks, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
64 oz low sodium chicken broth
1 C peas
1-2 chicken breasts (optional)
2 C small pasta
2 tsp dried basil
pepper to taste

directions:
1.  Add the olive oil, leeks, and carrots to the pot and cook on medium heat until the veggies have softened a little and smell aromatic.  Add the garlic and stir so it doesn't burn, 2 minutes.
2.  Add the broth, peas, basil, and pepper.  Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then let simmer.  Let cook until the vegetable have softened a bit more.  If you are adding chicken do so now.  Just add the chicken breasts into the pot whole.  I generally add one if I'm splitting the recipe, or two if I'm adding chicken to the whole batch.  You add the chicken frozen or thawed.  Let the soup continue to cook on medium heat until the chicken has started to break apart.  Remove the chicken with tongs and shred it.  Add it back into the pot.
3.  Add the pasta.  Stir the soup once, then leave it alone until the pasta is done.  Remove from heat and serve immediately.  Serves 4-6.

This soup pairs really well with the best bread, as shown above.

fakeout lo mein

I call this "fakeout" lo mein because it would probably get laughed at by anyone with skill at making real Chinese food.  I love Chinese food like crazy, I just suck at making it.  So many sauces that seem overly complicated, so many ingredients... This is the easy version that I can make just about any time I want.  I don't know about you, but I happen to keep every ingredient in this recipe in my fridge or pantry almost all the time.  Yes, this recipe requires a bit of prep, mostly chopping up veggies, but once you finish with that, it is so quick and simple.  I made mine veggie, but you can easily bake/ grill, etc. some chicken and throw some into the mix.

This recipe is great because I love veggies, and this has a ton, plus it reheats really well for leftovers, and I love any excuse to use chopsticks.  I'm not one of those crazy people who eat things like waffles with chopsticks (as much as I wish I was making that up, I've actually seen it... yeah), but I think eating with chopsticks is fun and not done enough.

I don't know if it is my lack of knowledge, or utter failure with legit Chinese food, but its been my experience that when you make it yourself there is either not enough sauce, or it is too thin, so when the noodles are added at the end no sauce sticks to them, and it is a sad day.  This sauce is a bit thicker, so it stays attached to everything well, and every bite has good flavor.  Yeah, I'm hungry now...

Evenly cut up the veggies first and add them to the pot with a bit of vegetable oil.  Minus the broccoli.  Let them soften for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevents burning.

Add the sauce.

The vegetables should have a nice glaze to them.

Once the veggies look almost done, add the broccoli.  This will cook fairly quickly and you don't want it to get overcooked.

This picture really wasn't necessary, I just thought it was cool that the pasta came knotted in the bag.  :)

I love any excuse to eat with chopsticks.  Well, any legitimate excuse.  I don't try to eat cereal with chopsticks or anything.  Jeff would rather use a fork at all times.  To each their own.


ingredients:
1/4 standard sized bag of spaghetti
4 tbsp hoisin sauce
1/4 C chicken broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 small carrots, chopped
2 small broccoli florets, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger (optional)
2 cloves finely chopped garlic (optional)
1 chicken breast, shredded (optional)

directions:
1.  Cook the pasta until al dente and drain.  Set aside.
2.  Meanwhile, mix the hoisin sauce, chicken broth, soy sauce, sesame oil and cornstarch and set aside.
3.  In a large wok or pot heat the vegetable oil for 30 seconds on medium-high heat.  Add the onion and stir for about 2 minutes, until they start to soften.  Add the carrots and bell pepper and stir for another 2 minutes.  Add the sauce, and if including, the garlic and/or ginger.  When the veggies have softened a bit stir in the broccoli and water chestnuts.
4.  If you are including chicken cut it into bit sized pieces and pan fry on medium heat in a frying pan with one tablespoon of vegetable oil.
5.  When the chicken, veggies, and pasta have all finished, mix them together in the largest pot or wok used and toss well.  Keep on the heat for several minutes, until warmed all the way through.  Remove from heat and serve immediately.  Serves 4-6.

Note:  Feel free to change the amount of time you cook your vegetables.  I prefer mine to be cook and obviously cooked, but with a bit of crunch left.  If Jeff had it his way, all the vegetables would be very soft.  It's all personal preference.

BBQ chicken pizza

I never buy pizza anymore.  Why bother when the pizza I make at home is way cheaper, tastes better, and is super easy.  Unless I desperately need pizza in under an hour, I make it.

The secret is good crust.  Pizza needs a solid foundation.  If the dough sucks, the pizza can only be OK, not awesome.  You can make whatever thickness you want, but I personally like my crust to be thick enough to support my massive amount of toppings, while still being crispy and chewy.

My favorite pizza dough recipe isn't actually mine.  It belongs to The Pioneer Woman.  BTW, she and her recipes are amazing.  I have 2 of her cookbooks.
Check her out at the pioneer woman.

Also, as you might have noticed, I'm a bit of a novice at taking pictures of food.  I'll figure it out eventually.  I hope.  :)

 Bake chicken breasts and dice to put on pizza

All the ingredients you'll need: dough ball, BBQ sauce, mozzarella, gouda, chicken

When the crust has browned and the cheese has melted your pizza is done.  Let it sit on the counter for a few minutes so the cheese can firm up a bit.  This will make cutting into the pizza much easier.  Don't worry, pizza retains its heat quite well.  It will still be hot.


pizza dough
ingredients:
1 1/2 C warm water
1 tsp dry yeast
4 C AP flour
1 tsp salt
1/3 C extra virgin olive oil

directions:
1. combine water and yeast to combine.  Let sit about 10 minutes, until bubbly.
2. in a stand mixer combine flour and salt.  Slowly add in olive oil, then yeast mixture.  Mix on low until the dough forms a ball.
3. Cover mixing bowl and let the dough sit 1-2 hours, or until doubled.  If you want to make the dough ahead of time it can really sit out all day.
4. preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  Divide the dough in half and using your hands or a rolling pin roll the dough out onto a baking sheet covered in non-stick spray.  Each pizza will be about the size of a commercial large unless you want really thick crust.
5. add toppings and bake for 12 minutes.  Enjoy.  Makes for great leftovers eaten cold, if any leftovers exist. They might not.  Wouldn't surprise me.


BBQ chicken pizza

ingredients:
chicken breasts (I use 2 small breasts for each pizza)
2 C mozzarella
1 C gouda
1 C BBQ sauce, divided

directions:
1. defrost chicken breasts if necessary.  Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes with 1/4 cup BBQ sauce brushed over them.
2.  Let chicken cool and dice.  Mix the pieces with an additional 1/4 cup BBQ sauce.
3.  after rolling out dough stab all with a fork to keep the dough from rising and puffing up too much.  Spread the last 1/2 cup BBQ sauce over dough.  Cover in both cheeses.  Spread chicken on top.  Bake at 500 degrees for 12-15 minutes until the edges of the crust are very lightly golden.
4. if you can, wait a minute or so for the cheese to firm up before cutting.  Then enjoy!

My pizzas normally aren't pretty because I'm never able to roll them out perfectly round, but really, who cares?  Besides, the finished product tastes so yummy that the pizza disappears in about a minute anyway.