Chicken Parmesan

I have two ways to cook this recipe. One is using a crock pot or slow cooker. This method is good for working families. It will cook for almost 4 hours on low. The second is a faster method and will be useful if you have an hour or so when you get home from work, school or any sports activity. The ingredients are the same, just the cooking method changes.

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 1/2 cup shredded cheese blend (Italian, Mexican, plain mozzarella, whatever is your preference).

2/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs or panko.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

1 24 oz. pasta sauce (preferably without salt)

Hot cooked pasta (optional).

Place egg in shallow dish. In a second shallow dish, put 1/2 cup cheese and 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs. stir to combine. Dig chicken in egg and then in crumb mixture. Place chicken in a 4-quart slow cooker, adding pasta sauce on top. Cover and cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese and 1/3 cup bread crumb mixture. Cover and cook on low for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. You can use this time to add your pasta to boiling water.

Serve over pasta and enjoy.

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The fast version uses the same ingredients

Place 1 tablespoon oil in pan and heat. Dip chicken as you would above. Pan fry chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Place chicken in an oven-safe quart casserole dish. Add pasta sauce on top of chicken. Bake for 25 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Remove chicken and top with remaining 1 cup cheese and 1/3 cup breadcrumbs. Return to oven and cook for an addional 10 to 15 minutes. Serve over hot pasta.

Baked (Fried) Chicken

If you love fried chicken, but don’t want the fat and grease, this is a recipe you should try. When I made it, it definitely tasted like Fried Chicken. But the crust wasn’t crunchy. It tasted like the fried chicken you go out to get and by the time it gets home, the skin is no longer crunchy. Still tasty, just not crunchy. I use Chicken Tenders, but you could use thighs, breasts or drumsticks. You will have to adjust your cooking times for some of those. Be sure to use a thermometer to test the doneness of the meat before taking from the oven.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut 4 tablespoons of stick butter into smaller chunks. Place these in a 9×13″ pan. Melt butter in pan in pre-heated oven.

Spread butter around on bottom of pan. Lightly spray with butter Pam if there are any dry spots.

Place chicken in a bowl of milk. Be sure to cover all the chicken pieces. Let soak for 20 minutes while you are getting the pan and dry ingredients ready. The recipe calls for flour, which I have used. I wonder how it would be if I added an additional 1/2 cup of panko crumbs. That may make the chicken a little crunchier.

1 Pound of Chicken tenders

Mix the following dry ingredients together. Place in large zip-lock bag.

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tablespoon of All Season salt

3/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup flour

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs (if you want to try for a crunchier skin).

2 teaspoon paprika

Shake excess milk from chicken and place chicken in bag of dry seasonings. coat completely and remove to the prepared pan,

Cook for 20 minutes. Turn each piece of chicken and cook for another 20 minutes or until cooked through. You can serve with French fries or mashed potatoes. This is a great meal for kids who like chicken nuggets too. It is healthy and quick.

Quick Chicken and Corn Chowder

It is snowing again today. A great day to make soup. We always have soup in our refrigerator in the winter. We eat small dinners and have our large meal at lunch. Soup seems to fit the bill on a cold, snowy, winter night. This is a quickly made soup and doesn’t need a lot of ingredients that you have to make a special trip to the grocery store for. If you shop like I do, these ingredients are probably already in your pantry just waiting to get out and be made into a delicious meal.

** This recipe calls for canned chicken. The salt in canned chicken is high. You do not add salt because of that. But if you decide to cut the salt intake, use cooked chicken breast and add 1/4 cup of chicken broth to make up for the juice in the canned chicken. You can then add 1/8 tsp of salt if you think it is needed to enhance the other flavors.

I cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup onion

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 1/2 cup (12 oz. can) evaporated milk or half and half

1 16oz, can creamed corn

1 14 1/2 oz. can chicken broth

2- 5 oz cans or 1-12 1/2 oz. can of chunk chicken (or you can substitute cooked chicken)

1/8 teaspoon or less of ground pepper.

This recipe calls for 1 2-oz jar of pimentos drained, but since they will just be picked out of the soup, I leave them out.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onions and carrots and cook a couple of minutes until they are tender. Add the flour and stir into a paste, allowing the flour to cook off a little. Slowly add the milk or half and half into the mixture and whisk until all lumps of flour are gone. Stir in the corn, broth, undrained chicken or cooked chicken breast and pepper. Remember, if using cooked chicken instead of canned, you need to add another 1/4 cup of chicken broth. Also the pimentos if you are adding them.

Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. You can serve immediately or let sit for a couple of hours. Serve warm with breadsticks or slices of French bread for a light dinner.

Chicken Pot Pie

As soon as the weather cools, I look to my cookbooks and find all the recipes I didn’t make during the heat of summer. Chicken Pot Pie is one of those. Imagine sitting down to a warm pot pie with mashed potatoes and having the colorful leaves flying in the wind or the snow blowing outside the windows. Yum!

This takes a little time to put together, and it is well worth it when you come home after a day of being out in the fresh air and you have this. It makes great leftovers or it can be frozen for a fast warm dinner on those busy crazy days.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a casserole dish (1 1/2 to 2 quart) with Pam.

1 can cream of celery or cream of chicken Soup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cooked, frozen peas and carrots ( I add 1 cup as I like vegetables).

1 cup leftover cooked chicken cut into small bite sized pieces. Or a can of chicken can be used.

Dash of Pepper

1 refrigerated piecrust (let this warm to room temperature before trying to unroll).

Whisk together soup and 1/2 cup milk in quart baking dish. Stir in chicken, cooked peas and carrots and pepper. Unroll pie crust and place mixture.

Beat an egg and wash egg over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden and bubbly. �

Chicken Caruso

This is another easy recipe. I always have a jar of spaghetti sauce in the pantry. I often just take some of my homemade sauce out of the freezer about an hour before I need it. Homemade sauce is so much better than the canned or jarred version. And, you can control the ingredients that is in the sauce.

1 Lb. Chicken Tenders

1/2 Salt & 1/4 tsp. Pepper

1/2 tsp.Garlic Salt

3 Tbs. Margarine

1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce

1 tsp. Italian Seasoning

1 Cup Sliced Celery or 1/2 tsp celery salt

Melt margarine in a sauté pan, Add salt, pepper and garlic salt. Add the chicken tenders and cook on medium heat until no pink remains. (About 3 to 4 minutes on each side). Stir in spaghetti sauce and seasoning. Cover and simmer 10 minutes or until well warmed through. Add celery or sprinkle about 1 tsp. Celery salt over all. Cook another 5-10 minutes over low heat. Serve over rice or noodles.

Bar-B-Que Chicken Tenders

I don’t own a bar-b-que grill. I used to. I hated the mess of trying to get all the grease and black off the racks. So now, I am a non bar-b-que person. This recipe is as close to BBQ as I get. It is easy and takes about 10 minutes. Also, it is all done in a fry pan without the messy clean-up. Remember, this is a Cooking for Two blog. If you have company or just want some for leftovers, (The leftovers work well on a salad), cook as many tenders you would like. You will need to increase the sauce to be sure all the chicken is coated.

6 chicken tenders.

1/2 cup Bar-B-Que sauce.*

2 Tablespoon of oil.

In a large bowl, pour sauce over tenders. using a pair of tongs, drag tenders through sauce to coat evenly. Let sit for 15 minutes before cooking so flavor has a chance to melt in a little.

Heat oil in fry pan large enough to hold 6 pieces of chicken tenders.

When pan is hot, carefully place tenders that have marinated into pan using tongs. Be careful oil is not too hot to cause it to spit when placing chicken in pan, but you want to hear a sizzle. Cook chicken on both side for about a minute. Cover pan and let chicken cook on med/low for 10 minutes turning every 3 to 4 minutes.

Serve over rice or with potato salad for a nice easy lunch or dinner.

*Be creative with the sauce. Honey, bold, spicy, whatever you like for flavor.

Chicken Divan

This is a one pot meal. Sort of. You will need to pre-cook the frozen broccoli. If this is not one of your favorite vegetables, change it up. Try using fresh green beans. or peas and carrots. Either way, it comes out creamy and delicious. And it is a great way to use up some of that left over chicken.

1 small package Frozen Chopped Broccoli

1 cup Cooked Chicken

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise

1/2 tsp. Lemon Juice

1/4 tsp. Curry Powder

1/4 cup shredded cheese

1/4 cup bread crumbs*

Cook broccoli. Arrange chicken in greased 8″ x 8″casserole dish. Add cooked broccoli. Mix soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, curry powder and cheese together. Pour over chicken and broccoli. Do not mix. Sprinkle bread crumbs over all. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with noodles, rice or potatoes. Or, it can be a stand alone dish without added carbs.

*No bread crumbs? Toast a couple slices of bread until dark, but not burned. Put the into a small plastic bags and crunch them up. Now you have bread crumbs. You can add some garlic powder and oregano to the bag before crumbling and you will have seasoned bread crumbs

Honey Chicken

2 Chicken Breasts*

2 Tablespoons butter (melted)

1/4 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons mustard (I use Honey Mustard, but any kind will work)

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Spray a small casserole with Pam. Mix all ingredients (except the chicken) in a small bowl. Add the chicken to the sauce and coat evenly. Place chicken in casserole dish and cover with sauce from small bowl. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until chicken is tender. Serve with Rice, Quinoa, or potato.

*You may cut the chicken in slices if you want to have the meal done sooner. The chicken will cook faster and it is easy to serve this way. If you decide to slice chicken, cook for 25 minutes instead of 45.