This recipe is for a tender Tomato Basil and Mozzarella stuffed Chicken Breast, and Caramelized onion, caper and thyme rice.

Fresh Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Italian-inspired rice

Chicken:

1 Tomato, sliced

3cloves garlic, chopped

4 Basil Leaves

1 Lemon

Salt, Pepper, Dried Oregano

2 Chicken Breasts

2 small slices of Mozzarella or whatever is in your house

Rice:

1/2 cup Brown or White rice (brown is preferred, hold up to the Onions better)

1.5cups water (to boil rice with)

1lrg sweet onion, chopped small

1small bottle capers, rinsed off to get rid of excess salt.

1TBSP Chopped fresh time, or 1.5TBSP Dried Thyme

1TSP Pepper

1/4 cup white wine

Chicken: In a large bowl, juice the lemon, and add 3/4 of the chopped garlic, salt and pepper, and 4TBSP olive oil. Cut a small slit, enough to fit a slice of tomato, basil and a cheese slice into, and soak in the lemon juice for 15 minutes. Remove from the bowl, and insert a slice of tomato (you may need to cut it in half to make it fit), 2 basil leaves in each, and a slice of cheese. Hold together with a toothpick and bake covered in the oven for about a half an hour, or until the juice from the chicken is clear and not pink.

Rice: In a large separate pan, Begin by adding oil and chopped onions. Cook on Med-High until the onions start to ‘melt’ down. Add 1-2TBSP of white wine, and continue cooking until onions are a light brown colour and smell sweet. Add capers, and thyme + S&P to taste and allow to heat up. Set aside. Cook rice. In the large pan, slowly bring it back up to a medium high heat, add another 3TBSP of oil, and white wine to make a thin sauce, and add in rice. Stir well, and serve chicken on bed of rice.

Thanks for the challenge Mike you may need to play around with cooking time, but this should shake things up a bit!

If your adventurous, try adding Sundried tomatoes or spinach to the rice as well. Just let them wilt in while the rice is cooking with the Capers. Also, if the rice seems too sticky, add a few more TBSP of wine, and a few TBSP of chicken broth.

Hope this helps!

liss

Potato-less Latkes with Crunchy Cool Ranch Chicken

1 Zucchini

1/2 Large Carrot

1 egg

Sesame seeds

2 cloves Garlic, chopped

1 chicken breast, cut up into fingers

20 cool ranch Doritos, crushed up

1/2cup Bread Crumbs

In 3 seperate bowls, add flour to one, one egg yolk to the next, and the breadcrumbs and crushed chips to the last. Dunk the chicken in the flour, covering it completely. Next, cover it in the egg yolk, and finally put it into the bowl with the chip and bread crumbs, and cover it completly. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, grate the carrot and zucchini, and squeeze all the water out of it. Add in the egg white, salt, pepper, garlic and sesame seeds, and mix until completely combined. Seperate into 5 patties in a hot pan, and fry until the one side is crispy and golden brown. Turn over and fry the next side to a crispy and golden brown. Set aside

While the first side of the latkes are cooking, in another pan, fill with 1/2 oil and begin to fry the one side of the chicken. Turn the chicken when the first side is golden brown and crispy, then fry the next side until the chicken is cooked all of the way through. Put the chicken between two pieces of paper towel to squeeze out any extra oil. Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauces!

This was a very good meal for throwing it together in a half an hour! Try it yourself. Substitute the veggies for whatever root veg  is in your veggie drawer, and adjust cooking time accordingly. The chips can also be substitutes for regular Lays, or cheesey Doritos!

Happy cooking!

Liss

Liss’s Chicken pot Pie

1/2 chicken breast, cubed

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 carrot, chopped small for faster cooking

1 Stalk Celery, Chopped small

1/2 onion, chopped

1 Potato, chopped small

2TBSP Oregano

1TBSP Thyme, and 1TBSP Rosemary if you have it

2TSP chicken stock powder, mixed in 1 1/2 cups warm water

3TBSP Flour

1 tube Pillsbury Crescent rolls

In a large pot, begin by frying Onions and Garlic in oil until slightly softened, then add chicken cubes, salt and pepper, thyme, rosemary and Oregano. Cook until chicken is half cooked, and then add in the remaining vegetables. Cook for 10 minutes on med-high, until all vegetables are softened well. At this time, add the 3 spoonfuls of flour, and stir well to coat all ingredients in the pot evenly. Add the chicken stock and simmer on med-high until the mixture has thickened to a gravy like consistency.  In 2 single portion oven-safe dishes, pour in chicken mixture almost to the top. With the Crescent roll pastry, cover the outer rim with 2 triangles. This will help to hold the middle pastry. Use two more triangles to cover as much of the pastry top as possible, then place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until the pastry on top is crispy and golden.

This recipe is so easy, and very delicious for a stay-at-home comfort meal. It just screams to be eaten by the fireplace watching tv on a cuddle night. Try is today and see what i mean!

Liss

Liss’s Version of  Mac and Cheese Florentine

1 package frozen Spinach, defrosted and wrung out in a towel

1/2cup Milk

1/2cup Chicken Broth (you can substitute broth for stock (the yellow powdery stuff) but just watch the saltiness)

2 TBSP Butter or Margerine

1/4TSP Cinnamon or Nutmeg (omit if you don’t have this, it just warms it up a bit)

1cup Mozzarella (or substitute with any other white cheese you have)

3TBSP flour

3 Garlic cloves, chopped

1 Chicken breast, cubed small.

In a small frying pan, fry chicken cubes with salt and pepper and one garlic clove until cooked through. Set aside and begin cooking pasta. In a pot, warm a small amount of oil (to keep the butter from burning) and 3TBSP of butter. Heat until melted, then add the garlic, and good until lightly browned, 1minute. At this point, add the flour, and make a roux. When this paste-like mixture warms through and becomes a light brown colour, add the milk and chicken broth and let simmer for 5-6 minute or until it thickens. Add Salt and pepper to taste, then melt in the cheese. Make sure the spinach is day and wrung out, because it will make the sauce runny if the spinach is wet.  Chop and add the spinach to the cheese mixture, and then toss in pasta when it is cooked through. Add chicken and mix well.

Another variation, pour mac and cheese into a greased casserole pan and top with more cheese. Bake for 15 minutes.

Im going to start introducing more comforting recipes because the winter is creeping up on us and its time to start fattening up! This means you skinny boyfriend! This recipe is a good one if you need to make food stretch, and tastes good as a cold pasta salad the next day!

Liss

http://fbnr.com/ Favorite Brand Name Recipes, an awesome site, a lot of content, great selection of desserts including Hershey’s Baked Apple Slices with Peanut Butter Crumble, Frenches Mustard Calypso Grilled Pineapple, M&M’s Chocolate Shortcake, Hershey’s Irish Chocolate Mint Desert and Carnation’s Vanilla Flan

http://www.backofthebox.com/ Recipes from the back of the brand name boxes we use every day, check out the Kraft California Baked Potatos, Cream if Rice’s Italian Soup with Dumplings, Land O’ Lakes Alfredo Ravioli Bake (for this one I just sub in whatever Mozzerella cheese I have, because this is an American product unavailable to me), Oscar Mayer and Velveeta Cheese Pasta Italiano, Herbed Clam Linguinie and a varaity of snacks including Sour Cream BLT Tortillas, Flour Cheesey Pretzels, Honey Mustard Pretzel Trio, and Parmasan Bacon Biscuit sticks.

http://www.google.com/Top/Home/Cooking/Brand_Name_Recipes/ This is the google search done for this, and it has a ton of brand name sites to look through. Some of these include CopyKat recipes: Red Lobsters Bacon Wrapped Sea Scallops, Starbucks Walnut Banana Bread, Sonic Frito Chili Cheese Wrap (which I am particularly excited to try), Olive Gardens Zuppa Toscana, and Johnny Carino’s Artichoke and Angel Hair Pasta

Kraft Recipes: Cassarole recipes Chicken Pot Pie, One Pan Chicken and Potato Bake, Easy Chicken Bake, and A Layered Enchillada bake, and Healthy living recipes such as Tangy Broccoli Salad, Warm and Cozy Apple Crisp, Bruscetta Chicken Skillet, Quick and Creamy Chicken Stew for my friend who doesnt like red meat very much, Rosmary and Dijon Pork chops and Roasted Potato dinner, and Delicious and easy Stuffed Shells

Campbells Kitchen: Check out all this site has to offer. One of the largest soup and stock companies in the world, their brand has recipes anywhere from Chicken Quesadillas to Chicken and garden broccoli Wild rice Bake. Check out some of these for a home cooked dinner once in a while. You’ll love Skillet Sausage and Stuffing, Pork chops and stuffing bake, Roasted Vegetable Tart, and Hearty Lasagnia Soup. You  might also like Slow cooker Chicken and Dumplings and Meat Ball Sandwhiches

There will be more Brand name sites to come, but as of right now I am very tired!

I have a few more blogs on the way tonight, keep an eye out!

Liss

Chicken Zucchini Cassarole

1-2 Chicken Breasts

1cup Salsa

1/2cup Cheese

1green pepper, cut into large pieces

1 zucchini, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

In a frying pan, cook chicken, peppers and zucchini until almost cooked through, and then lay the chicken breasts over the veggies. Top with salsa and cheese and bake for 15 minutes on 400 degrees f, and then 5 minutes on your ovens broiler setting.

This meal is extremely cheap and easy. Chances are you already have two of the ingredients right in your fridge! If you are not a big salsa fan as one of my friends is, simply omit the salsa, and add 1cup of cheese and 1/4 cup milk for a creamier, cheese veggie cassarole!

See you soon!

liss

Ive marked this in the doing-it-on-the-go category because when frozen, these are the perfect treat, reheated in the oven, or for a lunch to go. It is well worth the work, and incredibly inexpensive for how good they are. I like to brush olive oil and garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper on the tops as an alternative to the ranch.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza bites

This is a great way to use up leftover rotisserie/fauxtisserie chicken. You know when you pick all of the meat off the bones and then the next day your kids won’t eat it because they say it looks icky? Well once it’s slathered in cheese, bread, and ranch dressing, the only thing they’ll be saying is, Mom you’re freakin‘ rad.

Chicken-Bacon Stuffed Pizza Rolls
Print Recipe Text Only

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough* (or make your own)
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil or melted butter
sharp cheddar cheese (I used 75% sharp cheddar and 25% mozzarella)
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
about 1 C shredded, cooked chicken.
3/4 C mayo
3/4 C milk

First take 1 teaspoon of your ranch dressing mix and combine it with 1 1/2 T parmesancheese. Set aside. Combine the remaining ranch mix with 3/4 C mayo and 3/4 C milk and place in the fridge to chill.

Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package. Usually it’s 400-425 degrees.

Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it’s about 12″ by 8″. You’re going to want to cut it into 24 squares, so just eyeball it if you need to. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares.

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square.


When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings.


I grab the four corners first and then squeeze the seams shut. Then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish). Brush with melted butter or olive oil and sprinkle with the parmesan-ranch mixture.


Time out for a sec. I tried a few new things this time around. One was to cook some of my rolls in a mini-muffin pan. This might work better for serving depending on the situation. They turned out great. You’re making 24 rolls, so it fills up the pan perfectly. They cook quicker this way than in a pie pan so keep an eye on them. Mine only took about 8 minutes whereas the ones in the pan took about 13-15.


Okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Place your rolls in the oven. I’ve noticed baking time really depends on the type of dough I’m using. Whether it’s different brands from the store, or homemade dough, they all take different amounts of time. Set your timer for 10 minutes and check on them after that. They may take up to 15 or 20 to be done. Take them out when they’re lightly golden on top.

Serve them warm with a side of freshly made ranch dressing for dipping.



I’m serious when I tell you these are amazing. They were actually way better than I had imagined them. Although how could you possibly go wrong with warm dough, gooey cheese, and crispy bacon, dipped in ranch. You can’t. You just can’t.

Cannelloni

FILLING: will fill ~8 cannelloni, maybe up to 10
- 1 chicken breast, cooked & shredded
- 1/4 C fresh, shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 C ricotta cheese
- 1/2 C shredded mozzarella
- 1 Egg, beaten
- 1 garlic clove, minced or use garlic press
- 1 T chopped fresh basil (maybe a little more than 1 T)
- 1/4 t pepper
- 1/2 t salt

SAUCE:
- 1 1/2 C jarred marinara (you could make your own, but this is faster and tasted great)
- 1/2 C cream
- 24 grape tomatoes, smashed up a bit (I pulsed in the blender a few times)
- 1/4 – 1/2 C shredded asiago cheese

SHELLS:
Ideally I suppose you make your own pasta, roll it into thin sheets and cut into rectangles. Yeah, THAT’S gonna happen around here….so, I tried two readily-available pastas.

Barilla No-Boil Homemade Style (Flat) Lasagna Noodles: These were PERFECT. Boil 3 minutes, CAREFULLY remove from the water (it’s easy to crack them in the middle, so be gentle!). Filling them is a cinch…just lay the rectangle out portrait (you know, tall-wise), lay your filling across the noodle near the end, then roll up! (I had a few cracks when I took them out of the water, but the noodle overlaps itself when you roll it up, so it wasn’t a problem) Pictured RIGHT.

Manicotti Shells: I also tried manicotti shells. They didn’t taste quite as good, and they’re harder to stuff. So, I will definitely do the flat, no-boil lasagna noodles from now on.  Pictured LEFT.

DIRECTIONS:
Mix filling ingredients.

Mix sauce ingredients and warm on the stove (doesn’t need to cook too long or get too hot).

Spray a rectangular casserole dish or metal cake pan with spray oil. Stuff cannelloni (see noodle descriptions above). Place stuffed cannelloni in the pan. Cover with sauce.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Mangia!

http://thisweekfordinner.com/2009/04/09/cannelloni/

Perfect Pesto

1cup whole fresh basil leaves

1/2cup olive oil

3 cloves Garlic

1/4cup mozzarella cheese

In a food processor or blender combine all ingredients and blend until a smooth paste. Add more oil if the paste is too thick, and salt and pepper to taste. To serve, mix hot pasta of choice in 3 heaping tbsp or more to taste of the pesto. Stir until evenly distributed.

Summertime Tomato Bruscetta

4 plumb Tomatoes, diced small

3 cloves Garlic

1/2 White Onion

1/4cup chopped Basil

1/4 Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Finely chop garlic, and onion and combine with oil and diced tomatoes. Mix thoroughly, while adding basil, salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Another Summertime Pasta Variation

Mix 1/2 cup bruscetta mix to 100g/person hot pasta and serve. The bruscetta makes a sweet, light, healthy sauce and when the pasta heats the bruscetta, the tomatoes and basil wilt into a almost-creamy sauce.

Take it one step further by…

Using the pesto as a marinade!  Rub pesto on chicken or pork, and cook your preferred way. I enjoy these on the mini George-Foreman, but their delicious pan fried as well. Serve this over the bruscetta pasta.

These summertime recipes make even the coldest winter night a little warmer. The price is reasonable, the quantity will last for days, and is perfect for cold pasta salad lunches.

Liss

Chicken Quesadillas with Spicy Tomato Rice

Quesadillas

1 chicken breast

2 soft tortillas

1 green onion

1/4 cup salsa

1/2 cup grated cheese

1/4 sour cream

Spicy tomato rice

1can diced tomatos

1/4 cup rice

1 tsp chili powder

1tsp cumin

1tsp pepper

1tsp salt

Quesadillas

Put a small amount of oil in a frying pan and cook the chicken breast 6 minutes on each side or until cooked through
in a clean frying pan, put a small amount of oil, and one soft tortilla in the pan to brown. Cut or tear up chicken. Add cheese to browning totilla, then chicken, green onion and second tortilla. Flip and brown on second side.
Serve with salsa and sour cream

Rice

In a small pot, boil rice with 1/2 can diced tomatoes and tomato juice, and top up with water. Add cumin chili powder and salt and pepper to the pot and continue boiling until rice is cooked through.