Peach Caprese Chicken

 As a parent I try to get creative with our dinners, especially with my picky eaters. We are at the peak of toddler food resistance - ugga bugga. One Thursday night, I tried to get creative with chicken and combine two foods my girls love - cheese and peaches. Hence - Chicken Caprese Peach. We had the peaches on hand from our produce box. Christopher and I thought it was delicious, but the girls picked at it and ate only small pieces. Oh well! The only thing I would add next time is fresh basil. Mine just wasn't ready yet!

I did make a homemade balsamic drizzle. Christopher's parents brought us back a sampler pack of balsamic vinegars and one of them was a dark cherry one. So I used that to make a homemade balsamic glaze - it paired really well with the flavors of the chicken, mozzarella and peaches. You can use a pre-made one, non-flavored one to your taste. 

Peach Caprese Chicken

1 cup balsamic vinegar (if you are going to make the homemade balsamic glaze)
4 thin boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
8 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced into 8 pieces (I love the pre-cut type from Aldi - less prep work!)
3 medium peaches, pitted and sliced
I wish I also had fresh basil

The chicken: Get the grill on to medium-high heat. Take the thin sliced chicken breasts and drizzle the olive oil over the breasts. Then sprinkle each with the salt and pepper. Cook the chicken breasts on each side for about 4 minutes for thin sliced - don't over cook!

The balsamic glaze: Pour the cup of balsamic vinegar in a saucepan and heat it to a boil on your stovetop. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 10-12 minutes - keep an eye on it! The consistency should be thick enough to coat a spoon and more "syrupy". I actually wasn't paying attention, so mine got a little too thick, so I added just a spoonful of water to thin out. 

Once the chicken and glaze is ready, it is time to plate these beauties. Place the grilled chicken on your plate, top each breast with two slices of mozzarella, peach slices and then drizzle the balsamic glaze over the topped chicken. Then I would have loved to add some sliced fresh basil too. 

Enjoy!

Honey Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken

 Jumping back in, I thought I would share a recipe I made recently that was super easy and a crowd pleaser with the family. Although I think my girls just liked helping Mommy pick the basil and sprinkle it over the chicken. Anyways - we used boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but breasts would work too for this recipe. As a side, I sliced up this HUGE zucchini we received in our produce box and some leftover yellow potatoes we had with a 1/2 yellow onion. 

Honey Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon (I used the same lemon)
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp minced garlic or 2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper and whatever other seasoning you like (I used a couple shakes of Montreal Steak Seasoning)
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (thin sliced chicken breasts would work too)
1/4 cupish basil, thinly sliced (tips for slicing/cutting below)

Mix together the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, honey, salt and pepper, any other seasonings you like. Separate 2 tablespoons to baste the chicken with while grilling. Take the rest of the marinade and mix/rub all over the chicken thighs. Make sure the chicken thighs are completely folded out and the marinade gets all over the chicken. Let the chicken marinate for about an hour (at least 30 minutes). 

While the chicken in marinating, I cut up the 3 potatoes, 1/2 onion and sliced up the zucchini. I tossed the cut veggies in a little basting oil (I love Wegman's Basting Oil) and a little salt and pepper. 

When ready to grill, we cooked the thighs on medium heat for about 6 minutes each side. We also used the saved 2 tbsp of marinade to baste the chicken. Next to the chicken on the grilled, we grilled the veggies on a grill pan for about 20 minutes total. One thing to note about the veggies - some veggies, like zucchini, will cook faster than others, like the potatoes. Start the starchier ones first if possible so you do not over or under cook your veggies. 

When ready to plate, sprinkle the sliced fresh basil over the top of your grilled chicken. And Enjoy!

Tip for slicing fresh basil:

I stack the basil flat on top of each other and roll into a small "stick". Then I use scissors and cut the stick into small "discs". I did not take a picture of doing this, so I grabbed one from Google. I think this is much easier than trying to slice each leaf or use a knife. 

Friday Lenten Meal Idea

Alright so I know that Lent is official over and I am behind on updating my blog, but I thought I would still share a good meal idea for a meat-less Friday lunch/dinner. It is sometimes hard for us to think outside the fish box when it comes to Friday meals during Lent. This past Good Friday, we cooked up some Buffalo "Chicken" zucchini boats and they turned out fantastic!

Buffalo "Chicken" Zucchini Boats
Makes 2 servings (4 "boats)

2 medium zucchini's, halved lengthwise with the middles scooped out
salt & pepper
Olive Oil
Blend of mozzarella & cheddar cheeses (about 1 cup total)
2 Morningstar Buffalo Chik Patties (these are veggie patties sold in the Frozen goods section)
Extra hot sauce of choice, I used Wegman's Buffalo Hot Sauce

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a foil lined baking sheet, place the halves of zucchini with the scooped out section facing up. Brush each of the halves with a little bit of olive oil and season with salt & pepper to taste. Bake just the zucchini for about 30 minutes. When the zucchini is almost done, cook the Morningstar patties for about 1 minute. Dice up the patties into bite sized pieces. When the zucchini is finished cooking, sprinkle a little bit of the cheese into the scooped out middle. Then top with the cut up patties, a little more hot sauce (if you choose) and then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Place the stuffed zucchini bake into the oven for about 5-7 more minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Then enjoy! As you can see I almost did not get a picture because we ate these pretty quickly after coming out of the oven. They were delicious. I gather you could do this for "chicken" parm (using any veggie style patty), "taco" boats, etc.

Buffalo Chicken Wrappers

Last night for dinner I made Buffalo Chicken Wrappers. Or shall I say baked them, because I made them Sunday night during my weekly meal prep. These wrappers are one of Christopher's favorites and very easy to make. Plus you can fill them with whatever you want - add celery, carrots, blue cheese, etc.

Buffalo Chicken Wrappers
Makes 8 rolls or wrappers

8 spring roll wrappers (found in produce)
1 can of chicken, drained
2 tbsp favorite wing or hot sauce
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
(You can also add: ranch or blue cheese dressing, carrots, celery, etc)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl mix together the chicken, wing sauce and cheese. On a clean surface, layout one of the spring roll wrappers. Spoon about 1/8 cup of the chicken mixtures across the middle of the wrapper. Roll from the bottom up, while tucking in the sides of the wrapper, forming the roll. Seal the "flap" with a little bit of water (I usually just wet a finger and press it on the edge to seal). Continue making the rolls. Place all rolls either on parchment paper on a cookie sheet OR on a greased wire rack on a cookie sheet. Spray all sides of the rolls with cooking spray to give the rolls the faux-fried taste. Bake for about 15-18 minutes.

Zucchini Chicken Bake

Here is the recipe of the bake I made Sunday night. It is a "healthier" take on my families favorite recipe - cheesy potatoes. I had some for lunch yesterday and it was even good re-heated.

Zucchini Chicken Bake
8 oz shredded potatoes (hash browns)
2-3 zucchini's, shredded (I used a cheese grater)
1 can of chicken, liquid drained
1 cup plain, fat free Greek yogurt
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 cup shredded cheese (I used a mixture of mozzarella & cheddar cheeses)
2 cups crushed corn flakes
4 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400. Grease an 8x13 glass pan. In a large bowl, add the shredded (or hash brown) potatoes, shredded zucchini, canned chicken, yogurt, cream of chicken soup, onion powder and shredded cheese. Mix all of these ingredients well. Dump the zucchini and chicken mixture into the prepared 8x13 and spread evenly in the pan. Take the crushed corn flakes and add the melted butter and stir quickly so that the crushed corn flakes are evenly coated in butter. Spread the corn flake mixture evenly over the top of the zucchini bake. Bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes. Remove and cool for about 5 minutes before serving (this was piping HOT). Enjoy!

Fun Weekend

Last weekend we had the perfect combo of busy, fun and relaxing. Friday night we met Christopher's parents for a fish fry at Papa Jake's. Boy it was packed! At 5:30, we waited about 40 minutes for a table! But that was okay because we had a lot of catch up on and enjoyed some drinks at the bar. The fish fry was incredible and we could all see why there is such a long wait. And...by 7:30 they were all sold out of fish! Definitely Lent in Buffalo!

Saturday morning I worked on updating my etsy site and listing and ran errands, got my oil changed in my car and meal prepped a little for the week. Then we - all four of us - went over to my parent's house for some lunch, a visit and to show Dad how to use his new tablet! I am so proud of my Dad for trying to learn how to use it. He has never used a computer before and did a great job learning to use the tablet. The pups had a blast playing with Buddy and running around.

Saturday night we had a Netflix marathon of House of Cards - to catch up on Season 2. Yep - we are very behind - no spoilers! This week we are going to start on the newly released Season 3.

Sunday we had church, where we saw some friends and caught up with a former teacher of Christopher's - Fr Tom. I worked on some new merchandise for Ellegant Decor and Christopher is finishing up one of his refinishing projects for a friend of ours. It was a very productive weekend.

Then Sunday night, I played around with one of our families favorite and classic recipes - Cheesy Potatoes! I will have to post the recipe I used, but we swapped out the potatoes for zucchini and the sour cream for Greek yogurt and also added chicken. It came out delicious and even Christopher enjoyed it. It is also very similar to a recipe that one of my best friends Reese created too. I am loving making hearty bakes and casseroles - it has been way too cold out.

BBQ Cheesy Chicken & Potato Bake

Two days ago I cooked another whole chicken in the crock pot (LOVE IT) and had tons of it leftover. I made up two of the following casseroles - one for us and one for a friend. I thought I would share the recipe. It was super easy and convenient and delcious. I mean, come on doesn't the melted cheese make you hungry?

BBQ Cheesy Chicken & Potato Bake
Makes 1 9x13 pan or 2 8x8 pans

3 large potatoes, cooked until tender (I microwaved them for 10 minutes)
1 cup diced or shredded chicken breast (already cooked)
2-3 tbsp favorite bbq sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup sliced green onion

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray the desired size casserole or glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Cook your potatoes until they are fork tender. Once cooled enough to touch, dice into small cubes and toss into the baking dish(es). Combine the shredded/diced chicken breast with the bbq sauce. Then combine the potatoes and the sauced chicken together in the casserole. dish. I lightly salted and peppered this to our liking. Then top the potato & chicken mixture with the shredded cheese and then top that with the sliced green onion. Pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is all melted and starting to lightly brown on top.

Since I split this into two pans, I baked one and then froze the other for a friend. You all know I love a 2 for 1 bargain :)

Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta

Tried a new recipe last night for dinner using the remaining leftover chicken from the roaster I made late last week - a light pasta in a "cream" sauce. I thought I would share the recipe because it was scrumptious and Christopher gave his thumbs up to it! Note - I used unsweetened almond milk instead of a cream. You can substitute what you like here and with most of the other ingredients. 

Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta

Serves 4

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 small jar sun-dried tomatoes, sliced into smaller pieces

1 lb cooked chicken, diced or shredded

salt

paprika

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 cup shredded mozzarella

8 oz penne pasta

1 tbsp dry basil

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

In a large pan on high heat, saute garlic and sun-dried tomatoes for about 1 minute. Add in the cooked chicken, lightly salted and add a little bit of paprika (or a lot depending on your taste). Add the almond milk and mozzarella and lower heat to a simmer. Stir the sauce to ensure all of the cheese and ingredients have melted and blended. 

Cook pasta according to the pasta instructions. (Side note: I reserve a little bit of the pasta water in the event the sauce becomes too thick and needs to be thinned). Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and stir to combine. Add 1 tbsp of basil and the red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. At this point, if the sauce is too thick, add a little bit of the reserved pasta water. Just a little at a time until you reach the desired consistency. Simmer for a couple of minutes to let the flavors combine and enjoy!

Easy Super Bowl Treats

My two favorite things about Super Bowl Sunday - 1) Indulging on lots of food that is so good (but so bad for your hips and 2) All the entertainment and hoopla before, during and after the game. I am so excited to see Katy Perry perform at half time - I think she will put on a great show. I LOVED Bruno Mars last year - he was so good. Plus who doesn't get into the TV commercials??

Back to my first favorite thing about Super Bowl Sunday - THE FOOD. We are going to make homemade baked chicken wings. Now I know what you are all thinking - that sounds so lame, why not get take out wings that are delicious and fried up? Trust me - our homemade wings are just as tasty (if not BETTER) and we char-grill them at the end for that extra little char flavor. MMM - I am hungry just thinking about them.

Then my in-laws are ordering pizza and we are still thinking of other appetizer ideas. So I turned to my friend Pinterest to find some simple app recipes. Pictures are included below - I hope to be inspired soon!

Football Strawberries. I did something similar three years ago for a friends party. Chocolate covered strawberries are always a hit. 

Have your grill handy? (You will need it for our chicken wings!) How simple and tasty are these kabobs - slices of ham with pineapple

Baked Mozzarella and basil bites - a little bit healthier approach to traditional mozzarella sticks. Fresh mozzarella and basil leaf enclosed in a wonton wrapper and baked. 

Pepperoni bites with fresh mozzarella in the middle. A nice carb-free option instead of pizza

Included below is the recipe for our AWESOME baked chicken wings. Here is also a link to one of my other favorite and easy appetizers - Firecracker Chicken Roll-ups.

Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
4 lbs chicken wings (I usually get Free Bird Party wings - they are already halved at the joints)
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp salt
Whatever sauce you like (We like Rufus Teague)

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and preheat to 250 degrees. Set wire rack in aluminum foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and spray the rack with a non-stick spray. Pat wings dry and transfer to a gallon size plastic zip lock bag. Combine the baking powder and salt and add to the bag with the wings. Close the bag and shake to coat as evenly as possible.

Arrange the wings skin side up in a single layer on the sprayed rack. Bake wings on the lower-middle oven rack for 30 minutes. Move wings to the upper-middle rack, increase oven temperature to 425 degrees and roast until wings are golden brown and crisp - about 40 minutes longer, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Remove the sheet from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. While the wings are resting, fire up the grill to medium-high heat. Transfer the cooked wings to a bowl and cover those bad boys with your sauce of choice. Toss to coat. Bring the bowl to the grill and char the wings on each side for about 1 minute per side. Enjoy them while they are hot!

Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot

This came out of the crock pot - who knew!

This week I feel like Christopher and I are running in two different directions. We try very hard to sit down together for dinner, but sometimes that is hard because we have meetings after work. Yesterday, I was the one who had the event at 6 pm but I still wanted to squeeze in dinner together before I left.

I bought a whole roasting chicken to have this week and decided to try it in the crock pot (my NEW crock pot - so excited to use it). It came out great! I thought it would be too soft and not flavorful, but that was not the case! I highly recommend saving time and cooking it this way. I did a lemon-garlic seasoning that worked well. This is what I did:

Inside the crock pot, I made a "bed" for the chicken to lay on of a sliced onion, carrots and celery. Then I took the washed and patted dry chicken and laid it inside the crock pot. I then sliced a lemon and three garlic cloves and threw them inside the chicken. On the outside of the chicken, I seasoned with salt, pepper and my handy lemon-garlic seasoning. That is it! I set my crock pot on low for 8 hours.

When it was time to eat, I took the chicken out (carefully) and placed it in a roasting pan. Then turned my oven onto broil and broiled the chicken for about 5-7 minutes so the skin could brown and crisp up. This worked perfectly to give the chicken the roasted look.

Bonus for creating the "bed" of veggies is that it propped up the chicken and all of the juices from the chicken collected in the bottom. BONUS - now I have the broth I need to make chicken noodle soup with the cooked veggies.

We enjoyed our chicken with leftover potatoes and veggies from the previous nights meal. I was able to come home and eat dinner within 25 minutes before turning around for my event.

BONUS - I now have the base for my chicken soup!

Roasted Butternut Squash Chicken Salad

Can you believe I have never had butternut squash? Actually - most of you probably can because I have never been a fan of vegetables until recently. On our anniversary, we went out to dinner to Russell Salvatore's restaurant and Christopher ordered a side of butternut squash risotto and I thought I would try it. Well...it was delicious! So this weekend when I did the grocery shopping, I had to pick one up to try something, anything with it. I mean - how often do I find a vegetable I can tolerate???

So...I found this recipe for a butternut squash salad and decided to adapt it for our families likes and ingredients that I already had on hand.

I used:
- 1/2 butternut squash
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- romaine lettuce
- shredded coconut
- 1 green apple
- honey (my Uncle Jack's honey - it is the best!)
- chia seeds
- precooked, grilled chicken (about 1 breast)
- 4 oz plain goat cheese

This made two nice sized salads for Christopher and I!

Preheat the oven to 365 degrees. Dice up the butternut squash and spread on a baking sheet into a single layer. Drizzle with a little olive oil, nutmeg & cinnamon. Roast for 20 minutes and flip and bake an additional 20 minutes. While the squash was baking, I sliced the apples thin and plated them. Once plated I added the lettuce, sprinkled the coconut and chia seeds on the salad. Since the chicken was pre-cooked, I just microwaved it to warm it up and diced it into bite sized pieces. Then tossed on the salad along with the roasted butternut squash. Then I added about 2 oz of goat cheese to each plate and lightly drizzled Uncle Jack's honey over the salad. And voila!

The salad was delicious and sweet. Even Christopher liked it! We will definitely be making this again soon :)

Fourth of July Desserts

For the 4th of July, we celebrated with Christopher's extended family on the 4th and then with my family on the 5th at our house. For Christopher's family's party, we brought two desserts and an appetizer. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of the app - Firecracker Chicken Roll ups. Basically it is similar to Buffalo Chicken dip only spread on a tortilla and chilled, then sliced for easy consumption. Mmm making me hungry as we speak. 

For the desserts I made mini cherry and blueberry pies and Firecracker cookies - no worries - no remnant of the buffalo chicken - just shares the same name ;)

I will post the three recipes, but sadly I have no pictures of the chicken. Have no fear - I believe in this recipe as all 30 chicken roll ups were consumed with 30 minutes of us arriving there. It is a winner!

Firecracker Chicken Roll ups

Makes: About 30-36 rolls (depending on thickness sliced)

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup hot wing sauce

1/4 cup ranch dressing (can sub blue cheese)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

1 lb chicken breast (or 2-3 cans of chicken - quick and easy)

5 large flour tortillas

In a bowl, beat cream cheese on low and add in sauce, ranch, cheese and green onions. Beat until blended. Stir shredded chicken into mixture by hand. Spread approximately 3/4 cup of mixture on top of one of the tortillas. Roll up tortilla tightly, but without shifting the mixture too much. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Place rolled tortillas on a plate and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Remove and unwrap. Slice each rolled tortilla in half and then each half into 3 slices, discarding the ends. Place pinwheel slices on a serving plate. I stuck a toothpick into each of them for easy grabbing and eating. 

Firecracker Cookies

Makes: 4 dozen cookies

1 box of 4th of July Funfetti cake mix (sold seasonally)

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and baking powder. In a small bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Add the egg mixture to the cake mixture and stir to combine. Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes until golden. Wait about 1-2 minutes once they are out of the oven before moving to a cooling rack. 

Mini Pies

Makes: 5 dozen mini pies

1 box of refrigerated pie crust, thawed (should contain 2 crusts)

1 can of Cherry pie filing

1 can of blueberry pie filing

1 egg (for egg wash)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease at least two 12 cup mini muffin pans (I only own two - if you own more - grease them all up!) and set aside. Flour a smooth, clean surface. Unroll 1 of the pie crusts. Using a small glass or circle cookie cutter about 2" wide, cut out as many circles as possible and gentle push each circle into one of the mini muffin pan openings. Form remaining dough into a ball and re-roll out using a rolling pin. If dough is sticking to pin or surface, add some additional flour. Cut out as many circles as possible and push into the pan. Continue doing this until all of the dough from both pie crusts are used - should yield about 60 mini crusts. 

Next, create an egg wash by breaking the egg and adding just a little bit of water to the bowl with the egg. Using a pastry brush, brush each crust with the egg wash. Next, open up the cans of pie filing. Using a teaspoon (like actual teaspoon, not a measuring spoon) scoop out a little bit of the pie filing onto each crust. Once you have two pans set, bake in oven for about 25 minutes until the crust appears to be golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 2-3 minutes before removing from the pan to a cooling rack. Repeat until all crusts are cooked.

Note: I did wait a couple extra minutes after removing the pies from the tins so the tins could cool some more before making the next dozen. I also split my pies evenly between cheery and blueberry.

Fun Take on Bubble Pizza - Buffalo Chicken Bubble Pizza

This past Sunday was a lazy day for us Musialowski's. We slept in, read the newspaper, puttered around the house, did a little shopping and then did a whole lot of resting. Needless to say, I did not feel like cooking anything elaborate for dinner. I had a real craving for pizza, but we did not have  pizza sauce (should have thought of it when I did the shopping...lazy brain too I guess). I did find we had like three bottles of buffalo wing sauce, so I figured something like buffalo chicken will do. That is when I got the crazy idea...why not buffalo chicken bubble pizza. 

My mom's recipe for bubble pizza is pretty amazing and one of the most popular posts on this blog, so why not change out the beef for chicken and pizza sauce for some wing sauce? It was a successful experiment and super easy to put together on our lazy Sunday. I really got lazy and even used canned chicken. 

Buffalo Chicken Bubble Pizza

Serves 3

1 can refrigerated can of biscuits (like Pillsbury)

1 can of chicken breast

1/4 cup hot or buffalo sauce of your choice

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Optional garnish: sliced green onions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Quarter the biscuits. Lightly spray a 8x8 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Arrange the quartered biscuits on the bottom so that the whole bottom of the pan is covered. Strain the canned chicken to remove the water and then dump the chicken into a medium mixing bowl. Combine the buffalo/hot/wing sauce with the chicken in the mixing bowl and mix well until all of the ingredients are combined.  Sprinkle the sauced chicken over the biscuits in the prepared pan. Try to cover the biscuits with the chicken mixer as evenly as possible. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Take the pan out and add the shredded cheddar to the top. Put pan back in the oven for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Let the dish set for about 5 minutes after taking it out so slicing and serving is easier. I added the sliced green onions when the dish was setting.

Just a Little Dinner on the Weekend

So in typically Ellen fashion I had a whole to-do list for this weekend of everything I wanted to accomplish. Well...it is Monday and most of it has not gotten done. Which is actually okay because I was able to do many other things. One of them being trying a new recipe!

I LOVE goat cheese. Actually I love ALL cheeses, but right now I am on a goat cheese kick. So dinner Saturday night I decided to make some grilled chicken with roasted tomatoes (this was a fail) and goat cheese. Kind of like the Chicken Bryan recipe from Carrabbas. It turned out pretty good. I served the chicken with sauteed green beans (in the lemon garlic sauce I made for the chicken) and leftover Truffle Tortellini from our dinner at Salvatores (total cheat here - but it went pretty well). Christopher LOVED it and it was fairly simple to made too.

Grilled Goat Cheese Chicken with Butter Sauce
Serve: 2

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, halved lengthwise
salt & pepper, to taste
olive oil
2 ounces goat cheese
2 roasted tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
4 tsp onions, minced
4 tsp garlic, minced (I think I added a little more - I love garlic)
1 stick of butter
2 tbsp lemon juice

Prepare the chicken: brush chicken on both sides with olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Grill chicken until done. While chicken is cooking, prepare the butter sauce. Saute onion and garlic in 2 tbsp butter for about 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes to reduce. Add remaining butter until it melts and looks nice and creamy. Add chopped roasted tomatoes and basil and heat through. Top the grilled chicken breasts with 1/2 oz (or 1/4) of the goat cheese. Cheese may soften and melt a little. Then spoon the lemon butter sauce over the goat cheese and chicken breasts.

Roasted Tomatoes - I sliced up the tomatoes earlier in the day and roasted them in olive oil and minced garlic. Well...I forgot about them and they burned quite a bit. Not having the canned stuff I decided to use them anyway and they were not totally bad, but their taste was a little more potent.

Roasted Garlic Chicken

Roasted Garlic Chicken

1 whole chicken, about 3 to 4 lbs
Salt & pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic cloves
4 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a roasting pan and rack lightly with cooking spray. Prep chicken by removing the giblets and rinsing the chicken both inside and outside. Pat the chicken dry. Season the inside and outside of the chicken with salt & pepper to taste. Gently pull up on the skin starting at the neck opening as far as you can lift the skin without ripping it. Once lifted, massage about 1 1/2 tbsp butter mixed with 1/2 tbsp minced garlic onto the chicken breasts. Use remaining butter on top of the skin as well as the garlic. Bake in the roasting pan for about 18-20 minutes per pound until the thickest part of the beast meat reads a temperature of 165 degrees. Remove from the oven and rest for about 10-15 minutes before cutting.

Note: By cooking it this way, you will get a crispier skin. If you would like the chicken more tender, baste the chicken with its own juices every 20 minutes until done.

Surprise Romantic Dinner for Christopher

So this weekend was rare in that I did not have any formal plans - YEAH! But don't think I sat on my butt doing nothing either. On Saturday I started to deep clean several rooms in the house in preparation for Fall. I also ran errands and got to visit with my friend Carly and our Godson Wyatt. What a cutie pie! I loved his big belly laughs - they are just so precious.

Then on Sunday I continued my cleaning marathon and errand running. But I was really in the mood to cook...sooooo I decided to cook a 5 course romantic dinner for Christopher. He has been really busy lately working hard to find a job, volunteer, network, etc. I surprised him when he came home! I styled our dining room table with linens, centerpiece and placing settings. For the courses, I made the following:

1) Zucchini Feta Fritters with cool ranch sauce

2) Wedge Salad with turkey bacon, tomatoes and onions and a bacon infused creamy blue cheese dressing

3) Chicken and Herb Dumpling Soup

4) Roasted Garlic Chicken with steamed broccoli and roasted garlic potatoes

5) Oreo Marshmellow Bars

I will post recipes in a bit! For now, here are the pictures of the table and place settings.

Super Easy Chicken Recipe - Christopher approved!

This past weekend at the Italian Festival we ran into one of our favorite chefs - Art Christy. He owns Frontier Catering, whom we hired to cater our wedding reception. He is fabulous and we still have people come up to us and rave about the food at our wedding. Anywho, we stopped to say hello and we talked about his cooking demonstration and how people prepare meals. One of the comments he made was that people today are looking for a variety of meals that are quick and easy to make. Well...I found a winner.

I pinned a week or so ago a recipe for a Chicken Dinner with Pepperoni-Marinara Sauce that I wanted to make. The recipe is pretty simple, but I made it even easier by using pre-made sauce and added some extra ingredients. The result: a delicious adaptation.

Pepperoni Chicken Parmesan
Serves 2

1 lb chicken breasts or cutlets (I had breasts already thawed, so I pounded them to make cutlets)
1 cup marinara sauce (I already had a jar open)
16 slices of pepperoni, quartered
Extra pepperoni to top chicken
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded, mozzarella cheese

Preheat the broiler to HIGH. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add a little bit of olive oil to the pan, swirl to coat. While pan is heating, mix the pepperoni and ricotta cheese with the marinara sauce in a separate bowl. Sprinkle the chicken with a little bit of ground pepper to flavor and add chicken to skillet. Sear and cook the chicken, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat. Transfer the chicken to an oven & broiler safe dish (I used a Pyrex 9x9 dish). Cover chicken with additional slices of pepperoni and then top the pepperoni slices with the prepared sauce. Top the sauce with the shredded mozzarella cheese and then broil in high heat for about 5 minutes until the cheese melts and starts to brown a little. Enjoy!

Tip: when broiling, I have found it best to watch the dish. Once the cheese is melted and starts to brown, it can burn really quickly if you are not paying attention! You would not want to run supper, right?

A twist on Bubble Pizza - my mom would be so proud!

Last night for dinner I wanted to make something easy and quick. Yesterday was a tough day for us as we had Christopher's uncle's funeral to attend. After the mass, internment blessing and brunch, we were all pretty pooped. I was going to make Bubble Pizza, a recipe my mom put together when I was a kid and LOVED, but I did not have the ground beef thawed and pizza sauce available. But I could not shake the craving of the puffy buttermilk biscuits and cheese - yum. So I decided to put together a twist on our family classic - BBQ Chicken Bubble Pizza. Although I did not have chicken breasts cooked, I can a can of chicken in the pantry ready to be opened (I know...totally cheating but in a pinch it is a go to!).

Best part - my experiment turned out delicious!!! And Christopher went back for a third portion - which is how I know this recipe is a keeper. But...after doing an internet search I realized that both the Bubble Pizza my mom makes and my version of BBQ Chicken Bubble Pizza have already been created by others :( And here I thought I was being super creative - I guess great minds think alike, right? I will have to post my mom's version of bubble pizza in a later blog - it is divine!

BBQ Chicken Bubble Pizza
Makes 8 servings

2 cans of refrigerated biscuits
1 cup BBQ Sauce
2 cups cooked & chopped chicken OR 1 large can of chicken breast (a great cheat)
1/3 cup cooked & chopped Turkey Bacon
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup sliced green onions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Quarter the refrigerated biscuits and place in a large bowl. Toss the quartered biscuits with the BBQ sauce. Add the chicken, bacon and half of both cheeses. Toss and mix until well combined. Grease a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Pour the biscuit mixture into the prepared pan and spread so the mixture is relatively even in the pan. Top the biscuits with the remaining cheeses and then sprinkle the top with the sliced green onions. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check the center biscuits to ensure they are cooked through. Cool for about 5 minutes before cutting into square pieces. Enjoy!

Oink oink - this recipe is a winner!

Buffalo Chicken Arancini

A couple of weeks ago, Christopher and I went to the Taste of Buffalo; it is local festival that celebrates the restaurants and food trucks in the area. Each participating restaurant makes samples of their favorite dishes for purchase at the festival. It is one of our favorite festivals in Buffalo. We are so blessed to have so many each summer.

For $10, we tasted 5 items:
1) Buffalo Chicken Arancini from The Black Market Food Truck
2) BBQ Pot Roast Egg Roll from Alex's Place
3) Mango Smoothie from The Clarence Center Coffee Co
4) Garlic Pan Bread from Jack Astors
5) Crab Cake from Miller's Steak & Seafood Restaurant

All were delicious, but we could not shake our craving for the Buffalo Chicken Arancini, so we decided to make them! They are a labor of love, but ended up coming out delicious! I attached the recipe, which I have to say is my best guess since this was our first time making them. I am sure we will make them again and when I do, I will be sure to write down the recipe that time!

Buffalo Chicken Arancini
Time: About 1 1/2 hours

1 cup risotto or arborio
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup chicken broth
salt & pepper to taste
1 can of shredded chicken
1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp onion powder
bread crumbs to coat
Canola Oil for frying

In a medium sauce pan, bring the water to a simmer (not boil). Once the water is simmering, add the risotto noodle (or arborio). Cook the risotto until the water is absorbed and the noodle is tender, there maybe extra water, if there is, drain the water from the pot. Add the chicken broth and cook the broth into the risotto. Once the chicken broth is cooked through, add the salt, pepper, chicken, wing sauce, cheese and onion powder. Continue to cook the risotto under all of the added ingredients are cooked through, cheese is melted, etc. Remove the sauce pan from the heat and let cool. Once the noodle is cooled enough to handle with your hands, it is time to make the arancini! Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and fill a shallow bowl with the bread crumbs. Scoop up a ping pong ball sized amount of the risotto mixture and form into a ball. It will be very sticky!!! Roll the ball around in the bread crumbs and then place the ball on the prepared baking sheet. Do this until all of the risotto is used. Continue to cool the risotto down by placing the prepared pan into the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Heat about 1 cup of canola oil in a deep frying pan. Once the oil is hot, place the arancini in the hot oil and fry for several minutes on each side, until the outside turns a gold brown. It is best to work in batches doing several arancini at a time. When it is cooked through, place the fried arancini on a paper towel lined plate to absorb the excess grease and voila the arancini are ready to eat!

Chicken = winner; Vegetables = FAIL

So as you all know I am on a quest to enjoy and eat more vegetables. I was reading one of my favorite blogs (http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/) and came acrossed a chessy chicken and grilled vegetables dinner. I thought - why not! I did not have all of the ingredients that the recipe called for, so I improvised as I went along.

The chicken turned out great. But the vegetables not so much. I decided to grill some broccoli florets and sliced yellow squash, but they turned out really soft and soggy. I made a little foil packet to grill them in. I think that was the issue - next time, I would try grilling them on a grill plate. Luckily enough, I also had Christopher prepared corn on the cob for the grill, so our need for a side was saved!

Vegetable - FAIL

Teriyaki Grilled Cheesy Stuffed Chicken - makes 2
(original recipe posted here: http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/post/29056586230)

Ingredients:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 4 TBSP Fat Free Cream Cheese
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 4 TBSP Teriyaki Marinade
- 1/2 cup bell peppers (red & orange)

Directions:
Heat grill to 500 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 tbsp Teriyaki marinade, garlic powder and cream cheese. Make a slit in the middle of the chicken breast. I cut mine almost in half lengthwise, but kept a seem to keep the chicken together. Stuff each breast with 2 tbsp of the cream cheese mixture. Prepare tin foil with nonstick cooking spray. I used two sheets of tin foil to make sure the packet would be strong enough. Lay the chicken on top of the prepared tin foil. Top each chicken breast with remaining Teriyaki marinade and cut bell peppers. Place tin foil onto grill and cook chicken about 9 minutes on each side.

Cooked Chicken - Yummy!