Greek Marinaded Chicken

I wasn't sure about this recipe when I saw the ingredients, but went a head and tried it anyways...it was delish! It really has a great flavor, one I didn't expect! I'm planing on making this again soon! 

1 c. plain greek yogurt

2 tabl olive oil

4 minced garlic cloves

1/2 tabl dried oregano

1/2 tea salt

1/2 tea dried parsley

6-8 chicken drum sticks skin/fat removed

In a mixing bowl, whisk the yogurt, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and parsley together. Place chicken in the marinade and turn to coat evenly. Cover wih foil and place in the frig for an hour. 

Pre-heat grill and cook 10-15 min until juices run clear. Goes great with some garlic bread and a side salad!

Mustardy Chicken

I've been making a similar chicken recipe like this one for a while, and when I tried this recipe it totally blew mine out of the water! This is soooo good!!! 

You can easily roast some veggies at the same time (different pan) so they'll be done at the same time. Slice up some french bread and smear it with some yummy garlic butter and you have a tasty dinner!

1 1/2-2 lbs chicken thighs trimmed of all fat

1/2 c Dijon mustard

1/4 c pure maple syrup

1 tea. Rice vinegar

1/4 tea salt

1/4 tea pepper

1 tea corn starch

2 tabl fresh chopped rosemary 

Pre heat the oven to 450. In a 8x8" glass baking dish, arrange chicken. Whisk together the mustard, syrup, vinegar, sant and pepper and 1 tabl rosemary. Pour over the chicken and bake uncovered for 40 min. 

Remove from over after backing and immediately transfer the chicken to a serving plate. Quickly sprinkle the corn starch over the sauce in the baking dish and whisk until thickened. Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle the remaining rosemary over the chicken!

*You have to whisk in the corn starch immediately to thicken or else if wont work.

Creamy Pesto Chicken and Asparagus

This is one of my families favorite go to quick meal. It takes me about 20 minutes to cook, depending on how many kids I have under toe.

It's such a tasty recipe, the sauce is AMAZING, and if you don't have crusty bread to mop up the left over sauce, you'll look crazy licking your plate!

Also I always feel that I need to mention when my kids really like what I made. And they did...really really like it. So much so that next time I'll have to make extras. 

2-3 chicken breasts halved

Salt and pepper

2 tabl butter

1 lb asparagus trimmed of ends (2") and cut into 2" pieces

1 1/2 c heavy cream

2-3 tabl store bought basil pesto (my fav is the Classico brand-yum!)

Melt butter in a large skillet over med heat. Cook both sides of your chicken, (seasoning with salt and pepper) 4-5 min until done, remove to a cutting board and slice into 1" cubes.

Place the asparagus in the pan, and sautée 4-5 min. Pour heavy cream over the top, and stir in the pesto. Allow to summer 3-5 min until it's thickened slightly, place chicken back in the pan and stir around to coat the chicken. And your done! I usually serve mine with Texas toast, great for moping up the extra sauce! 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Funny how the one day I make one of THE MOST AMAZING DINNERS EVER, the hubs is out of town working lol! Poor guy! I sent him pictures, and ranted on and on about how great this tasted. 

I pulled this meal together in about 25ish minuted minus the baking time. The first time I made it, I followed the directions exactly, it turned out so so, then tonight I made it again, (wanted to give it a second try) I tweaked the ingredients and with held some...I cant believe how great this turned out. The hubs comes back in 2 days, and I'm planing on making this again!

1 lb boneless chicken thighs trimmed of fat
1/2 lb sliced ham (lunch meat) chopped
8 slices swiss cheese
4 tabl butter
4 table flour
3 c milk
1 heaping tabl dijon mustard
1 1/2 tea salt
1/4 tea paprika
1/4 tea pepper
6 tabl butter
1 1/2 c panko
3/4 tea Lawry's seasoning salt
1 tea dried parsley

Heat your grill to medium heat. Grill the chicken on both sides until juices run clear and there are some awesome grill marks. butter the bottom of a 9"x13" glass baking dish.
Heat your oven to 350.
While the chicken is cooking, begin making your sauce by melting the 4 tabl butter in a med sauce pan. Once melted add flour, whisk and cook for 1-2 min. Slowly whisk in your milk, add the mustard salt, paprika and pepper. Bring to a simmer and turn off once its thickened.
Chop up the chicken into smallish cubes. and sprinkle on the bottom of the baking dish. Next evenly sprinkle the ham over, and layer with the sliced cheese. Pour the sauce over the cheese, making sure everything is completely covered (don't want anything getting jealous).
Next melt you butter in a dish in the microwave, add the Panko and stir well. Mix in the seasoning salt and parsley. Sprinkle evenly over the casserole and make for 40 min. (top should be nice and golden)

I found the recipe on Tasty Kitchen. Again, I modified the recipe according to what my family and I likes. The recipe above is my version of the recipe.

Chicken Parm & Spaghetti

My friend sent me this recipe, and it's the easiest chicken parm I've ever made, and so far the best tasting! Chicken parm isn't one if my fav's, but the hubs loves the stuff. After trying this recipe, I can see why! FYI it'll make your house smell yummy...be patient it will be done before you know it!

2 tabl olive oil
2 garlic cloves minced
2 chicken breasts cut up into bit sized pieces
1 jar of your fav spaghetti sauce  (I used Costco's organic Classico brand)
1 pkg italian croutons (approx 2 cups)
3 c. shredded mozzarella divided
1 1/2 c shredded parmesan divided
12 oz spaghetti noodles

Pre heat your oven to 350, drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a 9" x 13" glass baking dish. Sprinkle in the garlic, and spread around evenly. Place chicken evenly on top, pour the spaghetti sauce over the chicken, making sure its completely covered. Next take half the mozzarella & parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the chicken/sauce. Sprinkle the croutons over that, and finish off by sprinkling the remaining cheese over that. Bake for 35 min.
When the chicken is half way through cooking, start cooking your spaghetti noodles. Serve the parm chicken over the noodles, and enjoy!

This is a quick recipe, and its quite "forgiving" meaning the ingredient amounts don't have to be exact. You can alter it to your family's size/liking. If you really like garlic, toss in another minced clove, if you need more chicken, add another chicken breast.
We usually have a little left over from my family of 6...however all my kids are 6 and under, so its like the equivalent of feeding 4 adults. 

Slow Cooker Philly Cheese Sandwichs

Tuesday is a busy day in our house, which means I have NO time to make dinner, unless we want to eat really late...say 8:30? Been there done that, NOT fun! We're running kids around from 4-7:30. So I decided to make Tuesdays-weekly "Crock pot day"!

I stumbled across this quick recipe over at Food Family Finds, and gave it a try last night. Not too shabby! My kids aren't big bell pepper eaters (funny since its in over half my meals) and they don't like "stringy" onions, but when I plopped this down on their plates, they couldn't make it through a quick dinner prayer before scarfing down a few bites. They CLEANED their plates! 

I always feel like a super hero when I make something that my children really like for dinner. 

I would check out her recipe like above if you want to follow it exactly. I made, or plan to make a few tweaks to it to better suit my family...

2 tabl. butter

1 lg onion halved, and thinly sliced

2 lg green bell peppers thinly sliced

2 chicken breast, thinly sliced (you can also use a lean 1 lb. steak and thinly slice it)

2 tabl. smoked salt/or steak seasoning

Mayo

Sliced mozzarella (provolone would work too)

Hoagie buns 

FYI-I used sesame buns, since we didn't have hoagie buns. Also we had the buns left over from a previous meal, and I didn't want them to go to waste...didn't work out all that well because they became soggy quickly-the hubs really doesn't like soggy buns.

Place your butter on the bottom of you slow cooker, add in the onions and peppers. Toss your chicken/steak with the seasoning and place on top of your veggies. cook on low for 5 hours. 

On the bottom bun, spread a layer of mayo/ With a slotted spoon, scoop out a helping of the meat and peppers onto the may sided bun. Top it off with a slice of cheese, and the top bun. let sit for a minute or two so the cheese will get nice and mealty! 

Delicious and super easy!

Sweet Mustard Chicken

Ever heard of "Man Pleasing chicken"? Its another recipe I got from Pinterest...I didn't quite follow the recipe, and went my own way since I didn't have all the ingredients, so here's what I did, and it turned out so sooooo good!

1/3 c. syrup (any breakfast syrup you have on hand, I used Log cabin)
1/2 c. Dijon mustard
2 chicken breasts halved

Mix the syrup and mustard in a mixing bowl, place chicken in the sauce making sure its nice and covered and allow to marinade on the counter for 30 min (or until you're done prepping the rest of your dinner-took me about 20-30 min) Pre-heat the grill to med heat, this chicken belongs on the grill! Cook chicken 10min each side until its done. Keep a watchful eye that the chicken doesn't over cook. (I'm AWFUL at cooking on the grill, normally the hubs does it, but this time I took over since he was busy.)

I served ours with the "pretty veggies" and rice, to be more specific the rice is called "seeds of change" quinoa and brown rice (a super quick and healthy side when your in a pinch)