Broccoli Rice Casserole

Another meal that we made for the freezer during our freezer cooking marathon session was Broccoli Rice Chicken Casserole.  I got the recipe from MoneySavingMom:

http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/05/4-weeks-to-fill-your-freezer-chicken-broccoli-rice-casserole-day-14.html

The only change we made was adding some onions.  We had some extras from the other recipes.

This recipe was super easy to throw to together and freeze.  We used a rice cooker to cook the rice and just threw the ingredients in the bag and mixed it (kinda) in the bag.  Then in the freezer!

Verdict:  Super easy to make and freeze.  So far this is my favorite from the freezer dish as well.  It reheated nicely and was delicious.  I think this will make the rotation in the future for freezer meals.  I also want to possibly freeze this recipe in muffin tins to use for potato toppings!

Chicken in Raspberry Sauce

Chicken in Raspberry Sauce - Freezer Friendly
6 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
1/2 cup frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 T rice vinegar
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t curry powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 c fresh raspberries, mashed (substitute with frozen raspberries, thawed, when out of season)
6 chicken breasts

Method:
Combine preserves, juice concentrate, soy sauce, vinegar, seasonings, and mashed raspberries.  Place raspberry sauce with chicken breasts in freezer bag/container and seal securely.  Freeze.

Thaw completely before serving.  Place chicken and sauce in large baking dish (9x13).  Baked covered at 350F for 30-40 minutes.  Top chicken with pan juices to serve.  Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Verdict:
To make and freeze, this recipe is a breeze.  It was very easy to make the sauce and combine with the chicken before freezing.

As for taste, Brian did not especially like this recipe (it was "ok").  I only had it as a leftover.  I thought the chicken was juicy so that was good, but I was disappointed the sauce wasn't more raspberry-ish.

I would make this again for the freezer considering it's ease, but I'll probably modify the seasonings (omit the curry and maybe the soy sauce which I think dominated the flavor).

Did you make this recipe?  What did you think?

Crock Pot Chicken and Black Beans

Chicken and Black Beans is a favorite of mine.  Recently I thought, I need to try this in the crockpot.  I figured it would be fairly easy to adapt to the crockpot.  In the end, I didn't like the crockpot version as much as the regular one, but I think a big part of that was the black beans.  I didn't have any canned beans so I ended up using beans from a bag and I don't think they were cooked enough.  I don't like undercooked beans.  But I think I will add this as a crockpot meal and next time I'll make sure I have canned beans to use.

Chicken and Black Beans
~3 servings as prepared

3 chicken breast, frozen
1/2 lb black beans, soaked/prepped
1 14 oz can of tomatoes
1 chipotle pepper, seeded and chopped + some adobo sauce
1 small red onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped

To serve:
Tortilla chips
1 avocado, chopped
shredded cheese
sour cream

Directions:
Place frozen chicken in bottom of stoneware.  Cover with tomatoes, beans, chopped onion and peppers.  Cook on low for ~5 hours.  (I think I cooked on low for 2.5 hours and then changed it to high for another 1 in hopes of getting those beans softer).

To serve, place chips in a bowl.  Add chicken and black beans.  Top with cheese, sour cream and avocado.

Basil Chicken with Feta

We've had a slight hiccup in our meal plan.  Last Saturday we planned to eat out, but we had been out already and our little man was getting tired.  So instead of just getting something fast to go, we decided we'd just go home, put the little guy to bed and have a frozen pizza for dinner.  And since we didn't eat out last Saturday, we decided we could eat out this past Saturday.  So I had a meal scheduled for Saturday that we didn't end up using/needing.  It was a new recipe and one for the crockpot (because I need to increase my crockpot arsenal).  So I decided I'd scrap the weekly fish on Sunday to do the meal on Sunday.  This actually worked perfectly because we ended up taking our boat out Sunday and I would have had zero energy to cook dinner.  Plus it was awesome that dinner was ready when we were ready!

Basil Chicken with Feta in Crockpot
~4 servings (recipe says to use 4 qt crockpot)
4 chicken breasts, frozen (original recipe calls for 2lb of chicken thighs)
1 14 oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 cup of pitted green olives
1/4 cup basil leaves
8 oz feta

Place the chicken in the dish, top with tomatoes, beans, olives.  Scatter basil leaves and top with feta crumbles.  Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3.  (I used a 6qt CP and cooked on low for 3.5 hrs and let it keep warm for 4 hours).

This meal was ok, but not one of my favorites.  I thought it was pretty similar to the crockpot Meditterean Chicken dish.  The feta did something weird in the crockpot.  This was my first time using a block of feta instead of the usual already crumbled stuff.  So I'm not sure if that was it or not.  I think next time I'll add the feta much much later.  I used basil from our garden which was awesome.  We didn't like eating the basil after it cooked though.  I'm not sure I tasted much basil flavor either, but I definitely smelled it while it was cooking.

Crockpot Ranch Chicken Recipe

Today, right now, as we speak, I'm working on dinner.  Tuesday's are crockpot days!  And I love that!  I almost forgot to do some prep work last night for this meal, but I eventually remembered.  At the very least, I like to set out the ingredients and recipe the night before so all I have to do in the morning is throw everything together.

Here's how I made it:

Ranch Chicken with Potatoes
~2 Servings (with maybe some leftovers)

2-3 chicken breast, frozen
5-6 tiny to small potatoes
1/2 bag (small bag) of baby carrots
1/2 onion, sliced
1 can (10oz?) cream of chicken
1 pkg dry ranch seasoning
1/2 cup of milk

Mix the cream of chicken, dry ranch and milk together in a small bowl.  Add frozen chicken to the crockpot, add potatoes, carrots, and onions.  Cover with the cream mixture.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

We've had this meal a few times now and it's a good one.  The original recipe calls for pork chops, but I don't like pork chops.  Feel free to use either, but don't ask me how to cook pork!

Ok, here's the deal with crockpots.  The cook time really depends on how full the dish is.  The less full, the less cooking time you will need.  Through trial and error (read severly burned, dried out meals), I've learned the right cook time.  You just need to experiment.  My cook time might be a little less if I didn't keep it in the CP all day.  But I've learned that when it's keeping warm all day I really only need it "cooking" for about 3-4 hours.  I have a large crockpot (6 qts maybe??) so when I make meals for 2, I only fill the stoneware about half way sometimes even less.

Maybe one day I'll do a post with CP tips.  But for now, just remember, if you are starting it before you leave for work and it will be warming all day, aim on the short cooking time.  When you get home you can check it out and if it's undercooked, you can easily turn it on high for an hour and probably be fine.  If you are going to be home when you are cooking, just check on it and add more time if needed.  Good luck!

Thai Chicken Pizza

This week my parents moved to Thailand.  So in honor of their new adventure, I chose to make Thai Chicken Pizza for my new recipe of the week.  This new recipe was a winner!  It was super easy - the only complaint I had was that I got tired from cutting the raw chicken.  I wanted to cut it super tiny (recipe says diced) so it would cook quickly and also because smaller pieces seemed to make more sense as a pizza topping.  If I ever need this to be a super quick dinner then I plan on cooking the chicken ahead of time.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
1 whole wheat pizza crust (use homemade dough if desired)
1/4 c smooth peanut butter (microwave ~10 seconds to soften and make whisking easier)
3 T water
2 t soy sauce
2 t rice vinegar (I actually used red wine vinegar)
2 t fresh ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t oil
8 oz chicken breast, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2/3 c shredded mozzarella

Method
Preheat oven to 450F.  Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat.  Add chicken and cook, stirring until cooked through about 5 minutes. 

Whisk peanut butter, water, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger and garlic in a medium sized bowl.  Reserve about 1 tablespoon of sauce and spread remainder on crust.  Add cooked chicken, bell pepper and scallions to reserved peanut buter sauce.  Mix to coat.  Add to pizza.  Top with cheese.  Bake 11-13 minutes, until cheese is melted and golden.

And now the picture!

This pizza went really well with a new side I discovered: Peanut Orange Carrot Salad!

Chicken Jumbalaya

This week’s new recipe was chicken jumbalaya. Brian’s dad was visiting this weekend and I thought this would be a good dinner for Sunday. Brian and I had soccer so we didn’t end up trying it until Monday. I was a little nervous about serving it without trying it first, but I was reassured that it was tasty.

This was a pretty simple and easy recipe and it used the crockpot. I actually made quite a few modifications to the recipe which isn’t something I usually do the first time making something.

The recipe called for frozen onions and peppers and that’s not really my thing. I prefer fresh, and I didn’t think this should affect the recipe too much. Also the recipe called for diced tomatoes with jalapenos. Instead I used Rotel tomatoes with green chilis. I chopped up the onion and bell peppers and into the crockpot they went. Then I added the canned tomatoes, turkey sausage (which was already cooked), raw chicken and water. The recipe I was following also said to add the seasoning from the jumbalaya rice package. Well the rice that I got didn’t have the seasoning packaged separately from the rice so it didn’t go in yet. This cooked up in the crockpot while I was sleeping (definitely lazy cooking!) which was about 3 hours on high. Then I added the packaged rice (and seasoning). At this point I was worried that there wasn’t enough rice. I used about 20 ounces of canned tomatoes and the recipe only called for 14 ounces. After I got the rice in the pot, it just seemed that there wasn’t enough so I added about ¼ cup of plain brown rice too. Then I let it cook for another 45-50 minutes on high.

Well, there is a lot of rice now. I think there would have been plenty without that extra amount so I probably won’t do that next time.

Here’s what it looked like stewing in the crock pot.

Here’s the recipe (modified):
Servings: 6
1 medium to large white onion – chopped (larger pieces)
2 bell peppers – chopped (larger pieces) I used green and orange for the colors
2 - 10.5 oz cans Rotel tomatoes with green chili, undrained
2 cups water
8 oz turkey sausage, cubed
8 oz chicken breast, sliced
1 – 8oz packaged jumbalaya rice

Add onion, peppers, canned tomatoes to crockpot. Add water. Add sausage and chicken. (If your rice has the seasoning separate, add it now). Cover and cook on high for 2.5-3 hours or low for 5-6 hours. Then add rice, cover and cook on high for another 45 minutes or until liquid is soaked up and rice is tender.

Peanut Butter Chicken and Fried Rice Recipe

My first meal is Peanut Butter Chicken and Fried Rice. This is probably my favorite meal. It’s pretty simple and it’s delicious. I mean you can’t go wrong with peanut butter. I have made this dish a handful of times so I’m really getting the hang of it. Here’s how I do it.

First I cook the rice according to the package directions. I always use brown rice since that’s supposed to be healthier. The rice needs to cool before you actually make fried rice with it so this is more like the preparation stage (if you’re cramped on time just use the refrigerator to help cool it down). I like to incorporate tofu into this dish. I like to eat tofu on a regular basis just for the health benefits. This is one of the easiest dishes to add it to I think. So after I get the rice started, I drain and dry the tofu. I use half a package for the 2 of us.

Next is the chicken. I cut the raw chicken (2 breasts) into cubes so that it cooks faster.  My standard method for cooking chicken is pan-cooking. I drizzle the pan with extra virgin olive oil and heat it to medium. Then I add the chicken, let it brown on one side, flip and let the other side brown. Usually a few minutes on each side. At this point I add chicken broth to the pan and cover and let the chicken cook the rest of the way (I also add the tofu here too). I turn down the heat just a little too, but keep the broth simmering. Since we are smothering our chicken in peanut butter it doesn’t matter too much how it gets cooked.

While the chicken is cooking away I start on the sauce. In a small sauce pan I melt butter and peanut butter and add a little oil (I use extra virgin olive oil most of the time). I don’t usually measure things anymore; it’s usually not necessary. But roughly it’s a tablespoon of butter, tablespoon of EVOO, and 1.5 – 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. I just stir this all together after the peanut butter softens up enough. I keep the heat very low as well.

Now it’s time to get back to the rice. I use a large skillet and heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add some garlic and onion to this (I’ve used anything from red to yellow to green). Sometimes I save some of the tofu and add it to the rice. If I did, this is the point to add the tofu. Now beat 1 or 2 eggs (1 is usually plenty for 2 rice servings) and mix the egg with the rice until the rice looks evenly coated. By this time the garlic and onion should be browning up. Add the rice to the hot skillet and stir as needed. After it looks like the egg has fried up, add teriyaki sauce (soy sauce would also work). I use about 5 shakes of the bottle. Enough to turn the rice darker, but don’t soak the rice. Keep stirring, but it only takes a few more minutes for the rice to be complete.

By this time the chicken is cooked so I add it (and the tofu) to the peanut butter sauce that is melted. I cover all the chicken and tofu. Then I pile the rice on a plate and top with the chicken! Delicious. Here’s the finished product! And after the picture is full recipe.

Peanut Butter Chicken and Fried Rice – 2 servings
Peanut Butter Sauce
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp oil
In small saucepan melt ingredients together over low heat. Stir to combine.

Chicken
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
2 chicken breast, cubed
Half package extra firm tofu, cubed

Drizzle EVOO in skillet. Brown chicken 3 minutes on each side over medium heat. Add tofu. Add chicken broth. Reduce heat slight, but still allow broth to simmer. Cover. Cook until done. (Add more broth if all broth boils off but the chicken isn’t done). Stir the chicken and tofu into the warm peanut butter sauce to cover completely.

Fried Rice
Cooked rice (cook according to package directions) and allow to cool
1 clove of garlic, diced
½ tbsp EVOO
½ onion, diced
1 egg, beaten
½ cup teriyaki sauce
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onion and allow to brown. (If using green onion, add when the rice is added). Mix the beaten egg with the rice to cover the rice. Add the rice to a hot skillet. Allow the egg to fry on the rice – stir as needed (few minutes). Add teriyaki and stir to coat.

Top the chicken onto the rice and serve!