Chicken Salad

Everybody has their own versions of chicken salad. I've even tried a couple of different variations, but there was one recipe that mom used to always make for me when I was younger, that I just seem to keep coming back to. The amount of ingredients varies depending on how much you're trying to make, but you can eyeball it and add or subtract stuff if you want. The secret ingredient to this deliciousness is mango chutney. It gives it a slight sweetness.

You'll need:
1 cup chicken, cubed or shredded
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup grapes, cut in half
1-2 tsp mango chutney (I like extra)
1-2 tbsp mayonnaise or greek yogurt (depends on how dry or wet you like it)
salt and pepper

Shredded chicken works a lot better when trying to fit in a sandwich, but cubed chicken works too. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. If you have big chunks of mango in your chutney, you may want to chop them into smaller bits. If you want to take a healthier route, try using greek yogurt instead of mayo to cut out the fat. I've tried it and it was good, but it does taste a bit different. As pictured, I think it tastes really good on pita bread, but it can be enjoyed with many things: rolls, bread, crackers, tortillas.

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

I love anything with cream cheese in it. I also love anything I can put in my crock pot. This recipe is super easy and doesn't have too many ingredients in it. The best part, you dump it all into the crock pot and leave it be.

I found this recipe used often online and they were all pretty much the same, but I based mine from http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html Theirs has black beans in it, but I omitted them since I don't like beans and used fresh chicken instead of frozen, but I'm sure either version is as good as the other.


You'll need:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can corn kernels, not drained
1 pkg Ranch dressing mix
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 8oz pkg cream cheese

Put chicken in crock pot. Pour all other ingredients over top of chicken, except cream cheese, and stir. Lay cream cheese on top. Cover. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. You can stir once or twice throughout the cooking process. It will look like the ingredients separated, like you did something wrong, but don't worry. After the full time cooking, mix it well and the everything will combine correctly. Either break up the chicken or as I like to, shred the chicken.

*I like to put mine over a bed of brown rice.

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

1 t chili powder

1 t onion powder

1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

1 t chili powder

1 t onion powder

1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

1 t chili powder

1 t onion powder

1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

2 chicken breasts, still frozen

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 can corn kernels, do not drain

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix

1 T cumin

1 t chili powder

1 t onion powder

1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese

- See more at: http://www.truelifekitchen.com/2014/01/crock-pot-cream-cheese-chicken-chile.html#sthash.UIdpkt7g.dpuf

Spicy Peanut Noodles

I am a huge fan of any kind of asian and asian inspired foods and when I was younger, my mom came up with this spicy peanut chicken noodle recipe and I absolutely loved it. She never really measured ingredients, kind of just eyeballed stuff, but I finally sat down and tried the best I could to come up with an actual recipe. The two biggest things that can be altered in this is how spicy you want it and how strong of a peanut taste you want. I know there's a long list of ingredients and that might intimidate you if you're not used to cooking, but it's really not as hard as it looks. Plus you have your meat, pasta and vegetables all in one dish.

You will need: 

 1/2 bag of lo mein noodles (about 7oz)

Canola oil

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut up

1 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1/2 tsp garlic, minced

1 tbsp soy sauce

2-3 cups shredded cabbage

1/2-1 cup celery, sliced thin

2-3 cups bean sprouts

1/4 cup scallions, chopped

 For sauce:

2 cups chicken broth

4 tbsp peanut butter (add more if you really like the peanut taste)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp water/cornstarch mix

1/2 cup peanuts, chopped (garnish)
1/2 cup scallions (garnish)

Combine soy sauce and garlic, set aside to marinate. Cook lo mein as directed on package. You can cook the chicken two ways. In the picture above, I had some left over shredded chicken that I threw in, but normally I would cut up the chicken into bite size pieces and cook in a skillet with a little bit of oil, until no longer pink. Add celery, then other vegetables (cabbage, bean sprouts, scallions) and cook until tender. Take out of skillet.
In the empty skillet, add chicken broth, peanut butter, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, garlic and cornstarch mix. Cook until thick sauce forms. *It helps to heat the chicken broth and peanut butter in the microwave first to melt the peanut butter. Put the chicken, pasta and vegetables back in the skillet and mix well. Garnish with chopped peanuts and scallions. *I also like to add extra chopped peanuts into the pasta because I like the extra crunch.

Moroccan Chicken with Green Olives

I've never tried Moroccan chicken before, but I was looking for a new way to cook some boneless skinless chicken breasts. I found this recipe from google and I'm sure glad I did. I LOVE olives and will put them in any recipe that I think they would work in.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/moroccan-chicken-with-green-olives-and-lemon-352532 is the original source that I based my recipe on.

Now, I thought I had lemons, but they turned out to be like a lemon/orange mix that tasted horrible so I didn't put the lemon in. Instead I added a lot more green olives and I halved the amount of cumin because some people aren't huge fans of spicy.


1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 cups chicken broth
4 bonless skinless chicken breasts, cut in halves
1 jar green olives. cut in half, pimentos removed


 Heat oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Add onion and sprinkle with salt and pepper; sauté until golden brown, about 6-8 minutes. Add garlic, paprika, cumin, cinnamon and ginger; stir 1 minute. Add chicken broth; bring to boil. Add chicken to skillet. Cover, reduce heat to med-low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, turning occasionally, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter. Add olives to skillet. Increase heat to high; boil uncovered to thicken slightly, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Put chicken back in skillet, spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

*I served mine with brown rice.

Herb and Citrus Oven Roasted Chicken

  

I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest one day and it looked pretty good, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

 http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2013/04/herb-and-citrus-oven-roasted-chicken.html#comment-23885 is where I got the original recipe from. Feel free to take a look at it.

Before      After

I changed a few things from the original recipe, so I will put what used on here.

1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic,chopped
2 tbsp sugar
1 whole lemon, half juiced and half sliced
3 whole oranges, one and a half juiced and one and a half sliced
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
10-12 pieces (about 4 1/2 lbs.) boneless skinless chicken thighs or chicken breasts cut in half
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp dried rosemary


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together olive oil, garlic, sugar, lemon juice, orange juice, Italian seasoning, paprika, onion powder, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. If you plan on marinating the chicken, now is the time to put the mixture and chicken in a ziploc bag and put into the refrigerator. I marinated the chicken overnight to make sure it was as flavorful as possible. If not marinating, then move to the next step. Place chicken in a single layer in a 13x9 baking dish. Pour olive oil mixture all over chicken, turning pieces to coat all sides. Arrange slices of lemon, orange and onion around and under the chicken. Sprinkle all over generously with rosemary, salt and pepper.
Cook for 30-35 minutes until the juices run clear.

*I tried eating the oranges after and didn't think they tasted good at all, but the chicken was delicious.