Cheezits Chicken

One of Tanner and Kenzie's favorites - they are the Cheezit hogs in the family.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup sour cream
3 cups Cheezits, crushed
1 cup margarine, melted

Directions:
Melt margarine in 13 X 9 baking dish. Dredge clean chicken in sour cream. Roll in Cheezits crumbs. Place chicken in baking dish with melted margarine. Turn over so margarine is on both sides.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes

Tips:
I usually butterfly the chicken breasts or pound them out so they are not too thick. I also sometimes cut the breasts in half to make smaller pieces so there is more surface area for cheezits - sort of like chicken fingers. This is one of those recipes you don't really have to measure and don't really have to have the exact amounts of anything - whatever you have on hand will work. I typically use butter instead of margarine, but that is just because we are more of a butter family. I am sure both are great.

Pasta a la Amatriciana

Girls! forgot about this one! Its one of Elfies recipes- yummy and easy! Definitely comfort food.


4 panchetta slices (1/3" thick)- i would do more if you like panchetta, bc it shrinks
penne pasta (1/2 box for 2)
3T red wine vinegar, dark
2 small onions - or 1lg
red pepper flakes, to taste
garlic salt and powder, to taste
2T olive oil
tomato puree (about 15oz or so)

- Cut panchetta into small chunks, put in skillet with olive oil (just to cover bottom)
- Once hot, put panchetta in and cook until crispy- remove.
- add onions to skillet, shrink
- add red wine vinegar, let cook out
- add puree and begin adding pasta water until desired thickness (about 3 ladles)
- add panchetta, red pepper flakes to taste
- add garlic salt and powder to taste

Bacon wrapped beef medallions with smoked paprika butter

um, yes pleas!! this was SO good. and i bought the beef medallions ALREADY wrapped in bacon at kroger last week on sale. so all i did was brush the olive oil and add s&p. I did follow the butter recipe exactly though- just used regular paprika. YUM. and the butter will keep for months- so you can put it on grilled chicken, corn on the cob, whatever!

then i did these for a side: Balsamic roasted red potatoes:


* 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
* 2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered
* 1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion
* 6 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes, onion and garlic; toss to combine. Add the thyme, rosemary and nutmeg; toss well. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until potatoes are hot.
2. Transfer to a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are golden and almost tender. Add the vinegar, salt and pepper; toss well. Bake 5-8 minutes longer or until potatoes are tender.

Penne with Pesto, Tomato and Goat Cheese

This is another Rachel Ray- i had a very successful cooking week- everything was yummy! Here is another one:

Ingredients
* 4 cups (about half a 5-oz. pkg.) baby spinach, loosely packed
* 1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted (or pine nuts)
* 1 clove garlic, chopped
* 1/2 lemon, juiced
* 1/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tbsp. EVOO
* 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
* Salt and pepper
* 1 pkg. (16 oz.) penne
* 1/2 pt. grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
* 1 pkg. (3.5 oz.) goat cheese, crumbled

To save some calories (and some hands-on kitchen time), cook the gnocchi in boiling water instead of pan-frying them.
Directions:
1. Using a food processor, puree the spinach, almonds, garlic and 1 tbsp. lemon juice. With the machine on, gradually pour in 1/3 cup EVOO until smooth. Pulse in 1/2 cup parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Taste and add more lemon juice if desired.

2. In a large pot, boil water and cook the penne. Drain. Stir in the tomatoes and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the pesto. Top with the goat cheese.

Bursts BBQ chicken

Allison made this for me one night- so good and so easy and cheap! I just made it again last week-

chicken breasts
sage
cayenne pepper
salt & pepper
Sweet Baby Rays Honey Chipotle bbq sauce
lemon juice
1 onion
olive oil


Heat oven to 375
Wash and pat chicken dry. season with sage, cayenne, salt & pepper.
In a pot with olive oil, saute onions about 10 min until soft & translucent
Add a combo of bbq sauce, lemon juice and pepper to the onion pot- cook through
Pour about 1/2 of sauce on chicken, bake about 15 min
Pour remainder of sauce, cooking about 25 min

- I served this with the mozzarella/tomato side (drizzled with olive oil & balsamic, and topped with parsley)

Mediterranean Layer Dip

Mediterranean Layer Dip

1 pkg hummus (any flavor you like)

1 pkg olive tapenade

1 pkg feta cheese, crumbled

toasted pine nuts (handful?)

layer hummus then olive tapenade on a large platter or shallow dish. sprinkle with feta, then pine nuts. serve with pita chips and/or carrots. SO easy!

Italian Chicken

This is one of our Buice weekly staples. Ash randomly passed it along to all of us years ago. But i'm sure many of y'all are not crazy like me and save emails from over the past million years! This is literally word for word Ash's email, and it's how i follow it so y'all don't get it all nice and purdy either:)

Another recipe my coworker gave me is on the side of the lipton soups. You just take chicken breasts, salt and pepper them and put them in a dish. Then you take the soup mixture (garlic and herb or something) and mix it with oil and water and then pour it over the chicken. Top it with fresh diced tomatoes. Bake it and then cover it with mozzarella cheese and bake for another 5 -10 or so. I don’t know exactly but it’s on the side of the box. She said it’s really good and you don’t have to do a thing.

Maaaaam's (AKA MARTY's) Chili

Brown 1 to 2 lbs (depending on size of group) of ground beef/venision and drain

Add following ingredients to meat:

1 onion chopped

1/2 to 1 green pepper chopped

1 beer

ketchup (1/2 to 1 cup) I usually do it to taste

1 large can of tomatoes (whole or diced) I prefer whole and then I can cut them later if needed. DO NOT DRAIN

2 cans of Light kidney beans (and again, for a larger group I add more.) Sometimes I drain a "little" liquid off but not necessary.

chili powder (start with 1 to 2 large tablespoons and add more if desired) You want to be able to taste the chili powder but not for it to be over powering and can be added at anytime even after it has cooked for a while.

Water (approximately 1/2 cup, again more can be added if needed)

Once you put it all together, you can "tweak" it as needed.....

Simmer for several hours......

(can also be done in crockpot, just brown the meat first and drain and then throw everything and cook)

opt ...... I have sometimes thrown in a can of Rotel tomatoes too but not the HOT ones.....just depends on who is eating it=)

Toppings for table:

grated cheddar

sour cream

onion

serve with jalapeno cheese cornbread. mmmmmmmmmmmm

Creme De Menthe Brownies

These are to die for!

Creme De Menthe Brownies
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 t salt
1 (16 oz) can Hershey's syrup
1 t vanilla

Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs and other ingredients in order; blend well. Pour into greased 13x9 pan. Bake 350 for 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely.

Middle Layer: Combined & spread over cooled cake
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 T green Creme de Menthe

Glaze: Melted together & cooled to spread easily over cake (I kind of make a basket weave over the top so that the green mint frosting shows through)
1 cup milk chocolate chips
6 T butter

Chill before serving...these freeze well too :))

Chicken Sante Fe

This recipe is from a facebook page "Skinny Ms. Slowcooker" . I fixed it last night and Jeff told me 3x's he liked it:)
Servings: 8 servings •Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 3 pts •Points+: 4 pts • Calories: 190 • Fat: 1.5 g • Fiber: 5.6 g • Carbs: 23.1 g • Protein: 21 g
...
Ingredients
24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast
14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
15 oz can black beans
8 oz frozen corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
14.4 oz low sodium chicken broth, no sugar added
3 scallions, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
salt to taste

Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot . Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top.

Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred . Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning.

Serve over rice (extra pts).

Hunt's Bruschetta Chicken Skillet

This is so easy and super yummy! It takes about 30 min, mostly in prep work. I fresh grated my mozzarella cheese and added some garlic salt and fresh cracked pepper to the bruschetta mix. I served it over garlic butter angel hair with steamed broccoli. Easy, cheap, pretty healthy - what more can you ask for?

Ingredients:
1 can (14.5 oz each) Hunt's® Diced Tomatoes, drained
3/4 cup shredded Italian blend cheese
1 pkg (0.75 oz each) fresh basil, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
5 boneless skinless chicken breasts (5 oz each)
1 can (8 oz each) Hunt's® Tomato Sauce
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
2 cups small garlic- or Italian-flavored croutons, crushed slightly

Directions:
Stir together drained tomatoes, cheese and basil in medium bowl; set aside.

Pound chicken to 1/2-inch thickness. Top evenly with tomato mixture, pressing onto chicken.

Combine tomato sauce and garlic in large skillet; add chicken. Bring sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in centers (165°F). Top with croutons just before serving.

Chicken with Balsamic Onions and Parmesean Potatoes

This is SO easy and so good- it was a rachel ray 30 min meal- and really took me that long- easy! and the spinach was awesome just with the chicken- very fresh!

serves: 4

2 lbs red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3T butter
1/4 c grated parm cheese
1/4 c chopped parsley (i used dried and it was fine- prob about 3T)
salt and pepper
3T olive oil
4 chicken breasts
2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
3T balsamic vinegar
4c baby spinach

- heat oven to 400
- in large pot, combine potatoes and salted water and bring to a boil- cook 6-8 min or until fork tender, drain and return to pot.
- toss with 2T butter ,parmesean and parsley- season lightly with salt and pepper, cover to keep warm.
- while potatoes are cooking, in large skillet heat 3T olive oil over med-high heat. Season chicken and cook, turning once, until golden brown (about 5 min)
- transfer to a baking dish, roast until cooked through- about 10- 15 min
- in same skillet, heat 1T butter and 1T olive oil over med heat
- stir in onions and vinegar and season with salt
- cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized (15min)
- at the end, stir in 1/4c water and scrape up any browned bits
- serve chicken on bed of spinach and top with caramelized onions. serve potatoes on side.