Thursday, May 2, 2013

What's Cooking?

This month was a bit crazy with people coming and going, and also the fridge out for the third time, so we have the big freezer to use and a tiny mini fridge and a camping cooler. So I can't buy much at once. We improvised a lot.
Jasmine made tri colored rotini with alfredo sauce, two vegetables and  garlic bread. Most of you probably know by now that any pasta with alfredo sauce is her favorite meal.



There have been a lot of recipes posted to face book lately and many of them don't come out anything like the picture. But what Jessica made came out amazing.


I took the picture with the sauce added to one side but not the other so you could see  what it looked like before the sauce was added.

This is the recipe straight from the Internet
Crispy Cheddar Chicken

2 lbs chicken tenders or 4 large chicken breasts 
2 sleeves Ritz crackers
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper 
1/2 cup whole milk 
3 cups cheddar cheese, grated
1 teaspoon dried parsley 

Sauce:
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 tablespoon sour cream
2 tablespoon butter

Crush crackers. If using chicken breasts and not tenders, cut each chicken breast into 3 large pieces. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the salt and pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk and then the cheese. Press the cheese into the chicken with your fingers. Then press the cheesy coated chicken into the cracker crumbs and press it in. 

Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy. 

In a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken. 


Tyler made Jeanio turkey loaf with potatoes while Jessica and I were at the women's convention so he took a picture of it with his iPad.


Kayla made chicken helper but I don't remember what kind because it was at the beginning of the month. She still has her braids.

Adam made foil wrapped potatoes, hot dogs and corn on the cob. The foil wrapped potato recipe was from face book too.

We baked them in the oven in individual packets rather than in large packets on the grill. We'll try it on the grill this summer.
Bacon Ranch Foil Packet Potatoes
3 sheets of heavy-duty foil
10-12 baby red potatoes, thinly sliced
6 slices of cooked and crumbled bacon
1 packet ranch dressing mix
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
Sour cream for serving, if desired

1. Spray each sheet of foil with cooking spray. Top each piece with equal portions of potatoes, bacon, and ranch dressing mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 tablespoon of butter to each serving. Wrap securely.

2. Grill for 20 to 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve in foil, topped with sour cream if desired. Can also bake 375F for 30-40 minutes.

So that's what the kids cooked in April.

5 comments:

douglassroommom@gmail.com said...

The chicken that Jessica mad looks awesome. I think my kids might even eat it :) I'll have to try it. I found a recipe on the internet this month as well that came out really good. It's chicken fajitas in the crockpot, only it was more like chicken tacos, since the bell peppers and onions sort of dissolved. 1 yellow onion, sliced
3 sweet peppers, sliced
1 ½ pounds boneless chicken breast or thighs
1/4 to ½ cup chicken broth, depending on preference (leave this out if you prefer a drier fajita filling)
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cumin
1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
Squirt of lime juice
Tortillas
Fajita fixings
Combine sliced onion and peppers in the bottom of a greased crockpot. Lay chicken on top of veggies. Pour chicken broth over top. Sprinkle everything with cumin, salt, and chili powder. Give a nice quirt of lime juice over the top. Cover and cook on low for 4-8 hours (or on High for 4 hours) or until meat is shreddable. When meat is done, shred with two forks and stir back into juices. Serve meat mixture with slotted spoon on tortillas with your choice of fixings.

Felicia said...

We have made that chicken recipe a few times. everyone loves it here.

Kathy Cassel said...

Katie--some come out well, some are awful. There was one that was supposedly glazed chicken but there was nothing to thicken the juice and it was really nasty.

Felicia--I was pleasantly surprised with the chicken.

douglassroommom@gmail.com said...

Kathy, was it the one that was supposed to be a glazed terriyaki? I made one like that and it was awful!

Kathy Cassel said...

Yes! Blah. It was horrible. You'd have to have something else for flavor and then some corn starch or something to thicken it.