Cheesy Chicken Spread

This stuff is called a "spread", but it's really a dip. However, I have seen my dad spread a healthy amount between two slices of bread. So, I suppose you can eat it however you want. Just eat it! We prefer it with Wheat Thins. A couple of great things about it: it makes a LOT so it's wonderful to take somewhere or for when you are having guests; AND it will keep in the refrigerator until the expiration date on the pimento cheese or sour cream (whichever comes first). ENJOY!

CHEESY CHICKEN SPREAD

Get this:
24 oz pimento cheese

16 oz sour cream

3-13 oz cans of chicken, drained

2 envelopes (6 Tbsp) ranch powder

Do this:

Mix all ingredients together. Serve with crackers.

Poppy Seed Chicken

I apologize for not taking a picture of this one.  Honestly, I thought I did, but apparently not, because I can't find one.  So, just trust me...this one is quick, easy and real a family favorite.
Ingredients:
3 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 can of cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 sleeve crushed Ritz crackers
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, melted

Combine chicken, soup, sour cream and poppy seeds.  Spoon into a lightly greased 11x7 baking dish. Combine crushed crackers and butter, then sprinkle over the chicken mixture.  Bake, uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes.

My notes:
You can cook your chicken any way you like...boiled, roasted, grilled, baked...whatever you wanna do. I boiled mine just because it was easy and I was short on time.

I also doubled the recipe because I knew one 11x7 baking dish wouldn't be enough for my family of 6.  I put it in a 9x13.  It was a LOT, but we enjoyed having leftovers.  Hope you enjoy!

Microwave Chicken Tortilla Casserole

I had a house full of company (the 6 of us plus all 4 grandparents) when I made this one, so I failed to get a picture of it. But I got the recipe from Southern Plate and she always has some good pics of her food. So, if you must see it, click on the link above and check it out.

Ingredients

2 cups chicken (give or take, just use however much you have)

8 oz sour cream

2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 cup french fried onion, divided

4 ounce chopped green chilies

1 pkg taco seasoning

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

2 -10 inch flour tortillas

Directions

Place chicken, sour cream, half of cheese, half of onions, chopped green chilies, taco seasoning, and chopped cilantro in a large mixing bowl. Stir well to combine. Tear one tortilla into small pieces and add to bowl, stirring again until well incorporated.

Line a pie plate with remaining tortilla and spoon mixture into it. Place in microwave for five minutes.* Remove and top with remaining onions and cheese. Microwave for one minute more, or until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

*Note: Microwave ovens vary widely in temperature so you may need to alter the cooking time to suit your microwave. Since the chicken is fully cooked, there isn’t a danger of under cooking this meal so you can just go with these guidelines and give or take a minute or so if you feel it needs it. This is a VERY flavorful casserole and leftovers heat up really well.

My notes:

When I read the original recipe, it recommended using a rotisserie chicken purchased from the deli.  My plan was to do that, but the only ones they had read when I was at the store were BBQ.  Obviously I wasn't going to use BBQ chicken in a mexican dish, and I didn't have the 20 minutes it was gonna take for another one to be ready.  So, I went with canned all white meat chicken.  I used 2 of the large cans.

I don't remember the total ounces of the can of french fried onions, but I ended up using the whole can.

Go easy on the cilantro.  I didn't really measure when I was putting mine in and I must have gotten a little heavy handed with it.  It was a little strong, but still quite tasty and no one DIDN'T eat it.  (o:

So, the verdict?  I will make this one again...probably several times...throughout the summer.  I love that I didn't have to heat up my house because all the cooking was done in the microwave.  I doubled the recipe to make 2 of them and served 6 adults and 4 children.  We had about 2/3 of one of them left over and everyone got all they wanted.  It was accompanied by a green salad, chips, salsa & cheese dip.  Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

1 (10.75 ounce) can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

1 cup Picante Sauce

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

10 Mission® Fajita Size Flour Tortillas, warmed

1 medium tomato, chopped

1 green onion, sliced

Directions

1.Mix soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder.

2.Mix 1 cup picante sauce mixture, chicken and cheese.

3.Spread about 1/4 cup chicken mixture down center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam-side down in 3-quart shallow baking dish. Pour remaining picante sauce mixture over enchiladas. Cover.

4.Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes or until hot. Top with tomato and onion.

My notes:

Instead of Picante sauce, I used a restaurant style salsa (medium heat). I added an additional teaspoon of chili powder because we like things spicy around here.  For my chicken, I had a 6 oz bag of pre-cooked, seasoned fajita chicken.  I used it, but also browned some chicken strips in a dry skillet with a little bit of cumin.  All together, I probably used 2 1/4 cups of chicken.  I did not have Monterrey Jack cheese, so I used what I had on hand which was a "fiesta blend."  I didn't use a tomato because the ones you buy in the grocery store this time of year are less than appetizing.  I drained a can of rotel really well and used it instead.  I also forgot to warm my tortillas before filling them.  Oh, and I sprinkled about a 1/2 cup of cheese on top before I put them in the oven.

So, considering all of the changes I mentioned above, was it appetizing.  I would say so.  The family loved it.  It had a nice kick to it and was definitely more of a Tex-Mex dish than traditional Mexican.  I served it with one of those seasoned rice mix thingies that come in an envelope...Spanish Rice of course...and chips and cheese dip.  My 6-year-old couldn't get enough and just kept asking for more.  I would say that's a good sign.

What will I do differently next time?  I will heat the chicken filling in the microwave until it is really warm before I fill the tortillas.  The dish was in the oven the required amount of time, but the filling wasn't as warm as it should have been.  I could have left it in longer, I suppose, but the edges of the tortillas were beginning to get a little hard.  I think this would solve the temperature problem rather than heating the tortillas.

I quit typing now, so you can run to the store and get all the stuff to make these for dinner!

Roasted Spicy Mayonnaise Chicken Breasts

Ingredients

•1/2 cup mayonnaise

•2 lemons, zest finely grated

•2 teaspoons paprika

•1 teaspoon celery seeds

•1 teaspoon salt, plus additional for seasoning

•1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus additional for seasoning

•Pinch cayenne pepper

•4 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon zest, paprika, celery seeds, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Season the chicken with additional salt and pepper, to taste. Arrange the chicken on the prepared baking sheet. Slather the mayonnaise mixture over the chicken. Bake until the juices run clear when the chicken is pricked with a fork, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and serve hot.

My notes:

I completely forgot to take pics of this one.  You'll just have to trust "my notes".  This is good, but VERY RICH.  It is something I will most likely make again, but no one at my house is gonna cry out in the night for it.

I omitted the lemon zest when I made it due to an allergy in my family.  But I'm sure it would be delish WITH the lemon zest.

Easy Parm Garlic Chicken

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 envelope italian salad dressing mix
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 400F.  Mix cheese, salad dressing mix and garlic powder in shallow dish. I use a pie plate.

Moisten chicken with water; coat with cheese mixture.  Place in shallow baking dish.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.  The instructions don't say to cover it, but I do.  I'm afraid my chicken will dry out if I don't.

Clubhouse Chicken Squares

Ingredients

2 cans crescent rolls

8 oz cream cheese

2 tbs mayo

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 tsp dill mix (Pampered Chef Brand)

1 can white chunk chicken

sliced cucumber

diced tomatoes

shredded cheddar cheese

crumbled bacon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.  Line bottom and sides of pan with crescent rolls.  Seal perforations.  Bake 10-12 minutes, then cool completely.  Combine cream cheese, mayo, garlic and dill.  Spread cream cheese mixture over baked crescents.  Top with chicken, cucumber, tomatoes, shredded cheese and bacon.  Chill 30 minutes.  Cut into squares.

My notes:

I did not have Pampered Chef Brand Dill Mix, so I used just plain old dill.  Worked just fine.

I did not have a cucumber, so I steamed broccoli then chopped it up.  Worked just fine.

I did not have fresh tomatoes, so I drained a can of rotel.  Worked just fine.

This recipe was written for the Pampered Chef Large Bar Pan.  If you do not own this stoneware piece, I'm sure you can easily adapt this recipe for a 9x13 pyrex or even a sheet cake pan would probably work.  However, if you do not own the Bar Pan, I highly recommend you buy one.  It is an extremely versatile piece and I plan to post several ways you can use it.  AND, Pampered Chef Stoneware is on sale 20% off this month.  You can click HERE to shop and buy.  I also recommend the Stoneware Fluted Pan (recipes for CAKE IN THE MICROWAVE to come).

Okay, back to the recipe above...In addition to the dill and garlic, I also added a nice little shake of Salt & Spice to the cream cheese mixture.

Hubby came home for lunch today.  He said, unprompted, that this one was a keeper.  It would work well for a brunch, lunch, potluck...just a very versatile little dish.  We all really enjoyed it.  Hope you do too!

Jalapeno & Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken

This has been our entree for Christmas Dinner for the last several years and is a family favorite with many at our house.  It is a recipe that I created by adapting and merging a few other recipes initially.  It has also evolved over the years.  Pardon the pictures.  I didn't remember to take them until all the damage had been done.  (o:
 

Boneless skinless chicken breasts

fresh, raw jalapenos - not pickled (one per chicken breast)

cream cheese - cold and straight out of fridge - one 8 ounce block is enough for 16 chicken breasts

salt & spice

bacon

toothpicks

Remove stems from jalapenos, slit them down one side with a knife then remove seeds.  A baby spoon works really well for removing the seeds.  Cut cream cheese into sticks about the size of your pinky finger and coat each stick in S&S.  I pour S&S in a bowl and roll the sticks around in it.  Stuff one cream cheese stick into each pepper.  Pound each chicken breast to about 1/4 inch and wrap around a stuffed pepper.  Wrap chicken breast in strip of bacon and secure with toothpicks.

Place stuffed chicken breasts in glass baking dish and cover with foil.  Bake 1-2 hours or until juices run clear.  Remove foil the last 10 to 15 minutes of baking to allow bacon to brown.

We have found that about half way through the baking it helps to remove the foil and drain some of the liquid from the pan then put it back in the oven.  On the baking time: plan on it taking longer than you think.  We did 18 chicken breasts this year and it took about 2 1/2 hours for baking time alone.  This dish is obviously a 2-man job with all that it entails, but I assure you it is well worth the work.  My suggestion is to get an assembly line going when assembling.  This year we had 3 sets of hands working: 1 pounding chicken, 1 working with cream cheese and peppers, and 1 wrapping and securing.  We had it done in no time.

Country French Chicken Skillet

2 T of butter
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water
1 package of KNORR vegetable soup mix
1/2 cup of sour cream

Melt butter in skillet and brown chicken on both sides on medium heat. Add water and soup mix and place on low for about 20 mins or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken and stir in sour cream to make sauce. Serve over egg noodles.

This was very easy and tasty. It also looked pretty and that's always a bonus.

Got this one from my dear friend Megan.  Will for sure make it again...and again...and again.

White Chili

8 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
6 cans white beans (navy, great northern, etc) *do not drain beans
2 cans chicken broth
8 cloves garlic
2 onion, chopped
1-4 Tbsp chopped jalepenos (to taste)
4 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp red pepper
2 cans chopped green chilis
4 Tbsp olive oil
shredded monterey jack cheese

Heat oil in stock pot. Add onions and garlic. Saute' until onions are tender. Add chicken, broth, green chilis, cumin, oregano and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add beans and jalepenos. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or until heated thoroughly. Serve topped with shredded cheese.

My notes~
*chicken can be boiled or even skillet fried with butter and your favorite seasoning to add extra flavor
*cook chicken ahead of time and refrigerate; cold chicken is easier to cut up
*this makes about 5 quarts of chili; if that is too much it is easily halved; or I have been told it will probably freeze/thaw well; it doesn't lasts long enough around here to be frozen

You will notice that I mentioned in the previous post that I would post pics of the chili. Suffice to say that I may hold my own in the kitchen, but I am neither a food stylist nor a photographer. When I photographed the chili, it looked... Well...less than appetizing. (o: